The United Kingdom has said it never suspended student, work and family visas in Nigeria.

The British High Commission, in a statement yesterday, said the clarification became necessary as a result of reports circulating in the Nigerian media and online that the UK has suspended student, work and family visas for Nigerian applicants.

“This is not true. It is still possible to apply for any category of UK visa in the usual way on gov.uk and via our Visa Applications Centres (VAC) in Nigeria.

“Our VACs remain open and customers are welcome to apply for a standard visa of any category in the usual manner, this includes student, family, work and visit visas.

“However, due to a reprioritisation of resources in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine, the UK has temporarily suspended its priority visa service. As our 15 March statement, made clear, this temporary suspension only applies to the UKVI’s expedited, added-value ‘Priority’ and ‘Super Priority’ visa services.  This suspension is to enable the UKs global visa operation to prioritise applications for the new Ukraine Family Scheme,” the British High Commission said.

The British High Commission further said the decision to suspend priority visa services was also clearly stated on UKVI’s guidance page, which sets out the latest decision waiting times for visa applicants outside the UK. 

“On behalf of UKVI, the British High Commission in Nigeria would like to apologise for any inconvenience this development has caused.

“The British High Commission in Nigeria will issue an updated statement the moment ‘Priority’ and ‘Super Priority’ visa services resume,” the British High Commission also said.