Nigerians applying for passports will henceforth be charged N1000 in the country for the verification of their National Identification Number.
The announcement was made on Monday, February 13, by the Head of Corporate Communications at the National Identity Management Commission, Kayode Adegoke.
According to the NIMC, the fee is to improve the quality of service, accuracy, and speed of passport services through timely verification of NIN.
In the new framework agreed upon with the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigerians applying for passports in Nigeria will pay N1000 for NIN verification in Nigeria, $5 in other African countries, and $15 in other countries.
He said;
“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.
“The delay in the processing of passport applications could be as a result of the integration of data between NIS and the NIMC, which also, in turn, integrate with the BVN data of applicants.”