The Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS) has concluded arrangements to start online issuance of Visas and Passport by December I5, 2006.
This was made known on Tuesday, by the chairman of Socket Works Limited, Mr. Alloy Chive, at the stakeholder�s sensitisation meeting on “E-Immigration” project held in Abuja.
Socket Works Ltd. will collaborate with NIS, for the E-Immigration Project.
Speaking at the meeting the Controller General Immigration (CGI) Mr. Chukwumah Udeh, said that the idea of E-Immigration was informed by the corrupt practices associated with the Immigration Services that he blamed on the analogue system still in use in the Immigration Service.
The CGI stated that the idea that was aimed at automating the entire services of the immigration services was conceived last year and has been approved by the federal government.
Udeh addressed the fear being expressed by some that the project may fail “the E-Immigration project would not be tied to budget approval; rather it is a private-public partnership where our consultants will remain with us for the next six years”.
The CGI however expressed hope that the project would succeed since according to him the European Union has expressed its desire to train Staff of the Immigration as part of its contribution towards the Project.
Chive said that the project would help to improve the image of the country abroad, improve the revenue of the federal government and avert the problems of fraud and delay associated with the issuance of visas and other travel documents.
He also disclosed that, from December, when the Project would have commenced, all immigration payments would be done on line using prepaid cards and debit cards.
Speaking further on the benefits of the project Chive said that “the E-Immigration will help to monitor immigrants coming into the country; who they are, when and why they came into the country and when they left”.