The British High Commission in Nigeria has suspended visa processing for Nigerian applicants.
In a statement on Tuesday, the UK government said the step was taken to prioritise applications for Ukrainians fleeing their country, following the invasion by Russia.
“We are still currently unable to offer PV for visitor applications in Nigeria.
The Ukraine family scheme allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.
Such applicants will also be able to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds.
The statement said, as a result of this decision, the UK Visa And Immigration, (UKVI), has “temporarily suspended priority and super-priority services for the new study, work, and family applications.”
“Customers with standard applications in the study, work, and family routes may experience some delays in the processing of their application,” the statement read.
Standard visitor visa applications are currently taking an average of six weeks to process.
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“Applicants will be contacted by the Visa Application Centre, (VAC) when their passport is ready for collection. They should not attend the VAC until they have been invited to do so.
“Where there are extremely compassionate or compelling circumstances (for example, a medical emergency), UKVI may consider expediting specific cases. However, the bar for this is high, and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis”.
The statement ends with the sentence:
“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The Nigerian government is yet to respond to this decision to halt priority visa applications for Nigerians by the UK authorities.
(Editor: Ifeanyi Mark)
