Pecohub Nigerians lose no less than N75bn annually to visa application expenses across foreign missions, with rejected Schengen visa applications alone accounting for an estimated €11.5m, equivalent to about N19bn in 2025.
This is according to a visa-cost analysis report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The report highlights the financial burden of international travel on Nigerians, particularly applicants who pay non-refundable visa fees before knowing whether their applications will be approved.
Nigerians seeking to travel abroad have continued to contend with application charges, visa refusal rates, documentation requirements and additional processing expenses as major factors increasing the cost of travelling.
According to the report, the financial consequences are particularly severe for applicants seeking visas to countries such as Canada, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, where refusal rates can significantly reduce the chances of recovering money spent on applications.
“All major embassies collect fees before approval and it is non-refundable,” the report stated.
The financial exposure can extend beyond the official visa fee to include visa application centre charges, medical insurance, hotel reservations, flight bookings and other documentation expenses.
The total cost of an unsuccessful application could range from N350,000 to N1.2m, depending on the destination and the services required.
In the case of Canada, its study permit system is one of the most challenging for Nigerian applicants, with an estimated refusal rate of 75 per cent between January and April 2026.
According to the report, only about one in four applications gets approved during the period.
The refusals are largely concerned with whether applicants would leave Canada after completing their studies, a consideration associated with Section 216(1)(b) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
Belgium has the highest Schengen visa refusal rate at 60.3 per cent, leaving an estimated approval rate of 39.7 per cent.
Spain followed with a reported refusal rate of 52.7 per cent, while France recorded 47.4 per cent.
The analysis put the overall Schengen visa refusal rate for Nigerians at 46.9 per cent in 2025, compared with 45.9 per cent in 2024.
Approximately 250,000 applications by Nigerians were unsuccessful in 2025.
The figures show that applicants seeking to visit countries within the Schengen Area face considerable financial risks, particularly when several applications are made without adequately addressing previous reasons for refusal.
However, visa refusal rates vary by application category, period and nationality.
The United Kingdom recorded a reported overall visa refusal rate of 33.1 per cent for Nigerian applicants in 2025, according to the report.
This puts the rate at 35.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, while the refusal rate for visitor visas was estimated at 38.6 per cent.
The analysis further claimed that Nigerians accounted for 44.4 per cent of all African visa refusals by the UK, citing a cumulative figure of 1.34 million over 21 years.
For the United States, the report cited an estimated refusal rate of about 64 per cent for African applicants seeking F-1 student visas, compared with a global rate of 35 per cent.
This refusal is also largely due to concerns about applicants’ intentions to return home, although individual refusals depend on the circumstances and evidence presented in each application.
Japan, on its part, recently increased its visa fees for Nigerians, with the new fees taking effect on July 1, 2026. A single-entry visa costs ¥15,000, equivalent to approximately $93, while a multiple-entry visa costs ¥30,000, or about $188.
The increase is a fivefold rise from the previous charges of ¥3,000 for single-entry visas and ¥6,000 for multiple-entry visas.
The new charges amount to approximately ₦126,000 for a single-entry visa and ₦252,000 for a multiple-entry visa.
