How To Replace A Lost Passport In Nigeria & Abroad
Replacing a lost passport is now made simple if the person who lost the passport is determined to pursue it personally.
We at facts36.com are here to guide you step by step on the process of how to replace a lost passport in Nigeria and Abroad or reissue it without a hitch.
INFORMATION NEEDED ON HOW TO REPLACE A LOST PASSPORT IN NIGERIA AND ABROAD
The following are the information you have to provide in order to start the process:
- SUBMIT ORIGINAL POLICE REPORT: The first realistic step is to report the loss to the Police Station in the area you lost the passport, (locally or internationally) and obtain a police report.
- OBTAIN A LOSS CASE FORM: Get a loss case form and fill in your details.
- OBTAIN A COURT AFFIDAVIT: Go to a high court, (preferably a federal high court) to obtain a Court Affidavit of loss of passport.
- Attach two recently acquired passport-sized photographs of any background.
- Attach the information or data page of the passport (provided you have it) to facilitate the replacement procedure.
STILL ON HOW TO REPLACE A LOST PASSPORT IN NIGERIA
When filling the form you must indicate the following facts:
- The place you lost the passport.
- The date the passport was lost.
- The passport office where the lost passport was issued.
- The date the lost passport was issued.
- The measures you’ve taken in recovering the lost passport, such as police report, court affidavit, and if you have placed an advert in a local newspaper reporting the case.
Present the form and the documents to your preferred Passport Office and
- Make a payment of a non-refundable administrative charge (the amount is not fixed we were told) for the processing of your lost passport.
- The passport office will attach the payment acknowledgement slip to your file and forward it to the office of the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service, Abuja.
How To Replace A Lost Passport In Nigeria
The next step is to wait for the approval.
After receiving approval the passport office will ask you to:
- Apply for reissue of lost passport
- Make an online payment of a Standard Nigeria Passport. (Please find out the current official price and pay accordingly)
- After the payment is confirmed online, and the acknowledgement payment slip is obtained, you will be directed to go for image acquisition, thumbprint and sign your signature electronically.
- You will wait for a few days only, for your replaced passport to be issued out to you.
- Please note that the quick issuance of your passport depends on the particular passport office you filed in your application
HOW TO REPLACE A LOST PASSPORT ABROAD
If you are abroad and your passport is lost, regardless of your decision on whether to process another one or not, the foremost thing to do is to:
- Ask for the nearest Police Station and present a report of the loss of your passport.
- Obtain a police report.
- Visit the Nigeria Embassy or Consulate in that country.
- Show or present any evidence to the embassy official to prove your Nigerian nationality.
- If you have a copy of the information, the data page or the passport number, present it, this will facilitate the processing.
If you intend to process the passport at the embassy you will do the following :
- Fill in a passport loss case form online.
- Pay the passport processing fee online, and present the acknowledgement slip.
- Present two passport sized photographs.
- Attach the photocopy of your identity card or residence card (if any)
Please before placing in your application, note that it will take some time before they will call you for acquisition, therefore, allows enough time for the processing, however, if you would not be able to stay longer, better come home with an Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC) and complete the processing in Nigeria.
STILL ON HOW TO REPLACE A LOST PASSPORT IN NIGERIA AND ABROAD
The case of reissue of lost passports used to be complicated, frustrating and time-consuming which only the Immigration Service headquarters can tackle, due to security implications and importantly to guide against multiple acquisitions. However, recently the Federal government decentralized the issuance of lost passports and removed the administrative bottlenecks, thereby making it simple in a way, because state passport offices are empowered to issue lost passports.
Recently the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service was quoted saying that “Approval for replacement of lost passports shall henceforth be given by state comptrollers after online vetting and processing of application at the Passport Division in the Service headquarters ”
WHY THE CASE OF LOST PASSPORTS ARE RAMPED
Since the introduction of electronic passports in Nigeria, the case of lost passports is on the high side, that it wouldn’t be out-of-place to examine briefly why holders are missing the documents they acquired with a lot of effort. And the replacement of which is not easy to obtain.
Initially, immigration authorities were feeling very reluctant in treating the case of lost passports because of the following reasons:
- Security implications: If you rushed in reissuing a reported loss case, much later if the holder recovered the passport, hardly will an average Nigerian return it for cancellation, thereby allows for double passport possessions.
- Not all reported lost case is genuine: Some passport holders deliberately hide or damaged their passports often due to visa rejection or repatriation or deportation. Perhaps the document was marked by a certain immigration authority or embassy and the holder believed holding such a passport may be a disadvantage, therefore, declared the passport was lost to obtain a new one.
These are common types of lost possibilities:
1. Genuine loss: This type of loss could be further categorized as, thefts or arm robbery, bag snagging or stealing, house burgled, fire on motor accidents. Outright misplacement.
Recently a lady senior civil servant obtained a passport for her little kid. Thereafter she went to obtain a United States Visa for the kid. Strangely, she misplaced the passport and declared it lost. She went to the passport office and processed another one. However, a few days before her travel the first one was found. She returned to the passport office to inform them and the passport was cancelled.
2. NEGLIGENCE OR MISHANDLING
Some Nigerians who acquired the nationality of another country mostly used their Nigeria passport as a means of entering and departing Nigeria only. They are usually very careless in the handling of Nigeria passports, therefore placing them anywhere and anyhow, subject to mishandling.
Precisely in 2013, a Nigerian man came from the United States. He later approached a passport office for the reissue of a Nigeria passport for himself, his wife and three children. They were given accordingly.
Four days later he returned to the passport office calming someone stole their 5 passports. He was asked, where? And if the thief also steal their US passport? He said, he dropped the new passports at home but always walkabout with the US passports, apparently, he values the US passports more than any other documents. In the end, he was directed to the Immigration Service headquarters in Abuja, to file an application for loss of a passport.
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About Author
So my friend is a Nigerian citizen and he will be traveling on an emergency travel certificate to retrieve a new passport because his was stolen. How long will it take in order for him to receive a new passport and return back to the US? he will only have one week and a 1/2 In Nigeria
It is possible to get another passport within a week. Tell him to ask for any passport office where there’s availability of booklets
Good day admin. I want to confirm one of the points you made. You mentioned administrative fee of 33000 naira in your write up for processing of lost passport. But when I checked Nigeria Immigration website, the administration fee is only for change of name. I was thinking before that you only pay for a new booklet when applying under lost passport.
Please confirm this for me. Thanks
Thanks greatly for the important observation. It is highly appreciated.
I’m still making enquiries and will make amend in due course.
Hello admin, Where and how do i obtain a lost case form?
Thanks.
Please go to the nearest passport office. Or any one of your choice
Hello sir Good day.pls I lost my passport and I want to request another one, and I also want to change all the details in it too.So how much will all that cost me pls
First you will place in an application for loss of passport. It will come out as it were. The next step is to apply for change of name.
Please note that you cannot change all your details or names.
Please how can I renew my expired passport? I am presently residing in the philistinism and I don’t want to go home to do it. Thanks
Unfortunately, the location you mentioned is unknown to us, therefore, we cannot help you.
I am living in the Philippines and my passport is expired. Can I get it renew online through online passport application?
I don’t know what you’re taking about, To process Nigeria e-passport, you need biometric fingerprint scans which cannot be done online.
Please contact Nigeria embassy near you.
Hello sir, please i am visiting the usa and i lost my nigerian passport. I want to know how long will it take me to g et a replacement here in Atlanta US?
Sorry, get in touch with the Nigeria mission in Atlantic, we can’t decide for them.
Please my passport is now expired and with the home office. How do I apply n get a new one. Am based in London. I checked the Nigerian website n it’s states I should apply under lost passports and I would need a police report. How do I go about it?
If it is not possible to get it back. You can apply for a lost passport. Your must submit with your application an affidavit and a police report.
Please note that Nigeria e-passport cannot be obtained by proxy.
Good day admin, I lost my passport and had already gotten the required documents for it.. Police extract and court affidavit with my lost passport photocopy attached to it which I submitted here in Lagos at the festac branch of the immigration office and also made payment #45,000 for the processing.. I was told at least 2 weeks I would be called to come capture if approved.. It’s 2 weeks now and I had to call an immigration officer helping me in handling the processes.. He told me they haven’t got message from Abuja but to keep in touch incase.. I want to know how long it takes for lost passports to be approved.. Thanks..
You should have asked that question before placing in your application. How long it takes depends on many variables.
1. The volume of applications in that particular passport office.
2. The work efficiency of that particular passport office.
3. How honest is the person you assigned the responsibility.
Our take: it doesn’t take more than 3 weeks to process a lost passport.
Next time, read facts36.com before you choose a passport office.
Hello, please I misplaced my passport at the international airport in Lagos. Ikeja. Can I get a police report and affidavit from anywhere (e.g Ibadan, that’s where I’m based) or it has to be from a nearby police station in ikeja?
Did you report at the Nigeria Immigration Service, MMIA, duty room, Because if by chance it is found, that is the place it will be taken to. Secondly, they’re in better position to tell you where to apply for report.
Hello,
I am a Nigerian citizen and will be visiting Peru soon. There is no Nigerian embassy in Peru and I was wondering what to do if I misplace my passport in Peru.
There are Nigerian embassies in Brazil and Argentina but I don’t know how I will leave Peru and get to those countries without any passport. I have tried reaching out to the embassies in Brazil and Argentina with no luck.
Does any one have any suggestions for me?
Sorry we do not have any suggestions.
Hello
I’m a Nigerian citizen living in Dubai, I recently renewed my passport unfortunately by mistake a part of the data page has been tore and some pages of the passport stick together I can’t flip through my visa is expiring soon I need your guidance pls.Though all the data and number still showing but still little bit of altered at the front page
The only thing to do is to approach the Nigeria embassy in UAE and apply for reissue of damaged passport. If they do not have facility for it, when you come home go to the immigration headquarters, Abuja and do it.
If you need our assistance inform this website.
I lost my passport and I want a new one. Can I apply afresh like I never had one before?
It’s not advisable, any changes you make while applying for fresh one will rendered the application useless. It will indicates double acquisition which will make you to loose your passport application fees automatically.