Nigerian visa applications are no longer accepted, according to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) immigration authorities.
The Dubai authorities stated that "all Dubai applications filed are now rejected" in a notice sent on Friday to its business partners in Nigeria, including travel agencies.
The UAE government said that rejection letters would be distributed to applicants in batches.
The denials were described as "generic for Nigerians" and "Approvals are currently on hold."
The UAE government declared that the ban would continue while problems between it and the Nigerian government were being worked out.
“Kindly advise your clients to resubmit applications when the issue is resolved between both governments”, the notice reads.
The development comes over a month after the UAE stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40, affecting Nigerians as well as other countries.
Speaking on the issue, the federal government said Nigerians need to respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid “unwarranted treatment”.
“The general public is invited to note and be guided that the Government of the UAE has introduced a new visa regime and has stopped issuing tourist visas to persons under the age of 40 years, except for those applying for family visas,” the ministry of foreign affairs had said.
“It is, therefore, instructive for prospective visa applicants to indicate clearly their visa preferences without any ambiguity and also respect the immigration laws of other countries to avoid unwarranted treatments.”
For several months in 2021, Nigeria and UAE battled several diplomatic rows in aviation.