{"id":64235,"date":"2025-04-14T13:44:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T13:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=64235"},"modified":"2025-04-14T13:44:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T13:44:57","slug":"fg-overhauls-immigration-policy-imposes-tougher-regulations-on-expatriates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/04\/14\/fg-overhauls-immigration-policy-imposes-tougher-regulations-on-expatriates\/","title":{"rendered":"FG Overhauls Immigration Policy, Imposes Tougher Regulations on expatriates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>By Ifeoluwa Odunayo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Federal Government has announced a sweeping overhaul of its immigration policy, imposing tougher regulations on expatriates in a bid to tighten border control and attract genuine investors.<\/p>\n<p>Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo revealed on Sunday that the new measures will take effect from May 1, with full enforcement set for August 1, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Among the critical changes is a daily fine of fifteen dollars for expatriates who overstay their visas.<\/p>\n<p>Those who remain beyond six months will face a five-year entry ban, while overstays beyond one year will attract a ten-year ban.<\/p>\n<p>In a move to modernise the system, the government will introduce automated landing and exit cards, ensure electronic visa processing within forty-eight hours, and enforce compulsory annual comprehensive insurance for expatriates.<\/p>\n<p>The expatriate quota framework has been revised to reflect current realities, and an automated CERPAC will now be linked with Interpol, although officials assured that processing fees will remain unchanged.<\/p>\n<p>Significantly, employers will bear responsibility for any infractions committed by their foreign staff, a step the government believes will enhance compliance.<\/p>\n<p>Minister Tunji-Ojo stressed that these reforms aim to wipe out corruption, improve data accuracy, and create an environment conducive for legitimate business.<\/p>\n<p>He added that a three-month grace period will be granted for expatriates to regularise their status before enforcement kicks in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese steps are about safeguarding our economy and ensuring that only those who genuinely wish to contribute to our development remain within our borders,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement marks one of the most comprehensive immigration reforms in recent years, reflecting the government\u2019s renewed focus on security and economic stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ifeoluwa Odunayo The Federal Government has announced a sweeping overhaul of its immigration policy, imposing tougher regulations on expatriates in a bid to tighten border control and attract genuine investors. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo revealed on Sunday that the new measures will take effect from May 1, with full enforcement set for August 1, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":64236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64237,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64235\/revisions\/64237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}