₦airaland Forum

UPDATE ON NIGERIAN PASSPORTS AND VISAS - 10 Nov 2014 - 16.55

I travelled to Lagos in July 2014. I have not been for several years. I was born in London and hold a UK passport, but grew up in Lagos. I couldn't get to the Nigerian High Commission in London (NHC) and because of the numerous complaints online, I paid the airline approved visa company to do this for me. This cost approx. 400 GBP in total, including the NHC fees (they appear to charge twice - once at the HC in London, and online to a company in Lagos!).

I still had to send them all the documents: (1) UK passport; (2) 2 photos; (3) letter of intro; (4) proof of employment; (5) proof of financial means; (6) letter of invitation/sponsorship from a Nigerian Passport holder and (7) a copy of his passport plus ( the visa application form. However, it was well worth it as the visa company dealt with the NHC and the online application and returned the visa to me in 6 days.

I arrived on a Thursday in Lagos. On Friday morning, I was at the FESTAC Immigration Office to apply for a Naija passport. The official cost is about N10,000 (and probably takes forever), but I was told I could get it by the following Monday if I paid N20,000. Due to lack of time and for an easy life, I paid up. A lovely immigration officer checked the original docs, and I gave COPIES of my birth certificate, old UK passports, current UK passport, expired Nigerian driving licence from 1975 (when I left), copy of my uncle's ID and a current Naija utility bill as proof of address. (There is a copy booth on the premises charging N10 per copy).

On Monday morning, I went to the immigration office (I.O) to check progress. The machine had broken down and they were expecting a new one from Abuja. In the meantime, I was interviewed by a second officer who thought my application was suspicious and said I had to provide a Letter of Indigene from the Chairman of Lagos State to prove that I was a Nigerian as my father died over 30 years ago (even though they all knew the family name)!! This didn't arrive 'til Thursday. Early Friday I was back at the I.O. to pick up the passport. Unfortunately, the new laminator was faulty and had destroyed a batch of 10 passports, so mine had to be redone. Around 2pm I was brought to another room to have my photo taken electronically for the passport, sign it and I was fingerprinted.

Finally, at 3.30pm, the passport was ready and I had to rush to the bank in torrential rain before it closed. My lovely immigration lady took me out the quick route to get a cab and came with me to the bank. . Whatever I gave her was money well spent.

¡¡HAPPINESS!!

Now I have to figure out how the dual-passport works when travelling, but that's another post.