Thousands of Nigerians living in the United Kingdom rely on the Nigerian High Commission in London for essential consular services. But for many, what should be a routine passport renewal has turned into a frustrating ordeal marked by months of delays, unanswered enquiries, missed travel plans and lingering uncertainty. AYOOLA OLASUPO investigates the causes of the crisis, its impact on affected citizens and the urgent reforms needed to restore confidence in the mission
“If my passport isn’t renewed, I can’t travel outside the UK. If I leave with an expired passport, I could get stranded or face serious immigration problems. That could affect my immigration status, and I don’t want that.”
Those were the words of Badmus Oluwaseun (not his real name), a Nigerian social worker based in Bournemouth, United Kingdom, whose attempt to renew his passport has turned into months of anxiety and frustration.
What he expected to be a routine process through the Nigerian High Commission in London instead became a bureaucratic nightmare marked by unanswered emails, ignored telephone calls, an expensive but fruitless trip to London and the growing fear that his passport would expire before the problem was resolved.
Oluwaseun’s ordeal began in July when he applied for a 10-year passport renewal through the High Commission’s contactless biometric system.
Although he successfully paid over N200,000 for the biometric process, the portal failed to generate the option to pay for the passport booklet, leaving his application incomplete.
Determined to resolve the problem, he contacted the High Commission through every available channel, including emails, telephone calls, WhatsApp messages and social media platforms. None yielded a response.
After exhausting all options, he travelled nearly three hours from Bournemouth to London, hoping officials at the High Commission would intervene.
Instead, Oluwaseun said he was stopped at the entrance by a security official who refused to allow him into the building or direct him to anyone who could address his complaint.
“I explained everything to him, but he told me there was nothing he could do and that I should go and find a way to resolve it myself. I told him that if I could solve it on my own, I wouldn’t have travelled all the way there. I begged him to let me speak with someone who could assist me, but he refused. He was very nonchalant, rude and dismissive,” he lamented.
The journey, he said, ended in disappointment. After waiting outside the High Commission for more than an hour without speaking to any official, he returned home with his problem unresolved.
Worse still, repeated calls to the mission’s published telephone lines continued to ring unanswered.
“The trip turned out to be a complete waste. I waited there for over an hour, hoping someone would attend to me, but nobody did. I called virtually every day from Monday to Friday. The phone rang, but nobody picked up. I sent emails, direct messages and WhatsApp messages. Up till now, nobody has responded,” Oluwaseun said.
To compound his frustration, the passport portal now displays the message, ‘Application details not found’ each time he enters his application reference number, even though his application still appears on the platform.
With his passport due to expire on October 4, 2026, Oluwaseun fears he may be forced to begin the entire application process afresh.
Physical appointments offer little hope, he said, as the earliest available dates are several months away.
“If I start another application, I’m afraid it could end up the same way. The earliest appointments I found were in December or January, which doesn’t help my situation at all. I can’t keep wasting money because it’s not easy to earn,” Oluwaseun said.
Fear for immigration status
Beyond the administrative bottlenecks, he said the prolonged delay has already disrupted his personal life.
Oluwaseun has cancelled planned family trips because he fears his passport could expire before the renewal process is completed.
His greatest concern, however, is the potential impact on his immigration status if he leaves the UK with an expired passport and is unable to return without complications.
Although he considered travelling to Nigeria to renew the passport, he estimated that the trip would cost more than N1m, an expense he believes should have been unnecessary.
“If I travel to Nigeria now just because of my passport, I’ll probably spend over N1m altogether, and that’s simply not good for my finances. Honestly, I don’t think this problem should be this difficult to solve. If they simply answered calls or replied to emails, they could explain what was wrong with my application.
“They could simply say, ‘We’re sorry,’ or ‘Please book an appointment and come in so we can fix it.’ That’s all. Instead, there’s complete silence.
“What annoyed me the most was travelling all the way there only to meet someone at the entrance who refused to let me speak to anyone inside. I wasn’t asking him to solve my problem. I only wanted him to direct me to the appropriate officer who could check my application, look up my reference number and tell me what went wrong.
“It should have been that simple. But I was treated as though I was disturbing him. They’re making the whole process unnecessarily difficult for Nigerians,” he said.
Months after paying for the renewal, Oluwaseun still does not know when, or if, his new passport will be issued.
Career on hold
For Michael (surname withheld), a software engineer based in Coventry, the passport renewal delay has become more than an administrative inconvenience. It now threatens both his career and immigration future.
Having lived in the United Kingdom for about three years, he decided to renew his passport six months before its November 2026 expiry date to avoid last-minute complications.
On May 17, he completed the online application, uploaded all the required documents and paid about $230, comprising the $200 passport booklet fee and other processing charges.
Under the official process, applicants are expected to either book a physical appointment or enrol for the contactless biometric service after payment. But immediately after completing the payment, Michael said the option to enrol for contactless biometrics never appeared on his account.
“That was where the first struggle started,” Michael recalled.
According to him, repeated emails, WhatsApp messages and direct messages sent through X and Instagram went unanswered. Acting on the advice of other Nigerians facing similar challenges, he eventually booked a physical appointment, only to discover that the earliest available date was in December, which is after his passport would have expired.
After nearly three weeks of repeated attempts, Michael finally gained access to the contactless biometric application. But the breakthrough offered only temporary relief.
He encountered fresh technical glitches while uploading his photograph and fingerprints. It was only after updating the mobile application that he was able to complete the biometric enrolment. Even then, after paying an additional $100 for the contactless service, the application stalled once again.
Michael said, “Since nobody replied, I kept trying every day. While searching online, I realised many other Nigerians were experiencing exactly the same problem. Someone advised me to book a physical appointment first, even though I couldn’t access the contactless option. I eventually booked one, but the earliest available date was in December, even though my passport expires in November.
“I continued trying to resolve the issue. I downloaded the mobile application and kept checking it regularly. After about three weeks, I somehow managed to access the contactless process. I honestly don’t know what changed. During that period, I also contacted some of the social media accounts listed by the Nigerian Immigration Service, but none of them responded.
“Using the app was another frustrating experience. It kept rejecting my photograph, and when I eventually got past that stage, I struggled to capture my fingerprints. I use an iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I wasn’t expecting compatibility issues.”
“Some people even advised me to buy an Android phone just to complete the process. I was about to do that when I noticed the app had been updated on the App Store. I updated it immediately and was finally able to complete the facial capture and fingerprint verification.
“After that, I was prompted to pay another $100 for the contactless service, in addition to other processing charges. I paid, expecting the application to progress automatically. Instead, nothing happened. There was no update or further instruction.
“Following the official guidelines, I bought the required postal envelope and postage, enclosed my passport and sent everything through Royal Mail on June 5, 2026. I’m angry, anxious and uncertain. I hardly sleep because I’m constantly worried. At this point, I just need someone to help me get my passport back as quickly as possible, he further recounted.
For Michael, the delay has become far more than a passport issue.
Having secured sponsorship to switch from a post-study visa to a Skilled Worker visa, he said he could not complete the immigration process without his passport. With his current visa due to expire in December 2026, he fears losing both the sponsorship and his legal status in the UK.
He shared copies of payment receipts for the contactless service and screenshots of conversations with a representative of the Nigerian Immigration Service with Sunday PUNCH
Another harsh reality
Michael and Oluwaseun’s experiences are far from isolated. Across the United Kingdom, many Nigerians say what should be a routine passport renewal has become an exhausting cycle of delays, unanswered enquiries and uncertainty.
For Jamiu (surname withheld), a Nigerian resident in North East England, a process expected to take just two weeks stretched into more than two months after repeated attempts to get assistance from the Nigerian High Commission yielded no result.
Jamiu also applied to renew his passport through the High Commission’s contactless biometric system in March 2025 and promptly sent his expired passport and other required documents, expecting both the old and new passports to be returned within the stipulated timeframe.
Weeks passed without any communication.
His search for answers eventually led him to other Nigerians on X who said they had experienced similar problems. Through them, he obtained a direct telephone number for the High Commission.
“I tried to contact them, but they were completely unreachable. I called every day without success. Eventually, I connected with other people on Twitter who were having similar experiences. They advised me to contact the Nigerian Immigration Service on Instagram, but that also proved fruitless.
“Later, someone gave me a direct phone number for the embassy. I called it every day until one day someone finally answered. The man told me there was a Passport Department handling my case.
“He said many people had been calling with similar complaints and admitted they didn’t have the right answers. He asked me to call back the following week, but when I did, he never answered again, Jamiu said.
After exhausting every available option, Jamiu wrote a formal letter to the High Commission detailing his ordeal and providing his contact details.
According to him, an official later contacted him, explaining that his passport package had already been dispatched but was likely mixed up by the courier during delivery.
Although the matter was eventually resolved, what should ordinarily have taken about two weeks stretched to over two months.
Jamiu blamed the delay largely on poor customer service, saying applicants struggled to get responses through the mission’s official communication channels.
‘I lost my job opportunity’
The prolonged delay came at a high personal cost.
According to Jamiu, the delay cost him a job opportunity because he could not attend an interview that required a valid passport while both his expired and renewed passports remained with the High Commission.
He urged the High Commission to improve its customer service by responding promptly to enquiries and calls, and providing better support to Nigerians seeking consular assistance.
Across the United Kingdom, many Nigerians accuse the Nigerian High Commission in London of prolonged passport delays, poor communication, cancelled appointments, discourteous treatment and inadequate responses during emergencies.
For many, what should be a routine consular process has become an ordeal with financial, emotional and legal consequences.
Akintayo Emmanuel (not his real name), a Nigerian social entrepreneur, is one of them. He told Sunday PUNCH how he struggled in 2024 to obtain a Certificate of Good Standing required for a new job.
According to him, repeated calls to the High Commission went unanswered, leaving him unable to obtain guidance on the application process.
He feared losing the opportunity because failure to submit the required documents within the stipulated period could jeopardise his employment, despite the delays being beyond his control.
Emmanuel said the experience exposed what he described as the High Commission’s poor responsiveness and called for more accessible communication channels and prompt support for Nigerians requiring consular services in the UK.
Silence deepens despair
When Adekunle (not his real name) walked out of the Nigerian High Commission in London on a cold Thursday afternoon, anger had given way to exhaustion.
For the fourth time in six weeks, the Birmingham-based software engineer had travelled nearly three hours to London to renew his Nigerian passport, only to return home empty-handed once again.
Speaking about his ordeal, he said his online appointment had been confirmed, yet officials asked him to return another day because they could not attend to everyone.
His phone calls rang unanswered, his emails received no replies, and every futile journey meant another day off work and another difficult explanation to his employer.
“I wasn’t asking for a favour. I only wanted to renew my passport. Instead, I felt like nobody cared whether I was there or not.”
Without a valid passport, Adekunle feared losing employment opportunities, encountering immigration complications and being unable to travel in the event of a family emergency.
More painful than the delay itself, he said, was the feeling of being abandoned by the very mission established to protect and assist Nigerians abroad.
His experience also mirrors that of several Nigerians in the United Kingdom.
A recent Sunday PUNCH survey found that Nigerians living in Birmingham, Bournemouth, North East England, Leeds, Lincoln, Bristol and Sheffield routinely undertake long and costly journeys to London in search of assistance at the High Commission, only to return without resolving their complaints.
The mounting frustration is not new.
On June 17, 2019, an aggrieved Nigerian destroyed several official vehicles at the Nigerian High Commission on Northumberland Avenue, London, during a protest over prolonged delays in the issuance of his passport.
Although the incident was widely condemned, it also underscored years of complaints about inefficiency and highlighted the urgent need to address the systemic problems confronting Nigerians seeking consular services in the United Kingdom.
Complaints persist despite system upgrade
In a bid to modernise passport administration for Nigerians abroad, the Nigeria Immigration Service introduced the Contactless Passport Application System to reduce the need for physical visits to embassies and high commissions.
Under guidelines released in July 2026, applicants are required to complete their applications online, verify their identities using their National Identification Number, upload supporting documents, complete biometric enrolment through the NIS Mobile App, and mail their passports and other required documents to their chosen embassy or high commission.
The service allows applicants to track their applications online or through the mobile app from two weeks after submission.
The NIS described the initiative as part of broader efforts to modernise passport services, improve convenience and reduce congestion at Nigerian missions abroad.
Following complaints, particularly from Nigerians in the United Kingdom, the agency acknowledged that the mobile application experienced technical glitches during its initial rollout but maintained that subsequent upgrades had resolved the issues.
It added that the platform had eased biometric appointment challenges and improved passport processing for Nigerians overseas.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also backed the reforms, saying they were designed to improve access to consular services for Nigerians in the diaspora.
However, many applicants who spoke with Sunday PUNCH said their experiences have fallen far short of those promises.
Instead of a seamless digital process, they described prolonged delays, poor communication and an inability to obtain updates from the Nigerian High Commission in London after submitting their passports.
Regional peers raise the bar
A comparison of consular services offered by African diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom suggests that several countries have adopted clearer service standards, digital tracking systems and structured customer support, while many Nigerians continue to complain of delays and poor communication at the Nigerian High Commission in London.
Ghana, for instance, guarantees passport processing within 15 working days for standard applications, seven working days for expedited requests and between 24 and 48 hours under its premium service.
Applicants can monitor their applications online, receive SMS and email notifications and, in many cases, have completed passports delivered directly to their preferred addresses.
Although the Nigeria Immigration Service now operates an online passport portal and contactless biometric enrolment for eligible Nigerians abroad, many applicants interviewed by Saturday PUNCH said the tracking system frequently failed to reflect the actual status of their applications.
According to the 2021 Census published by the UK’s Office for National Statistics, more than 270,000 Nigerian-born residents live in England and Wales alone, making Nigerians one of the country’s largest African diaspora communities. The figure excludes residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Service gaps
The disparity extends beyond technology to customer engagement.
While Ghana publicly publishes passport processing timelines, offers multiple service categories and provides applicants with regular digital updates, many Nigerians in the United Kingdom told Sunday PUNCH they were unable to obtain even basic information about their applications despite repeated emails, telephone calls and social media enquiries.
The Nigerian High Commission in London has also not publicly disclosed key operational data such as passport application volumes, staffing strength or complaint statistics.
By contrast, the Nigerian High Commission in Nairobi publicly states that passport renewals are processed within three working days and encourages applicants to lodge complaints, highlighting inconsistencies in consular service delivery across Nigeria’s diplomatic missions.
An analysis by Sunday PUNCH of complaints posted by Nigerians across seven UK cities found 32 documented cases of passport-related grievances on social media.
Of these, 25 applicants said their emails and telephone calls went unanswered, while seven said they travelled to London multiple times before their issues were eventually resolved.
Community leader faults communication gap
Speaking on the development, the founder of the Nigerians in the UK Community, Benjamin Kuti, popularly known as the Oluomo of Derby, attributed the growing frustration among Nigerians in the United Kingdom to poor communication and limited accessibility at the Nigerian High Commission.
He said the absence of functional telephone lines, unanswered emails and slow responses to enquiries had made it difficult for Nigerians to obtain assistance, particularly on passport renewals, documentation and emergency consular matters.
According to him, repeated attempts by affected Nigerians to draw attention to the problems through social media have yielded little or no meaningful response from the mission.
Kuti identified passport renewal as the service generating the highest number of complaints, with many applicants lamenting prolonged delays, poor communication and difficulties tracking their applications.
“I believe the High Commission should be more accessible and responsive to Nigerians. There should be reliable communication channels so people can make enquiries and receive timely assistance whenever they need it,” he said.
Kuti called for wide-ranging reforms, including dedicated emergency communication channels, prompt responses to emails and enquiries, regular town hall meetings between High Commission officials and members of the Nigerian community, and the establishment of a welfare support system for Nigerians facing emergencies abroad.
He said the Nigerian community remained willing to partner with the High Commission to improve service delivery and rebuild public confidence.
Kuti also advocated the establishment of an additional Nigerian consular office outside London, arguing that the rapid growth of the Nigerian population in the United Kingdom had placed enormous pressure on the London mission and made access to consular services unnecessarily difficult for Nigerians living in other parts of the country.
Migrants risk immigration consequences
An immigration lawyer based in the United States, Tajudeen Tijani, warned that prolonged delays in passport issuance could expose Nigerians abroad to serious legal and immigration consequences, stressing that a valid passport remains a fundamental requirement for maintaining lawful immigration status in many countries.
According to him, migrants without valid passports may be unable to submit visa applications, renew residence permits, complete biometric enrolment or prove their identity, leaving them at risk of missing critical immigration deadlines.
Tijani explained that although delays by embassies do not automatically result in deportation, they can trigger a chain of immigration complications.
He said migrants whose passports expire before replacement documents are issued could effectively become undocumented, exposing them to the loss of legal status, restrictions on employment and education, limited access to essential services such as banking and housing, and increased vulnerability to immigration enforcement.
The immigration lawyer added that prolonged delays could ultimately result in visa lapses, overstays, arrests, detention or removal proceedings.
Experts urge stronger digital reforms
Olatunde
Also speaking, a UK-based public policy analyst, Temitayo Olatunde, said the effectiveness of modern embassies should be measured not by the number of documents processed but by the quality, accessibility and efficiency of the services they provide.
According to him, prompt service delivery, responsive customer support and reliable digital systems have become the global benchmarks for consular services.
He argued that reports of unprofessional conduct by some officials continue to erode public confidence in Nigeria’s diplomatic missions abroad.
Olatunde attributed the shortcomings to a combination of structural and administrative challenges, including inadequate staffing, weak communication, institutional capacity constraints and inconsistent implementation of digital reforms.
He said, “These failures are rooted in both structural and administrative problems. The administrative issues include poor communication, inadequate staffing and reports of unprofessional conduct, while the structural challenge lies in institutional capacity.
“Nigeria should adopt proven models from other countries by combining Estonia’s digital-first approach, Singapore’s culture of efficiency and accountability, the United Kingdom’s transparent consular service standards and Canada’s citizen-centred engagement with its diaspora. These are practical reforms that can be adapted to Nigeria’s realities.
“The digital infrastructure should be upgraded. There should also be clearly published timelines for passport processing and an independent, transparent complaints mechanism for Nigerians in the UK. Citizens should be able to report unprofessional conduct or poor service through a secure online platform, with guaranteed acknowledgement, investigation and feedback within a specified timeframe.”
Olatunde also endorsed Kuti’s recommendation for additional consulates, arguing that establishing offices in Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh would decentralise consular services, reduce pressure on the London mission, shorten travel distances and bring essential government services closer to Nigerians across the United Kingdom.
Closed consulates fuel London crisis
A former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon and Delegate to the World Expo and Economic Development Centre in Paris, Ambassador Rasheed Akinkuolie, traced many of the challenges confronting the Nigerian High Commission in London to overstretched facilities and chronic understaffing.
Akinkuolie
He said the situation worsened after Nigeria shut its consulates in Edinburgh and Liverpool in 1984, leaving the London mission solely responsible for providing consular services to millions of Nigerians across the United Kingdom.
Akinkuolie, who previously served at the High Commission, said the closures placed enormous pressure on the London mission, stretching its personnel and operational capacity beyond sustainable limits.
‘Reopen Edinburgh, Liverpool consulates’
The former Director of Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also linked the staffing crisis to decades of limited recruitment into Nigeria’s Foreign Service.
Akinkuolie said the cumulative 19-year recruitment gap, combined with the retirement of experienced officers, created a severe manpower shortage across Nigeria’s diplomatic missions and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters.
“There used to be two Nigerian consulates in the UK, in Edinburgh and Liverpool, but both were closed in 1984. Their responsibilities were transferred entirely to the High Commission in London, which subsequently became overwhelmed.
“In 1984, about 120 Foreign Service officers were summarily dismissed. Thereafter, no new officers were recruited until 1993, while the next recruitment did not take place until 2003. That cumulative 19-year period of little or no recruitment, coupled with the retirement of experienced officers, created a severe shortage of personnel both at our missions abroad and at the Ministry’s headquarters,” he added.
To address the problem, Akinkuolie recommended reopening the consulates in Edinburgh and Liverpool to reduce the workload on the London mission.
He also urged the Federal Government to fast-track the ongoing Foreign Service recruitment exercise and deploy additional Nigeria Immigration Service personnel to London to handle passport issuance, emergency travel certificates and document authentication more efficiently.
No response from officials
When contacted for a reaction, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Kimiebi Ebienfa, declined to comment, while the phone number of the Nigerian Immigration Service’s Akinsola Akinlabi remained unreachable. He had also not responded to messages as of press time.
Sunday PUNCH also sent detailed questions to the Nigerian High Commission in London on July 29, 2026, seeking its response to the allegations raised in this report. As of press time, the mission had yet to respond.
