- UAE government doesn’t mandate applicant to pay N640K non-refundable fee
- DV hub website is not affiliated with the UAE government
- General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs is the only legitimate portal
- Independent researcher says DV hub an initiative of Nigeria’s government
Nigeria’s government may be the ones behind the non-refundable fee of N640,000 and a $10,000 minimum bank balance for a Nigerian to obtain a UAE tourist visa, clarification by the UAE’s Department of Economy and Tourism has revealed.
According to an official of the Middle East country, the charges and conditions were strange to the United Arab Emirates.
The document verification number (DVN) to obtain a tourist visa was also described as ‘illegal” by the UAE authority, saying the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs (GDRFAD) is the only legitimate platform to submit an application, which also contains the application fee that ranges between 200-300 Dirhams (N60,000 – 90,000) depending on the stay.
An official of the Middle East government has also clarified that the DV hub website that is being promoted by Nigeria’s government is not in any way affiliated with the UAE government.
Backstory
There has been a three-year travel ban from the UAE on Nigeria until Monday, July 15, 2024, when the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, said the ban had been lifted, listing monetary conditions as part of the resolution Nigeria reached with the Middle East country.
According to him, tourist visa applicants from Nigeria would be required to apply through the DV hub to obtain a document verification number (DVN), which costs a non-refundable N640,000 excluding VAT and visa fee for the applicant.
But TheCable revealed that the DV hub – documentverificationhub.ae – was unknown when an official of UAE was contacted for clarification.
Nigeria had defined the DV hub as “a specialised service designed to authenticate and verify documentation essential for visa applications to the UAE,” which UAE official denied.
Requirements for UAE tourist visa from Nigeria
According to information obtained from GDRFAD, the document an applicant needs include:
- Personal photo
- Valid medical insurance within the UAE
- A travel ticket
- A copy of the applicant’s passport (which must not have less than six months of validity
- A tourist visa application fee of 200-300 Dirhams (N60,000 – N90,000) depending on the stay
The UAE government also disclosed that visa applications are done through GDRFAD and not DV hub as being propounded by Nigeria’s government.
Independent researcher says DV Hub an initiative of Nigeria’s government
Before the official denial from the UAE government, the founder of West African Weekly, David Hundeyin raised alarm over the authenticity of the URL shared by Nigeria’s official.
While the Minister of Information shares a DV hub with the TLD “ae”, Hundeyin disclosed that “UAE government websites all end with the “.gov.ae” URL. This website is simply “.ae” which means it is not an official UAE government website.”
A deep search also revealed that the URL that ends with “ae” was hiding the identity of the owner by using a paid proxy.
The investigative journalist concludes that, “This website is not affiliated with the UAE government and the middleman operating it appears to only be active in African jurisdictions.
“My educated guess is that there is a private company behind all of this – possibly linked to someone in Aso Rock or the Foreign Ministry – which has quietly positioned itself to rip Nigerians off.”
There is no official clarification from Nigeria’s government at the time of publication while Nigerians continue to ask, “Who is the owner of the DV hub and why did the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris posted it on his official handle?”