Nigerian Immigration Service and Nigerian High Commission to offer Manchester passport services

NIGERIANS living in the Manchester area will now be able to do their biometric verification for the passports locally thanks to the launch of a passport intervention programme unveiled by the Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigeria High Commission.

Being organised in conjunction with the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk), the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation and the Nigerian Community in Manchester, the exercise will hold from Monday October 16 to Friday October 20. It will involve Nigerians living in the Manchester area being able to do their biometric capturing at the Nigerian Community House in Greater Manchester.

Canuk's vice chair passports, Olajumoke Ariyo, said: "This passport intervention programme will involve Nigerians being able to get their data captured at the Nigerian Community House, Greater Manchester M14 5NE. Running for a week between October 16 and 20, the programme will enable people to come in to get their data captured between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

"Attendance is by registration, so members of the public are urged to go and register using the eventbrite link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/passport-intervention-program-tickets-734... There are several requirements that must be met to obtain a Nigerian passport, so we would urge everyone participating to please read and understand the guidelines, to avoid any problems."

Among the requirements needed to obtain an international passport include having a National Identification Number (NIN), which must be validated before passport processing can take place. Applicants must also have completed a passport online application form and thus have a payment slip and an acknowledgment slip.

Applicants must also bring along their most recent physical Nigerian passport, a pre-paid special delivery envelope and a £20 postal order payable to the Nigeria High Commission London. All these must be handed in at the Manchester centre during the biometric data capture exercise.

Applicants for first-issue passports must bring all of the above with them, along with an original and photocopies of their full birth certificate showing the names of both parents. They must also bring along a photocopy of a non-Nigerian passport if they have dual nationality and a photocopy of the Nigerian passport of at least one of the parents.

Minor applicants under 18years for first-issue passport must bring all the above requirements including  original and photocopies of their full birth certificate showing the names of both parents, as well as a photocopy of a non-Nigerian passport if they have dual nationality. They must also include photocopies of both parents passports, one of which must be a Nigerian and a consent letter signed by both parents. In the absence of consent from either of the parents, a court order must be presented.

Meanwhile, those applicants seeking a change of surname due to marital status or divorce must bring all the above along with a copy of their National Identification Number (NIN) slip, which must carry the new surname. This NIN must be validated before passport processing can take place.

In the case of a change of name due to marriage, applicants should please present signed consent letters from their husbands, as well as original and photocopies of their marriage certificates and photocopies of their husband’s passport. In the case of divorce, applicants should provide photocopies and originals of decree absolute or final divorce orders from the court and show evidence of their maiden names.

Applicants for any other change of data should attend the London Immigration Centre at the high commission. Also, nobody will be seen without a registration ticket, so interested applicants are urged to book appointments on Eventbrite immediately.