Thread by @adesoji45

My international passport will expire soon. I started the process of renewing it. I paid online and will go for ‘Capturing’ today.

I will share my experience and timeline on this thread. I hope someone finds it useful.

@nigimmigration @DrJoeAbah

#Passportrenewalexperience

2. Yeah! IJGB - I just got back from the passport office in Ikoyi.

I deliberately left out the location in my earlier tweet not to avoid ‘bias’. Firstly, let me describe the online application process, including payment.

@nigimmigration

#Passportrenewalexperience

3. The online application process is very straight forward. Just follow the link at immigration.gov.ng. If you can find your way around here on Twitter, then there shouldn’t be a problem navigating the site. My application is for renewal.

4. Here are the list of items I took with me to the passport office;

1. The old passport
2. A print out of the online application form and evidence of payment.
3. Two passport photographs
4. Application letter for renewal

The application letter must contain key information:

5. A formal letter format. Addressed to the Head of the office where you intend to capture. It must show your full name, passport number and expiry date of your old passport. It should be signed and dated.

6. Armed with these, I headed to the @nigimmigration at Passport Office
Ikoyi Rd, Dolphine Estate, Lagos
goo.gl/maps/vDYeog8zJ…

7. At the passport office, paid parking is available for #500. The place is bustling with activities. The @nigimmigration officers at the gate were willing to help.

Issue 1: Some of the letters on the PASSPORT OFFICE IKOYI signage are missing! Just glue the thing back pls!

8. Now this is the point where I think my report might get biased. From the gate, the immigration officer asked for my mission and I told him passport renewal and that I already paid online. From there he took me to the SERVICOM office.

I don’t know/sure this is normal.

9. I got to the passport office at 9:30am. The officers at the SERVICOM unit were exceptionally warm and helpful.

Issue 2: I had to fill the same form I filled online again. Why? I had to use my money to make photocopies and also bought file (both were done outside)

10. Issue 3: Someone was actually eating in the servicom office. Not sandwich and tea o! Proper rice, plantain and stew! I think they should do better.

NB: I wasn’t invited to eat and it pained me ‘small’!

11. The form submission was straight forward, my file was taken for approval and I was invited to the data and photo capture room.

This was when the ‘Network’ disappeared! The couldn’t continue with processing because network was ‘down’. I had to wait for network to come back!

12. While waiting for Network to come back up, a Junior immigration officer stepped into the capture room and screamed - SENIOR OFFICER APPROACHING!!!!

Just like when Thanos snapped his finger in the infinity war, half of the population in the room disappeared!

13. The oga at the top came for a spot check. Everyone got into their best behavior. All the ‘agents’ sorting people out disappeared and the place was better organized. The queue also moved faster. I captured without any further issue when the network came back up.

14. My file was process out and I was given a collection slip (a piece of paper with number written on it).

On my way out, I stopped by at the servicom office to make enquiries about pick up. That was the point where the scarcity of booklet issue came up.

15. I was asked to check back in about 4weeks, however, if I have a urgent need for the passport, I should bring documents to prove the urgency and then a case may be made for prioritizing and fast tracking my collection.

I think I should explain my understanding of this.

16. A couple of people came in with the request to collect their passport urgently.

One emergency medical trip, another as ID for an exam and one was going for a training outside the country.

They all provided proofs and their requests were accepted.

17. I left the Passport office at around 12noon after 2.5hrs.

The 30days countdown for passport collection starts today, although I saw it somewhere on their website that it should take about 72hrs for renewal. That’s my country for you!

I will provide the updates here!

Good evening Tweeps! I have some updates to share concerning my Passport collection user experience

This is the 2nd Part of the thread.

@nigimmigration

1.I was at the passport office Ikoyi today to see the PCO (I honestly don’t know what the acronym stands for, but I know he is the ‘oga at the top’).

As a result of the information provided on this thread, I was contacted by the SM handler of the NIS.

He thanked me for volunteering to be a self-appointed ‘mystery shopper’ for the organization and also to provide a more detailed feedback of my user experience to him and the organization.

Don’t worry, I tried my best to make sure the accolades didnr make my head swell!☺️☺️☺️

2. My meeting with the PCO and the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Ikoyi office was an interesting and engaging one and we spoke extensively about the challenges and successes the NIS, Passport office Ikoyi has experienced over the past few months.

Issues discussed:
a. Feedback on my user experience and suggestions
b. Challenges faced with service users
c.Innovations to improve quality of service delivery and user experience.
d.Scarcity of booklet and measures being put in place to mitigate it.

3.Concerning the feedback, remedial actions are being taken to ensure that those short comings are addressed.

Specifically, the renovation of the capture room is being done, albeit slow because the room can’t be shut down completely for the renovations.

They rely on after hours to work on the renovations.

Concerning the signage, vendor have been contacted to resolve that and for the officer eating in the office, further orientation will be done on this issue and other service delivery issues generally.

4.Concerning the challenges faced with service users – this is multifaceted and diverse.

Ranging from not following instructions about not patronizing middle men to non-collection of their passports after capturing.

I was taken to the passport collection room and I saw loads of passports sorted out by year, from as far back as 2007 that hasn’t been collected.

The non-collection of passports after data capture and the booklet scarcity led to their approach to rationing.

5.Concerning the booklet scarcity – Things seems to be getting better now as backlogs of passports are being cleared.

To make collection faster, the opening hours for the Ikoyi Passport office has been extended to include Saturdays from 9am to 3pm for the next couple of weeks.

Anyone that gets there before 3pm would be attended. I think this will provide some relief for the general populace and a big ‘plus’ for the Ikoyi Passport office.

6.Concerning rationing, The PCO explained that during the period of scarcity, they didn’t want to produce passports for those that don’t have immediate and urgent need for it as some may end up not even collecting it, whereas, those with urgent need would have been denied!

Like I mentioned in my previous thread, those with urgent and verifiable need are being sorted out.

Please note that this is not the ideal situation and I am not celebrating it! Why should there be scarcity in the first place? Issues with planning?

7.Other areas the Ikoyi Passport office is focusing on in the coming months is improved communication, customer enlightenment to encourage DIY, improvement in workflow arrangement etc.

I need to take a break here. I will continue in a bit!