Just like any worthwhile venture, travelling too has its cost implications. But despite the claim by Nigerians that ‘things are tight’ (meaning that economic conditions are not favourable), a good number of us still pay so much money to visa agents in order to get out of this country. Surprisingly, however, some Nigerians do not care how much they will pay to get visa to anywhere. Little wonder Nigerians are found in every country of the world! Most of them are still struggling to make ends meet despite having been in foreign lands for decades. The entered as illegal immigrants!
Depending on your perception and destination, travelling out of Nigeria costs little to the traveller. A number of factors come into play in determining which cost is ‘little’. It may be worthy of mention to let you know where Nigerians travel to most. Visits to embassies, consulates and high commissions in Lagos and Abuja will reveal the commonest travel destinations for Nigerians as USA (known amongst travellers simply as America), UK (often referred to as London by travellers), Ireland (known as Dublin in travel parlance), the Schengen States (mostly called Europe by travellers), China-PRC (known as Shinko), Singapore, Malaysia and Ukraine. Canada is not mentioned here because most people who wish to go there do not always want to go to Ghana for their visa processing.
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One fact I should not forget to let you know is that most travellers engage the services of ‘agents’ to secure visas to all these destinations. This is because most people do not know how to go about the visa processing, or they do not have the time to do the running, or they rely on the ‘insider’ links of the agents. Being an agent myself, I must confess that not many visa applicants know what the consular officers actually want from them. Leave visa applicants to do the processing on their own, you will find out that over 90% of them will be refused.
The above reason accounts for the high fees charged by visa agents in assisting applicants. Though, from my personal experience, most agents record as much as 80% success rate in their visa applications. This often justifies the high fees charged.
Visiting visas for Ireland and the Schengen States are currently being processed at an average of N450,000 only. UK and USA are the most expensive at an average of between N650,000 and N1+ million respectively. China, Malaysia, Singapore and South Africa average of N150,000 to N200,000. All the visas are for short stay only.
Because most of the visas are for short stays only, most Nigerians abroad are residing in the foreign lands illegally. They often refuse to leave for Nigeria when their visas expire. However, when they are caught they find themselves in prisons before they are eventually deported home.
