Nigeria Immigration Service
NIS
About
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is a government agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria responsible for the country's border security and migration management. It controls the entry and exit of persons, issues Nigerian passports and travel documents, and issues residence permits to foreigners. It also carries out border surveillance and patrol and enforces the laws it is charged with. The NIS is a paramilitary agency under the Federal Ministry of Interior and is considered a critical part of Nigeria's National Security Architecture. Its headquarters is in Sauka, Abuja, and it operates a Command and Control Centre and a data centre there.
History
The Immigration Department was established by an Act of Parliament on August 1, 1963, when Alhaji Shehu Shagari was Minister of Internal Affairs. It had earlier been separated from the Nigeria Police in August 1958, when it was headed by the Chief Federal Immigration Officer. The initial law regulating immigration duties, the Immigration Act of 1963, was amended in 2014 and again in 2015. The 1963 Act was repealed in 2015 and replaced with the Immigration Act 2015. The service has been restructured over time to manage modern migration, and it introduced machine readable electronic passports in 2007.
Key Facts
Established
1963
Headquarters
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Expressway, Sauka, Abuja
Comptroller-General
Kemi Nanna Nandap
Members
25,303 personnel
Abbreviation
NIS
Website
immigration.gov.ng