A guide to paying visa fees for Canada, the UK, the US, and the Schengen area from Nigeria.
When it comes to paying visa fees, Nigerians typically encounter four different payment systems, each with its own requirements. Some require payment in foreign currency using a card, others accept naira through a Nigerian bank, while another may require payment at a visa centre in Lagos or Abuja.
That gap, not the consular decision, is where many Nigerian visa applications can stall, sometimes before anyone has even reviewed a single document.
The steps that come before the fee.
The route differs by country, but the sequence rarely does.
- Pick the exact visa category and confirm you meet its conditions.
- Create an account on the official government portal and complete the application form.
- Pay the application fee. Nothing moves until this clears.
- Book your biometrics appointment or interview, usually at VFS Global, TLScontact, or the embassy.
- Attend in person, submit your documents, give fingerprints and a photograph.
- Wait for the decision and the return of your passport.
Payment stays in the middle for a reason. You cannot book a slot until the money has been received, and appointment slots in Lagos and Abuja fill quickly, so a declined card costs you days rather than minutes.
| System | Currency charged | Where you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Canadian dollars | Online by card, inside your IRCC account |
| United Kingdom | Pounds sterling | Online in the UKVI application, health surcharge first |
| United States | Naira, or dollars by card | Designated Nigerian bank, or the application portal |
| Schengen | Euro or local equivalent | Consulate or VFS/TLScontact centre, plus a service charge |
Canada: The IRCC fee plus biometrics
Canada charges two amounts and people routinely budget for only one. The application fees are 100 Canadian dollars for a visitor visa, 150 for a study permit, 155 for a work permit, and 7 for an eTA. A family of five or more applying for visitor visas together at the same time and place is capped at 500.
Biometrics are separate: 85 dollars per person, or 170 for a family of two or more applying together. So a single study permit is 235 dollars in government fees, not 150.
Payment happens online in Canadian dollars, by card, inside your IRCC secure account. There is no naira option and no bank counter.
The UK: Application fee plus health surcharge.
Home Office fees rose on 8 April 2026. A Standard Visitor visa is now £135 for six months, £506 for two years, £903 for five years and £1,128 for ten. A student visa is £558. A Skilled Worker visa sponsored for three years or less is £819. The electronic travel authorisation is £20.
Then comes the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is charged per applicant per year of the visa and paid in the same session, before the application fee. The standard rate is £1,035 a year. Students, their dependants and under-18s pay £776 a year.
A one-year Student visa is therefore £558 plus £776, or £1,334, before you have paid for a single document or a TB test.
The US: An MRV fee paid in Naira
The State Department charges $185 for non-petition-based nonimmigrant visas, which covers B-1/B-2 visitor, F and M student, and J exchange categories. Petition-based work visas in the H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories are $205. Treaty trader and investor E visas are $315, and K fiancé or spouse visas are $265.
Nigeria is one of the countries where the fee is quoted in dollars but collected in local currency at a designated bank, with a card payment option in dollars on the application portal. The designated bank has changed more than once, so confirm the current arrangement on the US visa service page for Nigeria before you queue anywhere.
Keep the receipt. An MRV payment stays valid for 365 days, and you must schedule your interview or submit a waiver application inside that window.
Schengen: €90 at the Visa Centre
The Schengen fee is set by the EU Visa Code and is identical whether you apply to France, Germany or Portugal. Since 11 June 2024, it has been €90 for adults and €45 for children aged six to under twelve. Children under six pay nothing.
You pay at the consulate or at the VFS Global or TLScontact centre handling that country’s applications, and the centre adds its own service charge on top. Normal processing is 15 days, extendable to 45 where the consulate wants a closer look.
Why the card gets declined
Nigerian banks suspended international transactions on naira cards between 2022 and 2023, restored them in July 2025 at roughly $1,000 a quarter, and have been raising the ceilings since. The limits now vary enormously by bank and card tier.
GTBank raised its quarterly international limit to $20,000, up from $6,000 in November 2025. Access Bank allows $3,000 a month on Visa Signature and Visa Platinum cards and $2,000 a month on Visa Classic and Mastercard. Stanbic IBTC still caps international spending at $100 a month across POS, web, and ATM.
Banks also set their own daily rate for these transactions. Access Bank and UBA both quoted ₦1,378 to the dollar for naira card international payments on 3 August 2026, and UBA advises customers to process payments early in the day because the rate is revised daily.
Check your card’s limit against the fee before you reach the payment screen, not after.
Four governments, four currencies, four payment systems. Nothing about that is negotiable. The one variable still in your hands is the exchange rate and the fee you accept to get your naira into Canadian dollars, US dollars, or euros.
The CadRemit app is trusted by over 200k users sending money across North America, Europe, and Nigeria, which is exactly the set of corridors an application fee usually has to cross.
You can download the CadRemit app now to hold your naira, Canadian dollars, US dollars, and euros in one place, and pay each fee in the currency it is charged in.
