Nigerians travelling to the United Kingdom for visits shorter than six months must still obtain a visa before departure, according to an updated UK Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor released over the weekend, which keeps Nigeria among more than 100 countries and territories whose citizens are classified as visa nationals.
Under the rules, citizens of Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, India, Pakistan, Russia and numerous other African, Asian, European and Latin American countries must obtain entry clearance before travelling to the UK except where specific exemptions apply, a requirement now extended to stateless persons and anyone travelling on documents other than a national passport or, where permitted, a national identity card, unless that document was issued by the UK itself. The Home Office’s July 1 update noted limited exceptions for certain nationals of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, set out in separate provisions of the rules.
Practically, this means Nigerians planning tourism, family visits, short business trips or other visits under six months must continue securing the appropriate UK visa before departure. Other African countries on the visa list include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Outside Africa, the list covers Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palestine, the Philippines, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Dominica, Fiji, St Lucia and Suriname, among others. The rules separately reaffirm that stateless persons must obtain entry clearance before travelling to the UK regardless of their country of origin.
