According to Jonny Baxter, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, the UK granted almost 132,000 Nigerians visas in the first half of the year.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that he gave on Thursday in Lagos, he disclosed the figure.
Baxter, however, was unable to immediately provide the total number of applications that Nigerians submitted during that time.
“We gave over 132,000 visas in the first half of the year, and those visas ranged in type from visit to work to study.
“The year prior, we issued roughly 324,000 throughout the full year. In that year, the UK issued over three million visas, 324,000 of which were issued to Nigerians, or almost 10% of the total.
If you consider Nigeria’s population in relation to the rest of the world, a bigger percentage of Nigerians are really applying for those visas and travelling to the UK, which in my opinion is positive.
“There are a tonne of Nigerian students in the UK, and India is the only other country with more foreign students than Nigeria.
“We welcome and value the many Nigerians that we have coming to the UK for study or to settle, as long as they are coming through legal routes, and it is important that the country’s rules are followed and respected,” he said.
Baxter reaffirmed the need for a reform in the regulations regarding students bringing dependents, citing a global issue.
In 2019, 1,500 dependents from Nigeria travelled with Nigerian students to the UK. That number had increased dramatically by 2022–2023, reaching 52,000 dependents—a significant increase.
Nigeria is not alone in this, since it has happened in many other nations, and this change in the needs of the dependents is in fact a global concern.
“It is not surprising that a country, in this case Britain, that is seeing such a change in the number of immigrants would wish to review its policy and possibly reform or revise it.
“This is definitely not a case of saying that we don’t want students to come, we definitely want students to still come, and the new policy would come in at the beginning of January 2024.”
He noted that increments are added as necessary and that the UK government regularly analyses its visa fees.
“The British government has decided to evaluate fees on a regular basis and has determined that because processing visas is expensive, the fees applicants must pay should also increase.
“The second issue, which I believe is probably not commonly acknowledged, is that some of those individuals who are travelling to the UK and are in certain circumstances will access services there, and those services will cost money.
Therefore, a portion of the money collected through the visa application fees will be used to cover the costs of any services that applicants may require while on the ground. Thus, in my opinion, that is a perfectly acceptable action.
I do, however, fully comprehend the need for us to explain it so that people are aware of the justification for the escalation, he added.
Noting that there are procedures and deadlines in place for awarding visas, he recommended the general public to always apply for visas well in advance of their planned journeys. (NAN)
