People residing in Port Harcourt and Enugu can now book their United Kingdom (UK) visa appointments at the newly opened outlets in Rivers and Enugu states.

According to a statement from the UK Home Office yesterday, the newly opened Premium Application Centres located in Hotel Presidential in Port Harcourt and Omedel Luxury Hotel in Enugu were set up due to the growing outbound travel to the UK.

The two centres are in addition to the existing Visa Application Centres in Abuja, Ikeja (Lagos) and Victoria Island (Lagos), which have been operational since November 2024.

The statement noted that the UK remains a popular destination for travellers across Africa, with Nigeria as the top four nationalities by volume for UK visit visas, accounting for six per cent of the global total.

Minister of State at Home Office, Sir Hon Lord David Hanson, said: ”The government is pleased to reopen the Premium Visa Application Centres in both Port Harcourt and Enugu.”

In 2024, we received more than 230,000 visa applications from Nigerian nationals across all visa routes, and these new premium application centres will provide greater convenience for applicants in and around Enugu and Rivers State, demonstrating the importance of the UK – Nigeria relationship in these markets as well as Nigeria as a whole.”

Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, VFS Global, Mr Alok Singhal, added: “We are pleased to open the additional, conveniently located touch points for our UK visa customers in the form of the recently opened Premium Application Centres in Enugu and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, which helps us cater for a larger number of travellers to the UK.

Our customers will continue to enjoy the same comfort, convenience, and best-in-class services at these locations that they do at our Visa Application Centres in Abuja and Lagos.”