Home Latest Insights | News The United Kingdom issued some 132,000 visas to Nigerians in H1 2023

The United Kingdom issued some 132,000 visas to Nigerians in H1 2023

The United Kingdom issued some 132,000 visas to Nigerians in H1 2023

Wow – Nigerians are really going to the United Kingdom: “In the first half of the year, we granted approximately 132,000 visas, and those are all sorts of visas, which include visit, work and study visas. “In the previous full year before that, we issued about 324,000. The UK, in that year, issued about three million visas, and of those three million visas, 324,000 were issued to Nigerians, which is about 10 per cent.”

This is not a topic I am not qualified to write on since I am not writing from Nigeria at the moment. That said, I will drop this Harvard Business Review piece  as my response.  Yes, how can you ask people NOT to leave when you made the same call? So, no comment on this one, even though I recognize this as a security threat to the nation’s economy as we could get to a state where Nigeria will not have trained professionals to manage the economy!


The United Kingdom issued some 132,000 visas to Nigerians in the first half of the year, Jonny Baxter, British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

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He revealed the number in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Thursday.

Mr Baxter, however, could not readily give the total number of applications received from Nigerians during the period.

“In the first half of the year, we granted approximately 132,000 visas, and those are all sorts of visas, which include visit, work and study visas.

“In the previous full year before that, we issued about 324,000. The UK, in that year, issued about three million visas, and of those three million visas, 324,000 were issued to Nigerians, which is about 10 per cent.

“ If you think about Nigeria’s population, relative to the world, that’s actually a higher proportion of Nigerians taking up those visas and coming to the UK, which I view is a good thing.

“The UK has a huge number of Nigerian students in the country, and in terms of foreign students in the UK, Nigeria is second only to India.

“We welcome and value the many Nigerians that we have coming to the UK to study or settle, as long as they are coming through legal routes, and it is important that the country’s rules are followed and respected,” he said.

Mr Baxter reiterated that change in the rules of students bringing dependents was a necessity based on an international challenge.

“ In 2019, Nigerian students going to the UK brought in 1,500 dependents. By 2022/2023, that number had risen to 52,000 dependents; that’s a massive increase.

“It is not surprising that a country, Britain in this case, that is facing that kind of change to the numbers of people coming in the country, wants to look at the policy and would want to change and amend their policy.

“This is definitely not a case of saying that we don’t want students to come; we definitely want students still to come, and the new policy would come in January 2024.”

He explained that the UK government reviews its visa fees regularly, noting that increments are taken when it becomes a necessity.

“What the British government has decided to do is they review fees all the time, and they’ve decided that because of the cost of processing visas, those costs that people applying for visas need to pay should go up as well.

“The other thing that I think is probably not often recognised is that, for some of those people who are going to the UK and are in some limited circumstances, those people will access services when they are in the UK, and those services cost money.

“So, part of the money out of the fees in the visa process will be to pay for those services that, in certain circumstances, some people may need to access when they’re there. So, for me, that’s an entirely justifiable thing.

He advised the public to always apply for a visa well ahead of their scheduled travels, noting that there are processes and time frames in granting visas.

(NAN)


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11 THOUGHTS ON The United Kingdom issued some 132,000 visas to Nigerians in H1 2023

  1. This geographic space called Nigeria belongs to who, the people of Nigeria, politicians of Nigeria, officials in Nigeria, or foreign interests? If we understand what is behind this seemingly simple question, we may not have to spend plenty time trading blames or justifying anything.

    I do think that Nigeria is an orphan, so in that regard, nobody is actually fighting for her, everyone is just pretending all along. It’s also possible that Nigeria is not worth fighting for, because it’s the same people who think Nigeria is worth saving are also joining hands to destroy her.

    Suddenly, issuing of international passports will become part of a performing government’s KPI, because if you don’t meet up with the ridiculous demands for passports, it means that you are ‘incompetent’, and all the movements need foreign exchange. Nigerians demand from Nigeria what they never equipped her to do, but they still think they deserve better…

    Like I said before, we were badly formed, the interests are canceling each other, no shame, very irresponsible, with inexhaustible means of justifying even the most ridiculous.

    Who are really Nigerians and what is Nigeria? Say what you like, but this is not a real place, more like a trading route.

  2. I am a British born citizen. If UK issue Nigerians UK visas so easy, why cant my Indonesian wife get a UK visa? It seems unfair. My wife been refused a UK visitor visa twice. Hmmm. If all these Nigerians are allowed visitor visas then my wife should be allowed one. So she can come to UK and meet my family and my father. It’s a very unfair immigration system in UK.

  3. Perhaps Mr Baxter should tell us how much the UK made from all these visas, how much in NHS surcharge, and how much it made from student fees from these Nigerians before making statements it’s a “national threat to UK economy”..

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