Changes in Immigration Law, Employment & Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria

In light of the efforts of the Nigeria Immigration Service to improve the country's ease of doing business rating and the launch of the Immigration Regulations 2017 (the “Regulations”), this article aims to discuss the evolution of immigration laws and policies in Nigeria, especially as it affects foreign and local investments.  

This article is aims to showcase the evolution of Nigeria immigration laws and regulations, with particular reference to labour matters and the ease of doing business in the country as it concerns both foreign and local investors.

One of the governing regulations for immigration matters in the country is the new Immigration Regulations 2017 (the “Regulations”) launched on 20th of March 2017 aims to consolidate existing immigration regulations and provide a one stop reference on immigration rules in Nigeria. The Regulation aids the implementation of the Immigration Act of 2015 which replaced the Immigration Act of 1963.

The Regulations has taken a major step forward in dealing with modern immigration realities. The provisions of the regulation are expected to fast-track the ease of doing business in Nigeria. Some of the general changes introduced are stated as follows:

1. The introduction of short-term business visa issued at the point of entry into Nigeria (visa on arrival). This is subject to the Comptroller General (CG)’s pre-approval. Visa on arrival was originally issued to high net-worth individuals and investors, but it is now available to all business visitors as stated in Section 9 of the Regulation.

2. Introduction of new visa’s and permit. In addition to the visa’s already in place, the business permit and travel permit, among others, the regulation introduced new permits. Section 5(7) of the Regulation authorises the comptroller General to issue a permanent resident permit to a foreign national who has imported an annual minimum threshold of capital over a period of time. Section 14 of the Regulation also provides for the granting of residence permit to foreign nationals who are married to Nigerians and to serve as multiple entry permits irrespective of the class of visa they possess.

3. The initial permit for a transit visa is for a maximum period of 7 days. However, this could be extended for a further period of 14 days from the original date of entry subject to approval by an officer not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Immigration II. As provided in Section 9 of the Regulation.

4. Section 8 of the regulation provides that a temporary work permit (TWP) can now be obtained without prerequisite for an expatriate quota.

5. Contained in Section 22 of the Regulation the National Immigration Service (NIS) is obligated to maintain the registry of immigrant which contains information and particulars as the comptroller General may direct. In implementing this registry, the NIS has implemented an Electronic Passenger Automated Registration System (e-PARS) which is a proper database of migrants arriving and the departing the country through the international airport.

6. Digitization of the residence permit “combined expatriate residence permit and aliens card (CERPAC). The Nigeria Immigration Service in improving and digitizing the CERPAC introduced a new CERPAC which comes with enhanced machine readable security features, which enables Nigeria Immigration Service to tackle some of the security challenges in Nigeria and provide a platform to account for the location and activities of every foreigner in Nigeria. The new CERPAC is also more durable and is valid for two years as against the one-year validity of the old card.

7.      The Act imposes stiffer penalties for violations of its terms such that where an expatriate fails to comply with the provisions of the regulations shall be liable on conviction to a term of three (3) years imprisonment or fine of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (US$1,500.00) or both.

8.      The Regulations provide that a body corporate that fails to renew the expatriate quota or render its expatriate monthly returns commits an offence and is liable to a fine of Three Million Naira (US$9,000.00).

Employment and Labour Matters

Employment law in Nigeria is stretched from a variety of statutes that provides the framework, and is also greatly influenced by case law. Some of the most relevant laws include:

1.      Labour Act, Cap L1 LFN 2004 (mainly covering unskilled and manual workers)

2.      Employee’s Compensation Act (repealed the Workmen’s Compensation Act)

3.      Immigration Act, 2015 (repealed Immigration Act, Cap. I1, LFN, 2004)

4.      United Nations Protocol on Smuggling of Migrants

Foreigners working in Nigeria are subject to immigration approvals, controls, permissions and permits. The Immigration Act 2015 (“2015 Act”) and other amended laws largely revised the rules with respect to issuance of work permits and expatriate quotas, and imposed strict penalties on companies and foreign employees for non-compliance. Some of the key changes so far include the following:

• Introduction of appropriate penalties in respect of Immigration offences: Under the obsolete law, there was a lot of violations either because of the loopholes in the law or the penalties stipulated were almost immaterial. The 2015 Act  However, enforcement still remains an issue.
• Under the Regulations, one of the conditions for the expatriate quota grant is the employment of at least two (2) local employees to understudy the foreign national that fills the role. This would increase local participation. This move by the government is to the effect that the Nigerian economy also benefits from the wealth of knowledge of the expatriates.
• An executive order signed by Nigeria’s President Buhari on Monday, 5 February 2018, “prohibits the ministry of interior from giving visas to foreign workers whose skills are readily available in Nigeria.” This order is laudable as it would help to protect the local industries from unfair competition.

 However, there still remains certain challenges:

•  The executive order of 5 February, 2018, could make it more difficult for foreigners to work in the country. and it further contradicts the provision of the Immigration Regulation Act which makes room for more visas for expatriates to aid their influx into the country, thereby reducing expatriate participation. Although this order was made in a move to encourage local participation and protect local industries, it could be said to be counterproductive.
• The executive order also tells government agencies to “give preference to Nigerian companies and firms in the award of contracts.” This order is to further help protect the local industries.
• The Immigration Act is vague with a few loopholes, especially in respect to the renewal of the business permit by expatriates. It doesn’t specify a duration for the validity of a business permit, but mandates its renewal.

Ease of Doing Business and Other Administrative Reforms

In ranking countries by the ease of doing business, the world bank generally does not consider immigration and emigration, however, the Ease of Doing Business Council in Nigeria includes it as one of its home-grown indicators. Thus, the following have been the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council and the Ease of Doing Business Council;

• A 48-hour visa processing timeline across missions abroad and 48-hour electronic visa on arrival has been implemented to enhances transparency and efficiency in the movement, exit and entry of people into the country.
• Furthermore, there has been the harmonization of 4 forms on arrival into one form by the Nigerian Immigration Service to reduce stress of paperwork.
• A cashless policy in all airports for payment of Government charges has also been implemented for multiple and convenient automated payment options for travellers at point of charge. The alternative payment platforms for passport applications provided for in collaboration with GTBank include POS, USSD code or ATM Cards.
• The use of Passenger Service Charge (PSC) Stickers has also been stopped to enable passengers board local flights without an additional layer of check by FAAN at departure.
• The NIS also opened 28 more offices across the country to enable foreigners obtain residence permits Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Cards (CERPAC) more easily.
• Passport re-issuance due to change of names was also decentralized to remove the inconvenience of travelling to the headquarters in Abuja.
• Visas on were also extended to business travelers and high net-worth investors coming for urgent business and visitors from countries without Nigerian consulates. Notably, provisions for Visa on Arrival has also been made for Africans who are only required to have their bio-metrics captured. 

Other administrative reforms discussed below have been made outside the aegis of the PEBEC.

The Nigeria Immigration Service, in February 2019, inaugurated a personnel Training Resource Centre to combat illegal immigration. Subsequently, NIS rolled out new passports with mandatory National Identity Number in June.

In 2018, there was the commencement of the migrant registration process and the expected issuance of bio-metric identity cards to migrants premised on the provisions of Regulation 22 of the Immigration Regulations, 2017 which requires the creation of a migrant registry wherein the data of every migrant is to be domiciled. The programme is tagged the National Bio-metric and Foreigner Registration exercise.

Presidential approval was given in 2018 for the enhancement of quality, 10-year validity and improvement on the security features of the passport as well as ease of issuance process to eliminate touting and reduce waiting time. The expected outcome of these are;

• a new security and enhanced Passport, with poly-carbonate technology to enhance the quality of passports
• ten-year validity booklet that would reduce visits to Passport Offices for renewals
• automation of issuance process to enhance transparency and address touting/middlemen
• introduction of Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) that will track application
• Convention Travel Documents were rolled out in 2018 in compliance with the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees which Nigeria is a signatory.

The achievements and failures of the PEBEC and the NIS are reflected in the ranking of Nigeria by the World Bank as 146 of 190 countries on the ease of doing business scale. Lastly, the overall performance of the Service in Visa Administration in 2018 was impressive. There was a 54% improvement in the number of visas issued in 2018 compared to 2017. A total of one hundred and seventy-seven thousand one hundred and sixty-eight (177,168) Nigerian Visas were issued in 2018, while one hundred and fourteen thousand, nine hundred and fifty-eight (114,958) were issued in 2017.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, it is clear that as much as there have been giant strides in immigration regulations and control, there is more to be done especially in improving the country’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index, for benefit of domestic investors, foreign direct and portfolio investors.

Contributors:

Tomide Adeoye

Tayo Fabusiwa

Nene Edechuku

Jewel Adeliyi

Joseph Elijah