Nigerians no longer have to travel to the immigration office to obtain their passports, as home delivery of passports is set to begin in June.
Jerrymusa.com reports that on Friday, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced a significant development during an inspection of the electronic gates at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport’s new terminal in Abuja.
“He revealed that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) will commence home delivery of passports in select locations, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, and Abuja, to avoid overloading the system.
Nigerians in Diaspora Will Benefit
“The minister also announced that Nigerians in the diaspora will benefit from this service, initially in the United States and the United Kingdom, following preliminary testing to ensure its effectiveness.
“Tunji-Ojo explained that the delay in implementing home delivery was due to a lack of data centers, which the NIS had been relying on from a private company.
“He emphasized the need for a permanent solution, stating that the ministry has built a new data center from scratch to ensure the integrity of national data and security. This development has resolved the passport delivery issue, and the minister assured that the data center is comparable to any in the world.
“Furthermore, the minister announced that the final presentation of the electronic visa has been completed, which will reduce visa processing time from 72 hours to 48 hours.”
He also stated that the passport automation process is almost complete.
This announcement comes nine months after the minister initially declared that home delivery of passports would commence by February 2024.