A step-by-step guide to renewing your Nigerian passport in 2026.
The Nigeria Immigration Service gives itself 21 days to produce a renewed passport, and that clock starts at your biometric enrolment appointment rather than the day you submit the form. Everything before the appointment sits with you. Getting the documents right the first time decides whether you wait three weeks or three months.
What to Gather Before You Open the Portal
The Service Level Agreement revised in April 2026 lists five items for a renewal or reissue: your NIN slip, a birth certificate from the National Population Commission or a declaration of age from a High Court, a Local Government or indigene certificate, an ICAO-compliant passport photograph, and your current passport booklet.
Your NIN record is the reference the system measures everything against. If the name or date of birth on your NIMC record does not match your old passport, fix that at a NIMC office before you start. The portal compares the two records during the application and shows you the differences.
The Nine Steps on the Passport Portal
Applications run through the NIS passport portal. The Service lists the renewal path as follows.
- From the dashboard, click Apply for Renewal/Reissue.
- Verify your NIN and enter your date of birth for the second-level check.
- Enter your current passport details and review the comparison against your NIN data.
- Select your processing centre and booklet size, either 32 pages or 64 pages.
- Upload an ICAO-compliant photograph.
- Review your personal details and supply a working email address.
- Add your contact address and next of kin information.
- Upload the supporting documents for your application type.
- Submit, pay, and book an appointment for biometric enrolment.
You then appear at the office you selected, carrying the old booklet. The NIS is explicit that applicants must show up in person for the photograph and biometric capture.
What Renewal Costs
| Application type | Fee in Nigeria | Fee abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 32 pages, 5-year validity | ₦100,000 | $150 |
| 64 pages, 10-year validity | ₦200,000 | $230 |
| Correction of data charge | ₦30,000 | $30-$50 |
None of those figures include bank charges. The correction of data charge is separate and applies when you are also changing a name after marriage or fixing an error on the old booklet, which needs a court affidavit and a newspaper publication on top of the standard documents.
Choosing Between the 32-Page and the 64-Page Booklet
Per year of validity, the two booklets cost the same. The 32-page runs five years at ₦100,000 and the 64-page runs ten years at ₦200,000, which works out to ₦20,000 a year on either option. The difference is pages and how often you go back. Somebody who collects three or four visas and a stack of entry stamps in a good year will run out of blank pages long before a 32-page booklet expires.
The same portal menu covers both expired and unexpired booklets, so you do not need a different application type because your passport still has months left on it.
How Long It Takes
A renewal or reissue is 21 days after successful enrolment. A first-time application on the same terms takes 42 days, so a renewal moves at roughly half the speed of starting from scratch. Passport processing runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm local time.
Track the file on the NIS passport tracking page. The tracker asks for your application number and your reference number, both of which sit on the slips you print after payment.
Renewing While You Live Abroad
Nigerians outside the country submit at the nearest embassy, high commission or consulate. The SLA lists 48 missions running NIS passport desks, from Ottawa and London to Kuala Lumpur and Johannesburg, each with its own immigration email address.
A contactless route also exists, and it is open to the diaspora only. Download the NIS Mobile app from Google Play or the App Store, create a profile, complete the application, then post your payment receipt and current booklet to the nearest Nigerian embassy in a self-addressed envelope. Pricing sits at $130 for the 32-page five-year booklet or $230 for the 64-page ten-year booklet, with a $100 contactless biometric service fee on top. Turnaround is the same 21 days after enrolment.
When a family in Nigeria is handling the renewal for you, the fee lands in naira and somebody has to fund it. You can send money to Nigeria from the USA or send money from Europe to Nigeria and have the naira sitting in a local account before the appointment date. If the passport is the first document in a wider relocation plan, budget it alongside the exam fees, credential evaluations and proof of funds that come later.
Replacing a Lost or Stolen Passport
A replacement runs through the same Apply for Renewal/Reissue route, with two documents an ordinary renewal never needs:
- A police extract covering the loss
- A sworn affidavit for loss of passport, from a High Court
Everything else looks familiar. Upload your NPC birth certificate or court declaration of age, your Local Government certificate of indigeneship, and a marriage certificate where your name differs across documents. Dual nationals also upload the data page of their non-Nigerian passport. Pay the replacement fee, then print both the acknowledgement slip and the payment slip.
Stop using the old booklet the moment you declare it lost, even if it later turns up in a drawer. The NIS treats continued use of a passport declared lost as fraudulent use of a government document under Sections 10(1)(e) and 10(1)(h) of the Immigration Act. The penalty is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to ₦2,000,000, or both.
Keep Your Budget Safe With CadRemit
The FRSC fee is fixed and the 21-day clock is fixed. What is not fixed is how much of your money disappears between your bank abroad and the account paying for the booklet. That margin is yours to protect.
More than 10,000 people already move money between North America, Europe and Nigeria on the CadRemit app, and they do it in minutes rather than working days.
Safety is not an afterthought either. CadRemit holds FINTRAC registration in Canada and operates as a Payment Services Provider authorised by the Bank of Canada. On the Nigerian side, the Central Bank of Nigeria licenses it as an International Money Transfer Operator.
You can download the CadRemit app today, get the passport fee where it needs to be, and keep your travel plans moving.
