Residents of Enugu and Rivers State no longer need to travel to Abuja or Lagos to apply for the United Kingdom visa as new UK visa centres have been opened in both states.
The new UK visa centres are operated by VFS Global, a visa and passport administration outsourcing company for governments and diplomatic missions.
This development follows the temporary closure of visa centres in both cities in November 2024, after the UK transitioned its visa services from TLScontact to VFS Global.
Giving updates in a press statement issued on Monday, Onyinye Madu of the British High Commission Communications Office, Abuja, said the two UK visa centres are in addition to the state-of-the-art Visa Application Centres in Abuja, Ikeja (Lagos) and on Victoria Island (Lagos).
He explained that these state-of-the-art UK visa centres aim to meet the growing demand for UK visas while decentralizing services from major hubs like Lagos and Abuja.
In Enugu, the UK visa centre is located at Omedel Luxury Hotel while the Rivers State’s UK visa centre is located at the Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt.
The new UK visa centres offer residents of South-East and South-South regions a convenient alternative to long-distance travel for visa applications.
The statement noted: “We are pleased to announce that Customers can now book appointments on https://visa.vfsglobal.com/nga/en/gbr/ to visit Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt or Omedel Luxury Hotel in Enugu to submit their applications and enrol biometrics for the summer season.”
Speaking on the development, Rt. Sir Hon Lord David Hanson, Minister of State at Home Office, said: “The government is pleased to be able to reopen the Premium Visa Application Centres in both Port Harcourt and Enugu. In 2024 we received more than 230,000 visa applications from Nigerian nationals across all visa routes.
“These new premium application centres will provide greater convenience for applicants in and around Enugu and Rivers State demonstrating the importance of the UK – Nigeria relationship in these markets as well as Nigeria as a whole.’’
In his remarks also, Mr Alok Singhal, Head-Sub-Saharan Africa, VFS Global, stated: “We are pleased to open the additional, conveniently located touchpoints for our UK visa customers in the form of the recently opened Premium Application Centres in Enugu and Port Harcourt, Nigeria which helps us cater to a larger number of travellers to the UK.
“Our customers will continue to enjoy the same comfort, convenience, and best-in-class services at these locations that they do at our Visa Application Centres in Abuja and Lagos.”
The statement also examined the Nigerian visa applicants, who submit their documents and enrol biometrics at the Premium Application Centres can now enjoy a number of complementary value-added services offered by VFS Global.
These include document upload assistance, notification services on the status of their applications and courier return of documents.
