Nigerians Decry Delay In Visa Processing At India’s Mission

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Across Nigeria Thursday, October 21st, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Nigerians visa applicants to India has decried the unnecessary delays by the India High Commission, in Abuja, to process their travel documents, saying that this had impacted them negatively.

The applicants narrated their ordeals as regards the processing and approval of their travel documents by the mission, in spite of paying the required non-refundable visa fees.

Others, who expressed dissatisfaction over their journeys from outside Abuja only to be told that their visas were not ready for collection, appealed to the Federal Government to intervene so as to reduce their sufferings.

An Applicant, Mr Adewale Fawe, said that delays experienced in processing of visas often lowered the self-esteem of Nigerians, and as such government should wade-in to promote regards for due process.

According to him, although visa processing and approval takes a maximum of two weeks in most diplomatic missions, the India High Commission should not be an exemption to this international standard.

Fawe said, “The way Nigerians are often treated, in terms of visa at the India High Commission is poor; despite the situation whereby people apply and pay over N100, 000 for visas.

“Sometimes, the staff of the mission dump our passports in their offices for up to three to four months after the application; you cannot access your passport, because it is in their offices.

“Therefore, this calls for urgent steps to be taken, because if we do not speak on the issue, it will become a norm.

“If they are not going to issue the visa after screening our documents, they should return our passports, rather than collect the passport and the fee and only to dump it in the mission.”

In the similar vein, Onyekelu Kosisochukwu, a Catholic Seminarian at Bigard Memorial Seminary, Enugu, decried the delays in the processing of visas, as this had hindered his academic pursuits.

According to him, this is sad being my first visa application to India for a second degree, after completion of one in Philosophy, as a seminarian, in Nsukka.

“I applied for a BSc in Computer Science at a University in India, therefore I applied for visa which I am yet to collect after the payment of N100, 000 visa fee since June 24, 2021,

“Since the application, I have not heard from the mission, when I came later in July, I was asked along with other applicants to write my name and submit my passport number and visa slip.

“I have not heard from the mission, but I was only informed in September that there was irregularity in my document date and after correction I have not heard from them till now,” Kosisochukwu said.

The mission officials refused to speak on the matter, when approached to respond to the complaints over delays in visa processing by the commission.