by Richard Akindele » Sat Jul 29, 2006 2:26 am
Issuance of visa to Nigerians has long been a thorny issue especially given the increasing number of people migrating for various reasons and the way they are treated with contempt. That was why Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently promised there will be a change in visa policies. In this report, Paul Ohia revisits the tale of woes, the success stories and the way forward.
Day in day out, Nigerians are buffetted with stories of travellers being denied visas for various reasons. It is against this background that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recently assured Nigerians that the trend would change.
Speaking a few days after her appointment in the foreign ministry, Okonjo-Iweala said she would press for a review of the processes for obtaining the visa of other countries to check the growing cases of Nigerian applicants being treated with contempt by some embassies and high commissions.
Prior to her statement, many complainants argued that Nigerians going for genuine business or for studies were often denied visa while those who have no good reason to travel perfected ways of deceiving the visa officers and once the result of this poor decision starts yielding fruits in terms of crimes perpetrated by those issued visa, other genuine seekers receive ugly treatment melted out by the visa officers.
In some cases, Nigerians have been found wanting. Desperation to escape poverty has led to attempts to travel with forged documents. In other cases, genuine applicants are wrongly turned down and embassy officials have instead been the culprits.
[b]Scandals[/b]
Some cases of denials have been linked to scandals that have more to do with the officers at the embassies than Nigerian travelers. Recently, Switzerland was battling with different levels of visa scandals in Nigeria and other countries. Allegations ranging from sex-for-visas scandal to money laundering continued rocking Swiss diplomatic posts until advertisements were placed by the government in the Swiss press searching for a visa ombudsman to control visa practices in Swiss consular departments.
Investigations at the United Kingdom (UK) immigration office was quite revealing. British Members of Parliament (MPs) who came to Nigeria to research their reports saw fake British electricity bills purchased by would-be migrants at street markets and submitted to the British authorities as evidence to support visa applications.
There were also allegations that touts blocked the telephone lines issued by the British High Commission for visa seekers to schedule appointments. This was appropriately replaced with courier service booking by the Director of visa services Chris Dix and the improvement has been remarkable.
[b]Backlash of issuing visas to wrong people[/b]
How is the conduct of Nigerians that eventually get visas to foreign countries? Early this week, Middle District of Tennessee announced the arrest of Akanonu Fabian Mgbobila, 56 a native of Nigeria on a federal firearms violation. Mgbobila appeared before US Magistrate Judge Joe Brown for violating Title 18 of the US Code, Section 922(g)(5)(B)- unlawful possession of a firearm by a non-immigrant alien. Mgbobila does possess a valid visitor visa.
Under US federal law non-immigrant aliens are prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition except for certain limited circumstances specified by statute. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison, up to a $250,000 fine and a period of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
According to information contained in a criminal complaint outlining the charge, Mgbobila arrived by bus from Boston to Nashville on July 19, 2006. Mgbobila negotiated the purchase of 30 firearms from an undercover law enforcement agent for $150 each, to be paid the following morning. After the negotiations, the undercover agent and Mgbobila wrapped and packaged the firearms. After the firearms were wrapped and packaged, Mgbobila was arrested by ATF without incident. Stories such as these paint Nigeria in bad light and backfires on genuine applicants.
[b]Success stories[/b]
But it has not been tales of woes. Many Nigerian abroad have contributed to the progress of the countries they found themselves against all odd. For instance As an immigrant new to the United States, Olawale Agboola, 35, faced several instances of discrimination.
While working as a substitute teacher for Indianapolis Public Schools, Agboola was told by a fellow teacher that he could not use a staff phone.
While a student at the University of Indianapolis, he was ignored by a professor when he complained that a fellow student was slandering him.
Despite such incidents, Agboola retains a positive outlook. "It is all about attitude," he said. "I understand that I am a stranger here and that I have a lot of differences. Some people might not like me when they see me, or maybe they do not like my accent. So I put up a good attitude.
"I do not take offense when another citizen might say something because of discrimination."
Agboola, first travelled to the United States in 1997. Since then, he has carved a niche for himself in education and is a special education teacher at Howe Academy. His wife, Oyinola, 33, and his daughter, Feintola, six, and son, Anibaba are US citizens.
Agboola and his family left Nigeria after he won a green card in the Diversity Lottery Program, or DV Lottery.
[b]Response from the embassies[/b]
United States Embassy in Nigeria recently outlined some factors that determine issuance of visa to Nigerians, explaining that it does not discriminate on the status of Nigerian citizens seeking to travel to America.
The embassy also dismissed perceptions that some applicants were being denied visas because they had delivered or wanted to deliver children in the United States.
Counsellor for Consular Affairs of the US Embassy, Mr. Alan Latimer, who spoke for the embassy stressed that "this perception about the US process of visa issuance is unfounded and incorrect.
According to him, the US mission does not discriminate against any sect, race, gender and ethnicity before issuing visas to qualified applicants from Nigeria.
His words: "It is the function of US mission in Nigeria to issue visas to visiting travellers. We do not allow cultural, racial and ethnic differences to enter into the process, but strictly rely on law and procedure.
"We consider employment status, family relationship, economic and financial background of each applicants before visas are issued.
To confirm this depends on the extent to which the can convince us. So there is no indication of discrimination as claimed," he said.
Consul General, Mr. Brian Brown added that there was no US Consulate policy stating that a certain class of people should be denied visas.
He said the assertion was wrong and incorrect, but the applicants in most cases failed to complete their visa application with due care and accuracy.
Brown maintained that: "The policy of the United States Mission in Nigeria is to issue visas for business or pleasure to qualified Nigerians. This does not mean that everyone who applies for a visa is entitled to one.
"All the application for visitor visas to the US are determined based on the qualifications of the individual applicant. Under US immigration law, applicant is presumed to be an intending immigrant, and thus, not eligible for non-immigrant visa," he stated.
He reiterated that the act is so important to the process of visa issuance because it recognises the fact that "every applicant shall be presumed to be an immigrant until he/she establishes to the satisfaction of the consular officers at the time of application for a visa, and the immigration officer, at the time of application for admission, that he/she is not entitled to a non-immigrant status."
He said the law placed the proof of the burden on the applicants to prove that they have strong ties to their country and place of residence that would compel them to leave the US at the end of the temporary stay.
"If the applicant cannot demonstrate sufficient tie to Nigeria, that applicant has not proven himself qualified for a visa. This is the legal foundation upon which our visa adjudications are based," Brown said.
He emphassised that "the US policy requires us to adhere fully to pertinent laws and regulations regarding visa issuance. We can neither subtract nor add to the law. Our mandate is to administer said law fairly.
In the same manner, French and British foreign missions had at one point or the other stated that the burden of proving the genuiness of their purpose of traveling lies with the Nigerian visa seekers. According to them, the visa officers do their work by conducting appropriate investigation to find out if the travelers are presenting forged documents. In an interview granted to THISDAY on this matter, Dix had maintained that travelers who present forged documents will be handed over to the police.
[b]Who is to blame?[/b]
Some observers have heaped the seemingly bad way Nigerians are handled by the foreign missions on the bad economy at home which makes many Nigerians see traveling to foreign countries as part of fulfilling their life ambition.
Proponents of the view argue that public office holders have a role to play in terms of reviving the economy in order to create jobs for our teeming unemplyed youth, as well as give them hope.
Others argue that it is the prerogative of other countries to manage immigration in such a way that suits their economy. They point to the fact that the teeming number of African youths braving the Mediterraenean sea daily to reach the shores of Europe is a problem that European countries are trying to solve in addition to handling the huge number of visa applications received daily.
Some however argue that the officers that issue visa have overwhelming powers that make them arrogant atimes. According to some pundits, they often get tensed up when they encounter crowd at the embassy visa section and snarl at the slightest provocation.
[b]Which Way Forward?[/b]
According to Tunde Arogunmati of Toff Resources, it is pertinent to note that Okonjo-Iweala is putting measures in place to ensure that Nigerians are given equitably humane treatment everywhere in the world, "hence she would do well to point out to other embassies, notably the French Embassy that in asmuch as they are willing to collect our money for visa procurement it is imperative upon them to treat their customers with the required dignity, irrespective of the outcome of the application; which in any case should be devoid of primordial sentiments and very underhand requirements such as the procurement of travel insurance and hotel bookings from unregistered partner agencies."
This Day