FAQ
The Ministry of Interior Citizenship and Business Department is responsible for the grant of Business Permit and Expatriate Quota positions to Companies in line with Part V, Section 36 (1) of the Nigerian Immigration Act, 2015 and Part III, Sub-section 12 (1&) of Immigration Regulations.
Business
Permits
1WHAT IS BUSINESS PERMIT?
Business permit is a facility issued to wholly foreign/joint venture companies seeking to establish business in Nigeria.
2CAN WHOLLY FOREIGN/JOINT VENTURE COMPANY APPLY FOR GRANT OF EXPATRIATE QUOTA WITHOUT BUSINESS PERMIT?
No. Such company should have obtained their business permit before applying for expatriate quota or both at the same time.
3WHO CAN APPLY FOR AMENDMENT OF BUSINESS PERMIT?
A wholly foreign/joint venture company after acquiring a business permit, changes in either the composition of the board of directors, board resolutions, location of business or line of activities duly registered with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) may request for the appropriate amendments.
4WHAT IS ESTABLISHMENT GRANT?
Establishment grant is a service that is applicable to wholly foreign, joint ventures, indigenous and NGOs etc to enable them seek for fresh expatriate quota positions to assist in their business.however, to note that emphasis would be placed on employment of Nigerians to understudy the foreign experts for the purpose of training them, to enable the understudies acquire relevant skills for the eventual take-over of the expatriate quota positions. These positions are renewable after three (3) years of first grants and required the filling of form stating the desired position, position description and basic relevant qualifications.
5WHO CAN APPLY FOR BUSINESS PERMIT AND HOW?
This service is applicable to wholly foreign/joint venture owned companies that are fresh.
- The company is required to fill the company details in the field provided and submit.
- The application will be processed and when approved, the company pay for the business permit.
Expatriate Quota
System
1WHO CAN APPLY FOR ESTABLISHMENT GRANT AND HOW?
This service is applicable to wholly foreign/joint venture/indigenous/ngo/state government owned companies.
- The company is required to fill the company details in the field provided and also state the desired positions, position descriptions and basic relevant qualifications of the position for each position required and submit.
- However, the application will be processed and when approved, the company pay for the approved number of Establishment Grant.
2WHAT IS RENEWAL OF EXPATRIATE QUOTA?
It is a facility granted to a company that was earlier granted expatriate quota positions for a period of two (2) years.
3WHAT IS ADDITIONAL GRANT?
A company may seek for additional grant if it already has establishment grant and realizes that it needs some additional relevant positions of whose skills could not be sourced locally to add to its quota.
4IF THE APPROVAL DOES NOT FAVOUR MY REQUEST, WHAT WILL I DO?
A company is advised to APPEAL for the under shot to be granted stating necessary reasons for reconsideration. The action acted on any of the expatriate services, e.g:- a company applied for 10 expatriate quota positions and was granted only 4 or less than the numbers applied for, therefore, the company will appeal for the reconsideration of the application .
5HOW LONG CAN A COMPANY MAINTAIN EXPATRIATE QUOTA POSITION?
A quota has a ten (10) year life span after which it is tagged non-renewable. A company may request for Dettaging.