“Unless You Are Contacted”: UK Close Lagos Visa Application Centres on Monday, Announce Resumption Date

• The UK has announced that its visa application centers in Lagos will be closed on March 20 due to safety concern
• The affected centers are located in Ikeja and Victoria Island, and customers will not be able to collect their passports on that day
• This closure will however not affect those contacted by the embassy to due to priority status

The United Kingdom says its visa application centers in Lagos will be closed on Monday, March 20, over safety concerns arising from the gubernatorial election.

The governorship elections are scheduled for today, Saturday, March 18, 2023.

UK embassy gives reasons for closure

In a statement on Friday March 17, the UK said the affected centres are in Ikeja and Victoria Island, adding that customers would not be able to collect their passports on the said day, Punch reports.

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The statement reads:

“The Visa Application Centres (VACs) in Ikeja and Victoria Island will be closed Monday 20th March. This is to protect the safety of customers and staff. There are no VAC appointments booked on this date and customers will not be able to access the VAC to collect documents/passports.

“Customers have the option to purchase the Keep my Passport and Courier return services in advance of the VAC closure in order to retain their passport during the period of closure. UKVI will continue to make decisions on all visa applications.”

The UK said priority visa (PV) services remain available while super priority visa (SPV) services will be suspended, Cable reports

UK embassy statement continues.

“Customers should not attend the VAC unless they have been contacted by TLS to do so. The British High Commission offices in Nigeria are not involved in visa decision making and do not hold passports and so are unable to assist."

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UK plans new visa rules for Nigeria as 10 atudents bring at least 9 dependants, the highest in the country

In another report, the United Kingdom is considering tightening the rules on how many relatives migrants can bring into the country.

Nigeria was mentioned after it was discovered that it has the highest number of dependants compared to other groups of migrants.

According to Daily Mail, out of 34,000 Nigerians issued visas in 12 months, they came along with a total of 31,898 dependants.

Source: Legit.ng