From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The United Kingdom Visas and Immigration (UKVI) has suspended temporarily, priority visas for student, work and family applications.
The British High Commission, Abuja, disclosed the suspension of the priority visas in a message on its Facebook page.
The UKVI however said where there are extremely compassionate or compelling circumstances such as medical emergency, it may consider expediting specific cases.
The UK Visas and Immigration disclosed that it is currently prioritising applications made under the Ukraine Family Scheme, following its launch and in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine.
‘As a result, UKVI have temporarily suspended priority and super-priority services for new study, work, and family applications,” the British High Commission said.
The British High Commission further said customers with standard applications in study, work, and family routes may experience some delays in the processing of their application.
‘We are still currently unable to offer PV for visitor applications in Nigeria. Standard visitor visa applications are currently taking an average of six weeks to process.
‘Applicants will be contacted by the Visa Application Centre (VAC) when their passport is ready for collection. They should not attend the VAC until they have been invited to do so.
‘Where there are extremely compassionate or compelling circumstances (for example, a medical emergency), UKVI may consider expediting specific cases. However, the bar for this is high and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. If a request is exceptionally urgent, applicants can contact UK Visas and Immigration for help.
‘Please note that this is a chargeable service for overseas customers.
‘We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause,’ the UKVI also said.