Nigerian Passport Renewal Fees in the UK (2026)

How much does it cost to renew a Nigerian passport in the UK?

A standard renewal has two official payments. The passport booklet fee goes to the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in US dollars. The administrative fee goes to the Nigeria High Commission in London, which most people call the Nigerian embassy in London, in pounds.

NIS raised passport fees on 1 September 2025 to N100,000 and N200,000, but its press release said the rise only affected applications made inside Nigeria. Diaspora fees stayed at $150 and $230.

Smaller costs come on top: the Special Delivery envelope, the Post Office postal order fee and your bank's currency conversion.

How does the US dollar fee convert to pounds?

The NIS fee is charged in US dollars and there is no official sterling price, so we do not print one. What leaves your UK account depends on the exchange rate on the day you pay.

Your bank or card provider sets that rate and decides whether to add a non-sterling transaction fee. Check your card's terms first, especially if you are paying for several family members at once.

The portal adds its own layer. Its payment page asks you to select a gateway and payment mode and says fees vary by payment method, and its receipt lists the passport booklet fee and a service charge separately. Read the total payable before you confirm.

You may also see a different figure in the news. In a statement on 11 September 2026, reported by Vanguard, NIS gave the applicable fees as $162 for a 5-year booklet and $242 for a 10-year booklet. Days earlier the Minister of Interior described them as $150 and $230, exclusive of bank charges. NIS has not explained the $12 difference on each, so trust the total the portal shows you before you pay.

The portal also warns that passport payments are final and non-refundable. Choose 5-year or 10-year before you pay, not after.

Why do some websites quote the wrong fees?

The most common error is the lost passport charge. Several widely read guides, including blogs published by money-transfer companies, still say a lost, misplaced or damaged passport costs £250. The High Commission's requirements page, checked on 15 September 2026, lists £150 by UK postal order.

The second is naira prices. Articles about N100,000 and N200,000 passports describe applications made in Nigeria, which NIS says do not apply to the diaspora.

The third is the £70 figure from the September 2026 intervention exercise. If a page does not link to nigeriahc.org.uk or immigration.gov.ng for its numbers, treat them with caution.

The £70 intervention exercise fee and the £50 refunds

NIS and the High Commission began a Special Passport Intervention Exercise in the UK on 7 September 2026. On 8 September BusinessDay reported complaints from applicants who said they were asked for an additional £70 described as an administrative fee.

In a statement on 7 September, the Minister of Interior said the exercise carried no cost beyond the official $150 and $230 fees, exclusive of bank charges. The High Commission has since published a notice that applicants who paid a £70 admin fee will be refunded £50, £20 being the standard admin fee.

In a separate public disclaimer dated 11 September 2026, the High Commission said any claim that a £70 administrative fee received presidential approval is incorrect, and that the approved standard administrative charge remains £20.

If you paid £70, keep your receipt or payment reference. The notice does not say how refunds will be made, so watch the High Commission's website for updates.

What is not an official fee?

Money paid to a person or business, rather than to NIS or the High Commission, is not an official fee. That includes agents, travel agencies and coordination services like ours. You can apply, pay and book yourself, and the High Commission's own lost-passport form pack warns the public against touts who charge exorbitant fees.

If you choose to pay for help, the price should be clear before you pay anything and kept separate from the official payments. Ours is quoted on contact, before you pay anything. Our turnaround guarantee on coordinated passport cases is our own commitment, not a government timescale.

NIS says the passport application and payment processes are fully automated and strictly cashless, so do not hand cash to anyone. These costs are real but sit on top of the official fees:

• Post Office postal order fees: 12.5% of the value from £10 to £99.99, capped at £12.50 from £100 to £250.
• The £2.30 per-applicant processing fee on the High Commission's e-payment platform, so £20 becomes £22.30.
• Your bank's exchange rate and any non-sterling transaction fee on the US dollar payment.
• Royal Mail's Special Delivery price for the return envelope.
• Your travel to the appointment.

Common payment mistakes and how to avoid them

Check these before your appointment.

• An unpaid application. The NIS portal lets you submit and pay later, so an application number alone does not prove payment. Check the payment status shows as successful and print the receipt.
• Paying twice. If a payment seems to fail, use the portal's Verify Payment option before trying again. For duplicate payments, the NIS refund policy covers more than one payment on a single application, claimed within 21 days of payment, but not two applications for the same person.
• An unmatched e-payment. The High Commission platform matches your £20 to your Application ID, so enter it exactly as issued. If it still shows unpaid, contact the platform with your payment reference and Application ID.
• The wrong payee. Postal orders should be payable to the Nigeria High Commission, London. The Post Office says orders with erasures or alterations may be refused, so ask the counter to print the payee rather than correcting it by hand.
• An old postal order. Postal orders expire six months from the date of issue.
• The wrong amount for a lost or damaged passport. The High Commission's lost-case requirements list £150.
• A blank postal order on a contactless application. For the contactless route, the High Commission asks you to write your name and telephone number on the back.