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The United Kingdom turned down 1,344,595 visa applications submitted by Nigerians between 2005 and the first quarter of 2026, according to official figures released by the UK Home Office.
The data, analysed from the UK government’s immigration statistics, showed that Nigeria recorded the second-highest number of visa refusals worldwide, behind only India. The country also accounted for 44.4 per cent of all UK visa refusals involving African applicants during the 21-year period.
Despite the large number of refusals, Nigerians remained among the biggest beneficiaries of UK visas. The Home Office approved 2,723,558 visas for Nigerian applicants over the same period, making Nigeria the third-largest recipient of UK visas globally after India and China.
Out of more than 4.06 million visa decisions involving Nigerians, the overall refusal rate stood at 33.1 per cent, more than double the UK’s global average of 14.8 per cent.
Visitor visas accounted for the overwhelming majority of rejected applications. Of the ₦1.34 million refusals, 1,127,088 involved visitor visas, representing 83.8 per cent of all rejected Nigerian applications.
The refusal rate for visitor visas stood at 37.1 per cent. Study visas recorded 130,712 refusals, while 41,410 work visas and 12,217 family visas were also declined.
The highest rejection rates were recorded in the mid-2000s. In 2006, the UK refused 117,968 Nigerian visa applications, representing 49.6 per cent of all decisions that year.
The figures gradually improved over the next decade, with the refusal rate falling to 21 per cent in 2023, when the UK granted a record 281,658 visas to Nigerians following the rebound in international travel after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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That trend changed in 2024 after the UK introduced stricter immigration policies. The British government raised the minimum salary requirement for Skilled Worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700 and restricted dependent visas for international students and care workers.
Immigration research firm Intelpoint reported that Nigerian work visa applications dropped by about 68 per cent after the changes. Refusal rates subsequently climbed to 33.5 per cent in 2024, 33.1 per cent in 2025, and 35.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.
Nigeria remained the leading source of UK visa applications from Africa, accounting for 35.7 per cent of all applications submitted by African nationals and 32.7 per cent of visas issued to the continent.
Other African countries with significant visa refusals included Ghana (374,108), Algeria (191,903), Egypt (134,055), Zimbabwe (102,246), Morocco (93,722), Kenya (75,973) and South Africa (61,521).
Reacting to the figures, former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said Nigeria’s economic challenges continue to drive thousands of citizens to seek opportunities abroad through the “Japa” trend.
He said the number of Nigerians seeking visas would likely remain high until the country’s economic conditions improve significantly.
“The desire to leave Nigeria is largely a reflection of the state of the economy,” he said. “The trend is unlikely to slow until there is a meaningful turnaround. While the refusal figures are worrying, they also reflect the growing number of Nigerians applying to travel abroad.”
The UK Home Office also noted that Nigerians were among the top five nationalities that claimed asylum after entering Britain legally on visas in the year ending September 2025, a development officials said has contributed to tighter scrutiny of visa applications from Nigeria.
