No Visa, No Refund for Customer 6 Months After Paying $6,800 to ‘Into Migration’ for Ireland Work Permit

Six months after Eniola Akinosho, a Nigerian based in the United Arab Emirates, paid $6,800 to Into Migration, a travel consulting firm, for the processing an Ireland work permit, the firm has neither delivered the visa nor refunded the money.

Akinosho paid for the visa on behalf of his sister (name withheld) who intended to emigrate to the United Kingdom.

His expectation of having the visa ready by the date indicated by the company has been unmet, jeopardising all the travel plans already in place for his sister.

“I engaged Into Migration’s services for an Ireland work permit assistance and paid a deposit of $6,800 into to company via its Access Bank acount number account, named Into University Educational Consult, on the 8th of May 2024,” said Akinosho.

Two months after the deposit, the process led to nowhere. The customer requested to have his money refunded and Into Migration gave him a disengagement form, formally deactivating the transaction between them.

The signing of the disengagement form immediately marked the commencement of the refund process, which was meant to be concluded within six to eight weeks, according to the company’s policy.

“When the permit was not forthcoming, I requested a refund on July 1. The company promised to refund the amount within six to eight weeks, but subsequent communication have yielded empty promises and ignored calls.

“I have pleaded with them to release my money so that I could move on with my life. I even reached out to Joel Adesokan, the company’s chief executive officer, on this same issue, but he also stopped responding at some point. This has frustrated me and my sister because this wasn’t what we had hoped for.”

When contacted with evidence of the visa payment, for comments, Adesokan responded on behalf of the company. He confirmed the transaction and said the refund process had been initiated since July. He added that the process would be completed in the next 14 days.

Evidence of Akinosho’s WhatsApp communication with Adesokan between August and September, obtained by FIJ, showed the company had made several times unfulfilled promises about the refund.

According to paragraph 14 of the terms and conditions document subscribed to by Akinosho’s sister, the refund percentage for Ireland work visa, which is applicable in this scenario, would be 90% of the $6,800 paid to the company.

“I have gone through his file and noticed that his refund was initiated in July and it has gotten to an advanced stage,” said Adesokan. “His disbursement should start in about 14 days time.”

“The process of refund sometimes is not as smooth as planned as it involves retrieval of funds from partners. We will keep you posted when it commences.”