my own experience was in the year 2001 i was going to Lyon . when we arrived Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris almost all the Nigerians carrying the green passport and were going to the far East were asked to step aside, but those ending their trips in France were allowed in without any harassment. I was passed without any problem because i travelled with my blue official passport. at the same time i agree with wa do mi's first post that the way you are dreesed could earn you disrespect at some immigration posts. An example was in 1996, i was coming home on leave from Bosnia through Schipphol Amsterdam with another Nigerian colleague who dressed like all these American gangster rappers. when we were about to proceed for boarding of the Swiss Air flight, he was next after me they passed me because i was dresed simply in a jeans and T-shirt. There are a whole bunch of reasons that could be responsible for that . The only occasion i almost got embarrassed was 1997 at the boarder between Germany and Austria. we were six colleagues that travelled from Zagreb Croatia by bus heading for Stuttgart to buy cars. At the immigration point one guy collected my green passport (i used to have shengen visa on it) he would look at my picture then at my face up to three times then i became livid with rage i shouted at him " my friend you think you find it difficult to match that picture and my face?" he just returned my passport in a jiffy without uttering a word. Caveat emptor! you have to be sure of your status before you can act like that o! Our experience i Stuttgart/Helbron during the six days we stayed there is another post for another thread

Nigerians have a high sense of style, the way we dress is no excuse to be harassed

most times i get to these evil looks from the people at Heathrow airport especially. but this only happens after they've seen my Naija passport. if you've also noticed (those in uk) the airport and airline security also keeps a good eye on you if they see Baba iyabo's (wot an ugly woman! ) passport.

@bluenubian

i agree with you 100% but in his case that was what caused his embarassment. He was taken somewhere and thoroughly frisked i had to wait for him for minutes agitated because most of other passengers had commenced boarding procedures.

hmm i'll have to try this out.
is it possible to use a Nigerian passport if you have another one for some other country? can you use them interchangeably?


i'm not surprised though. most ignorant people are suspicious of a Nigerian for some reason.

i think the way you look and act also counts. cause i have never had such experience. but i must be sincere that Nigerian passport isss

Fraud, drugs etc spring to most of these immigration officers mind when they see a green passport. Who will blame them? It is a few rotten apples that made it so.

Some people might have sailed through but the fact remains that a Nigeran passport raises a big RED flag when it is presented be it while travelling or as a means of identifiction. You have to prove you are kosher.  They ask all sorts of questions and require everything short of a DNA test.

In some Airport in America, I was asked to take my shoes and socks off, while other passengers walked by. I shold have sued them, but nahhh

dblock:

In some Airport in America, I was asked to take my shoes and socks off, while other passengers walked by. I shold have sued them, but nahhh

In most airports in the US and UK it is standard procedure to take your shoes
and socks off and undergo a security search whilst passing through security.
though not immigration. It has absolutely nothing to do with your passport
or the colour of your skin. It is all a sign of the dangerous times we live in.

Even members of staff at the airports are subject to limited security searches.

You don't get my point. I mean I was subjected to such an act, but white people walked past without any problems. Only Black and Arabs were targeted. It's ridiculous. If I wanted to blow up an Airport I could do it easy, so why do they treat me like a terrorist, is America so Insecure. Scrutinizing young Negro Kids and letting white folks walk scott free.

I take your point, the airport security authorities at that airport
were probably not following procedures properly. I fly a lot in the UK
and I know that the checks here are 100% on everybody, all
travellers.

Afterall the Oklahoma bomber was not black, Arab or Asian.

make i no lie o, everytime i'm going through customs, no matter how much you try not to make your naija passport too obvious,  na lie, the darn green pali is just so conspicuous everyone already knows that yes, here's another one of those damn nigerians. and there's no time i haven't been singled out and handed over for special searching. chei, its so sad what carrying that passport can do to someon'e sense of patriotism. i try to carry it with pride and grace, becasue i know i'm a loyal citizen of my country, not guilty of any wrong doing. the trick is to never let them overhandle you or think they can just ask you whatever. better to stand your ground and be honest in your responses. no shaking like a leaf if you haven't done anything wrong. the customs people have already been programmed to maltreat us. those damn arrogant fools!

Never have and never will.and a nigerian with green pali i am.

I have heard both the good and the bad aspect of having a Nigerian passport, and some of these stories can be very annoying! I have friend that would buy a wallet for their passports just to hide the colour, some even go as far as putting it between two UK passports when passing through immigrations, so as to hide the colour! Personally, i have not heard any problem while travelling with my Nigerian passport, BUT i know that a lot of people get harrassed a lot!

I stick to my passport anyday anytime and i don't just understand why most nigerians lack patriotism. yes i have had tough times when travelling with my green pali but I will not trade it for any other one. in fact i love the disapproving looks on the faces of the immigration officers along with their stupid questions. I just laugh and get on with my life.

Lets have some dignity and self respect and damn all those who give those "crazy" looks just because you are holding a green pali. We are not helping matters and even though it true that our image abroad is "419"-ish. WE ARE NOT ALL LIKE THAT. that green passport may well be one day one of the most sort after.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA!

Green is my Home, Ever ganna be proud of it, I have nice Experience when travelling especially when i never dress like a Drug Barron or Dealer, Appearance always show your manner, Every Body that Dress foolishly and suspicious will always have problems when travelling even with american and E.U Passport.So Decency is what we are talking about,try it, dress decent and you will see how respected you shall be welcomed everywhere you Go, I am Always Boasttful of My Passport,

Hmm,
All these embarassment
Its so weird!
How this be corrected?

HAHAHA!!! I have multiple nationalities. . .
Nigeria, South Africa, Lesotho and EU
Ma Nigerian passport used to cause the MOST problems for me.
So I stopped travelling with it all together except wen
I'm goin to Nigeria on vacation or sumthing.

Here is another story for you that i went through
I was traveling to Costa Rica on vacation and at the air port here in the USA i was marked for special screening after the vacation i was on my way back right before i got on the plane a plain cloths immigration officer from Costa Rica decided to pull me aside and frisk me down. Then i get to Texas and the immigration guy starts talking to me and when i responded (i guess i have an akata accent) he looks me dead in the eyes and says "where did you learn to speak english so well" my girlfriend was right next to me and she had to squeeze my hand because i was about to let him have it for real and i said well i went to school. That was when he caught himself and was like oh i'm so sorry welcome home sir.
I just shook my head because i was targeted because of that fabulous green passport. Oh well i'm not ashamed to let people know that i am Nigerian even though i have a US passport now.

None yet.

I only have an experience where i was being frisked

and i ended up giggling like a goat and they looked at me funny.

MEN,
ANYONE WHO SAYS HE/SHE AS NEVER BIN DISTURBED IS PROBABLY FORMING OR AVE NEVER TRAVELLED BEFORE,EVEN IF THEM NO DISTURB U THE WAY,WEY DEM GO TAKE RECIEVE IS FUCKIN HELL.

hmmmm, I enjoyed reading all these right from the beginning. I have my green passport which I just collected not quite long, that means I have not travelled out of the country before. I wish to travel very soon to any Africa country just to have any Visa on my passport before I will start processing Visa for western countries like USA and UK. My aim is just to visit and not to stay there because I have my job here in Nigeria.

Though Nigeria is bad but I have in mind that whatever harrassment I may have I will stick to my green passport. I don't have to fear anything in as much as I don't have skeleton in my cupboard. I don't have to fear in as much I know that my mind is pure.

friday ogunluya: they need crutches and walking stick to fix them up
vikiviko: they ve used several

friday ogunluya: that country need prayer
friday ogunluya: that is just the million word

friday ogunluya: do u know how bad they look onto we nigerians that reside here in canada

friday ogunluya: on the caribana festival day

vikiviko: they treat u guys badly

friday ogunluya: ppl were so happy flaging up their country flag

friday ogunluya: but its a shame that i only saw a guy with green white green

friday ogunluya: though i was proud but never the less i felt so bad about the current situation
vikiviko: no place like home

friday ogunluya: but i tell them that no matter what am still a nigeria and i have nothing to hide fromyou dude

friday ogunluya: no place like home
friday ogunluya: but they've tarnished our reputation with the so-called corruption
vikiviko: yes
friday ogunluya: do u know that i detained for about 2 to 3 hrs in Holland durign my transit?
vikiviko: y
friday ogunluya: just b'cos the green pasport

vikiviko: crazy

friday ogunluya: we are about 8 nigerians and i was the only one they lfet but i dont know what happen to the rest guyz
vikiviko: serious

friday ogunluya: probably stil checking on their documents
vikiviko: wow

friday ogunluya: we have bad record at every point of enrty now
friday ogunluya: infact the word is that we're now like a Virus in their country, lol
vikiviko: its really bad

friday ogunluya: where we have our own destination and wealth
friday ogunluya: but the govt are so bad that cannot even provide for her citizen

My first experience was in August 2004, i was traveling to Sweden to attend a 4 day conference, had already missed a day.

I was delayed at the airport for 3 hours , they contacted the organizers who came to pick me.
They were surprised that the organizers paid for my ticket and other incentives.

The painful part was i carrying an international press i d from a U S media, they interrogated and delayed me.
People were just looking at me with scorn .
But its great being a Nigerian.
They sometimes treat with scorn , other times with respect.

In Cairo an Egyptian gave 50 dollars just because i was a Nigerian , we traveled tOGETHer from bANJUL.

The way you are dressed dont always work oh Guy !I think it is more of a psychological thing with this Immigration guys,I was going through heathrow with my jeans and shirt and the guy right behind me was all suited up,Infact my boxes were not opened,He just asked me If I packed everything myself and I said Yes and He smiled at me and said you can go funny in it withg all the stories that I have heard about heathrow,You need to see the searching on this other suited up guy,I pity for am sef that day,infact He was asked to remove his suit and stuffs!Maybe I was lucky and I was still carrying the same Nigerian Passport.

An alarm rings in the heads of Immigration Officers when they see a Nigerian passport. It is like red Alert!. 

It's all relative I think. I have travelled within Europe with my Nigerian passport and have had little or no troubles. I feel that one's demeanor and style of communication helps to ease the immigration clearance process. I usually look the Immigration Officer square in the eyes, speak in a very confident, clear tone and am always dressed casually (just a personal preference). I also think with the new Nigerian biometric passport, the international community would begin to trust in the credibility of the Nigerian passport as a dependable identifying document.

International travel is very interesting, my naija pali experience was in 2003 returning to
yankee by air france connecting my next flight in france wahala come happen. the guy man used
some instrument to validate my green card, when i said i was a student baraged of questions followed.
where do u live in the US, which school, student Id how did you pay for your ticket, anyhow sha i no fit vex
because the boobs size of one of the officer nearly poped out of her shirt her ekebe set die. so it was hard to
channel by anger and lust together, until my name was annouced over the speaker. I nearly panic small, but cold
no catch me.

Looking back now, I said I was a student however I was dressed like a love-vendor, blinging like say tommorow no dey, dress pants
no hand luggage, but now make them no try me last trip may 08 i just fly my molue ATL to LAG no wahala, in all sha
be ready for the unexpected shine your eyes if not one guy fit finger your butt hole say him dey search.

i think people are just scared of Nigeria because we are an intelligent set of people.

went to Sophia(Bulgaria) last month, and the first thing i was asked is why okocha stopped playing

i was like what?/ it was so funny cause i was wearing the new super eagles jersey.
that was all i was asked no harassment.

All was in Copenhagen last summer with friends, every kept asking me if i was a footballer

i also think the harassment has to do with your composure,comportment and dressing.

I need ur help prince84

No experience but the way I see how they look etc to sum peeps aint necessary

where do i start from?is it the first time i landed Schipol airport(jjc)was being asked all sorts of nonsense questions and i was taken to there office to scan my resident permit at the end of the day i was told sorry i was only doing my job.can u imagine! or when i was going to UK en route same Schipol airport but this time around they collected my passport and these are the questions they were asking me
1.how much did u buy ur passport?
2.when did u first traveled out of your country?
3.what is your date of birth?
4.when is your passport going to expire?
5.where did u obtained ur passport
&.final,pls sir can u come and sign for me here to confirm your signature(can u see the JAMB questions because i am traveling) and at that time i had just 1min to connect my flight, i got angry but still what i got was we are doing our job,but i think is the custom there but everything is a lie.Lot of people with fake passprt,fake visa and those carrying drugs still pass through thesame schipol airport free and fair.nonsense