Immigration Tells Nigerians With Expired International Passport to Come Home

Immigration Tells Nigerians With Expired International Passport to Come Home

  • Nigerians with expired international passports willing to come back home can still do it
  • Obtaining a Nigerian international passport is one of the most difficult processes and it takes months
  • The immigration service expects Nigerians preparing to come back home for the holidays from abroad to do so freely

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Nigerians with expired Nigerian passports can still return to the country during the holidays.

This is according to Tony Akuneme, public relations officer at Nigerian Immigration Service the Vanguard reports.

Akuneme argument is that Nigerians do not require a visa to enter the country.

Nigerians with expired passport
Immigration abroad can return home without an international passport. Credit: @immigration
Source: Facebook

He also emphasized that Nigerians with dual citizenship are welcome to visit Nigeria, but only with their Nigeria passport, even if it is expired.

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However, Nigerians coming back home he stressed must show their expired Nigeria passport to confirm their citizenship.

His words:

"According to the new policy, Nigerians with dual citizenship are permitted to visit Nigeria with their Nigeria passport, even if it is expired, they will be allow in at the airport.
"However, you must demonstrate that you are a Nigerian, which is why we say they can come with an expired passport." Dual citizenship necessitates the use of two passports.
"Previously, if your passport expired, you were not allowed to enter the country; now, they can travel in with their expired Nigeria passport."

He added that the point of letting them in is to enable them to renew their Nigeria passport before going back.

Legit.ng in an earlier report showed how Nigerians can obtain an international passport with only N26,000.

The step-by-step guidelines also disclosed the website, email address and phone numbers where Nigerians may report officials who seek bribes to process officer applications.

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Going to US, Europe? FG sends important message to Nigerians

Nigerians rush to obtain passports; immigration says issuance has risen by 38 per cent

Meanwhile, Legit.ng in a recent report, says that the number of passports issued by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) increased by 38 per cent between 2020 and 2021.

Passport issuance increased from 767,164 in 2021 to 1,059,697 in 2021.

The data from the NIS shows that the passport types range from standard, official, diplomatic, emergency travel certificates or conventional documents

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Dave Ibemere avatar

Dave Ibemere (Senior Business Editor) Dave Ibemere is a senior business editor at Legit.ng. He is a financial journalist with over a decade of experience in print and online media. He also holds a Master's degree from the University of Lagos. He is a member of the African Academy for Open-Source Investigation (AAOSI), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and other media think tank groups. He previously worked with The Guardian, BusinessDay, and headed the business desk at Ripples Nigeria. Email: dave.ibemere@corp.legit.ng.