The Diaspora Passport Study
A user centred investigation into the Nigerian passport application and renewal experiences from abroad
Context and background
The Nigerian passport is a gateway to work, family, economic participation, and legal standing abroad. As of 2026, there are an estimated 17 to 20 million Nigerians in the diaspora. For these Nigerians, renewing or applying for a passport from outside Nigeria is complex, expensive, and consistently difficult.
In recent years, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) have made meaningful strides in simplifying the passport application process. As recently as August 2025, a contactless biometric passport renewal system was launched. The diaspora enrolment portal and online portals were upgraded both in design and functionality.
On paper, the infrastructure is improving, and on some level it is. Since the public launch in August 2025, an estimated 15,000 passports have been processed and issued to Nigerians through the new system.
But there is a gap between how the system works and what citizens actually experience. The NIN (National Identification Number) is now mandatory for all passport applications and renewals. For diaspora users, the process of obtaining or retrieving a NIN is itself a service failure: broken portals, disconnected phone numbers listed in official directories, the absence of Nigerian phone numbers required for digital NIN retrieval, and enrolment centres that are hours of travel away.
These stories are not edge cases. Someone arrived at 🇬🇭 Kotoka International Airport in Accra only to be told his passport — with less than 6 months to expiry — was not acceptable for entry. Another had to travel from 🇺🇸 Austin, Texas to Houston to reach a functioning NIN enrolment centre, after finding that the Austin and San Antonio listings on the official website were disconnected or wrong. Yet another had to buy a new Android phone just to complete the online biometrics because the app was not accessible on their iPhone. These are not system glitches. They are design failures.
The Nigerian passport service was not designed with the diaspora user as a primary persona. From the infrastructure to the information architecture, user flow, and dependencies — the current service assumes the user is applying from Nigeria, or already has basic requirements such as a Nigerian phone number and a valid NIN. As a result, over 15 million Nigerians abroad face a service that was not designed for their unique needs.
Problem statement
Nigerian citizens living abroad face significant structural barriers when attempting to apply for or renew their passports. These barriers are not caused by the individual's incompetence or lack of effort.
The service fails in 5 ways
NIN retrieval cannot be fulfilled through the same channels available to diaspora users.
Information varies across official digital touchpoints — inaccurate, outdated, or broken.
Physical access is restricted to a small number of embassies and consulates in major cities.
The service does not communicate requirements upfront. Applicants discover blockers reactively — at significant cost.
New digital services (contactless renewal) were launched before the prerequisite infrastructure — NIN retrieval, directory accuracy — was reliable for diaspora users.
The consequences reach further than inconvenience
- Employment and residency at risk
- Emergency travel blocked
- Time, money, and emotional burden
- Loss of trust in Nigerian institutions
- Erosion of diaspora trust
- Reduced ability to reach and support Nigerians abroad
- Reputational cost internationally
- Reduced remittances and diaspora investment
- Indirect tax on citizen time and money
- Significant and underexplored macro-level costs
Research objectives
We want to achieve 5 things with this study.
- Map the end to end service experience of diaspora Nigerians applying for or renewing passports, from trigger to completion (or abandonment), across multiple user segments and locations.
- Identify the structural dependencies, edge cases, and infrastructure gaps — including the interplay between NIMC (NIN), NIS (passport), embassies, front end partners, and digital platforms.
- Understand and demonstrate the human cost of service failure: time lost, money spent, emotional burden carried, and life decisions affected by passport inaccessibility.
- Quantify and frame the broader impact on citizens, on the Nigerian government's relationship with its diaspora, and on the economy — to make the case for reform in terms that resonate with policy makers.
- Generate clear, prioritised design opportunities that could meaningfully improve the service, and articulate what would require systemic reform.
Research questions
Primary questions
- What is the actual end to end experience of a Nigerian diaspora citizen applying for or renewing a passport — including all prerequisites, dependencies, and failure points?
- What are the most common points where users abandon the process, or face an irreversible failure, and what causes them?
- How does the experience differ across user segments based on country of residence, passport status, NIN status, digital access, and proximity to embassy or consulate?
Infrastructure and system questions
- What are the formal dependencies between NIMC and NIS for passport processing, and how do diaspora users experience them in practice?
- Where does the contactless renewal system work as intended, and where does it break down?
- What role do Front End Partners (FEPs) play in diaspora NIN enrolment, and how accessible and reliable is that channel?
- How accurate and current is the official information available to diaspora users across NIS, NIMC, embassy, and consulate websites?
Impact questions
- What decisions — employment, travel, residency, family reunions — have been materially affected by passport inaccessibility?
- What is the estimated economic cost to the diaspora, to remittance flows, and to Nigeria's international credibility?
- How does this service failure interact with broader perceptions of the Nigerian state among its diaspora population?
Scope
- Passport renewal and new applications for adult Nigerians currently residing outside Nigeria
- The NIN prerequisite process as experienced by diaspora users
- Digital, telephone, and in person channels for both NIN and passport services
- 🇺🇸 US, 🇬🇧 UK, and 🇨🇦 Canada initially, expanding to Europe and West Africa
- NIS, NIMC, Nigerian embassies, consulates, and accredited Front End Partners
- Emergency travel documents and ETDs
- Passport applications for minors (future extension)
- Domestic (in Nigeria) applications, except as comparison
- Dual citizenship and renunciation processes
- Technical or cybersecurity audit of NIS/NIMC systems
This is an independent research study. The team has no formal access to NIS or NIMC internal systems or data. All service mapping and infrastructure analysis will be based on publicly available documentation, user accounts, and stakeholder interviews we can arrange. Findings reflect the citizen experience, not internal process documentation.
Methodology
This study uses a user centred design (UCD) research methodology, structured around the double diamond model with adaptations for public service research. We release findings as they are validated, not when the study is complete.
Each phase produces a public output — written, visual, and short form video — released as findings are validated. We do not wait for the study to complete before sharing what we know.
Research methods
We will use the following methods, among others.
1:1 qualitative interviews with diaspora Nigerians who have attempted passport renewal or application in the last year. Target: 20 to 30 participants across geographies and experience types.
Deployed via social media and diaspora networks to gather quantitative data on wait times, costs, abandonment rates, and service satisfaction. Target: 200+ responses.
We walk through the official digital channels as a user would, documenting the actual state of portals, directories, and information as encountered. All walkthroughs are timestamped.
Where we can arrange access: embassy and consulate staff, NIS officials, NIMC representatives, accredited FEPs, and civil society organisations working with the diaspora.
A structured review of existing accounts on X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, and diaspora Facebook and WhatsApp group content.
Who we are talking to
We are looking for Nigerians abroad who have attempted — successfully, partially, or not at all — to apply for or renew their passport in the last 12 months. We are recruiting for genuine diversity of experience across the following dimensions.
| Dimension | Who to target |
|---|---|
| Country of residence |
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇨🇦 Canada
🇪🇺 Europe
🌍 West Africa
|
| Type of application | Renewal · First time application · Replacement (lost or expired) |
| NIN status | Had NIN and knew it · Had NIN but could not retrieve it · Never had NIN |
| Outcome | Completed · Partially completed · Abandoned · In progress |
| Time since attempt | 1 to 3 months · 3 to 6 months · 6 to 12 months |
| Demographics | Age range, gender, socioeconomic background, digital access level |
Participation is voluntary and anonymous unless explicitly consented to. We will not compensate participants in the initial phase.
Milestones and outputs
This is a live and active problem. People are losing jobs, missing flights, and paying hundreds of dollars in avoidable costs right now. Sharing what we know, as we know it, is both an ethical stance and a practical one. Each release also functions as a call for more participants and collaborators.
| Milestone | Focus | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Problem framing and impact analysis | Journey map, problem statement, landscape overview. We make the business case for reform. | Written post · Journey map · Infographic · Short form video |
| Service architecture | Current state process map, institutional dependency diagram, infrastructure gap analysis | Written post · Service blueprint · Explainer video |
| User insights | Synthesised themes from interviews and surveys. Real stories, real data. | Written post · Data visualisation · Video feature |
| Design opportunities | Prioritised opportunity areas. What can change now vs what requires policy reform. | Full report · Recommendations · Short form video |
| Final report | Consolidated findings, methodology, and evidence base — for academic and policy audiences | Long form report (PDF) · Summary post |
Principles for public communication
- Plain language first. Every output must be understandable to a Nigerian with no background in service design.
- Protect participants. No identifiable information published without explicit consent. Stories are anonymised by default.
- Show the work. Visual artefacts make the problem legible in a way prose alone cannot.
- Acknowledge what we do not know. We label uncertainty. The study does not overstate its evidence base.
- Invite response. Each release is a solicitation — for more participants, corrections, complementary research, and response from the institutions responsible for the service.