Requirements for Nigerian Visa and How to Apply

Want to apply for a Nigerian visa? The first thing you must do is to understand what visa types are available, the one you need and the requirements before commencing your application.

One reason most visa applications get rejected is because the applicant lacks knowledge of the various visa types available and their respective requirements.

To improve the chances of your visa approval, you need to clearly understand the visa requirements and make sure they are intact before proceeding with your application.

The Nigerian embassies and Immigration are very critical of visa documents and any slight misrepresentation will lead to your visa application being rejected or declined.

Visa rejection can be a very frustrating experience. Other than that, you must make payment before your visa application is processed and the fees are non-refundable.

So, in order not to waste your time and money applying for a visa in vain, you must be careful enough to understand the visa options available to you and their various requirements. This way you are almost guaranteed to get your visa approved.

Having said that, what does it take to apply for a Nigerian tourist or business visa? What are the requirements you must have before applying for a Nigerian visa?

Requirements for Nigerian Visa

Here are the requirements for Nigerian visa application which you must have intact before you will be able to get a visa to Nigeria (these requirements are specifically for tourist and business visas).

• Passport valid for at least 6 months with at least 2 blank visa pages for endorsement;
• Two recent passport photographs (white background);
• Evidence of sufficient funds (3 months bank statement);
• Letter of Invitation from a host in Nigeria;
• Address of host in Nigeria or hotel reservation confirmation.

These are broadly the general requirements for processing a Nigerian visa. However, some countries/embassies require other specific requirements in addition to the above, such as yellow fever vaccination.

Visa processing duration too varies for different countries and processing centres. It could be as fast as 5 days or up to 3 weeks (or even longer), as the case may be.

Additionally, most embassies require appearance in person while some don’t necessarily require your visit. Also, some countries/embassies may require biometric (the United States for instance require a visit to the embassy and biometric capturing).

Arranging the Requirements for Nigerian Visa Application

The first requirement for Nigerian visa application is that you must have an international passport or travel document. And your passport must have at least six months validity.

This means your passport should not expire in the next six months. If you have a valid international passport or travel document, then you can cross this from your checklist and move to the next.

The second requirement is that you must have two recent passport-sized photographs preferably in white background. The passport must be colored without covering your eyes or head.

Once you are able to get the required passport photos, you can cross it off your checklist and move to the next item.

The third requirement on the list for Nigerian visa application is ‘evidence of sufficient funds’. You need to provide a 3 to 6 months bank statement showing sufficient funds to cover for your round trip flight, hotel accommodation and feeding throughout the period of your stay.

This does doesn’t sound like a lot, really. You only need to show that you are ready for the trip and that you have sufficient funds to make the trip. It is that simple.

Some embassies or consulates in some countries will not even demand for a bank statement once you are able to present your flight itinerary and reservation confirmation or evidence of accommodation in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, getting a statement of account from your bank is one of the least things to worry about as long as you are prepared for the trip and have money for same.

The fourth and perhaps one of the most important requirement for Nigerian visa is a letter of invitation from a host in Nigeria.

Someone or a company in Nigeria (for example, Destinali) needs to send you a letter, inviting you to Nigeria, stating the period of your visit and accepting to bear full immigration responsibility throughout the period of your stay.

The letter of invitation must come with the passport copy of the signatory to the letter (that is the valid passport data page of the person inviting you) or the CAC certificate (company incorporation certificate) of the company.

This is where it can get a bit tricky because without this letter of invitation accompanied by the host passport copy or company incorporation certificate (CAC certificate), your visa will not be approved.

But thankfully, we got you covered! You can get a letter of invitation to Nigeria from us right here within 60 minutes, including the host passport and CAC certificate, and for only $49!

Here’s how the letter of invitation looks like:

And this is a sample Nigerian passport that should come with the letter of invitation before it an be accepted:

A CAC certificate can also be attached to the letter of invitation if it is a company inviting you, and here is a sample:

Once you get your letter of invitation with the host documents, you are almost certain to proceed with your visa application. You can then cross it off your checklist and move to the last but not the least requirement: evidence of accommodation in Nigeria or hotel reservation confirmation.

Where do you intend to stay while in Nigeria? Are you staying with your host? then you need to give the address and this must be clearly stated in the letter of invitation.

If you will be staying in a hotel, then you need to make your reservation and get a confirmation. A reservation confirmation is evidence of proper travel arrangements.

You can book a hotel near your destination and present the reservation confirmation.

That’s that sorted! Those are the requirements for Nigerian visa and how you can easily get them in order to process and get your Nigerian visa approved.

Having got all requirements needed to get a Nigerian visa, what next? Submit an application for a Nigerian visa online.

How to Apply for a Nigerian Visa

Here’s the Nigerian visa application procedure:

1. Fill the online application form on the Nigerian Immigration website. After completion of application, print out the completed form and sign on it.
2. Proceed with payment of the visa fee (online) and print out the payment receipt.
3. Attach 2 passport sized photographs to completed Visa Form IMM22, along with the other requirements (letter of invitation, reservation confirmation, etc.) and submit to the Nigerian High Commission/Embassy/Consulate.

Find the Nigerian embassy/consulate/high commission in your country here, with their addresses.

After submitting your application, you may be invited for a visa interview within a few days, after which you should get your visa. Nigerian tourist visa is valid for 90 days (three months).

Want to know what the visa fees look like? You can find the Nigerian visa fees for all countries here. Note that there is an additional $20 processing fee aside the actual visa fee for your country.

It is also worthy of note that before your visa application can be approved by an embassy, you must be a citizen or permanent resident in the country where you are applying from.

For instance, if you are applying for a Nigerian visa at the embassy in Canada, you must be a Canadian citizen or have permanent residence status in Canada.

Will you need help processing a Nigerian Visa?

If yes, then we can help you in two ways:

With a letter of invitation so you can process a visa on your own at the embassy in your country of residence.

Or, with a Visa on Arrival (VoA), so you don’t need to visit the embassy for visa application. We will process your Nigerian visa on arrival and get you a letter of approval in two business days!