Nigeria Visa now impossible en route ?

[chris.perjalanan]

Hello folks !

I am currently travelling down the westcoast of africa on my classic vespa scooter ( primavera et3 125cc, 1980 ) !

Hanging out in Bamako at the moment I am experiencing massive problems with getting my visa for nigeria. The ambassade tells you its just possible to issue visas to residents all others have to get the visa in the country where they live, so I applied for malien residentship which worked out well.

Now they tell me I have to be resident for 6 month, have an appointment there tomorrow with two malian friends to explain my situation having left germany 5 month ago maybe we can find a solution.

Does anyone have experiences with actually getting the visa in Burkina, Niger, Togo or Benin ??

Found an article about the topic :

Nigeria soon to roll out new visa policy | New Nigerian Politics

Will let you guys know how the meeting tomorrow works out.

cheers,

Chris

[roamingyak]

Sorry to hear that. Ring up the Accra embassy, don't explain your in Mali, and politely push to see what they say. They have always been quite corrupt where anybody could get anything if they paid, and may be reluctant to change quickly.

The linked article is long but says nothing about what it is proposing to change too. Though the fact that it is all linked in with various prison services doesn't bode well. I guess at the moment Nigeria gets virtually nothing from having the odd overlander pass through, but risks a lot of bad press when one of us gets kidnapped or popped off (or even has a fatal accident).

The border staff were very well trained when I passed through last year....

Good luck!!!

[Desert Driver]

I got my visa in Lome and it was easy, had in 2 hours and that was back in January. I would try there if I were you

Ben

[roamingyak]

Re: Lome, that is new this year if it is a general rule as last year it was not possible in Togo or Benin I believe. Lome is good for Gabon and DRC also but will leave you with time restrictions for the rest of the route.

Good luck!

[chris.perjalanan]

I will get an answer on monday, maximum tuesday. There has been a "communication problem" with abuja, let you guys know what happens.

The new regulations came out end of january, you guys where probably very lucky. I know of a guy who got his visa weeks ago in Nimaey but that was with loads of begging, time and extra money ! He passed by north nigeria at the time of the riots, lucky he came out there alive ...


ride save.

chris

[Ronnie79]

How did it work out, did you get your Nigerian visa? I'm planning a trip from South Africa to Benin. Is it possible en route?

[Desert Driver]

hey Ronnie,

I think we met at the desert rose in Ghana over the new year.. anyway i think Nigeria is a country that you will always be able to "arrange" a visa for! I visited the northern part, Jos, Bukaru etc and encountered no problems on my journey.

A lot has been talked about on here of nigeria but I found it to be the friendliest and least corrupt country of all.

[Ronnie79]

Originally Posted by Desert Driver

hey Ronnie,

I think we met at the desert rose in Ghana over the new year.. anyway i think Nigeria is a country that you will always be able to "arrange" a visa for! I visited the northern part, Jos, Bukaru etc and encountered no problems on my journey.

A lot has been talked about on here of nigeria but I found it to be the friendliest and least corrupt country of all.

Aha, yes. =) Hello!

Sounds great!

[davidmarcus]

Originally Posted by Ronnie79

How did it work out, did you get your Nigerian visa? I'm planning a trip from South Africa to Benin. Is it possible en route?

Yes, it is possible - I've managed to get Nigerian visas en-route in Bangui, Central Africa Republic; Limbe, Cameroon; and Libreville, Gabon.

All of them initially said no, but after begging them and explaining I was crossing africa on my bike or in my vehicle - and got them OUT of their office to come and look at said bike/vehicle - they agreed.

Embassies that refused outright were:
Windhoek, Namibia;
Lusaka, Zambia;
Luanda, Angola;
Kinshasa, DRC;
Brazzaville, Congo.

Good luck and PM me if you have any specific questions on the route or visas for other countries.

D