The government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has pegged its application fees for Nigerians at N640,000.
This is coming shortly after the settlement of the three-year dispute between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday that Mohammed Idris, the minister of information and national orientation, announced that the UAE and Nigeria had reached an agreement for the resumption of travel for citizens beginning July 15.
Idris had said the resolution was reached following “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 to obtain a document verification number (DVN).
According to the DV hub, the procedure is a specialised service that authenticates and verifies documentation required for visa applications to the UAE. Each DVN application requires a non-refundable fee of ₦640,000 (excluding VAT). This excludes the visa charge, 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.
These new terms imposed on potential travellers from Nigeria have generated backlash from the country’s netizens on X.
A user, Moe wrote: “Nigerians now need to show a bank balance of at least $10,000 and pay a non-refundable fee of N688000 (excluding visa fees) for a DVN in order to get a TOURIST visa to the U.A.E. Looks like a constructive ban. How many Nigerians have a balance of $10k causally?”
Another user, R said, “My unsolicited take on this UAE visa thing is that – you see that website? 100% FG trying to fleece Nigerians & UAE has nothing to do with it.
UAE probably just made a simple request to FG “ensure applicants are vetted properly before they apply for our visa.”
“So the UAE wants to collect 640k from Nigerians for Visa,” Oseni Rufai added.
“N640k for document verification for UAE visa. N500k for US visa appointment. What are the similarities and the differences? Discuss (100 mks),” Spotlight Abby added.