What are the mistakes Nigerians make when they want to relocate to Canada?

The same mistakes a lot of people around the world make regardless of nationality.

They make the mistake of thinking that if they can get there by any means that they will be allowed to stay.

And for some reason, Nigerians (among others) tend to act in that direction when the opportunity presents itself resulting in unlawful overstay and illegal immigration.

It didn’t use to be this way. Up until 10–15 years ago, Nigerian nationals were good guests in places like Canada, the USA and several European nations. Then something changed and the overstay and visa violation rates for that country skyrocketed. From being somewhat above-average comparable to a South American country to top ten worst in the world within ten years.

But the biggest mistake now is individual Nigerians of good intention are drowned out by the actions of too many of their countrymen. For every one with honest intentions, two will willingly violate their visa terms in another country.

As a result Nigerians receive intense scrutiny in any visa application to Canada where they don’t qualify for permanent residency. Because it is widely believed, based on prior data and history, that terms of entry will not be honored.

Those who qualify for permanent residency via Express Entry and other programs have no problems relocating to Canada. It is the ones who believe having the desire to relocate and getting there means it actually can happen. It can’t.

Too many people in the world believe Hollywood views of immigration where if you can show up in a place you can decide to like it and stay. That is not how it works. At all. It is not unique to Nigeria but to a large percentage of the population of the world. A very misguided belief in the actual difficulty of immigration.