Nigeria replaced its paper landing and exit cards with a digital version on 1 May 2025, the same day its e-visa system went live. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) now runs a single portal, lecard.immigration.gov.ng, where every foreign traveller registers an arrival before boarding a flight to Nigeria and a departure before leaving. The card is free and issued instantly. The reason to get it right is what it feeds: the NIS uses the arrival and departure records to measure how long each visitor stays, and since 2 August 2025 an overstay costs US$15 for every extra day, with entry bans for longer overstays. Airlines are also expected to check for the card before boarding, so a missing or mistyped card can stop a trip at the departure gate rather than in Lagos.
Who needs one
The portal's own answer is "all foreigners visiting or departing Nigeria". That includes visa-free visitors, not only visa holders: the application form asks you to pick a passport category, and the choices are ECOWAS passport, visa-free or exemption, development organisation, and other passport. There is no option for a Nigerian passport, because Nigerian citizens travelling on one are exempt from the landing card. If you hold Nigerian and another nationality and travel on the foreign passport, treat yourself as a foreign visitor and complete the card. Two groups do not use the portal: passengers transiting through a Nigerian airport without clearing immigration (the FAQ says the portal is not for transit), and anyone whose visa has expired, since the portal accepts only a valid visa or passport.
Completing the landing card, step by step
- 1. Sort the visa first. The landing card is tied to your visa or passport number, so apply for the e-visa at evisa.immigration.gov.ng (the NIS targets a decision within 48 hours and emails a QR code) or confirm that your nationality enters visa-free before you touch the landing card. Our Nigeria country guide at /country-guides/nigeria covers the visa classes and fees, and /visa/to/nigeria shows the short-stay rule for your passport.
- 2. Open lecard.immigration.gov.ng and choose "Apply for Landing Card". Pick the passport category that matches how you are travelling: ECOWAS passport, visa-free or exemption, development organisation, or other passport.
- 3. Enter your passport number and personal details exactly as printed in the passport: name order, spelling, date of birth, nationality. Add a working email address and phone number; the NIS sends the card and any follow-up there.
- 4. Add the trip details the form asks for, such as your flight, your address in Nigeria and the purpose of the visit. Have the booking and the host or hotel address in front of you.
- 5. Check everything before you submit. The portal does not allow edits after submission; if you spot an error you resubmit from scratch.
- 6. Download the confirmation and keep both a printout and the PDF on your phone. A copy is emailed to you, so a lost printout can be reprinted.
- 7. Show it at check-in and have it scanned at immigration on arrival. Filling in the form is not enough on its own: immigration records are updated when the card is scanned at the airport.
When to do it
The portal does not publish a cut-off. Nigerian press and immigration law firms have quoted windows of 72 to 96 hours before travel, which fits the fact that the form asks for flight details you only have once the trip is booked. The practical rule: complete the landing card in the few days before you fly, after the visa is approved and the flight is fixed, and not at the airport. Submissions are processed instantly, so there is no reason to do it weeks ahead and risk the details changing.
The exit card on the way out
The same portal issues the exit card. Before you leave Nigeria, go back to lecard.immigration.gov.ng, choose "Apply for Exit Card", enter the same passport details and your departure flight, and carry the confirmation to the airport, where it is scanned at departure. The exit record is what tells the NIS you have left within your permitted stay. The FAQ is direct about the consequence of skipping it: failure to pre-process a departure can mean refusal at the immigration checkpoint, and an arrival record with no matching exit is exactly what the overstay system is built to flag.
Overstay penalties apply since 2 August 2025. The NIS circular that introduced the digital cards set a fine of US$15 for every day beyond the permitted stay, a five-year entry ban for overstays of three months or more, and a permanent ban for a year or more. The amnesty for people already out of status closed on 30 September 2025. Short-visit e-visas allow at most 90 days and cannot be extended, so if you need longer, leave and re-apply or move to a residence route; the options are in our Nigeria country guide at /country-guides/nigeria.
What else immigration will want to see
The landing card is one item in a short stack. Your passport should be valid for at least six months. Carry the e-visa QR code, printed or on your phone. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control requires a completed health declaration at healthapp.ncdc.gov.ng before boarding, and its QR code is checked on arrival for all travellers regardless of nationality. Nigeria also checks yellow fever vaccination certificates; the UK's travel-health service (NaTHNaC) reports the certificate is required for all travellers entering or leaving, with infants under nine months and adults over 60 exempt, so confirm the current rule for your age group with your own travel-health service. Lagos and Abuja airports have been installing passport e-gates since 2024, announced for Nigerian passport holders first, so as a foreign visitor expect a staffed counter where the officer checks the landing card and the e-visa. Keep the printouts handy.
Mistakes that cause trouble
- Paying a third-party site. The official portal is free; several commercial "Nigeria landing card" services charge a fee to type your details into it. Use only the .gov.ng address.
- Applying before the visa exists. The portal accepts only a valid visa or passport number; an application with a pending or expired visa fails.
- A name that does not match the passport. Nicknames, a missing middle name or swapped name order will not match the passport the officer scans; the NIS and the law firms advising on the scheme both say the details must match the passport exactly.
- Choosing the wrong passport category. ECOWAS citizens pick "ECOWAS passport", visa-exempt nationals pick "visa-free or exemption", everyone else "other passport".
- Treating the printout as the finish line. The card must be scanned at the airport on arrival and on departure; immigration records are updated at the scan, not at submission.
- Forgetting the exit card. An arrival without a matching departure is what the overstay tracking is designed to catch.
Key Takeaway
Visa first, then the free landing card at lecard.immigration.gov.ng in the days before you fly, with the details copied exactly from the passport. Have it scanned on arrival, and complete the exit card before you leave. That is the whole process, and it is what keeps you out of the US$15-a-day overstay system.