Nigerians living in Qatar who took part in a recent passport intervention exercise are set to receive their travel documents much faster, with the Nigerian Embassy in Doha reducing the processing period to about two weeks.
The mission said the accelerated service followed a 10-day intervention exercise conducted from August 11 to 21, 2026, during which passport applications from 751 Nigerians were processed.
According to a statement issued by the embassy on Monday, the applications included 441 requests for five-year passports and 310 applications for 10-year passports.
The mission began distributing the completed passports on September 18, less than four weeks after the biometric capture exercise ended.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to Qatar, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, described the development as an important step towards improving the delivery of consular services to Nigerians in the Gulf country.
“The fact that passports are now being completed and returned within about two weeks of capture demonstrates our commitment to improving service delivery and responding to the needs of our community”, Yakubu told reporters.
He said the embassy understood the importance of valid passports to Nigerians resident in Qatar, especially those whose international travel, employment and residency arrangements depended on having valid travel documents.
The embassy explained that the intervention was introduced in response to increasing demand for consular services from Nigeria’s growing population in Qatar.
It said the dedicated exercise was intended to handle passport applications within a defined period, after which the mission moved quickly to distribute the produced documents.
The initiative is expected to reduce the length of time applicants ordinarily spend waiting for passport renewals or new travel documents.
For the 751 Nigerians who submitted applications during the exercise, the commencement of distribution on September 18 marked the completion of the process, from biometric enrolment to the production and release of their passports.
The embassy said the exercise underscored the role of Nigerian diplomatic missions in providing essential services to citizens abroad, with passport issuance and renewal remaining among the most important consular services offered to Nigerians outside the country.
The mission added that the faster processing arrangement would particularly benefit Nigerians whose travel plans, employment or residency status depended on obtaining valid passports promptly.
