By Sandra Kenneth
The Nigeria High Commission in the United Kingdom has announced a £50 refund for passport applicants who were charged a £70 administrative fee during the ongoing special passport intervention exercise.
According to an official notice published on the commission’s website on Friday, affected applicants will ultimately pay only £20, which represents the standard administrative charge.
“This is to inform all passport intervention applicants that have paid £70 admin fee that £50 will be refunded to you, £20 being the standard admin fee,” the notice stated.
The decision follows growing public outcry and widespread complaints from UK-based Nigerians regarding steep charges, technical disruptions, and procedural delays during the special enrollment drive.
Addressing the controversy on September 8, the Federal Government clarified that no extra fees had been authorized for the exercise, emphasizing that applicants are expected to pay only official passport fees alongside standard bank transaction costs. The Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) subsequently reaffirmed on September 11 that participation in the intervention requires no extra charges outside official tariffs.
Despite early operational glitches—including technical disruptions reported at the Manchester center—the exercise has seen a significant surge in attendance. In response to high demand, the NIS extended the deadline for the London and Manchester centers from September 19 to October 3.
Official figures show that 1,477 Nigerians were processed and enrolled within the first four days of the initiative, with over half of the produced passports already dispatched to applicants.
