The United Arab Emirates has slated August 17, 2020 as the deadline for Nigerians with expired visas to leave the country.
This is coming weeks after popular Instagram celebrity, Ramon Igbalode aka Hushpuppi, was arrested for fraud by the Dubai Police.
Since Hushpuppi’s arrest, Nigerians have been barred from applying for jobs in some firms with some expressly stating that the job is opened to ‘All African Countries Except Nigeria’.
Apart from being blacklisted from applying for jobs, Nigerians have also been barred from applying for tourist visas to the Arabian tourist hub.
Reply to one of such inquiry read: “Dear applicant, Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, your visa application has been rejected as Nigerian passport holders are not permitted to obtain a tourist visa to the UAE in the meantime.”
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Nigerian Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE, announced that the UAE government has given waivers on fines and penalties to Nigerian nationalities whose visas expired before March 1 and expect the affected Nigerians to leave the UAE on or before August 17.
The embassy enjoined the affected Nigerians to join the evacuation flights arranged from the country before the expiration of the grace period.
The statement reads in part;
“The Embassy wishes to inform that the government of the United Arab Emirates has granted waivers on fines/penalties on visas that expired before 1st March 2020 to leave the country on or before 17th of August, 2020.
”Consequently, the Embassy is urging fellow Nigerians living in the UAE to avail themselves of this opportunity to return home with the impending Air Peace evacuation flight scheduled for 1st August 2020, and or subsequent Emirates evacuation flights before the expiration of the grace period.
”Accordingly, affected Nigerian nationals who are willing to return home are kindly requested to submit their names and passport numbers to the Embassy and or the Consulate for onward transmission to the UAE authorities to obtain the necessary clearance.”
