The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has introduced new restrictions on visa applications from Nigerian nationals, particularly affecting those seeking transit or tourist entry into the country.
The directive, communicated to travel agents on Tuesday, significantly alters the process for obtaining a visa and is expected to impact travel patterns from Nigeria to the UAE—a country long favored by Nigerian tourists and business travelers.
Under the new guidelines, transit visas are no longer available to Nigerian citizens, and tourist visa applications will now be subject to the same stringent requirements as visiting visas. Most notably, Nigerians aged between 18 and 45 years are no longer eligible for tourist visas unless traveling as part of an accompanied group.
For applicants aged 45 and above, the UAE now requires the submission of a personal bank statement showing a minimum end-of-month balance of $10,000 (or the naira equivalent) over the last six months, in addition to standard documents such as hotel bookings and passport data pages.
This development comes less than a year after the UAE lifted a two-year visa ban on Nigerian nationals. Although the ban was officially removed, the reinstated visa process has remained restrictive, limiting travel from Nigeria. Industry experts and travel agents now warn that the newly issued guidelines may further reduce the number of Nigerian visitors to the UAE in the coming months.
The UAE government has not publicly commented on the rationale behind the updated policy, but travel professionals have described the move as a “stumbling block” likely to discourage individual and leisure travel from Nigeria.
