The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has deployed a dedicated passport intervention team to the United Kingdom to help clear pending passport applications and make passport services more accessible to Nigerians living across the country.

The intervention, which began on August 10, 2026, is being carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian High Commission in the United Kingdom and is aimed at addressing delays in passport processing while providing additional opportunities for Nigerians to complete enrolment and renewal procedures.

The initiative was directed by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who instructed the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Kemi Nandap, to deploy a team from the NIS headquarters in Abuja to the UK. According to the NIS, the team will move through designated locations across the United Kingdom to conduct passport enrolment and processing.

Who can benefit from the intervention?

The intervention is open to several categories of Nigerian passport applicants. These include Nigerians who already have pending passport applications, people applying for a new passport, and existing passport holders whose documents have less than one year remaining before expiry and who wish to renew them.

This means Nigerians do not necessarily have to wait until their passports are close to expiring before beginning the renewal process if they have less than 12 months remaining on their current passport. The intervention is also intended to help applicants whose passport applications have experienced delays and are still awaiting processing.

Applicants should complete the required application process. People intending to use the intervention are expected to follow the normal passport application requirements. Applicants with pending applications should have their relevant application documentation and proof of payment available when attending the enrolment exercise.

The NIS has also advised applicants to pay attention to official announcements concerning the locations and dates of the intervention rather than travelling to a location without confirmation. The intervention team is expected to visit designated cities and locations, with details of specific venues and schedules to be communicated through official channels.

One of the key objectives of the intervention is to reduce the difficulty faced by Nigerians living outside major cities when accessing passport services. Rather than requiring every applicant to travel to a central location, the NIS says its intervention team will move across selected UK locations to conduct enrolment and processing.

This could particularly benefit Nigerians living outside London, who may otherwise have to make long journeys to access consular and immigration services. The exercise is being conducted in partnership with the Nigerian diplomatic mission in the UK.

The temporary intervention will operate alongside the NIS’s existing digital passport services. The Immigration Service confirmed that its digital passport channels will continue to operate during the exercise. These include the Contactless Passport Application System, which allows eligible applicants to complete aspects of the passport process digitally, as well as the NIS’s passport home-delivery service. The continued availability of these channels means applicants may have options beyond physically visiting an intervention location, depending on their individual circumstances and eligibility.

Passports can be delivered to applicants. The continuation of the home-delivery service is another important aspect of the intervention. Applicants who meet the requirements can continue to use the passport delivery service, meaning they may not necessarily have to return to a passport office solely to collect their completed passport.

For Nigerians living considerable distances from passport processing centres, home delivery could reduce the cost and time involved in completing the process.

Passport delays have been a recurring concern among Nigerians living abroad, particularly where applicants need valid Nigerian travel documents for international travel, identification or other official purposes. For Nigerians in the UK, delays can also create additional difficulties for people who need to travel to Nigeria or who require a valid passport for immigration, employment, banking and other administrative processes.

The NIS intervention is therefore intended to provide an additional channel for resolving outstanding applications while making enrolment and renewal services more accessible. The deployment also reflects an effort by Nigerian authorities to take passport services closer to Nigerians living outside the country rather than concentrating services at a limited number of locations.