The United Kingdom rejected at least 1,344,595 Nigerian visa applications between 2005 and the first quarter of 2026, official Home Office data obtained by The PUNCH shows.

The rejection rate places Nigeria second globally in total visa refusals, behind only India and ahead of Pakistan and China, among others, as Nigerians alone accounted for 44.4 per cent of all UK visa rejections across Africa in the period.

Over the 21-year period, the UK also granted 2,723,558 visas to Nigerians, making it the third-highest total issued to any nationality in the world, behind only India and China.

The data showed that Nigeria was the largest single recipient of UK entry clearance visas in Africa, ahead of South Africa (1,638,538) and Egypt (695,606).

The figures are drawn from the UK Home Office’s entry clearance visa outcomes datasets, covering the first quarter of 2005 through the first quarter of 2026, obtained by The PUNCH from the UK government’s immigration system statistics data tables published in 2026.

The dataset covers all decisions across visitor, study, work, family, and other visa routes.

For Nigeria, the cumulative refusal rate over the 21-year period stood at 33.1 per cent, more than double the UK’s global average of 14.8 per cent.

Of the approximately 4.09 million Nigerian applications submitted, 4,068,153 received issued or refused decisions.

Nigeria’s 1.34 million refusals accounted for 15.2 per cent of all 8,829,638 UK visa refusals worldwide.

Over the two decades, approximately one in every seven UK visa rejections went to a Nigerian applicant, even as Nigerians submitted just 6.8 per cent of all global applications.

Visitor visas dominated both the grants and the rejections. Of the 1,344,595 refused applications for Nigerians, 1,127,088, or 83.8 per cent, fell in the visitor category, which carried a 37.1 per cent refusal rate over the full period.

Study visa rejections totalled 130,712 at a 20.5 per cent rate, work visa rejections amounted to 41,410 at 16 per cent, and family refusals were 12,217.

In 2025, visitor visa refusals alone stood at 66,143, against 105,039 issued, at a 38.6 per cent rejection rate.

By the first quarter of 2026, 13,779 visitor visa applications had already been refused at 37.5 per cent.

The period with the sharpest refusal rate was the mid-2000s, where, in 2006, the UK turned down 117,968 Nigerian applications, a rate of 49.6 per cent.

Refusals had also reached 111,058 in 2005 at a 44.4 per cent rate.

The numbers improved over the ensuing decade, with the refusal rate falling to 26.2 per cent in 2011 and eventually reaching its recent low of 21 per cent in 2023, when a post-pandemic surge drove a record 281,658 visa grants to Nigerian applicants.

It was the highest single-year total in the dataset, preceded by 249,332 grants in 2022.

However, the high acceptance rate did not last. In April 2024, the UK raised the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas from £26,200 to £38,700, a 48 per cent increase, and restricted dependent visa rights for students and care workers, which cut application volumes.

Nigeria’s work visa applications fell by about 68 per cent in 2024 after the salary threshold review rendered many previously qualifying roles ineligible, according to analysis by immigration research firm Intelpoint.

In 2024, 77,706 Nigerians were refused at a rate of 33.5 per cent, and in 2025, 77,571 were refused at 33.1 per cent.

By the first quarter of 2026, 16,692 had been refused at 35.4 per cent, higher than either of the preceding two full years.

In Africa, Nigeria topped the list of nationalities with the most UK visa rejections.

Of the 3,027,198 total UK visa refusals for all African nationalities over the period, Nigeria’s 1,344,595 constituted 44.4 per cent.

Ghana ranked second among African countries with 374,108 refusals at a 40.5 per cent rate, followed by Algeria (191,903 refusals at 41.7 per cent rate), Egypt (134,055 at 16.2 per cent rate), Zimbabwe (102,246 at 26 per cent rate), Morocco (93,722 at 22.2 per cent rate), Kenya (75,973 at 18.8 per cent rate), Uganda (64,759 at 34.9 per cent rate), South Africa (61,521 at 3.6 per cent rate), and Sudan (59,069 at 31 per cent rate).

Across all nationalities, the UK processed 60,063,475 visa applications between 2005 and Q1 2026, issuing 50,873,344 and refusing 8,829,638.

African applicants submitted 11,433,508 of those visa requests, making up nine per cent of the global total, yet received 3,027,198 refusals, representing 34.3 per cent of all UK rejections worldwide.

African nations accounted for nearly double the share of applications, yet generated only about half the volume of refusals.

Nigeria alone submitted 35.7 per cent of all African applications and claimed 32.7 per cent of all UK visas issued to Africans.

The UK entry clearance visa system requires citizens of non-exempt countries, including Nigeria, to obtain formal permission before arrival.

Under the points-based immigration framework introduced in 2008 and expanded after Brexit, applicants must demonstrate financial solvency, genuine intent to visit, and sponsorship for work and study routes.

Visitor visa decisions, which remain the most contested category, depend on entry clearance officers’ assessment of financial evidence and the applicant’s ties to their home country.

These criteria, reports say, have historically led to higher refusal rates among applicants from economies classified as high-emigration risk.

In the year ending September 2025, Nigerians ranked among the top five nationalities submitting asylum claims after entering the UK on a valid visa.

The Home Office said this pattern has led it to tighten controls on its visa and asylum grants to Nigerians.

Speaking to our correspondent, a former Nigerian Ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Amedu-Ode, said the inclination to leave the country largely stems from Nigeria’s struggling economy, with many citizens taking the Japa route.

He argued that the japa trend may only be reduced by significant economic improvement in the nation.

“The urge to travel out of the country is, in itself, primarily a function of the performance of our national economy. The economic doldrums have pushed compatriots into Japa mode.

“The trend may, unfortunately, increase until there’s a turnaround in the performance of the national economy,” the ex-diplomat noted.

He said while the number of visa rejections is worrisome, the sheer volume of approvals balances it out.

Amedu-Ode added, “Even then, the simultaneous increase in approvals and rejection is a function of the spike in the number of our compatriots applying to travel to that zone of the world.” (The PUNCH)

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