Thailand Visa For Nigerian Passport Holders (NDLEA, Tips & What No One Tells You)

Thailand is one place I have ALWAYS wanted to visit. The stunning nature, the food, the weather, the culture – who WOULDN’T want to visit?! But if there’s one thing that always put me off, it was the visa process. If you have a Nigerian passport, getting a Thai visa is a headache!

Not only is the process long, it can also be really abstract and confusing as well. Before I started this process I hadn’t even heard of a lot of the requirements they asked for. But luckily for me, I knew a few people who had applied for Thai visas successfully and they were able to guide me along the way. And so here I am, paying that forward to all of you!

Before You Start

I’ve made a whole video on this so I recommend you watch that first. This blog post was made to supplement the video.

And here are a few important documents that I reference throughout my post and my video as well:

Step One: Obtain NDLEA visa clearance certificate

This is a requirement for Nigerian citizens only (SMH).

The certificate must be issued by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency of Nigeria (NDLEA) not more than one year from the date of application.

All applications for visa clearance at NDLEA should be made in person. In Lagos, the NDLEA Head office is located at 4, Shaw Road (Onilegbale Road), Ikoyi, Lagos.

*NDLEA is open from 10am to 3pm but I recommend you get there before 2pm to be safe.

NDLEA Requirments (also linked above)

All visa clearance applicants must possess the following (I go into a lot more detail on each of these requirements in my video):

1. Evidence of Business Status/Occupation
2. Evidence of business link overseas/Admission letter/Invitation letter *not necessary for tourist visas
3. Payment of Ten Thousand (N10,000) Naira, non-refundable should be made in favour of the Accountant General (Federal Sub-Treasury) CBN Account No: 2000002095. Evidence of payment should be brought to NDLEA for issuance of FGN treasury receipt. (Visa Clearance Code: 1000054000)
4. Photocopy of Tax Clearance Certificate
5. Certificate of Local Government/State of Origin
6. A file jacket (NOT PLASTIC FILE)
7. Six passport photographs (no glasses allowed)
8. Coloured photocopy of datapage and first 3 pages of traveling passport
9. Typed application letter addressed to the CHAIRMAN/ CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NDLEA titled APPLICATION FOR CLEARANCE by traveller.
10. In writing, state who is sponsoring the trip, how and the source of finance. Sponsor must write a letter of sponsorship with their passport photograph attached.
11. Original copy of the statement of account of the sponsor, signed, stamped and dated by a bank
12. Production of two (2) guarantors for the interview(father/mother, brother/sister, wife/husband guarantors not allowed) NON-NIGERIANS ARE ALSO NOT ALLOWED
13. Married women should bring letter of approval to travel from their husband with his passport photograph attached
14. School certificate result
15. Datapage of international passport or National ID card of the guarantors *my guarantors were also asked for their passport photographs
16. Evidence of precious business transactions *not necessary for tourist visas

NDLEA Guarantors

All applicants must submit two guarantors in person at the NDLEA office for interviews. Guarantors can be a civil servant/employee of a recognised corporation, a professional or a businessman or woman:

IF A CIVIL SERVANT/EMPLOYEES OF RECOGNISED CORPORATION:

1. He/she must be a senior civil servant from GL 10 and above, or management staff of recognised corporation.
2. He/she must bring a letter of introduction from employer/ministry
3. He/she must write a letter of commitment to act as guarantor
4. He/she must produce photocopies of identity card and letter of employment or promotion. *my guarantors were also asked for their passport photographs

IF A PROFESSIONAL:

1. He/she must produce photocopies of his/her certificate of qualification
2. He/she must write a letter of commitment to act as guarantor

IF A BUSINESSMAN/WOMAN:

1. He/she must write a letter of commitment to act as a guarantor
2. He/she must produce any of the following: (a) photocopies of certificate of incorporation and form C07 stating names and address of Directors of Memorandum of Association and (b) evidence of landed prosperities – C of O

Please note:

• The wording of your letters must be EXACTLY as shown in the guarantor letter template
• A guarantor can only guarantee one applicant at at a time
• Original documents must be submitted for sighting
• Applicants original passport must be submitted for sighting

Once you have submitted all our documents and had your guarantor interview you need to leave at least 3 weeks for verification. During the verification process, you should expect NDLEA officers to visit your (and your guarantors) home and work place to confirm that everything you submitted checks out. Once they’re satisfied with their investigation, you’ll be issued with an NDLEA visa clearance certificate.

Step Two: Collate all your other visa requirements

I’ve already included the official visa checklist above for you to download. Please read through it carefully as there is a lot of key information. Here is everything I personally submitted with my application:

Current passport and previous passport

Your current passport must be valid for at least 6 months from your date of arrival in Thailand. If for some reason you do not have your previous passport, you’ll need to submit a a police report on your lost passport as well.

Completed application form and passport photographs

Here is a link to the application form on the Thai Embassy website. You will need to fill it out (depending on the browser you use you should be able to type directly onto the form from that link).

The visa checklist states that one original application form and an additional three copies are required. You will also need to attach four photographs, taken within the last six months, to every one of those application forms (both original and copies). However, at the embassy one of my forms were returned to me.

Original copy of police clearance certificate

A police clearance certificate proves that you have no criminal record. Luckily this is very straightforward document to get. I applied in person at the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters, Alagbon Street Ikoyi.

Once you pay the fee (I believe the official fee is N6,000 but I paid N8,000 to an officer to “help” me) I was given a simple application form to fill. After which an officer took my fingerprints and attached my passport photograph to my form. About an hour later, I was issued a police clearance certificate.

6 months bank statements

You can get these from any bank, just make sure that your bank balance is more than enough to cover your trip.

Proof of accomodation

I use Booking.com for all of my hotel reservations and have never had an issue with them. Pretty much every single hotel you could imagine is on there, plus it’s very completely priced and easy to use. If you haven’t used them please use my referral link to get 10% off your first booking and help me fund my future travels:)

Reservation of return air ticket

This was a bit confusing because the visa checklist calls for a confirmed plane ticket with proof of payment. However, I didn’t feel comfortable with paying for a ticket when I did not have my visa yet. So I made a flight reservation on Travelstart and submitted that instead.

Proof of employment

A reference letter from your employer or company registration documents will suffice here.

Yellow fever card

This is not listed as an official document to submit on the visa checklist, but it is stated in the fine print that you will need to submit your yellow fever card on arrival in Thailand. Luckily, I already had mine on me. If you don’t, please make sure you get one from a certified hospital or government office and always keep it with your passport.

Travel Itinerary

Tourists are required to submit a travel itinerary indicating their travel programs, places to visit, and other relevant documents e.g. tour package reservation, entrance e-tickets. I am a self-professed itinerary queen and so I already had one. I didn’t make any tour reservations or purchase any tickets but I was very detailed about what I was planning to do on every single day.

Document Checklist

The visa checklist I listed (and keep on mentioning) above is a visa requirement so make sure you fill that, sign it and include it in your application.

Step Three: Submit Your Visa Application

Now that you have ALL your visa documents (well done you!), you are finally ready to apply. You can either apply in person at the Royal Thai Embassy in Abuja or you can get someone else (a family member, close friend of agent) to submit it for you (the Thai embassy does not take biometrics so you’re able to have a third party submit your application for you).

The Royal Thai Embassy is located at 24 Tennesse Crescent, Off Panama Street, Maitama, Abuja.

• Visa Submission hours :Mon-Fri 9.00-11.0
• Visa collection hours :Mon-Fri 14.00-16.00

The visa application fee is N13,000 for single entry or N26,000 for multiple entry. Whilst visa processing time is 5 working days. I submitted by application on Tuesday and it was ready the following Monday.

All in all , the Thailand visa was COMPLETELY worth it. Thailand is easily one of the most amazing countries I’ve ever visited so if you’re thinking about going to Thailand, please do not allow this their visa wahala to put you off. Take one requirement at a time and give yourself plenty of time and you will be fine!

Have any of you applied for a Thai visa? What was your experience like?

Thanks for reading and good luck!

Disclaimer : Please note that I am NOT an immigration lawyer, advisor or expert. This post is to only act as a guide and to share my experience when I applied in July 2019. Immigration laws change CONSTANTLY and as such the information in this post may no longer be accurate at the time that you’re reading it. Please, please PLEASE do your own research!

NB: This post contains referral links