Passport intervention: FG denies imposing new charges on Nigerians in UK

Nigeria’s federal government has denied introducing new charges for citizens applying for passports in the United Kingdom under a special intervention exercise.

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Neither the Ministry of Interior nor the Nigeria Immigration Service has introduced any other charges outside the aforementioned.

The clarification followed complaints about delays and poor service at intervention centres, including Manchester. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said the programme was introduced to give Nigerians in the UK more options for processing passport applications and that officials were working to address the problems.

The ministry said applicants should pay only the official fees: $150 for a passport valid for five years and $230 for one valid for 10 years, excluding applicable bank charges. “Neither the Ministry of Interior nor the Nigeria Immigration Service has introduced any other charges outside the aforementioned,” the ministry said.

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Consultations are ongoing with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that any inconveniences during this process do not persist any longer.

Tunji-Ojo said consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were continuing to ensure that the inconveniences did not persist. He also urged applicants to use the contactless biometric passport application system, which he described as a seamless alternative.

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It is now 11:30 a.m., and people who arrived as early as 9:00 a.m. are still waiting, with nothing happening.

The statement followed a complaint on X by Oluomo of Derby about the Passport Intervention Centre in Manchester. He said people who arrived at 9 a.m. were still waiting at 11:30 a.m. without receiving attention. “This is not the way to treat Nigerians who have taken time off work, travelled long distances, and paid for passport services,” he said.

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This is not the way to treat Nigerians who have taken time off work, travelled long distances, and paid for passport services.