A decision by the Irish Embassy in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, to refuse a visa to Dr Ibraheem Abdul-Azeez, a transport researcher and lecturer at Lagos State University, to attend a conference in Dublin recently, left the academic frustrated and disappointed.
The conference was the Transport Research Arena (TRA), a biennial event dubbed by the European Commission as the largest transport research and innovation conference in Europe.
The event gathers stakeholders – including researchers, academics and governmental bodies – providing a forum where ideas can be exchanged towards transforming the industry.
Abdul-Azeez had paid the €430 (US$468) conference fee and hoped to share knowledge with his global peers. However, he was shocked when the visa officer denied him a visa because those considering his application were not convinced he would return to Nigeria after the conference – despite providing all the necessary supporting documents, including proof of full sponsorship by Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund.
“I was shocked because I have travelled to different countries, particularly in Europe, for conferences. I hold a Schengen visa [which is] valid for one year, which I have used several times, and I have used five Schengen visas in the past.
“Two months before the interview at the Irish embassy, I travelled to South Africa and Sweden. So, my travel history should have indicated I would return to Nigeria after the conference,” Abdul-Azeez told University World News.
This was his second visa denial at the Irish embassy, which did not respond to enquiries by University World News. The first was in 2022 when he wanted to travel to Dublin for the Walk21 conference, an annual event to promote sustainability and quality of life in cities through walking.
“If there is any conference that happens to be in Ireland again, I may not bother to apply, but I will if it is a country in the Schengen area,” the researcher said.
However, he may appeal the decision, but it takes time.
“It is open to an unsuccessful applicant to appeal this decision within two months of the date of the refusal,” Peter Toal, a spokesperson for the Irish Department of Justice, which oversees immigration and visa matters, told University World News via e-mail.
Why visa denial hurts
“It is such a big deal,” the academic said. “At such conferences, researchers have access to listen to papers yet to be published. Sometimes it’s in the process of presenting a paper that you learn new insights and knowledge that can bring huge improvements to the final paper.
“Our Western peers also get to learn new perspectives from Africans when we attend such conferences.
“For example, I was in Sweden some time ago to present a paper on how urban freight affects road safety in Nigeria. When I was describing the topic, they were amazed because it’s completely different from what [they know]. And no matter what is being said, we need collaborations outside the continent.”
Although online attendance is an option, Abdul-Azeez believes nothing beats physical interaction. “I have been put on international projects just by meeting peers at conferences. Physical meetings enhance some level of credibility that does not happen online,” he said.
Recurring problem
Stories abound of researchers, not just from Nigeria, but also from other countries in the Global South who have been denied visas by foreign embassies to participate in key conferences.
When Abdul-Azeez first wrote about his experience on LinkedIn, his post resonated with many others. One of them, Chinebuli Uzondu, said she hoped that, in the future, conferences would be organised in places with limited visa restrictions.
Penning her experience in the Nature journal recently, Ghanaian conservationist and ecologist Sandra Owusu-Gyamfi was expected to speak at the European Conference for Tropical Ecology in Lisbon in February.
The researcher was expected to provide evidence of extinction risks to some frog species used as bush meat in West Africa and highlight the need for policies that regulate hunting pressures.
However, she was denied a visa because the visa officer at the Dutch embassy in Accra did not believe she would return to Ghana after the conference, even after confirming her status as a final-year PhD candidate at the University of Ghana. Some other African researchers expected at the event were also denied visas.
Karin Henriksson, the spokesperson for Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), the Sweden-based organisers of conferences such as the TRA, said that, although VREF has not had any direct experience with visa applications being denied outright, the organisation is aware of challenges faced by African researchers when travelling for conferences.
“Yes, at VREF, we are concerned about this situation. We have substantial experience with the problems that African researchers can face when applying for visas,” Henriksson told University World News.
“When VREF plans and organises conferences and in-person events, both we at the secretariat and the researchers need to account for the uncertainty and late approval. VREF often makes substantial efforts to assist African researchers in their visa application processes.
“However, it has happened several times that researchers we work with have had to cancel their VREF-funded conference participation or presentation or study visit abroad due to delayed visa approvals,” Henriksson said.
Collaborations matter
According to Shehu Garki Ado, a professor of genetics and plant breeding and a former vice-chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Nigeria, the world today needs collaboration and knowledge sharing, which are the reasons for organising international conferences.
“There is an option for online presentations, but it is more advantageous for researchers to interact physically with their colleagues to form linkages and acquaintances. Today’s societies are multidisciplinary and must collaborate to tackle common problems together,” Ado told University World News. Meanwhile, Ado said a good way to look at the problem is for African researchers to collaborate more with one another on African soil.
“In my profession, we have the African Association of Plant Breeders, which comprises mainly African scientists, and we call for meetings and conferences. Really, it is time African researchers stopped leaning on other countries,” he said.
However, Professor Boniface Kashina, an expert in plant virology and former director of research at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, noted that, even on the African continent, it is sometimes not easy to move freely due to certain factors.
“In West Africa, for instance, Nigeria is usually sidelined from hosting international conferences due to security concerns. An international conference organiser would rather take it to Ghana than Nigeria for security reasons as well as misbehaviour by some officials at the Nigerian airports,” he said.
“If you pass through the Nigerian airport, the numerous officials would almost turn your passport inside out even though you are a Nigerian. Meanwhile, I just returned from Kenya, and only one airport official checked my visa and allowed me to go.”
Tips for researchers
A regional officer for the Association of African Universities (AAU) and secretary-general of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Professor Yakubu Ochefu, highlighted another possible reason why an African researcher might be denied a visa for research travel.
He explained that, sometimes it is because of oversight of certain information when filling out visa application forms.
“Recently, a vice-chancellor here in Nigeria wanted to travel to the UK for a programme but he was denied a visa. The reason they denied him the visa was because of his bank account.
“The [officials at the high commission] noticed that the VC’s cash flow was consistent and regular until about a month before the trip, when he received a large sum of money into his account. They analysed his transactions and thought he was playing games with them. Meanwhile, the money wasn’t fraudulent as thought by the consular officer. It was his furniture allowance which comes once a year.
“Of course, the VC was upset, but we sat him down and told him it was one of the things we always try to educate our researchers about. These are the things the consular officers look out for when they are processing visa applications for researchers.
“They know for a fact that some Nigerians go to lengths to borrow money to put into an account to prove legitimacy. Having a financial history that is consistent is key. Receiving a strange large sum of money when it’s about time to attend a visa interview may be flagged,” Ochefu said.
Be that as it may, Ochefu said that, in the case of Nigerian researchers, they can approach the National Universities Commission (NUC) when they have issues with their visa applications.
“The NUC is always supportive if a researcher has a legitimate issue with their visa application. If any researcher faces this kind of issue, the researcher should write to the NUC, which has a desk for this sole purpose called the Consular Services Desk.
“The officials at the desk will help the researcher take the documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and once the documents are validated, they will assist with the visa application process to make it seamless.
I agree that some researchers, especially the younger generation, may not be aware of this, so we need to communicate to the university vice-chancellors to enlighten their researchers about the NUC Consular Services Desk,” Ochefu stated.
Additionally, Professor Ayodele Fajinmi, a virologist at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, advised researchers to always provide accurate information and be more painstaking in filling out visa application forms to minimise the incidence of visa denial.
Toal, the spokesperson for the Irish Department of Justice, also said the onus is on all short-term visa applicants to provide detailed documentation to improve their chances of being granted visas to the country.
“The visa system is a screening process. Before a short-term visa is granted, the person must demonstrate they have legitimate reasons to travel to Ireland and obligations to leave Ireland.
“The central concern in deciding on visa applications, as with all visa services worldwide, is to strike an appropriate balance between protecting the country’s vital national interests by maintaining an effective immigration regime while, at the same time, facilitating travel for those who meet the criteria.”
He added that each visa application and appeal are, therefore, decided on their own merits, “taking all factors into account”.
UWN
