justwise:
Whoever wrote this piece is too ignorant.

hafees:
Why can’t I pay when you grant me visa like some embassies do, and I can pay some token for handling fee.

Ademat7:

In academic u don't cancel people's opinion rather u appreciate their effort first then present urs;are u paid by the visa issuing country?

claremont:


Which embassy does this?!

Akeem1759:
bro, I know of Indian Embassy.. you will only be instructed to pay the visa after you've been granted the visa..

Ademat7:

In academic u don't cancel people's opinion rather u appreciate their effort first then present urs;are u paid by the visa issuing country?

chukxie:
Personally, I think the writer has made some valid points because it's common knowledge that some embassies in Nigeria are making tons of money from deliberately denying people visas. Nigerians who possess passports of countries like the UK, USA, Canada etc don't know how painful visa denial is. How can you empathize with someone when you've never been in the person's shoes?

justwise:


They charge Nigerians the same amount Nigerian embassies in their countries charge their citizens.
They make more money in Nigeria because there are more Nigerians willing to sale their souls to travel to Europe.

They make more money because they have better universities, hospitals, tourist attractions many Nigerians are willing to pay thousands to go and study, get treatment and visit.

Don't blame them for making legitimate money.

justwise:


This is not an academic writing, whoever wrote that did not do a single research to support his points. This is basically a travel agent rambling on about issue he knew very little about.

chukxie:


The essence of the article was to highlight the money making scheme of some embassies in Nigeria that deliberately deny people visas even after such people must have met all the stringent visa requirements. That my friend, was the message the writer was trying to pass across.

hafees:
You assumption is totally wrong and rude

hafees:
NIGERIA : AND THE VISA FEE MILKING SCHEME CONTINUES

Annually, Europe makes billions of naira from Nigerians for doing nothing. I mean, they are not selling any product or services, or offering something that we need, they simply collect these hard earned billions pulled together from individual Nigerians and families and swallow. Right now, the tempo have increased, and they no longer pretend they have a reason to collect these billions from us , they are very sure we would come and pay again.

I am not talking about re emergence of the slave trade, or cheap African labour, I am talking about the Shenghen visa fee racketeering going on, and other attending money vending documentations put in place to make money for Europeans companies for doing no services to Nigerians, and Africans in general.  My experience in the travel industry spans over a decade, and every year, new visa regime are put in place by Europe and many other destinations Nigerians flock. They are sterner, more rigid, and usually better tweaked with technology to milk Nigerians the more. There was never a time Nigerians are considered in making these new decisions, we are always losers. But do we retaliate? I will stay on the Sheghen visa  fee milking scheme, and share the horrid experience of a family I planned a trip to France for. My emphasis is on France.

Visa fee for a family of six runs into hundreds of thousands naira. The milking scheme looks more like before you apply, they are ready to deny you. They just wait for you to pay the all important visa fees, wait a few days and then announce to you that you have been denied. The Sheghen embassy  have nine reasons listed for denying your visa, eight is clear and straight to the point and the ninth one is nebulous, and it states: ‘your intention to leave the member before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained’ It is the biggest scam!

While it is understood that the granting of visa is the prerogative of the European embassies, particularly France in this case, you however need to state a clear reason for denying me visa after paying heavily for just a piece of coloured paper gummed to my passport. Why can’t I pay when you grant me visa like some embassies do, and I can pay some token for handling fee. Now,  what could help an embassy ascertain that a family would return to Nigeria? The father who is the financier has thriving businesses in Nigeria with properties, and his financial statement shows he could take care of his family. Hotels have been booked, travel insurance paid for, paid return airline reservation available etc. Along with the mother who does business, will the family just go to ‘heavenly France’ and never return, while the parents who are doing well here  would then make a suicidal decision of washing plate in France and start a sustenance life style

From time immemorial, humans have been known to wander around or travel for many reasons: leisure, business, education, new experiences, and even to go out and look for a wife as done by some Chinese! Nigerians are no different from other human beings and they also crave to travel, while should we be punished for this. What is the essence of asking you to pay for a travel insurance when you could be denied visa, and it is understood that you cannot get a refund from the insurance company you paid to. The gimmick is simple, the Nigerian insurance company you buy insurance from, pay the European counterpart who pockets the money for doing nothing when you are denied visa. Why allow you pay a European company for doing nothing. Nigeria should equally ask that they have travel insurance too before coming in, let’s earn too. It’s that simple

Asking to see your hotel reservation may be sensible to be sure that you have a place to stay, but then when you are denied you pay for cancellation. A lot of the hotels do not do free reservation, and their cancellation policy, along with the request from the embassies seem to be a connivance to take money out of our pocket. The same goes for showing issued flight ticket, European airlines make some money. These are things you would purchase when you get your visa, and of course could be sighted at the point of entry.  We are not asking Europe to loosen their ports, we are just saying stop collecting our money for no reason.

After spending so much money, which goes into the pocket of the embassy and the European companies, with all ‘personal’ document presented, the French embassy feels my client will run away with his family and hide inside France forever. Is it not possible to get at least fifty per cent refund of the visa fee, when you feel you cannot grant us visas. I will not digress with their commercial partners like the VFS and others who are also foreign companies, hauling our money to their home countries. It is obvious no Nigerian company can collect papers and fix date for  interview or document submission?

Many Nigerian families and individuals re apply immediately, because they are encouraged to do so, and the money keeps going into Europe’s pocket. They feel there must be a mistake somewhere! Let me re apply. Some embassy, like the UK collects their money in Pounds or Dollars from Nigerians, and this is paid on line- repatriated directly to the purse of their government. It’s money making scheme after all. When will Nigeria learn!

In all of the above, and many other inconveniences Nigerians have been subjected to in these embassies, our government could only give a non cerebral response by planning to give visa to the Europeans and others at the point of entry.  We must be truthful to ourselves, we are not Dubai, and we sell nothing to them. They will only come in truck loads to sell to us, as always. The Chinese and Indians will further take our jobs, through the nebulous ‘expatriates’ theorem. I do need to state that in three days, the Nigerian government can create up to a million jobs, if the so called expatriates are removed. It is only in Nigeria you see expatriates whose job is to count money and pay workers.

What should we do, retaliate at once, and of course help Nigerians spend their money in Nigeria for tourism. So far we are kidding ourselves. Make it possible the same way an American wants to do Disneyland, or go to Las Vegas and still consider it as vacation. These are long term. The short term is simple, call them to order, and make sure we are not cheated inside our country. We are being slapped and kicked everywhere, inside or outside our shores. We are not the only nation with ‘black sheeps’

Do not let them cheat us and gyp us of our hard earn money, make them respect us. I am sure this not too hard to ask.

 

Hafees Olabode Keshinro