The Problem with British Visa

It must be said that the British government has been most unfair to Nigerians in terms of visa application. Hitherto, it has been series of punitive measures against Nigerians, just because they want to get British visa. The cost has always been a sticking point in all this, and the suffering Nigerians go through is another painful part of this paradigm.

The average visa fee is beyond 100 pounds depending on the number of years in your application in addition to other numerous boutique fees which include executive lounge which was really non-executive. All I saw on the tray was N100 popcorn with torn chairs and N49,000 collected for less than 15 minutes of work.

If you can’t afford to pay that, then you suffer and stay on the queue, and I tell you it is worse than a rugby game.

The second part of this game is the priority package which they will charge 1000 pounds. But the sad part is despite your priority payment you are not likely to get the visa soon. I interviewed a lady that told the story of how she waited for 30 working days to get a visa after paying for priority.

I feel the British government, and the UK High Commission are just out to collect as much as they can from Nigerians in the name of visa processing.

It always looks as though the British are doing us a favour and we should be glad that we are going to the UK as we are seen as lesser mortals.

I don’t know when this never ending “squid game” the British government plays with Nigerians on visa fee will end. At some point they even mooted the idea of a guarantee fee that Nigerians will pay to ensure they return home. The British government should understand that Nigerians are not animals and we should be treated as humans. Why is it possible to get a British visa from Dubai in less than 10 days and from Nigeria it takes a lifetime? We deserve better and more needs to be done. I will like to call for a review of British visa fees and more efficiency in the visa processing system.

Rufai Oseni, rufaioseni@gmail.com