It is not uncommon to hear Nigerians complain bitterly about the national passport acquisition process. “I have waited five months to collect my passport, still not ready”, said Charles (not his real name), a school teacher who spoke to Nairametrics at the National Immigration Service Passport Office at Alausa, Lagos State.
Charles, who wants to further his education abroad had been visiting the office since May this year to collect his passport after ‘capturing’ two months earlier. However, his document is still not ready, frustrating his efforts to apply for an education visa.
Longer processing time for international passports by the Nigerian Immigration Service has stalled the plans of many Nigerians who seek to jump on the #japa trend, in search of greener pastures. This has caused some people to cut corners in order to get their passports faster, which in many cases yielded no positives.
It is not news that Nigeria is currently experiencing a massive wave of intellectual flight otherwise known as ‘Brain Drain’, following the worsening state of the economy and the society at large.
Among the festering conditions Nigerian youths have had to deal with that make staying in the country near unbearable, are the ever-rising prices of goods and services; a protracted strike by university lecturers popularly called ASUU Strike; rising unemployment and insecurity.
While most youths are leaving the shores, Nigerians at top management levels in their respective organizations are also leaving their jobs, selling their properties in other to ‘japa’, which they have attributed to seeking a better environment for their children.
However, many more Nigerians have to endure long wait times and queues to collect their international passports, which is a pre-requisite for applying for any visa in the first place. In this article, Nairametrics compiles the experiences of some Nigerians who have expressed their angst at the situation.
What they are saying
- In a conversation with Mrs. Damilola, an HR personnel working in Lagos State. She explained that she had to travel to Kwara State in other to “capture’ for her international passport, due to the reputation of delay and long queues in the Lagos State offices. Damilola, who is a nursing mother, had to travel by road to Kwara State, before she could complete the process of capturing.
- “I am on my way to Ilorin, Kwara State now to do my biometric capturing, because I cannot handle the long queues in Lagos, as I am a nursing mother. Also, many of my friends who have registered for some months now, have not been able to collect their document, which is something I do not have so much time for”, she said.
- Rose, on the other hand, expressed her frustration as she complained of the stress, she had gone through just to collect her international passport.
- She said, “I did my capturing in April this year and my supposed collection date was in May but I have been coming back and forth all to no avail. I am a working-class lady and I have people waiting on me as well.”
- “It is so tiring that I had to tweet the social media handle of the passport office and I got feedback that there is no application for April that has not been treated, but coming down to the office is a different story entirely,” she added.
- Similarly, Adeola, a mother of 3, who was processing for a family passport explained that she has been on the process for months and was asked to pay N15,000 each in order to fast track the collection process but she chose not to as she can’t afford that for herself and her kids.
- “I have been here since 7am waiting for my name to be called for collection as today is my supposed collection day but surprisingly, only about five applicants are called for collection while about 50 applicants will be called for capturing. The worst part is that there is no guarantee you will even collect it after waiting and wasting all day. It is so tiring and the system is just too corrupt,” she said.
- In a conversation with Njoku, a fresh applicant, he explained that he applied through an agent in June and he was told to come for capturing on the 24th August, 2022 and he was assured he will get his international passport ready for collection by the next day as it is urgently needed for this travel process outside the country.
- “I paid about N100,000 for processing a 64-page passport which is normally around N70,000, so I’m certain I paid for fast-tracking the process as the agent promised to ensure I get the passport in 24hours,” he said.
“I paid N25,000, and I applied directly. I am sure the people who applied through an agent paid more,” said Kayode, who just completed his National Youth Service. He also mentioned how an agent he approached in the Abeokuta office asked him to pay N45,000. “Maybe it would have moved faster if I used the agent, but I’m not in a hurry,” he added.
Dolapo on the other hand said he paid N45,000 for his international passport (32 pages). “We paid N45,000 each, me and my friends”. However, the higher fee did not reduce Dolapo’s wait time. He applied in March, his biometrics was captured in May, and still here in August, waiting to collect the document.
He also bemoaned the long wait times, adding that to move any faster, you either had to pay more or know someone on the inside. Both Kayode and Dolapo opined that the wait times did not need to be that long, insinuating that the delays often prompted people into paying extra to fast-track the process.
“They should have digitized the process long ago. It’s a shame”, a rueful Kayode stated. “Look at all these people. They either have jobs or run businesses, but they will spend the entire day here. A whole day of productivity lost. I will have to work overnight to make up for the time I have spent here.”
He considered the effect of all the lost man-hours on the economy, taking into account that all the people who were spending the entire day in the queue were not at work. “When people work and make money, they pay taxes. When they are not working, it’s not just them losing money; the country also loses. How much revenue gets lost here?”
Why the delay?
- The delay in the processing of passports in the country could be attributed to the increased security features for the passports after the EU and US imposed restrictions due to how easy it was to fake Nigerian passports.
- Recall that the federal government launched the e-passport in 2021, in a bid to curb forgery and improve the process of application. In other words, the improved security features should help improve the standing of the Nigerian passports.
- Also, Nairametrics gathered from a source in the Lagos passport office that a blanket ban was placed on the issuance of passports processed after 2021, so as to clear the backlogs of applications.
- However, cost issues may be contributing to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) ordering in bulk to meet the demand for passport booklets.
- Also, the scarcity of new Nigerian passports with enhanced security features is being worsened by the dollar shortage. Note that Nigeria is currently facing a huge FX crunch as a result of forex scarcity, which has seen the exchange rate depreciate significantly in recent times. Considering that these improved security measures would come at a higher dollar cost, the scarcity of FX could also impact the ability of NIS to acquire materials on time.
- There is also the issue of outsourcing the printing of international passports, which has caused a significant gap in the timely delivery of passports in the country. Despite, agreements by the federal government and its partners IRIS Smart Technologies Limited to domesticate the production of international passports, it appears that this has not been fully set into motion, hence the further delay.
One country , many problems
200 million Nigerians, 200 million problems
Back door processing where some officers get paid is what is delaying the process. Some that paid heavily received theirs within a week or two while those who follow normal channel suffer delay ranges from 3-6 months. All is still a product of corruption. God will deliver us from this menace in Nigeria oo
All problems boils down to products of corruption.
We always blamed those leader at the top but what of this once now.
The PCO, Mrs. Bukar lacks administrative skills by running the Alausa passport office like a personal business. The Hon. Minister should check her excesses and redeployed to another state. Lagos is a fast paced city and deserves someone with excellent administrative skills.
Please help us appeal to the Nigeria Immigration service to please make the appointment date to be two weeks after application date because of emergency family trips , people who came in for vacations, sick people that need treatment the 3months appointment date is too long the former process was fine before but this new process is not fair to Nigerian people
I don’t blame the officer’s and the people that pay heavily to get their passport why government dose not provide enough booklet for immigration and these same government will come online lie to us they’ve provide enough booklet for citizens mean why these booklet we’re talking about the is been produce from Malaysia.
Started my passport process in June was able to capture on July they gave me 1 week collection date but is September now not even a text from this people what type of fucked up country is this