Back in 2013, a Canadian TV station put Nigerian embassy in Ottawa on full blast in respect of their inefficiency in the area of passport processing. See the clip below if you missed the story.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXgawJ0hbDY

I'm happy to inform all Nigerians in Canada that the wind of Change has finally reached Ottawa. I'm not sure when the change started but I visited the embassy last May and it was a totally different experience compared to my previous visit 4 years ago.

Back in 2011, I went to the Embassy for passport renewal only to be told on arriving at the embassy on the the day of the appointment that their machine was not working. Up to the time of posting this piece, there has not been any refund of my application fees, not to talk of compensation for time and effort wasted.

Fast-forward to May, 2015 when I was forced to go to the embassy again to obtain the new epassport as I had to travel home urgently for an important occasion. I completed the registration form and paid online. On the day of the appointment, I drove down to Ottawa expecting the best as I've been informed.

Change #1: A full body scanner has been installed and a security man deployed to screen people as they come in
Change #2: The office has been re-designed. While is looks nothing like Canadian offices, it at least looks a lot better compared to the "mama put" look of 2011.
Change #3: Embassy Workers are now very courteous. I will give them 95% in this area. I'm holding back the remaining 5% because, one of the officers (and I think he is the supervisor) missed an opportunity to demonstrate empathy and go over and beyond.
Change #4: A register has been opened to log people's visit after passing through the body scanner. Also, there is a register on the way out for comments and suggestions.
Change #5: Processing time - this is off the hook! It is same day service or better still few-hour service. Below is a summary of my visit:

10:15 am: arrived embassy
11:02 am: called to the table to submit my application and documents
1:04 pm: Called to another room to have biometrics taken
2:08 pm: called back to the table to sign and collect passport

It took about 4hrs from arrival to the time the passport was handed over to me. While I was in the embassy, about 40 passports were processed and handed out to the applicants. Oh, lest I forget, there was a time a gentleman came to the waiting room to announce that their server went down for some minutes and they had to reach out to Abuja to have it sorted out and that processing had resumed - talking of keeping your customers informed.

Even though there has been a great change, there is still room for improvement. For instance, there was no regards at all to the appointment dates; people were attended to as they arrived. In fact, I called the embassy a week to the appointment and the official that I spoke with told me to come at any time – before or after the appointment. Also, there is a flight of stairs to the embassy and there is no ramp. For folks that came with infants in strollers, they had to carry their strollers and babies all the way up the stairs. Furthermore, security is still a bit porous as the security guard failed to scan a stroller that a woman brought into the embassy and when I went outside of the embassy for a few minutes I was allowed back in without being re-scanned or checked at all.

Overall, it was a good experience and I was glad I got my new e-passports within a day.

Wonderful

Nice improvement

Nice.

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That's good news...thanks for the info

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This is indeed a good feedback, i hope same would be replicated in other countries to redeem our image.

Very nice

raayah:
I had a good time there. I arrived early in the morning and was among the first to get in at 9am. I received my passport around 10:45. I was very pleased. This was in September 2014.

Everyone was friendly. Big Kudos to them

Thanks for adding your experience. I hope more nairalanders will share their experiences so that those that are still scared of dealing with the embassy will have a change of heart.