Are you relocating or traveling abroad soon? Then you need to request for a travel allowance from your bank. Here’s why – at the moment, there’s a significant gap between the official rates and black market rates.
Unfortunately, this means any Nigerian traveler who plans on swapping their Naira for USD, GBP, or EUR before traveling abroad is automatically at a loss because they have to do this exchange using the black market rates.
Thankfully, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) allocates specific foreign exchange currencies for situations like this. So if you’re eligible for a travel allowance, you can swap your Naira directly from your bank at a lesser rate. In this article, we’ll show you how to do this.
Types of Travel Allowance
If you’re traveling abroad, you can either apply for a personal travel allowance (PTA) or a business travel allowance (BTA). This is also available in any registered traditional bank in Nigeria.
You can get a PTA if you’re traveling as an international student or going on a vacation. However, you can only purchase up to $4,000 every quarter (90 days). BTAs are for executives traveling solely for business reasons and the limit is $5000 every quarter (90 days).
Eligibility Criteria for PTA from the Central Bank of Nigeria
So if you have personal reasons for traveling abroad and you’re ready to apply for a PTA, here are the requirements
- An international passport
- A flight ticket originating from Nigeria
- A valid visa
- Admission letter if you’re going as a student
- Return flight tickets
- You have to be older than 18 years
- Not be visiting a blacklisted country
- The travel date should be within the next two weeks
Once you have all of this available, you can now follow the steps to apply.
Steps to Apply for a PTA in Nigeria
Fortunately, the entire application process is now online. Here’s how to go about it;
- Visit the trade portal monitoring system’s website
- Create an account by entering your valid BVN
- An OTP will be sent to the email address linked to your BVN
- Log in and tap on form A
- Fill out your personal information and click on next
- Tap on PTA and fill out the remaining details like how much you need
- Fill out your bank information and the branch you’d want to pick up your cash from
- Upload all the necessary documents and don’t forget to include a letter of authority to debit your account
- Preview your form and submit
- You’ll get a response within 14 days
Also, keep in mind that the cost of this application is N5,000 and it’ll be directly debited from the account you entered in your application. Once you get a response, visit the bank with your international passport to pick up your request.
CBN Requirements for BTA in Nigeria
The requirements for a business travel allowance are a lot more rigid than a personal travel allowance. Here’s what you need to qualify for a BTA;
- You have to be older than 18 years
- An international passport
- Introduction letter from your company explaining the reason for the travel
- A letter of invitation from your business partners abroad
- A flight ticket originating from Nigeria
- A valid visa
- Copies of the CAC documentation
- Not be visiting a blacklisted country
- The travel and return date should be within the next two weeks
- A credit balance of the amount you want to purchase
Steps to Apply for BTA
If you have all of these documents available, here’s how to apply for a business travel allowance online;
- Visit the trade portal monitoring system’s website
- Create an account by entering your valid BVN
- An OTP will be sent to the email address linked to your BVN
- Log in and tap on form A
- Fill out your personal information and click on next
- Don’t click on any of the shortcuts. Instead, select your business reason from the dropdown on this page
- Enter the type of BTA you’re requesting for along with how much you need
- Fill out your bank information and the bank branch if you’re picking up your cash
- Upload all the necessary documents and don’t forget to include a letter giving authority to debit your account
You’ll get a response within the next 14 days. Be sure to keep checking your portal within this period.
A lot of travelers get tempted to either upload fake tickets or other documents especially when they don’t meet all the criteria. However, this is a punishable offense by law. So we recommend preparing ahead of time.