UK visa from Nigeria: the official fee, documents and steps

Yes. Nigerian citizens need a visa to visit the United Kingdom. For tourism, visiting family or a short business trip, that is the Standard Visitor visa, and it costs £135 on gov.uk.

You apply online, pay, and then give your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre. The UK says you will usually get a decision within three weeks.

Everything below was read on gov.uk on 4 October 2026. Every figure links to where it came from.

Do Nigerians need a UK visa?

Yes. gov.uk’s own checker, for a Nigerian passport and a tourist visit, answers: “You’ll need a visa to come to the UK Apply for a Standard Visitor visa” (gov.uk).

You can usually stay for up to six months on each visit.

The official fee

From the gov.uk fee table:

Visa	Fee	Stay per visit
Standard Visitor visa	£135	Up to 6 months
2-year long-term Standard Visitor visa	£506	Up to 6 months
5-year long-term Standard Visitor visa	£903	Up to 6 months
10-year long-term Standard Visitor visa	£1,128	Up to 6 months

The long-term visas are for people who visit regularly. gov.uk warns that one “may be cancelled if your travel history shows you are repeatedly living in the UK for extended periods.”

The fee is not refunded if you are refused, or if you are given a shorter visa than you asked for: “You will not get a refund of the application fee if you get a shorter visa or if your application is refused.”

Anything an agent charges on top of these amounts is the agent’s fee, not the UK’s. Full fees, including work and study visas, are on our UK visa fee page.

How to apply

1. Apply online on gov.uk. “If you need a Standard Visitor visa, you must apply online before you travel to the UK and attend an appointment at a visa application centre.” You can save the form and finish it later.
2. Pay the fee as part of the online application.
3. Book an appointment at a visa application centre, also part of the online application.
4. Attend the appointment. gov.uk says you will “prove your identity with your passport or travel document; have your fingerprints and a photo (biometric information) taken; provide the required documents”. You get your passport back the same day.

The earliest you can apply is three months before you travel. Each family member needs their own application, fee and appointment.

Where the appointment is

gov.uk’s list of visa application centres sends applicants in Nigeria to VFS Global’s Nigeria page. VFS Global is a contractor that collects applications for the UK government. It does not decide your visa, and any extra services it sells are optional. Start from the gov.uk link rather than searching for VFS directly, so you do not end up on a lookalike site.

The documents

gov.uk’s guide to supporting documents says you must show that you are a genuine visitor: that you are coming to do a permitted activity, that you will leave at the end of your visit, and that you can support yourself and pay for your return journey.

The evidence it describes includes:

• A valid passport, valid for the whole of your stay.
• Financial documents showing you can pay for the trip, such as “bank statements which detail the origin of the funds held” and “proof of earnings, such as a letter from your employer”.
• Ties to Nigeria, such as “a letter from your employer on company headed paper, detailing your role, salary and length of employment”, or for the self-employed, “business registration documents or recent invoices”.
• Travel history, such as “copies of previous passports showing evidence of travel to other countries”.
• A sponsor’s evidence, if someone else is paying or hosting you: what support they are giving, that they can afford it, your relationship, and that they are legally in the UK.

gov.uk also lists documents that are “less useful as evidence”. These include bank statements more than a year old, credit card statements, driving licences, personal photographs, hotel bookings and flight bookings. You do not need to buy a flight before you apply. gov.uk says you “should not book your travel until you get a decision”, and the UK “will not reimburse any travel costs” if you are refused.

Documents that are not in English or Welsh need a certified translation.

Sending every document on the list does not guarantee a visa. gov.uk says so: submitting them “does not guarantee that your application … will be successful.”

The TB test

Nigeria is on the UK’s list of countries where a tuberculosis test is needed. Whether you need one depends on how long you are coming for, and gov.uk’s pages word this two ways:

• The TB pages say you need a test if “you’re coming to the UK for 6 months or more” (gov.uk).
• The Standard Visitor page asks for a TB certificate “if you’re visiting for more than 6 months”.

For an ordinary visit of a few weeks, you do not need a TB test. If your visit is close to six months, get the test.

It must come from a UK-approved clinic. gov.uk says “We will not accept a TB test certificate from a clinic we have not approved.” Its list of approved clinics in Nigeria covers Abuja, Benin City and Lagos. The test costs extra, on top of the visa fee, and the certificate is valid for six months from the date of your X-ray.

How long it takes

“You’ll usually get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks” once you have applied, proved your identity and given your documents.

UKVI sells faster decisions where they are available: a priority service for £500 extra and super priority for £1,000 extra (gov.uk). gov.uk does not list whether each is offered in Nigeria; the application shows you if you are eligible. Nobody else can sell you a faster UK decision.

If your visa is granted, you get an eVisa, a digital record of your permission, rather than a sticker. See UK eVisa.

If you are refused

Your refusal letter tells you why, and whether you can ask for a review or appeal. Most visit visa refusals have no right of appeal; gov.uk’s caseworker guidance gives appeal rights to visit refusals only on human rights grounds. If your letter offers an administrative review, you must ask within 28 days, and it costs £80 (gov.uk).

Our guide Visa refused: what to do next covers reapplying.

Agents and advisers

You do not need an agent to apply. If you use someone to advise you on your application, gov.uk says “All immigration advisers must be registered with IAA or be a member of an approved professional body”, and warns: “You cannot get your money back if an adviser is not regulated” (gov.uk).

Checklist

• Apply on gov.uk, up to 3 months before you travel.
• Expect to pay £135 for a Standard Visitor visa.
• Book your appointment through the application; reach VFS only through gov.uk’s link.
• Gather evidence of funds, employment and travel history; translate anything not in English.
• Do not book flights until you have a decision.
• A TB test only if you are coming for around 6 months or more, from an approved clinic.
• Expect a decision in about 3 weeks.
• Check every figure on gov.uk before you pay. See our Nigeria to UK page.