PROPER TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Prior to my post on legal ways of leaving Nigeria, someone asked me the difference between visa and passport. Here's the simple answer.

The global standard of travelling which covers Immigration forces around the glob.

Passport is a small paper booklet which contains person's personal information and other papers attached for endorsement. You can only obtain one passport of a country and once your data is captured, you can only renew it in case of any other reasons approved. Only citizens are eligible. In Nigeria, for instance, the common standard passport for everyone is issued at any Immigration State Command close to you, not necessarily your indigene. And it is valid for 5 years.

Visa is a permission granted to someone who wishes to visit another country. This is an easy process. You must obtain a passport then go straight to the embassy of the country you want to visit and apply for visa. There's stipulated amount of some non-refunded money attached. You can also apply through an agent. Most visas are valid for only 3 months and can be extended by the Immigration of the particular country if one wishes to stay longer. But you should have a reasonable reason or purpose before they grand you a visa.

But if you want to visit any country within West Africa, you don't need a visa; you only need either a passport or ECOWAS/CEDEAO. These countries are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. Apart from these countries, you must obtain a visa. Even if you're lucky to find a way to enter their country, they'll repatriate you. And may not allow you to enter their country forever.

Passport is digitally captured while ECOWAS/CEDEAO is handwritten. To avoid fake passport, you should never make a mistake of applying through an agent because your data must be captured at Immigration office. Once you're a citizen, you're eligible. No follow up. Once you follow the normal legal channels, no Immigration of any country can harass or hinder you from movements. Remember, those countries are not like Nigeria, they decisively deal with immigrants.

For more details on this, you can visit Nigeria Immigration Service website.

Thank you.