The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has announced that beginning April 1st, Nigerians will be required to pay for the verification of their National Identification Number (NIN) when applying for an International Passport.
With this development, the Commission has released a set of fees to be paid for the service.
According to NIMC, Nigerians applying within the country will pay N1,000, those applying from other African countries will pay $5 or the equivalent in other currencies, and those applying from countries outside Africa will pay $15 or the equivalent.
In a statement issued on Monday and signed by its Head of Corporate Communications, Kayode Adegoke, NIMC stated that the fees were implemented in response to the development of a framework with the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to improve the speed with which passport services are delivered.
The NIMC’s announcement of the new fee regime is as follows:
“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).
“This new arrangement is in furtherance of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy’s directive to streamline passport application, renewal, and issuance processes. Consequently, a NIN Verification fee would be charged for each Nigerian passport application for this service.
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.”
Last year, the NIS announced plans to allow Nigerians to independently verify their National Identification Number (NIN) on its website. The service stated that this was done to expedite the issuance of international passports to applicants.
The introduction of fees by the NIMC in collaboration with the NIS means that Nigerians will now pay for self-verification on the NIS website.
The Acting Comptroller-General of the NIS, Isa Idris, who announced the start of self-verification, admitted that the process of verifying the NIN after the applicants have been given an appointment causes delays in the passport-issuing process.
He went on to say that the NIS had integrated its systems with those of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to achieve seamless verification.
While noting that the NIS was attempting to adhere to the government’s policy of three weeks for renewal and six weeks for new applications, he stated that verifications, which include verifying applicants’ addresses, frequently result in delays that extend beyond the timeline.
