The United Kingdom government has earned over £32 million approximately N68 billion from processing visas for Nigerian citizens desirous of migrating to the country between June 2023 and June 2024.
The Director of Visa, Status and Information Services at the UK Visas and Immigration, Marc Owen, revealed that about 225,000 UK visa applications from Nigeria were received and processed in the period under review.
Owen made this known during 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.”
However, Owen was not specific regarding certain classes of visas having more or less applications, but standard UK visitor visa for six months costs $150, meaning that the UK generated over $34 million from the 225,000 Nigerian applicants, according to Leadership estimate.
The Daily Crucible reports in the 4th quarter of 2022, Nigeria witnessed one in 31 applications rejection, while in Q4 2023, around one in eight cases was rejected.
Also the data showed that issuances to Nigerians dropped by 63 percent when compared to 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 touched off negative sentiments in both countries, following tweaks to the graduate route post-study work visa.
