Canada visitor visa from Nigeria: fees, biometrics, steps

Yes. Nigerian citizens need a visitor visa to visit Canada. An eTA is not an option on a Nigerian passport. The government fee is CA$100, plus CA$85 for biometrics if you have not given them in the last 10 years.

You apply online, pay, then give your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre in Lagos or Abuja. If you are approved, you send in your passport so the visa can be placed in it.

Everything below was read on canada.ca, ircc.canada.ca and international.gc.ca on 18 October 2026. If you are not sure whether you need a visa or an eTA in general, our guide Canada: visitor visa or eTA? explains both. This page covers what is specific to applying from Nigeria.

Visa, not eTA

Canada’s page What you need to enter Canada lists Nigeria among the “Visa-required countries or territories”.

Some visa-required travellers can use an eTA instead, if they held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or hold a valid US non-immigrant visa. That route is open only to citizens of 17 countries. Nigeria is not one of them. The official list (last modified 27 July 2026) runs from Antigua and Barbuda to Uruguay and does not include it.

So a US visa does not change anything for a Nigerian passport. If someone offers you a “Canada eTA” on a Nigerian passport, it is not a real option.

The official fee

From the IRCC fee list, in Canadian dollars:

Item	Official fee
Visitor visa, per person	CA$100
Visitor visa, per family of 5 or more	CA$500
Biometrics, per person	CA$85
Biometrics, family of 2 or more applying together	CA$170 maximum

A single traveller applying for the first time pays CA$185 to the Government of Canada. The fee is the same whether the officer issues a single-entry or a multiple-entry visa.

What about naira? IRCC sets the fee in Canadian dollars only. It does not publish a naira amount. You pay online with “a valid credit or debit card”, so the naira cost is whatever your card charges for CA$185 on the day. Any figure quoted to you in naira above that is someone’s service fee, not Canada’s. Our guide what a visa actually costs explains how the extras add up.

Who decides your application

Canada has a High Commission in Abuja and a Deputy High Commission in Lagos. Their services page sends visa applicants to canada.ca to apply, to a visa application centre for biometrics, and to the IRCC web form for questions.

IRCC’s list of visa offices shows temporary resident applications from Nigeria handled by the Nairobi, Kenya office. You do not deal with that office directly. Everything goes through your online IRCC account.

Biometrics in Lagos or Abuja

Biometrics means your fingerprints and a photo. Most Nigerian applicants aged 14 to 79 must give them. IRCC says children under 14 and applicants over 79 are exempt, and age is counted on the day you submitted the application (canada.ca).

Biometrics last 10 years. If you gave them in that time, you usually do not give them again. But IRCC cannot issue a visa that runs “longer than 10 years from the last date you gave your biometrics”.

IRCC’s visa application centre finder lists two centres in Nigeria: Lagos and Abuja. Both entries link to visa.vfsglobal.com/nga/en/can. IRCC describes visa application centres as “private companies that have formal contracts with the Government of Canada”. They collect biometrics. They do not decide visas.

The order is fixed:

1. Apply online and pay the biometrics fee with the visa fee.
2. Wait for your biometric instruction letter. IRCC says “You must use the BIL that was issued for this application.”
3. Book the appointment at the Lagos or Abuja centre. IRCC says to book “as soon as you can to avoid processing delays.”

Reach the centre through IRCC’s finder link, not a search engine result. IRCC also warns about anyone who claims they “can expedite your biometrics appointment for a fee.”

The documents

IRCC’s eligibility page says you must convince an officer that you have ties to home “such as a job, home, financial assets or family”, that you will leave at the end of your visit, and that you “have enough money for your stay”. It does not set a fixed amount: “The amount of money you will need depends on how long you will stay.”

The application page adds:

• A passport that is valid, ideally for “at least 6 months” from your travel date. You upload a clear colour copy. Renew it before you apply if it is close to expiry.
• Bank statements. IRCC recommends “At least 6 months of account details, including balances”, showing your name and address.
• An invitation letter, if someone in Canada is inviting you. IRCC says you “may also need” one, and possibly a medical exam.

The online application builds your exact document list from your answers. Read the instruction guide before you start.

Processing times

We do not quote a number, on purpose. IRCC publishes a live estimate for “Visitor visa (from outside Canada)” by country on its processing times tool. When we read it, the figure only appears after you pick Nigeria in the tool, so we could not record one.

IRCC says the estimate “includes the time it takes to give your biometrics”. Choose Nigeria in the tool, and check it again before you book flights.

After approval

You get a letter in your IRCC account asking you to submit your passport. IRCC is clear: “You can’t travel to Canada until we put the visa in the passport you submit to us.” Send the same passport you applied with (canada.ca).

An approval email is not a visa. The officer at the Canadian border still decides whether you enter and how long you stay.

If you are refused

Since 29 July 2025, IRCC includes officer decision notes with most refusals of visitor visas (canada.ca). Read them first. They explain why the officer said no.

If you want your full file, the record many applicants call “GCMS notes”, you request it under the Access to Information Act. The fee is CA$5. But the requester “must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada” or “an individual or corporation currently in Canada” (canada.ca). From Nigeria, someone who qualifies must request it for you, with your signed consent form IMM 5744. IRCC’s request page does not use the term “GCMS” itself.

On reapplying, IRCC’s Help Centre says the same information will likely get the same answer. Reapply only with new documents that answer the reasons given. A paid representative “doesn’t increase the chances of your application being approved”. If the process was unfair, you can ask the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review. Our guide Visa refused: what to do next covers the general steps.

Fake sites and fake offers

IRCC’s fraud page is direct:

• “No one can guarantee you a job or a visa to Canada.”
• “Only immigration officers in Canada, at Canadian embassies, high commissions and consulates can decide to issue a visa.”
• “Processing fees are the same for all of our services in Canada and around the world.”
• “We will never ask you for any sort of payment by telephone.”

IRCC also says scam emails often come from free webmail, not a gc.ca or Canada.ca account. Apply only through canada.ca. See how to spot a fake visa website.

Checklist

• Nigerian passport: you need a visitor visa. An eTA is not an option, even with a US visa.
• Apply online on canada.ca. Pay CA$100, plus CA$85 biometrics if needed.
• Pay by card in Canadian dollars. Canada publishes no naira fee.
• Wait for the biometric instruction letter, then book Lagos or Abuja via IRCC’s finder.
• Show ties to Nigeria and enough money: about 6 months of bank statements.
• Check the live processing time for Nigeria on IRCC’s tool.
• Do not fly until the visa is in your passport.
• If refused, read the officer decision notes before reapplying.
• See our Nigeria to Canada page and Canada page.