{"id":8936,"date":"2025-10-01T06:44:53","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T06:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/?p=8936"},"modified":"2025-10-01T06:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T06:45:02","slug":"immigration-begins-crackdown-on-visa-overstayers-as-amnesty-window-closes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/2025\/10\/01\/immigration-begins-crackdown-on-visa-overstayers-as-amnesty-window-closes\/","title":{"rendered":"Immigration begins crackdown on visa overstayers as amnesty window closes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"grid-content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"content-box-wrapper content-area\">\n<div class=\"entry-content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"entry-content-inner-wrapper\">\n<p>The Nigeria Immigration Service NIS has announced the commencement of nationwide enforcement against foreigners who have overstayed their visas or violated immigration conditions, following the expiration of the Federal Government\u2019s visa amnesty initiative.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container adsense margin-top margin-bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad-container-inner\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The amnesty programme, which was introduced on July 5, 2025, allowed foreign nationals with expired immigration documents to regularize their status without penalties. The window officially closed at midnight on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n<div class=\"amp-video-docked-placeholder-background i-amphtml-fill-content\">\n<div class=\"amp-video-docked-placeholder-icon amp-large amp-rtl\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"amp-wp-3b0803b\" data-amp-original-style=\"left: 10px; position: fixed; bottom: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a statement issued on Tuesday just minutes before midnight, the Service Public Relations Officer, ACI Akinsola Akinlabi, said enforcement operations would begin on October 1, targeting holders of expired Visa on Arrival VoA, expired single or multiple-entry short visit and business visas, as well as individuals with expired Comprehensive Expatriate Residence Permits and Automated Cards CERPAC.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign nationals found in violation will face sanctions, including removal from the country, payment of penalties, or restrictions from future entry.<\/p>\n<p>According to the NIS, the penalty framework includes: Less than three months\u2019 overstay: removal, payment of $15 per day, or a two-year entry ban.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree months to one year: removal, payment of $15 per day, or a five-year entry ban.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne year and above: removal and a 10-year or permanent entry ban\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The agency stressed that the move was aimed at ensuring lawful migration, safeguarding national security, and promoting transparency in Nigeria\u2019s immigration system.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-container remove-pseudo\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-inner\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-box-wrapper sidebar-area primary-sidebar\">\n<aside id=\"block-37\" class=\"widget widget_block\">\n<section class=\"section section-fullwidth alignfull alignfull wp-block-dx-section amp-wp-6b727c6\" data-amp-original-style=\"padding: 0 0 0 0\">\n<div class=\"row row-fullwidth __no-gap\"><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"content-box-wrapper content-area below-content-sidebar\">\n<aside id=\"block-34\" class=\"widget widget_block\">\n<div class=\"ad-container adsense mobile-only margin-top margin-bottom \">\n<div class=\"ad-container-inner\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nigeria Immigration Service NIS has announced the commencement of nationwide enforcement against foreigners who have overstayed their visas or violated immigration conditions, following the expiration of the Federal Government\u2019s visa amnesty initiative. The&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8938,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8936\/revisions\/8938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beadysword.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}