Nigerian govt approves NIN verification fees for passport services

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced that Nigerians will soon begin to pay a fee for the verification of their National Identification Number (NIN) during applications for an international passport.

In a statement issued Monday by NIMC’s Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, the agency hinted that the introduction of the fees follows a framework it agreed with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to improve the speed of passport services delivery in the country.

“The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) wishes to inform the general public that it has devised and agreed on a framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to significantly improve the quality of service, accuracy, and speed of passport services through the timely verification of the National Identification Number (NIN),” the statement said.

In recent times, many Nigerians have experienced difficulties in their efforts to verify their NIN during the international passport registration process. This, among other issues, leads to delay in the production of passports.

In 2022, the NIMC announced that plans were ongoing to enable Nigerians to verify their NIN on its website in order to fast-track the issuance of international passports to applicants.

On Monday, the identity management agency in its statement explained that the new arrangement is in furtherance of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy’s directive to streamline passport application, renewal, and issuance processes.

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“Consequently, a NIN Verification fee would be charged for each Nigerian passport application for this service,” the statement noted.

Under the new framework billed for implementation from 1 April, the statement noted that Nigerian citizens resident in the country will be charged N1000 for NIN verification for each Nigerian passport application.

However, it said, Nigerians living in other African countries or other countries in the world will be charged a fee of $5.00 and $15.00 (or its equivalent in other currencies), respectively.

“NIMC and NIS have agreed on a revised applicant journey that will significantly improve the speed of passport issuance/re-issuance and reduce the traffic visiting the NIS office (s).The NIN service, fees, and the new NIS process will go live on 1st April 2023,” the statement added.