Home delivery of passport starts next year – FG

The Federal Government says Nigerians will have their passports delivered to them at home, offices, and other places of choice beginning next year. Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said this on Monday in Lagos, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2023 University of Lagos International Week. According to him, Nigerians will soon begin to experience the “sweetness” of the passport application as the ministry has started the automation of the process. “We have commenced the automation of our end-to-end passport application process, and we have given a timeline…

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Nigerian passport ranks below Niger, Chad, others – Report

…Immigration Service kicks The Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), yesterday, in Abuja, reacted to a global ranking that placed the Nigerian passport 98th out of 199 countries, below other African states such as Malawi, Niger, Chad, Zimbabwe, Uganda and The Gambia. It said that although it welcomed the ranking, it is more concerned with the Nigerian passport’s compliance with the global standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation, (ICAO). According to details obtained from Henley & Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, the passport index published quarterly is…

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“We will limit jobs available to foreigners” – Immigration Boss, Babandede

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), Muhammad Babandede has stated that the Service is planning to limit job opportunities available to foreigners in the country. Babandede stated this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmuminu Kabir-Usman, on Tuesday. He said the influx of foreign nationals into the country has made them “occupy most of the job opportunities available to Nigerians”. “Therefore, we are going to limit the kind of jobs those foreign nationals can be engaged in. By doing such, Nigerians can get…

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Nigeria Immigration re-opens Passport application portal, gives conditions

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (CGI), Muhammad Babandede, has announced the re-opening of the Passport application and payment portal effective 8th June 2021 by 12 midnight to allow eligible Passport applicants to apply and make payments for the various categories of Passports of their choice. The Passport portal was closed following the directives of the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola on May 17, to afford the Service the opportunity to clear all backlogs of applications that have piled up across its issuing centres in the past few months.…

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Nigerians can obtain passports within six weeks’ – Immigration Comptr-Gen.

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), Muhammed Babandede, yesterday said the turnaround time for issuance of passports is now six weeks. The Service’s Public Relations Officer, Sunday James, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen. The statement was titled: ‘NIS promotes senior officers’. James quoted Babandede as saying this at the NIS headquarters in Abuja during a media chat on Innovations and Administration for Ease in Passport Issuance and Processing following the decoration of 87 newly-promoted Assistant Comptrollers-General and Comptrollers of Immigration Service. Speaking on the recent halt…

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NIS intercept seven illegal migrants ladies in Jigawa

The Nigeria Immigration Service has intercepted a middle-aged lady of Oyo State origin and six other illegal migrants while attempting to cross to Niger Republic at the border town in Jigawa State. Among the seven ladies, two are said to be from Imo State, another two from Lagos State while the remaining are each from Ogun, Oyo and Kwara states and they were intercepted at a village on the Nigeria-Niger border, in Babura local government area of Jigawa State. According to the Comptroller of Immigration Service in Jigawa State, Alhaji…

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Immigration officers to now use body cameras – Aregbesola

The Minister of Interior, Ra”uf Aregbesola has stated that officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service, (NIS), will start wearing body cameras as part of efforts to tackle corrupt practices. Aregbesola, who, during a meeting with NIS officers on Thursday, said the move will curb corrupt practices and also ensure transparency in the system. The minister noted that those found to be engaging in illegal acts will be dealt with according to the law. “It has become imperative that we review our operations and rejig our system, to be able to…

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FG introduces temporary passports for Nigerians abroad

The Federal Government has replaced the emergency travel certificate with a temporary passport for security reasons. The Minister of Interior, Ra’uf Aregbesola, inaugurated the temporary passport at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Abuja yesterday. The temporary passport is a new genre of travel document that will be issued at the Nigerian Embassies abroad to Nigerians wishing to return home but whose national passport was not available. According to a statement by the NIS spokesman, Sunday James, titled: ‘Nigeria Immigration Service launches the Nigerian Temporary Passport’, the minister stated that the…

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