Booklet shortage: Nigerian consulate in New York suspends emergency passport services

The Nigerian consulate in New York has suspended emergency passport services due to a shortage of booklets.

In a notice dated March 6, 2020, the consulate said only applicants on appointment would be attended to.

“The consulate general will resume attending to all and sundry when the passport booklet supply improves,” the notice read.

Benaoyagha Okoyen, the consul general, said the shortage is caused by the gradual phaseout of the old passport booklet and transition to the new 10-year e-passport.

“There is a transition going on from the five-year to the 10-year validity passport, and we are trying to manage the old stock,” NAN quoted Okoyen to have said while addressing emergency passport applicants in his office.

“We hope the transition process is completed soon, and once that is done this issue will be over.

“Currently, we only have a limited number of booklets, which have been allocated according to our scheduled appointments.”

NAN reports that some of the applicants, most of whom were seeking renewal of their passports, came from other consular jurisdictions.

Besides New York, Nigeria has two other consulates in the United States located in Atlanta and Washington.

The New York consular jurisdiction serves 20 states including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire and New Jersey, New York, Nebraska, Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Pennsylvania.