In 2025, 48.5% of Nigerian visa applications were denied, ranking Nigeria third globally behind Afghanistan and Syria. Similarly, Nigeria’s Schengen visa rejection rate surged to 45.9% in 2024, up from 40.8% in 2023, according to the European Commission, showing that nearly half of Nigerian applicants are being denied access to Europe’s Schengen Zone. This placed Nigeria behind only Bangladesh and Senegal in global rejection rankings.
The trend is not limited to Europe. In 2022, US student (F1) visa denials in Nigeria hit a record high with 2 out of 3 applicants rejected. The student visa denial rate rose from 30% in 2021 to 36.25% in 2023.
This sharp rise in visa denials affects far more than just students or Nigerians seeking to travel for leisure. Athletes, business professionals, and even military officials are all being increasingly denied entry into Western countries.
In February 2025, the Nigerian government condemned Canada for denying visas to its senior military officers, including the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa who said half of his delegation, who were supposed to be in Canada for an official assignment on Wednesday, were left in Nigeria after being denied the relevant paperwork for entry. He termed the incident a “wake up call” for Nigeria to strengthen its sovereignty and “refuse to be taken for granted”. Nuhu Ribadu, a national security adviser, commented “If that can happen to the Chief of Defence staff, then I am worried for an average Nigerian.”
Visa denials have also disrupted Nigeria’s sports diplomacy. Nigerian athletes and their supporters often complain about being denied visas by other countries, even when they have fulfilled all the visa requirements. In February 2024, Nigeria’s national football team, The Super Eagles were forced to withdraw from a planned friendly match against Argentina, which was to be held in the US, after the Nigerian players failed to secure visas on time.
Africans have long complained about inconsistent, sometimes baffling decisions about who gets approved or denied while applying for European visas, alongside the staggering financial and emotional costs of these rejections.
UK visa fees rose from £100 to £115 in July 2024 ($134 to $154) and then to £127 ($170) in April 2025. These costs were high even before the increases, with disproportionate effects on applicants from low and middle-income countries, especially in Nigeria. There was a 13.5% spike in the cost of rejected visas to £50.7 million ($68.8 million) in 2024, the LAGO Collective estimates, with Nigerians alone paying an extra £2 million trying to travel to the UK, according to its calculations.
Often referred to as ‘reverse remittances,’ visa application fees are non-refundable, whether or not the visa is granted, so these application fees are essentially money flowing from poor to rich countries. In 2023, the European Union earned 3.4 million Euros in rejected Schengen visa applications from Nigeria. The British government raked in over $24 million from Nigerian visa applications between June 2023 and June 2024. This significant revenue came from over 225,000 applications processed during the period. With a six-month UK visitor visa fee set at $150, the total revenue from Nigerian applications exceeded $24 million.
Nigerians having to prove that they are deserving of the privilege of travelling to another country also takes a huge emotional toll. This proof is required at every point of the application process: from collating the catalogue of documentation required for the visa application to engaging with immigration officers. Then there is the additional toll of the rejection which often has adverse effects on subsequent visa applications.
There are several possible reasons for this spike in rejections for Nigerian visa applicants. These include a perceived lack of trust that applicants will return home, the alarming rate of insecurity in Nigeria, the prevalence of fraud and electronic crime, and diplomatic leverage by the Nigerian government. Additionally, as Nigerians make up a huge number of visa applications, they are also bound to make up the highest number of rejections.
Low trust that Nigerian travelers will return to Nigeria after their travels is a major reason for the high rate of visa rejections. As a result of the nation’s glaring economic woes which have led to an alarmingly high cost of living, 7 out of 10 Nigerians are willing to leave the country if given the opportunity, according to a report published in 2021 by the Africa Polling Institute.
The country’s economic challenges are stark. Rampant power outages worsened by the consistent collapse of the national grid which creates blackouts (sometimes for days) across several states is just one of the many issues which are detrimental to economic growth in the country. Such an occurrence would be unthinkable in a more developed country. The inflation rate which currently stands at 24.48% is another issue. The weak state of Nigeria’s naira, high costs of energy and rising transportation costs are some other factors that have contrived to create a heavily unfavourable business environment.
In the education sector, the incessant strikes in academic institutions, due to standoffs with the federal government are symbolic of a fragile desire to invest in, and subsequently develop human capital in the country. Students have grown frustrated with these constant interruptions that have prolonged academic calendars, consequently putting their lives and dreams on hold, leaving about 6.5% of Nigerian youth unemployed in 2025.
With these factors, it is no surprise that Africa’s largest nation is experiencing a ‘brain drain’. These realities and a growing desire to emigrate makes foreign nations hesitant to provide her citizens with their countries’ visas, for fear that these travellers will overstay their visas or simply refuse to return home.
South African management lecturer Sikhumbuzo Maisela said the visa rejection rates for Africans were actually lower than he expected. Speaking to CNN via email, he pointed out that “Western countries have had instances where visa holders overstayed or violated terms, and this has influenced how future applications are scrutinized.” Maisela said Africans should treat visas as an act of trust and hospitality, and observe the rules. “When one person violates these principles, it impacts all of us,” he said. “It makes it harder for the next applicant — someone who may be fully compliant — to be granted the same opportunity. So, in a way, those who break the rules contribute to the very discrimination others face.” Economic woes aside, Nigeria’s infamous insecurity rates are another reason several citizens would seize any opportunity to flee the country.
Nigeria is a country besieged with high levels of insecurity prevalent across the several states, with nearly every region vulnerable to the wave of violence. From herdsmen on rampage to the unrest in South-eastern Nigeria, where whispers of secession have created tensions, Nigeria is in a precarious position security-wise. Kidnappings make daily news; bandit attacks on villages are commonplace; and highways have become breeding grounds for bloodshed. According to Daily Trust, a staggering 91,740 lives were lost in Nigeria between 2011 and 2024 due to incidents of insecurity. Nigeria’s placement at 7.575 on the Global Terrorism Index reaffirms its status as a terrorism epicenter in sub-Saharan Africa. Other than the fact that visa applicants from a region rife with insecurity can easily be seen as fleeing the country, such high insecurity numbers also paints a picture of instability and concern for other nations. This leads to a negative perception of Nigeria as a place to invest or do business, as well as deterring foreign investment and travel.
Compounding this unfavourable perception is Nigeria’s ongoing struggle with cybercrime and financial fraud. By now, electronic crime and fraud are almost synonymous with Nigeria. Known for its notorious “419” scams, Nigeria continues to battle a reputation fraught with issues related to cyber fraud. In 2023, Nigeria’s banks reported a significant increase in financial fraud, with cases rising by 65% from Q2 to Q3 and resulting in an estimated N53.4 billion in losses in the first nine months of 2024, according to Businessday. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured a record 4,111 convictions and recovered over N365.4 billion in 2024. These convictions represent the highest number in any operational year since the EFCC’s inception. This fraudulent reputation leads to increased scrutiny for visa applicants, causing delays and rejections, even for genuinely eligible individuals who have already gone through strict background checks.
Further, poor diplomatic leverage by the Nigerian government, with few diplomats and feeble negotiating strength also plays a role in the visa denials. President Bola Tinubu, in September 2023, through the foreign affairs ministry, announced the recall of all the country’s ambassadors. No specific reason was given at the time. Nigerian missions abroad have since then been led by charge d’affaires, who are career civil servants. With 109 diplomatic missions worldwide, comprising 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates, this was a very ill advised decision by the Federal Government. The move was made as part of an attempt to drive efficiency in Nigeria’s foreign service. Premium Times reported that despite increased budgetary allocation (in naira terms) for Nigeria’s foreign missions over the years, fluctuations and exchange rates continue to affect funding received by these missions. In the past years, concerns have heightened on how little importance the government places on foreign policy implementation. Keeping a mission, embassy or consulate in another state is a mark of goodwill, while the reverse is a mark of broken or non-existing ties. Nigeria not having ambassadors implies that Nigeria does not want to maintain relationships with the international community. It also signals that Nigeria is unable to run its missions as a result of human capital deficiency or government incompetence. It projects the country as weak – unable to protect and pursue national interests abroad, and as such, foreign nations are less inclined to welcome Nigerian citizens into their countries. The disinterest of the Nigerian government in building diplomatic relations with other countries (which would make obtaining visas easier for citizens), could perhaps be attributed to government officials and their families being able to access these countries regardless of the visa restrictions that affect everyday Nigerians.
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