The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has stated that foreigners exempted from enrolling for the National Identity Number (NIN) would have to reactivate Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for the GSM lines every half year for upwards of two years.
The NCC had earlier exempted foreigners not staying up to two years in the country from getting a NIN to register SIM cards as stipulated by the Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration.
In its new draft for ‘Business Rules and Operational Processes for Implementation of the National Policy for SIM activation, Replacement and Other Key Telecommunications Operational Processes, the NCC said the renewal of SIM activation would be done on request where the visa is not for a stay of two years and above.
The document further pointed out that foreigners in the exempt category will need to provide justification that they will be residing in Nigeria for less than two years and if such foreigners fail to request for SIM activation at the end of the six-month period, the SIM would be deactivated.
Those staying for more than two years will, however, be required to register for NIN as well as fully register their SIMs.
