Passport: Immigration enrols 16,785 Nigerians in UK

The Nigeria Immigration Service says it has enrolled 16,785 Nigerians in its ongoing special passport intervention exercise in the United Kingdom.

Data from the NIS Public Relations Officer, Akinsola Akinlabi, obtained by Saturday PUNCH on Friday showed that 414 new applicants were processed across four cities as the exercise entered its 42nd day on Thursday.

“A total of 414 applicants were enrolled across all the centres,” Akinlabi wrote in the Day-42 update, adding, “Cumulative enrollment: 16,785 applicants. Passport production and dispatch continue unhindered. The exercise remains orderly and well managed.”

The four active centres are located at 56-57 Fleet Street, Temple, London EC4Y 1JU; Nigerian House, 23 Platt Lane, Manchester M14 5NE; Hilton Convention Centre, 13 Smithfield Road, Aberdeen AB24 4NR; and Cardiff.

According to the data, the Manchester centre recorded the highest number with 160 enrollments, followed by Cardiff with 92, while Aberdeen and London enrolled 81 applicants each.

The intervention exercise recorded 1,477 Nigerians enrolled within its first four days of operation across the initial London and Manchester centres.

“Within the first four days of the exercise, a total of 1,477 Nigerians were successfully processed and enrolled. Over half of those enrolled have already had their passports produced and dispatched to their respective addresses,” the NIS said in an update on September 11.

In an update on September 21, enrollments in the UK rose to 5,099 as the exercise progressed.

On October 3, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, approved an initial extension before ordering a second extension that added the Aberdeen and Cardiff centres to the existing locations in London and Manchester.

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In its notice announcing the intervention on September 7, 2026, the NIS said applicants were required to book appointments via the NIS JotForm portal or the Nigerian High Commission website, and must present a completed application form, payment slips, an intervention appointment print-out, a self-addressed return envelope, and their current passport for renewal.

The applicable fees are $162 for a five-year booklet and $242 for a ten-year booklet, with only non-cash payments accepted at the centres.

The NIS is also running passport intervention programmes spanning four countries.

In the United States, 535 Nigerians were enrolled across Chicago, Michigan, and Milwaukee between September 7 and 15.

In Canada, it recorded 2,257 enrollments across Manitoba, Toronto, Saskatoon, Alberta, and New Brunswick between September 6 and 19, and in Qatar, it enrolled 751 applicants between August 9 and 24.

“The exercises aimed to bring passport services closer to Nigerians across various cities, and were conducted in collaboration with Nigerian diplomatic missions and representatives of Nigerian communities,” Akinlabi stated.

The programme was first announced on August 9 via a circular from the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Mrs Kemi Nandap, which deployed a team to travel to the United Kingdom on August 10 to work alongside the High Commission.

The exercise was initially designed for pending applications, new applicants, and renewals with less than one year to expiry.

According to Nandap, applicants who cannot secure appointment slots, or who prefer not to visit a centre, can use the NIS Contactless Passport Application System, which the service said is fully operational throughout the exercise, scheduled to run until November 27, 2026.