The United Kingdom rejected no fewer than 1.34 million visa applications submitted by Nigerians between 2005 and the first quarter of 2026, according to official data from the UK Home Office.
The figures, obtained from the UK government’s entry clearance visa outcomes dataset, showed that 1,344,595 Nigerian applications were refused over the 21-year period, making Nigeria the second-highest source of UK visa refusals globally after India.
Despite the high rejection rate, Nigerians also received 2,723,558 UK visas during the same period, the third-highest number issued to any nationality after India and China.
The data revealed that Nigeria accounted for 44.4 per cent of all UK visa refusals involving African applicants and recorded an overall refusal rate of 33.1 per cent, compared to the global average of 14.8 per cent.
Of the more than 4.09 million visa applications submitted by Nigerians, about 4.07 million received final decisions, with visitor visas accounting for the bulk of refusals.
According to the report, 1,127,088 visitor visa applications were rejected, representing 83.8 per cent of all refusals involving Nigerians. Study visa refusals stood at 130,712, while work and family visa refusals totalled 41,410 and 12,217 respectively.
The UK recorded its highest rejection rates for Nigerian applicants in the mid-2000s, refusing 117,968 applications in 2006 at a rate of 49.6 per cent, and 111,058 in 2005 at 44.4 per cent.
The refusal rate declined over the following years, reaching a low of 21 per cent in 2023 when the UK granted a record 281,658 visas to Nigerians.
However, visa approvals fell after the UK tightened immigration rules in 2024 by increasing the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas and restricting dependent visas for students and care workers.
As a result, Nigeria’s work visa applications dropped sharply, while refusal rates rose to 33.5 per cent in 2024 and 33.1 per cent in 2025. By the first quarter of 2026, the rejection rate had climbed to 35.4 per cent.
Across Africa, Ghana recorded the second-highest number of UK visa refusals with 374,108, followed by Algeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Sudan.
The Home Office noted that Nigerians were among the top nationalities applying for asylum after entering the UK on valid visas, a trend it said contributed to stricter visa scrutiny.
Reacting to the figures, former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, attributed the growing number of visa applications to Nigeria’s economic challenges and the increasing “Japa” migration trend.
He said improving the country’s economy remained the most effective way to reduce the surge in outbound migration, adding that although visa refusals were significant, the large number of approvals reflected the growing volume of applications by Nigerians.
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