The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi has said that his country visa restriction for Nigerians is not total.
According to him, the travel restrictions were introduced to close existing gaps.
Ambassador Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, who spoke when he visited the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyeson Wike in Abuja today, November 11, stressed that the door to the UAE is not entirely closed to Nigerians
“Regarding the Visa issue, I would say that the door is not closed, but it’s not widely open “We issue a lot of visa daily. A lot of people from Nigeria go to the UAE and come back with very easy access to get the visa.”
The Ambassador was responding to the minister request for the review of the visa ban on Nigeria.
Wike referred to the lingering issue of travel bans and flight restrictions imposed on Nigerians by the UAE, saying that Nigerians love the UAE, especially Dubai.
He requested for a quick resolution of the process of Visa allocation, which he said us becoming too cumbersome and hindering smooth relations.
“We also hope that the issue of visa ban and flight restriction of the United Emirates will be resolved as soon as possible.
“Nigerians love UAE, Dubai especially. We believe that we will not have hindrance in terms of visa procurement.”
