The British High Commission has clarified its earlier statement on the suspension of visas, stating that it suspended priority visas and not student, work and family visas for Nigerian applicants.
The commission explained that the development was due to a re-prioritisation of resources in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The commission, in a statement on Wednesday, said it was still possible to apply for any category of UK visa in the usual way on gov.uk and via its visa applications centres.
It added that the VACs remained open and customers were welcome to apply for the standard visa of any category in the usual manner, including student, family, work and visit.
The statement read, “Following the statement issued by the British High Commission in Nigeria on March 15 titled, ‘Temporary suspension of priority visas for student, work and family applications’, we are aware of reporting circulating in the Nigerian media and online that the UK has suspended student, work and family visas for Nigerian applicants.
“This is not true. It is still possible to apply for any category of UK visa in the usual way on gov.uk and via our visa applications centres in Nigeria.
“Our VACs remain open and customers are welcome to apply for a standard visa of any category in the usual manner, this includes student, family, work and visit visas.
“However, due to a re-prioritisation of resources in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine, the UK has temporarily suspended its priority visa service.
“As our March 15 statement made clear, this temporary suspension only applies to the UKVI’s expedited, added-value ‘Priority’ and ‘Super Priority’ visa services. This suspension is to enable the UK’s global visa operation to prioritise applications for the new Ukraine Family Scheme.”
The mission apologised for any inconvenience this development had caused and promised to issue an updated statement the moment the ‘Priority’ and ‘Super Priority’ visa services resumed.
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