Burkina Faso has introduced a new biometric passport without the logo of the Economic Community of West African States, further solidifying its break from the regional bloc. The move comes after Burkina Faso, along with Niger and Mali, severed ties with ECOWAS following military coups in the three countries. The decision to issue passports without the ECOWAS insignia was announced …

The Federal Government has approved an upward review of the fees for the Nigerian passport . Yesterday, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) said the new fee regime which will take effect on 1 September, will not affect those applying for the travel document outside the country. It said the change in fee was done “to maintain the quality and integrity of …

Some Nigerians in the United Kingdom have gathered outside the Nigerian Embassy in London, United Kingdom, to protest against the challenges they encounter processing their passports. In a video seen social media on Friday, the immigrants carried placards with different inscriptions to register their displeasure. Some of the placards read, “Two weeks turn to six months”, “Bashiru Aminu must go”, …

Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has announced a series of reforms aimed at modernising the country’s immigration services, noting that the ministry has saved the government millions of naira through an automated application system. As a guest on Episode 2 of ‘Unfiltered: The Big Interview’, a YouTube interview series hosted by O’tega ‘The Tiger’ Ogra, and released on Saturday, …

The Hong Kong government said Wednesday it had cancelled the passports of six democracy activists who fled to the United Kingdom, calling them “lawless wanted criminals”. Since authorities quashed massive, at times violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019, Hong Kong has intensified a crackdown on dissent, enacting security laws that critics like Britain and the United States say have curbed the …

Beginning from June 2024, the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) will start home delivery of passports in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has assured. The minister spoke on Friday when he inspected the electronic gates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s new terminal in Abuja. He noted that the delay in implementing home delivery …

The rush by Nigerians to leave the country for greener pastures reached its crescendo in the new year as 32,462 persons have so far applied for international passports and uploaded their documents from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS)π site between 8 and 21 January 2024. Of these applications, 15,113 have reportedly been approved for biometric capture and production, which is …

Ahead of Monday’s commencement of automated passports issuance, Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) officers began training yesterday in Abuja. Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who kicked off the training, assured that the process would eliminate all forms of human interference and graft. Tunji-Ojo said that the training would fine-tune the knowledge of the personnel and make them efficient in service delivery. He added …

The Federal Government on Friday unveiled technologically driven reforms for international passport issuance for its citizens by setting a  96-hour processing timeline, insisting that the production of the travel document should not be seen as a privilege, but a fundamental right of its nationals. Besides the revolutionary timeline, the government said, it will effective February 2024 start the implementation of …

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo said automation of passport applications is 99% complete and expected to go live next week. Tunji-Ojo disclosed this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday. He said, “Automation of passport applications is 99 per cent done. We’ve done the testing, and we should be going live in the next week or …