Nigeria commissions e-passport facility in Ottawa to quicken passport processing for Diaspora Nigerians in Canada.
Officials said they expect the facility to expedite passport issues and renewal process for citizens abroad.
Internal Affairs Minister Rauf Aregbesola affirmed yesterday that government is keen to make passport processing and acquisition seamless for them.
Aregbesola personally opened the facility for business at the Nigerian High Commission in Ottawa, the capital. The facility demonstrates commitment to improve services to Nigerians living abroad, he said.
He was also pleased that new passport passed every international security and quality checks and consequently gained worldwide acceptance.
Nigeria is the first country in Africa and fifth in the world to embrace the new technology, the Minister said.
“Needless to mention that Nigeria was recently re-elected into the ICAO Public Key Directory (PKD) Board for the fourth time, back to back. This is an eloquent testimony of the Federal Government’s commitment to global best practice.”
Chief Executive of Nigerian Immigration Services, Comptroller General Isah Jere Idris, equally assured the Nigerian community in Canada of a fast-tracked process.
He however asked citizens to make the process easy for themselves by strictly following application guidelines.
In particular, those in need of new passports must apply and pay online to enjoy faster processing times. They are to also synchronise their application with information in their national identification number (NIN).
Idris said passport booklets are aavailable in Canada to clear back orders while issuing new ones.
According to Idris, the travel document are in three categories:
- 32-page five-year validity category,
- 64-page five-year validity category and
- 64-page ten-year validity category (adults only).
The new passport differs from current e-passport through its polycarbonate data pages with additional 25 security features, Idris said.
With this roll-out, Canada joins UK and USA as foreign centres to successfully migrate to the enhanced e-Passport, Idris said.
To Get in Touch
- Application and payment portal is passport.immigration.gov.ng
- Social Media chat for
Facebook and Twitter is
@nigimmigration - Virtual assistant on website at www.immigration.gov.ng.
- Emails can be sent to
passportinquiries@nigeriahcottawa.ca,
generalinquiries@nigeriahcottawa.ca, - Phone calls directed to +16132360521-3
Nigeria commissions e-passport facility in Canada
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