Interior ministry partners agencies on expatriate quota processing

THE Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior,  Georgina Ehuriah, has said that the ministry is partnering key institutions and agencies of the Federal Government to improve on the expatriate quota processing in the country.

She listed some of the agencies to include the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Ehuriah disclosed this at a one-day stakeholders meeting on expatriate quota administration in Abuja.

According to her, “arrangements have been concluded to electronically link the ministry’s portal with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Bank with a view to reducing, if not totally eliminating, the incidence of fake quota positions.”

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She added that the process would also eliminate the use of forged documents to process Business Permit and Expatriate Quota.

The permanent secretary said further that the ministry was also collaborating with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Central Bank of Nigeria, among others, to improve the integrity of the entire expatriate quota process.

She pointed out that the quota played a key role in the economy and is granted to companies to enable them to employ foreigners with specialised skills that are not readily available in the country or are in short supply.

“It fills gaps and overtime, facilitates the transfer of technology to Nigerians and the eventual indigenisation of the positions occupied by the expatriates,” she said.

As part of ongoing reforms in the administration of expatriate quota, Ehuriah said, “approval was recently granted by the appropriate authorities for the re-validation of Expatriate Quota on Permanent Until Reviewed (PUR) status.

“This will enable the ministry to update its records, ascertain proper utilisation by companies and continued eligibility of beneficiaries,” she said.

The permanent secretary said that she had directed that machinery be put in place for the review of the handbook on expatriate quota administration which was last revised in 2004.

She explained that the stakeholders meeting was in furtherance of the ministry’s mandate as it related to the administration and enforcement of the Nigeria Immigration Act, 2015 and Immigration Regulations, 2017.

Speaking earlier, the Associate Director, People Advisory Service, Mr Kayode Faboyede, said that the meeting was the right step in the right direction.

According to him, the automation of the expatriate quota process has made life easier and seamless for stakeholders.