Passport fee row: Nigerians in UK to get £50 refund

The Nigeria High Commission in the United Kingdom has agreed to refund £50 to applicants who paid a £70 administrative fee during the ongoing special passport intervention exercise.

The decision followed protests and scrutiny over the additional charge imposed on Nigerians seeking to obtain or renew their passports during the exercise.

The refund will bring the amount paid for the administrative charge down to the approved £20.

The High Commission had reduced the administrative fee from £70 to £20 earlier in the week after the controversy over the charge.

In a notice published on Friday, the mission clarified that the approved standard administrative charge remained £20 and rejected claims that the £70 fee had received presidential approval.

“For the avoidance of doubt, any claim suggesting that an administrative fee of £70.00 received presidential approval is incorrect. The approved standard administrative charge remains £20.00,” the High Commission said.

The mission also dissociated itself from information on the issue that was not issued through its authorised channels, urging members of the public to disregard inaccurate or misleading publications.

The controversy began after applicants attending the passport intervention exercise reported being required to pay an additional £70 administrative fee, separate from the passport application charges.

TheCable reported that the additional charge was imposed by the High Commission during the exercise, while the Nigeria Immigration Service later maintained that applicants were not required to pay any additional charges to participate in the intervention.

The NIS said the applicable passport fees remained $162 for a five-year passport and $242 for a 10-year passport, and that no additional charges were required for the intervention exercise. It also said 1,477 Nigerians had been successfully processed and enrolled within the first four days of the exercise.

The special passport intervention exercise, being conducted by the NIS in collaboration with the Nigeria High Commission, is aimed at addressing passport applications, renewals and pending cases among Nigerians in the UK.

The exercise is being held in London, Manchester, Cardiff and Aberdeen, with the London exercise scheduled to continue until October 3.

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