Nigeria’s contactless passport system is now live in four additional countries
With the NIS Mobile App, eligible applicants can now renew their passports entirely online.
If you’ve ever had to renew your Nigerian passport abroad, you probably know the drill: endless paperwork, long queues, and trips to the embassy. But that process is finally getting a digital upgrade—and not just in one or two places.
After debuting in Canada in November 2024 and expanding to the UK, Ireland, and parts of Asia by February 2025, Nigeria’s contactless passport system is now live in four more countries: the U.S., Brazil, Jamaica, and Mexico.
According to Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) spokesperson Akinsola Akinlabi, the system went live in the U.S. on April 11, followed by Mexico, Jamaica, and Brazil on April 14. And it’s all part of a phased plan by the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to simplify passport renewals for Nigerians abroad. The idea is simple: skip the embassy.
With the NIS Mobile App—currently available on the Google Play Store—eligible applicants can now renew their passports entirely online.
How to renew your Nigerian passport online
- Once you create a profile, the app walks you through payment, self-enrollment, and submission. If you're not eligible for digital biometrics, it’ll prompt you to book a physical appointment instead.
- After that, just send your current passport and a self-addressed envelope to the nearest embassy. Your new passport gets mailed back once processed.
The service isn’t yet available in Nigeria or Australia, but NIS says those rollouts are coming soon. An iOS version of the app is also in the works, alongside a more advanced update for both Android and Apple devices.
With over 10 countries already onboard, this doesn't seem like just a small change but a part of Nigeria’s wider push to modernize public services for its global diaspora. And if this phase goes smoothly, renewing a Nigerian passport might never look the same again—home and abroad.
Kelechi Edeh
