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UK visitor visa from Nigeria: cost and documents

A person travelling on a Nigerian passport needs a visa before visiting the UK: Nigeria is on the Immigration Rules' visa national list. A Standard Visitor visa for up to 6 months costs £135, is applied for online, needs an appointment at a visa application centre, and is usually decided within 3 weeks.

People searching for a UK visitor visa from Nigeria usually want four things: whether a visa is needed, what it costs, what to send and what the decision turns on. All four are answered by the same public documents that apply to every visitor from every country: GOV.UK's Standard Visitor pages, Appendix Visitor (Appendix V) of the Immigration Rules, the visa national list and the Home Office fee table.

This guide sets out what those documents say for someone applying on a Nigerian passport. It does not say anything about how likely an application is to succeed. The Rules apply the same tests whatever the applicant's nationality. What differs between applicants is the evidence they can put forward, which this guide cannot see.

Sources: GOV.UK's Standard Visitor guidance (updated 8 October 2026), Appendix V: Visitor (updated 8 October 2026), Appendix Visitor: Visa national list (updated 5 March 2026), Part Suitability (updated 8 October 2026) and the fee table dated 8 October 2026, all read on 10 October 2026. This explains how the rules work. It is not advice on an individual application.

Do Nigerian passport holders need a visa?

Yes. Paragraph VN 1.1 of the Visa national list says: "A person who meets one or more of the criteria below needs entry clearance (a visa) in advance of travel to the UK for any purpose, unless they meet one of the exceptions". The first criterion, VN 1.1(a), is nationals or citizens of the countries in an alphabetical list, and Nigeria is on it, between Niger and North Macedonia.

The exceptions in VN 2.2 cover holders of certain Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan passports and a few other groups. They do not include Nigerian passports. VN 1.1(c) also brings in people travelling on a document other than a national passport. GOV.UK's Standard Visitor page puts the general position this way: depending on nationality, you will either have to apply for a Standard Visitor visa before you travel, have to apply for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), or be able to visit for up to 6 months without either. For someone on the visa national list, the first applies.

GOV.UK has a "check if you need a UK visa" service where you enter the nationality shown on your passport.

A visit visa is for visiting: tourism, seeing family or friends, certain business activities, short study, and a few other permitted activities. It does not allow work. A person who wants to work or study for longer needs a different visa, and intending to do either on a visit visa is a prohibited activity under V 4.4.

What it costs

The fee table dated 8 October 2026 and GOV.UK's Standard Visitor page agree. The visa options for an applicant outside the UK are:

  • Standard Visitor visa, up to 6 months: £135.
  • Long-term Standard Visitor visa, 2 years: £506.
  • Long-term Standard Visitor visa, 5 years: £903.
  • Long-term Standard Visitor visa, 10 years: £1,128.
  • Standard Visitor visa for medical reasons, up to 11 months: £234.
  • Standard Visitor visa for academics, up to 12 months: £234.

On the long-term visas the maximum stay is 6 months per visit. The fee table shows no change from the previous table.

Every person needs their own application and fee. GOV.UK says: "If you're applying with family members, each person must have their own application and pay the fee. They need to attend their own appointment at a visa application centre." A family of four applying for 6-month visas pays 4 × £135 = £540 in visa fees. Children are not charged a lower fee in the table.

There is no immigration health surcharge on a visit visa. GOV.UK says you do not need to pay the surcharge if you are applying for a visitor visa, but that you will need to pay for any NHS care you get at the point you use it, unless it is a free service.

The fee is not refunded if the application is refused. GOV.UK says "You will not get a refund of the application fee if you get a shorter visa or if your application is refused." If you ask to cancel, the fee is refunded only if the application has not been processed yet.

GOV.UK also mentions that an optional faster decision may be available. The fee table lists a £500 priority service and a £1,000 super priority service for visas applied for outside the UK, and GOV.UK's faster-decision page says you can check whether your visa application centre offers a service for the visa you are applying for. Check the centre's page when you book.

How the application works

The Rules and GOV.UK describe the same steps.

  1. Apply online. Appendix V paragraph V 2.1 says the application is made online on the gov.uk website on the form "Apply for a UK visit visa". GOV.UK says the earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel. You can save and complete the form later.
  2. Book and attend an appointment. GOV.UK says that if you need a Standard Visitor visa you must "attend an appointment at a visa application centre". The centre "could be in another country", so allow time for travel. At the appointment you prove your identity with your passport, give fingerprints and a photograph, and hand over the documents that show you are eligible. You get your passport back the same day. The centre may keep some of your other documents while the application is processed.
  3. Wait for a decision. GOV.UK says that once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, you will usually get a decision "within 3 weeks". You get an email when the decision is made.
  4. Cancelling or changing. Contact UKVI to change something after sending. You can ask to cancel; the fee is refunded only if the application has not been processed yet.

The application must be made while the applicant is outside the UK and to a post designated to accept it (V 2.4). If you have the right of abode in the UK, for example if you are a British citizen, GOV.UK says your application will not be accepted and you will not get a refund. A person who needs a Marriage Visitor visa because they intend to marry or register a civil partnership in the UK is told on GOV.UK that a Standard Visitor visa does not allow that.

On documents not in English: GOV.UK says "You must provide certified translations of any documents that are not in English or Welsh".

A tuberculosis certificate is asked for in particular situations. GOV.UK's Standard Visitor page lists it for a visit of more than 6 months. Nigeria is one of the countries on GOV.UK's tuberculosis test page, which applies to people who have lived in a listed country for 6 months or more within the last 6 months and are coming for 6 months or more. A Standard Visitor visa covers stays of up to 6 months; the longer medical and academic visas can go beyond that. Check the TB page against your own residence history.

What the application asks for

GOV.UK lists the information that has to be provided in the online application:

  • the dates you plan to travel to the UK;
  • where you will be staying during your visit;
  • how much you think your trip will cost;
  • your current home address and how long you have lived there;
  • your parents' names and dates of birth, if known;
  • how much you earn in a year, if you have an income; and
  • details of any criminal, civil or immigration offences you may have committed.

Depending on your circumstances you might also need to provide:

  • your travel history for the past 10 years;
  • your employer's address and telephone number;
  • your partner's name, date of birth and passport number;
  • the name and address of anyone paying for your trip;
  • the name, address and passport number of any family members you have in the UK; and
  • a TB certificate, if visiting for more than 6 months.

Your passport or travel document must be valid for the whole of your stay. You also have to give the supporting documents that show you meet the eligibility requirements, which the appointment collects.

A few points follow from this list. The cost of the trip you state and the money you show have to be consistent. If someone else is paying, their details are part of the application. If you have family in the UK, the application asks for their details. And everything on the form, including the offences question, has to be accurate, because of the false-information grounds described below.

If the visit is for a more specific purpose, such as study, a placement or exam, a permitted paid engagement, or medical treatment, GOV.UK says there are additional requirements and documents. If you are under 18, GOV.UK says you need written consent from a parent or guardian for travelling alone, with their contact details and proof of where you will live in the UK.

The test the decision is made against

Appendix V sets out the "genuine visitor requirement" at V 4.2. The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they:

  • will leave the UK at the end of their visit;
  • will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home;
  • are genuinely seeking entry for a purpose permitted under the Visitor route;
  • will not undertake any prohibited activities; and
  • have sufficient funds to cover all reasonable costs of the visit without working or accessing public funds, including the return or onward journey and costs relating to dependants. The funds relied on must be held in a financial institution permitted under FIN 2.1 of Appendix Finance.

V 4.3 deals with a third party paying: the applicant's travel, maintenance and accommodation may be provided by a third party only if that person has a genuine professional or personal relationship with the applicant, is not or will not be in breach of immigration laws, and can and will provide support for the intended duration of the stay.

The prohibited activities in V 4.4 to V 4.6 include working in the UK (employment, self-employment, internships, direct selling, providing goods and services) unless expressly allowed, studying except as permitted, accessing NHS treatment other than private treatment or organ donation, marrying or forming a civil partnership unless applying as a Marriage Visitor, and taking payment from a UK source apart from listed exceptions such as reasonable travel and subsistence expenses.

This is the standard that applies to every visitor from every country. The Rules do not set a minimum bank balance or an income threshold, and they do not require a particular type of evidence. They ask the decision maker to be satisfied.

Grounds on which an application can be refused

The published grounds are in Appendix V and in Part Suitability. A visit application can be refused for reasons that fall into these groups.

  • The genuine visitor requirement is not met, as above. A refusal letter normally says which limb was not met.
  • False representations or documents. SUI 9.1 says an application "must be refused where the decision maker is satisfied that the applicant used deception by: (a) making false representations or providing false documents or false information in relation to the application (whether or not relevant to the application); or (b) not disclosing relevant facts in relation to the application". SUI 10.1 says an application "may be refused" where the applicant or a third party made false representations or provided false documents "whether or not to the applicant's knowledge". For visits, the mandatory refusal period after using deception is 10 years and applies to applications for entry clearance only (SUI 12.1).
  • Previous breaches of immigration law. SUI 11 covers overstaying, breaching permission conditions, illegal entry, deception in a previous application and acting to frustrate immigration controls. Mandatory refusal periods run from the date the person left the UK, for example 12 months for someone who left voluntarily at their own expense.
  • Debt to the NHS. SUI 16.1 allows refusal where a relevant NHS body has notified the Home Office that the applicant has failed to pay overseas visitor charges and the outstanding total is at least £500.
  • Unpaid litigation costs awarded to the Home Office (SUI 17.1).
  • A purpose not covered by the Rules (SUI 18.1).
  • Intending a prohibited activity, such as work or study outside the permitted limits.

GOV.UK also tells people that long-term visas can be shortened: you may be given a shorter visa than requested if UKVI believes you cannot meet the eligibility requirements for the duration applied for, and your visa may be cancelled if your travel history shows you are repeatedly living in the UK for extended periods.

None of these grounds depends on nationality. They are the same for a Standard Visitor visa application from any visa national.

If an application is refused

Our guide to a refused UK visitor visa covers this in detail. In short:

  • Administrative review. Appendix Administrative Review lists the routes eligible in AR 1.1. Appendix Visitor is not among them as read on 10 October 2026, so the £80 review is not available for a visit refusal.
  • Appeal. GOV.UK's appeals page lists the decisions that can be appealed to the First-tier Tribunal, such as refusal of a protection claim or a human rights claim. An ordinary visit refusal is not on that list, and the page adds that if you do not have the right to appeal you might be able to ask for an administrative review.
  • New application. The practical route is usually a fresh application, with a new fee, which will be decided on the evidence in it. A refusal letter says which part of the test was not met, and that is the part a later application has to address.

Because the fee is not refunded and each person pays separately, a refusal can cost a family a repeat of the whole fee.

Official routes and regulated help

Visa applications are made on GOV.UK and the appointment is booked within the application. GOV.UK's ETA page, which is about a different product, carries a general warning that applies to the same site: "Other websites may charge more to apply. Avoid websites that imitate government services." The Home Office fee for a Standard Visitor visa is £135.

Giving immigration advice about a named person's application is regulated in the UK under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. GOV.UK has a service to find an immigration adviser registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or authorised by a legal regulator. Whether a particular application is ready to submit, and what a particular refusal means, are questions a regulated adviser can look at with the documents.

The Migratio directory lists IAA-registered advisers (with their level) and SRA-regulated solicitors, each with their regulator and registration number. Migratio is not regulated by the IAA or the SRA and does not give immigration advice. This page explains how the rules work; it does not tell you what to do in your case.

Questions people ask

Do I need a visa to visit the UK with a Nigerian passport?

Yes. Nigeria is on the visa national list in the Immigration Rules (paragraph VN 1.1(a)), so a visa is needed before travel for any purpose. A visitor visa for up to 6 months is the Standard Visitor visa.

How much is a UK visitor visa from Nigeria?

£135 for a Standard Visitor visa of up to 6 months. Long-term visas cost £506 (2 years), £903 (5 years) and £1,128 (10 years), with a 6-month maximum stay per visit. Each person pays separately and the fee is not refunded if the application is refused.

How long does a UK visitor visa take?

GOV.UK says that once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents you will usually get a decision within 3 weeks. You can apply from 3 months before you travel.

What does the Home Office look at when deciding a visit visa?

The genuine visitor requirement in Appendix V, paragraph V 4.2: that you will leave at the end of the visit, will not live in the UK through frequent or successive visits, are seeking a permitted purpose, will not do prohibited activities, and have sufficient funds. The same test applies to all nationalities.

Can my UK relative pay for my trip?

The Rules allow a third party to provide travel, maintenance and accommodation if they have a genuine professional or personal relationship with you, are not in breach of immigration laws, and can and will support you for the whole stay (V 4.3). The application asks for their details.

Can I appeal or ask for a review if my visit visa is refused?

Visit visa refusals are not on the list of decisions eligible for administrative review (Appendix Administrative Review, AR 1.1) and are not among the decisions GOV.UK lists as appealable. The usual option is a new application, which costs a new fee.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-10.

Related guides

  • UK visitor visa cost: 6-month, 2, 5 and 10-year fees — A UK Standard Visitor visa costs £135 for up to 6 months. Long-term visas cost £506 (2 years), £903 (5 years) and £1,128 (10 years), each with a maximum stay of 6 months per visit. Fees are per person and are not refunded if the visa is refused.
  • UK visitor visa refused: what you can do next — A refused UK Standard Visitor visa application has no administrative review (Appendix Visitor is not on the list in Appendix AR) and visitor refusals do not usually carry an appeal. The usual next step is a new application, which costs £135 for a 6-month visa and is decided on the evidence it contains. Judicial review is only for unlawful decisions and must be started within 3 months.
  • UK visa refused: appeal, administrative review or reapply? — Your refusal letter says whether you can ask for an administrative review (£80; 14 days in the UK, 28 days outside, 7 if detained) or appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (£82 or £144; 14 or 28 days). Appeals are only for refused protection or human rights claims and a few other decision types. Making a new application withdraws a pending administrative review.
  • UK spouse visa from Nigeria: costs and TB test — A partner applying from Nigeria pays £2,064 plus a £3,105 healthcare surcharge for a 2-year-9-month visa, and normally needs a TB certificate from one of six Home Office-approved clinics in Abuja, Benin City or Lagos. Nigeria is not on the list of nationalities exempt from the English requirement.
  • Unregistered immigration advisers: how to spot one — In the UK it is a criminal offence to give immigration advice or services without being registered with the IAA or authorised by a legal regulator such as the SRA. You can check any adviser on the IAA Adviser Register or the SRA register, and report unregulated advice to the IAA. GOV.UK warns that you cannot get your money back if an adviser is not regulated.
  • How to check a UK immigration adviser is registered — In the UK only a "qualified person" may give immigration advice: an IAA-registered adviser, a solicitor, barrister or chartered legal executive, or someone working under their supervision. Ask for the regulator and registration number, then check it yourself on the IAA Adviser Register or the SRA Solicitors Register.