The United Kingdom government earned over £32 million (N68 billion) processing visas for Nigerian citizens interested in coming to the country between June 2023 and June 2024.
According to the Director of Visa, Status and Information Services at the UK Visas and Immigration, Marc Owen, not fewer than 225,000 UK visa applications from Nigeria were processed in the period under review.
Owen disclosed this at the launch of Africa’s biggest UK Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Lagos.
The British High Commission in Lagos quoted Owen as saying in a statement, “In the year to June 2024, we processed more than 225,000 UK visas for Nigerian nationals across all categories and this new partnership demonstrates our continued commitment to ensuring our visa services are accessible, efficient and meet the needs of all applicants.”
“I’m delighted to be here in person as we celebrate this important moment together with our customers and partners.”
Although Owen did not specify if certain classes of visas had more applications, however, a standard UK visitor visa for six months costs $150, meaning that the UK generated over $34 million from the 225,000 Nigerian applicants.
LEADERSHIP recalls that earlier this year, data from the British government showed that Nigeria was among five countries that saw a rise in study visa rejection rates in the second half of 2023.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Nigeria saw one in 31 applications rejected, while in Q4 2023, around one in eight were declined.
The data showed that issuances to Nigerians were down by 63 percent when compared with the last three months of 2022.
The increase in rejections came amid tightened visa restrictions for immigrants in the UK.
The British government also said changes to policies on dependent visas stirred negative sentiments in both countries, following tweaks to the graduate route post-study work visa.
