How I spent over ₦1m to renew my national passport – US-based Nigerian

A United States-based Nigerian, Sage Vincent Ike, has claimed he spent more than ₦1 million to renew his Nigerian passport despite the Federal Government’s ongoing passport reforms, citing delays, repeated payments and administrative bottlenecks.

In a series of posts on X on Sunday, Ike detailed what he described as a frustrating four-month ordeal that disrupted his travel plans and resulted in significant financial losses.

He said he applied for a passport renewal in March 2026 because his passport was due to expire in May and he had already paid for a trip to Japan, a 15-day Princess Cruise to Japan and South Korea, as well as a planned visit to Nigeria.

According to him, his biometric capture was scheduled for March 19 at the Nigerian Consulate in Atlanta.

However, after driving about three hours from North Carolina to the consulate, he discovered the office had been closed for the Eid-el-Fitr holiday without prior notification.

“I drove three hours from North Carolina, only to arrive and discover the Consulate was closed for the Salah holiday. There was no email notification, no website update on Google office hours, no text, and my appointment still showed March 19. The only notice was a poster at the gate,” he wrote.

He said he returned to the consulate on March 27 for his biometric capture.

Ike said he paid $230 for a 10-year passport and the correction of an error in the arrangement of his names, which was processed as a change of data.

According to him, despite providing a self-addressed envelope, he was required to pay an additional $50 for the passport to be mailed to his address, bringing his total payment in the United States to $280, which he estimated at about ₦414,400.

He added that although the acknowledgement slip indicated the passport would be ready on April 1, officials crossed out the date and informed him it had been automatically generated by the system, while the consulate’s website stated that passport processing takes between three and six weeks.

After months without receiving the passport, Ike said he contacted the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, through email and also reached out to the Nigeria Immigration Service via its social media platforms and WhatsApp.

“Every effort ended in silence. No positive result, no reply except later with zero effect,” he wrote.

Frustrated by the delay, Ike said he contacted a retired immigration officer in Nigeria, who requested ₦260,000 to begin processing another passport application before his arrival.

He said he was later asked to pay another ₦100,000 after officials explained that a fresh change-of-data approval had to be processed through Abuja because he had already completed biometric capture in Atlanta.

According to him, after waiting several more days without progress, he was instructed to pay an additional ₦100,000 because the passport already initiated in Atlanta had to be produced before another one could be processed.

“At that point, I had spent ₦460,000 in Nigeria alone, on top of what I had already paid in the USA,” he said.

Ike further alleged that after the Atlanta passport was eventually produced on July 15, a family friend who went to collect it was told to either present an authorisation letter or pay $150 before the document could be released.

He claimed that because they were racing against time to meet a courier deadline, the $150 was paid before the passport was released.

To get the passport to Nigeria, he said he also paid $176.35 through DHL, which he estimated at about ₦260,000.

He added that hotel bills, feeding expenses and the cost of changing his return flight continued to pile up because he could not leave Nigeria without the passport.

Ike said he eventually received the passport on July 22 and travelled back to the United States on July 24.

“Beyond the money is the emotional toll of ‘Nigeria has happened to me’ — the uncertainty, the frustration, the helplessness of watching fully paid international trips lost because of administrative inefficiency,” he wrote.

“This is not about politics. It is about the lived experience of ordinary Nigerians, especially those in the diaspora.

“We are constantly told that the passport system has been reformed and modernised, yet many citizens continue to bear enormous financial and emotional costs because of bureaucratic bottlenecks,” he added.

Responding to the claims, the Nigeria Immigration Service apologised for the experience and clarified aspects of the process.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service regrets the inconvenience and emotional distress this experience may have caused you. Kindly accept our sincere apologies,” the Service wrote on X.

It explained that duplicate passport applications undergo a strict verification process to protect the integrity of the passport issuance system.

The agency also described the alleged $150 payment for third-party passport collection as illegal.

“We also wish to state that the payment of $150 for the secondary collection of a passport is illegal. Applicants are strongly advised not to patronise touts or unauthorised third parties.

“A duly signed letter of authorisation from the applicant is sufficient to enable collection by an authorised representative.

“Kindly check your Direct Message for further resolution,” the Service added. (Punch)