The Government of Liberia (GOL), through the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), says it has completed all formalities leading to the issuance of VISAs upon arrival in Liberia.
According to information gathered by this paper, President Joseph N. Boakai is expected to grace the launching ceremony at the headquarters of the LIS in Monrovia.
The Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) had previously issued manual VISAs since its establishment in 1956, but the Government of Liberia deemed it necessary to digitize the institution’s services rendered to the public.
The Visa upon arrival will be for the first time issued by the Government of Liberia and would allow travelers to obtain a Visa upon arrival in Liberia by plane.
The E- Visa processes require that travelers must follow necessary steps in getting a VISA upon arrival in Liberia- create an email account, upload passport biometric component, take a passport size photo with white background, do the payment to the LIS system, receive notification of successful payment by the system and save confirmation page to email.
However, the LIS says the VISA confirmation page is not the actual VISA upon arrival in Liberia. Passengers, while at the Robert International Airport (RIA), will be required to display the approved VISA confirmation document for the LIS officers at the airport to authenticate, followed by fingerprint, before issuing the VISA upon arrival sticker within the travelers’ passport.
The Visa upon arrival sticker has a lot of security details meant to protect holders of legitimate passports, and has created an easy way for travelers coming to Liberia.
For the LIS Re- Entry Permit Card, a document that enables non-citizens to leave and return to Liberia during approved stay without needing to apply for a VISA upon arrival each time, two types will be provided by the LIS.
They are Re-entry and Special Cards. The Re-entry Card is used by foreigners with a temporary residence in Liberia, while the Special Card is used by other foreign nationals without a residence permit.
Meanwhile, the Liberia Immigration Service (LIS) VISA upon arrival and Re- Entry Permit Cards don’t apply to ECOWAS citizens because of the community’s protocols on free movement of its citizenry in the region.
Since the pronouncement of the LIS E-VISA, Liberians in the diaspora are expressing their happiness over the new VISA platform at home. The Government of Liberia headed by Ambassador Boakai is committed to digitizing programs to meet up with best practices.
