Nigerians To Pay N640k Application Fee, $10k Bank Balance, Others In New UAE Visa Conditions
Following the resolution of the longstanding dispute between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria, the UAE has set new conditions for obtaining its visa.
The new conditions and standards were set following an agreement reached by the UAE and Nigeria for the resumption of travel for citizens beginning July 15.
This was contained in a statement by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, on Monday.
Idris said the resolution was a result of “successful talks and extensive, mutually beneficial negotiations”.
However, the minister said the new deal includes “updated controls and conditions” to facilitate obtaining a UAE visa.
One of the new requirements is obtaining a document verification number (DVN).
READ: UAE Lifts Travel Ban On Nigerians
According to the DV hub, the process is a specialised service designed to authenticate and verify documentation essential for visa applications to the UAE.
The DVN costs a non-refundable ₦640,000 excluding VAT for each application. This does not include the visa fee which must be paid by credit card at the UAE visa centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.
For Nigerians residing abroad, the visa fee can be paid at the nearest UAE visa centre.
“Your issued document verification number will be valid for 14 days from issuance, or once your visa application has been processed by the visa application department (whichever of these come first),” the DV hub said.
Interested travellers are expected to receive their DVN within five business days once payment has been successfully processed.
In addition to obtaining a UAE visa, Nigerians are required to provide proof of a six-month bank statement with a minimum balance of $10,000.
Applicants are also mandated to show round-trip flight tickets and proof of hotel booking.
However, some Nigerians have taken to X (formerly known as Twitter) to express mixed reactions over the development, with others knocking the federal government for accepting the agreement.
“How many Nigerians have a balance of $10k causally?” tweeted an X user who questioned the authenticity of the UAE’s intentions.
Hafsoh Isiaq is a graduate of Linguistics. An avid writer committed to creative, high-quality research and news reportage. She has considerable experience in writing and reporting across a variety of platforms including print and online.
