British high commission in Nigeria suspends the issuance of visas until further notice

BRITAIN'S high commission in Nigeria has suspended the issuance of all visas until further notice claiming that this has become necessary in the wake of the Ukrainian war as priority has to now be given to refugees from the conflict.  

In an unprecedented move, the UK mission announced a temporary suspension of study, work and family visa applications, barely two months after it resumed processing them at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.  According to mission staff, priority has now been placed on applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

On January 24, the UK high commission in Nigeria resumed consular services after suspending visa applications from red list countries, including Nigeria, on December 6, 2021. Just as the process was getting underway again, it has been suspended with Britain saying the Ukraine Family Scheme which was launched in response to the humanitarian crisis in the country, is now Britain's top priority.

A high commission spokesman said: "UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) is currently prioritising applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme, following its launch and in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine. As a result, UKVI has temporarily suspended priority and super-priority services for new study, work and family applications.

"Customers with standard applications in study, work and family routes may experience some delays in the processing of their application. We are still currently unable to offer priority visa for visitor applications in Nigeria and standard visitor visa applications are currently taking an average of six weeks to process.”

According to the mission, Nigerians, whose passports were ready for collection, would be contacted by the Visa Application Centre. It stated that applicants are not allowed to visit the Visa Application Centre unless they have been invited to do so.