The Federal Government has clarified that Nigerians participating in the ongoing special passport intervention exercise in the United Kingdom are not expected to pay additional charges beyond the approved official passport fees.
The clarification was made in a statement issued by Alao Babatunde, Special Adviser to the Minister of Interior on Media and Publicity, on behalf of Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.
The government explained that the intervention was introduced to make passport services more accessible to Nigerians living in the UK and did not come with any new charges.
“The intervention was introduced to provide Nigerians in the UK with more opportunities to process their passport applications, and no new fees have been added to the exercise.”
The statement further clarified that applicants are required to pay only the existing official fees, excluding bank charges.
“This process does not come with extra cost different from the official fees of $150 and $230 for five-year and 10-year validity passports respectively, exclusive of bank charges,” the statement said.
The Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service were also said not to have introduced any additional fees outside the approved charges.
The minister acknowledged complaints from some Nigerians in the UK regarding difficulties and inconveniences encountered during the passport application and processing exercise.
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According to the statement, the Ministry of Interior is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the challenges reported by applicants and improve the process.
The Federal Government reiterated its commitment to providing more efficient passport services to Nigerians, both within the country and abroad.