Nigerian President Grants 6-month Grace for Illegal Migrants to be Registered
The federal government has given irregular migrants six months to get themselves duly registered.
Illegal migrants in Nigeria have been given a period of six months to be accredited as permitted residents in the country by the Nigeria Immigration Service for e-registration as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The order was given by President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, at the unveiling and commissioning of the Migrant ‘e-Registration and the Passport Data Processing Centres in Abuja on Friday, July 13.
President Buhari said that the registration process, which will be done without any sort of payment, is the federal government’s initiative targeted at capturing the data of citizens and migrants who reside in the country, Leadership reports. He also explained that the move will be instrumental to the government’s achievement of internal security and national development.
More to this, according to the president, is that while the Migrant e-Registration Centre will gather and store data of foreigners in the country, the Passport Application Processing Centre on the other hand will provide improved issuance of passport and eradicate criminality in compliance with the federal government’s Ease of Doing Business policy. Buhari said: “It is on this note therefore that I am declaring a six-month amnesty period for irregular migrants already in the country to submit themselves to the Nigeria Immigration Service for the purpose of this registration which will be carried out without any payment or penalties.”
He added that in line with the local content act, the federal government has approved a detailed passport reform to aid Nigeria’s identity management. He said: “I have directed that the production of passport be domesticated in Nigeria to build the capacity of indigenous firms and enable seamless service delivery.
This must be done with care so that the process is not interrupted. “The federal government under my watch will continue to support MDAs that have programmes and projects that will add value to governance and enhance national security. Therefore, I see these two major projects as laudable, timely and in synergy with the aspirations of this administration.”
For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.
