I had a post a couple years ago aptly titled ‘What is more useless than a Nigerian Passport?’
Part rant, part frustration, wholly true. Side note, I need to update that travel blog. I really have not had an entry in years :) :)
I travel quite a bit (always proud to say I was on over 160 planes in one year) and I have to say having just a Nigerian passport can really limit your experience of the world.
You need a visa for just aboutanywhere. You will get scrutinized by just about everyone in the travel process. Expect longer wait times for visas, rigid visa interview processes, extra scrutiny at the airport and sometimes pretty stupid and demeaning questions at customs. I travel with Americans often and the difference in experience is polarizing. For example, here was an interaction with the customs agent on arrival at Venice, Italy:
Customs agent to the American: Looks at passport and says ‘Welcome to Italy’
Customs agent to me right after: Looks at passport, looks at me sternly and the expected sleuth of questions commence. ‘Where is your visa?’, ‘How long are you staying here?’, ‘Can I see your hotel booking?’, ‘Where is your return ticket?’, ‘What brings you to our country?’, ‘How much do you have for your trip?’, ‘What do you plan to do while you are here?’.
You get the drift. I have my answers down to a T more out of always being asked than anything else. Especially my answer to the below question :’(
We are headed to Paris in two days! We saw a really cheap ticket online! Want to come?
No, I can’t. The way my passport is set up, I need 3 months notice.
Why????
I need a visa for France.
What’s that?
Haha. But really though, spontaneous international trips will be hard. You need to plan ahead when trying to travel internationally on that Nigerian passport. But fear not because it can be done.
I will give some suggestions that will empower you, my fellow Nigerians, to explore the world :)
I will suggest visa free countries, tips on the visa application process and general advice/pro-tips.
1. VISA FREE COUNTRIES
Unbeknownst to a lot of people, there are lots of countries Nigerians can visit without a visa, some even for free. Barbados and Tanzania are countries I visited this way. I plan on hitting up the Maldives and Seychelles soon too :)
Mozambique and Cape Verde are also really pretty. And you guessed it, you can visit with a Nigerian passport as well. Here is the complete list of countries.
2. VISA APPLICATION PROCESS
For most other places, you will need a visa. However, the visa application is not a daunting task and it varies wildly by country. My people — no need for travel agent. Abeg, send me your visa agent fees instead :)
I applied for a visa to Thailand (where I took an amazing cooking class) and it was a one page application that took like 5 minutes to fill and I got it in 3 days.
The UK visa application is an annoying one, takes hours and I feel like you will have to sign your soul over given the amount of questions and information required from you. Its not particularly difficult, it just involves a lot of pages and asks similar questions over and over — such as what is your job, who is your fada, who is your moda, who is your fada’s moda, who is your gateman, etc, etc.
China, just send this one to an agent abeg. They don’t seem to let Nigerian’s in. I had a very bad experience at the consulate in San Francisco. This one deserves its own post. Mschewwww.
2.1 Whats up doc? — Essential Visa documentation
I find having the following around handy or at least knowing where to get them speeds up the application process:
- Bank statements
- Employment / School letters
- Paystubs
- Countries visited in the last 2 years
- Passport photos
2.2 I cannot come n ki myself jor — Visa Interview Tips
Most times you need to have hotels and flights booked or pre-booked to show at the visa interviews. Personally, when traveling to a new country I like to visit a few places to make the visit worthwhile. That means multiple cities. Multiple hotels. I don’t bother listing this for the interview.
For example, I am visiting Italy and want to hit up Florence, Milan and Venice. I am not about to start booking hotels in each place before the interview. If I am flying in and out of Milan, I go on www.hotels.comand find a hotel in Milan that has free cancellation or ‘pay at hotel’ and book this for the interview. After the interview I can go ahead and cancel and book my actual hotels. I do the same for flights too.
2.3 Schengen Anyone? — Best Visa Ever
My favorite visa ever is the Schengen visa. One visa that gives you access to 26 European countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Spain Switzerland. Sweet deal. You only need to apply to one of them and have access to any for the duration of your visa. I recently hopped to Norway, Czech Republic and Germany this way.
3. General Advice
Be prepared for the extra scrutiny when traveling. These people are just doing their jobs and have been told to do so 𝄞𝄞𝄞 whistling Zombie by Fela𝄞𝄞𝄞
You will just have to get a thick skin and bear with some custom agents. Usually the questions are the same and formality. No need to fuss.
Traveling a lot with your preferred airline has it perks. If you fly first class, you get off the plane pretty early and typically get through customs faster.
I very much love being Nigerian and everything it stands for! I love meeting people in different countries and everywhere I go people are fascinated by Nigeria and Africa. Get your passport and hit the world!
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