UK Launches 24-hour Visa Service in Nigeria

British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Paul Arkwright

The UK has launched the Super Priority Visa Service in Nigeria to allow prospective visitors to Britain to process their applications within 24 hours.

The British High Commission, on its website, said the new service was targeted at meeting the needs of those who require urgent service to travel.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the High Commission quoted the British High Commissioner, Mr. Paul Arkwright, as welcoming the introduction of the Super Priority Visa service in Nigeria.

“I am pleased to see the Super Priority Visa service being launched in Nigeria.

“This comes with an additional cost but is designed to give greater flexibility to our customers and underlines our strong commitment to make improvements to the visa services we offer.

“We expect this new service to be particularly useful for business. We understand that business opportunities and urgent requirements can arise at very short notice.

“We recognise this and want to facilitate such travel to the UK with this new super-fast service,” Arkwright said.

The High Commission said the introduction of the service allowed customers greater flexibility to choose from a number of visa products to meet their needs.

“It is offered alongside our current Priority Visa (front of queue processing five to seven-day) and standard (15-day) services.

“The UK is the only European country to offer a visa decision in 24 hours.

“The Super Priority Visa service is aimed largely at key business customers and those needing to travel urgently by providing a visa decision for collection at the Visa Application Centre the working day following submission.”

It said the service costs 750 pounds sterling in addition to the visa fee and would be available to eligible customers applying in the Abuja and Lagos Visa Application Centres.

The High Commission said those applying in the “Visitors” or “Points Based System Tier 4” are eligible to use the Super Priority Service.

It said appointments are available from Mondays to Thursday from 8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Fridays from 8.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Abuja and Lagos centres only.

“Extending the Super Priority Visa service to Nigeria is another example of how the UK is leading the world in the provision of premium visa services for those coming to the UK to visit, do business or study.”