NG · Citizenship by descent

Nigerian citizenship by descent

Reaches a grandparent. Every answer on this page is what Postern’s rulebook returns, word for word, with the law it cites. The free check runs the same rules.

Last verified 25 September 20267 sourcesNot legal advice

NG · PARENTLIKELYThrough a parentCitizen by birth (§25)NG · GRANDPARENTPOSSIBLEThrough a grandparentRegistration (§26)NG · GREAT-GRANDPARENTUNLIKELYThrough a great-grandparentTwo generations
Routes
Citizen by birth (§25) · Registration for persons of Nigerian descent (§26)
Dual citizenship
Kept on every open route

The stamps assume no one in the line became a citizen of another country before the next person in the line was born. What changes each answer is below.

On this page
  1. 01Who qualifies
  2. 02Dates that matter
  3. 03Mothers’ lines
  4. 04Keeping your citizenship
  5. 05The routes and the law
  6. 06The documents
  7. 07What it takes
  8. 08Where the records live
  9. 09Law changes
  10. 10Other doors
  11. 11Sources

01Who qualifies

Who qualifies, generation by generation

POSSIBLE

Can you claim Nigerian citizenship through a grandparent?

Registration (§26)

A grandchild of a Nigerian citizen may register as a citizen at 18, on good character and an oath; you keep your home citizenship because it was acquired by birth.

What would settle itWhether your grandparent’s Nigerian citizenship can be documented, and whether you can honestly declare an intention to be domiciled in Nigeria.

What changes the answer

UNLIKELY

Can you claim Nigerian citizenship through a great-grandparent?

Two generations

Nigerian citizenship reaches children by birth and grandchildren by registration, not great-grandchildren, unless a closer relative is registered first.

What would settle itWhether a living parent or grandparent can be registered first.

02Dates that matter

The dates that matter

No date named in Nigeria’s rule decides who qualifies. The answers above turn on the family’s facts, not on when anyone was born or left.

03Mothers’ lines

How mothers’ lines were treated

Nigeria’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.

04Keeping your citizenship

Dual citizenship with your home country

You keep your citizenship.

On every open route, the rule lets a citizen of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina or South Africa keep that citizenship.

05The routes

Every route, and the law behind it

Registration (§26)

Open through a grandparent

  • POSSIBLE
    Through a grandparent

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether your grandparent’s Nigerian citizenship can be documented, and whether you can honestly declare an intention to be domiciled in Nigeria.

Two generations

Closed: no open answer on this route

  • UNLIKELY
    Through a great-grandparent

    Nigerian citizenship reaches children by birth and grandchildren by registration, not great-grandchildren, unless a closer relative is registered first.

The law

What would settle an unsure case

  • Whether a living parent or grandparent can be registered first.

06The documents

The documents, as the rule lists them

Citizen by birth (§25)

Through a parent

  • Your parent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport
  • Your birth certificate

Registration (§26)

Through a grandparent

  • Your grandparent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport
  • Birth records linking each generation
  • Character references and the oath of allegiance

Most countries also want proof that no one in the line became a citizen elsewhere before the next birth: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter that none exists.

07What it takes

What it takes: time, cost, the hard part, who decides

Citizen by birth (§25)

Time
A few weeks to a few months for a Nigerian passport, once your parent’s Nigerian documents are confirmed.
Cost
About $150–400: certified U.S. records and Nigerian passport fees.
The hard part
None, if your parent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport is in hand. You are a citizen by birth, not by application.
Who decides
A Nigerian embassy or consulate for your address.
The first record
Your parent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport, from The National Population Commission, or the family’s own papers. Start with the family’s papers; if a new certificate is needed, apply through the National Population Commission with the name and birth details. nationalpopulation.gov.ng

How it’s filed

Where
Online on the NIS international portal, then in person at the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington, D.C. (DC, plus any state not claimed by New York or Atlanta below; not officially published as a residual) or the Consulates General in New York and Atlanta (each with its own published state list; see posts). office list
How
Online; you appear in person
Appointments
NIS international passport portal (processing centre and appointment chosen online). The portal lets you check the earliest appointment for each processing centre. unverified: captcha and payment by foreign card.
Fee
About $150
Decision
3–17 weeks
What goes in the file (6)
  1. The online application form and payment receipt (USD 150 for 32 pages / 5 years; USD 230 for 64 pages / 10 years)
  2. The applicant's birth certificate
  3. Evidence of the parent's Nigerian citizenship: photocopy of the Nigerian parent's Nigerian passport data page (and the other parent's passport data page)
  4. Two passport photographs, white background
  5. Minors: parents' consent; the child appears for biometrics
  6. NIN (National Identification Number), where the portal requires it (NIMC runs diaspora enrolment; unverified whether a first-time applicant born abroad must have one before applying)
What goes wrong (6)
  • The fee for applications abroad stayed at USD 150 / USD 230 when fees in Nigeria rose on 1 September 2025 (NIS, 28 August 2025).
  • There is no separate citizenship registration for a child of a Nigerian: the passport application is the claim. §28 forfeiture applies only to registered or naturalized citizens, not citizens by birth, so no proof of the Nigerian parent's own naturalization status abroad is asked for on this path.
  • NIS publishes a service-level agreement (2026) with processing targets; unverified: the figure for missions abroad.
  • Embassy of Nigeria, Washington: 3519 International Court NW, Consular Section, Washington, DC 20008 (secondary confidence, nigeriaembassyusa.org); treated as the residual default post since its own jurisdiction is never published, only inferred as whatever New York and Atlanta don't claim.
  • The portal's field list above is inferred from its known inputs, not read off a static form (snippet confidence).
  • From GB: the Nigeria High Commission in London; from CA: Ottawa; others, the nearest Nigerian mission, same portal and fees.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Registration (§26)

Time
6–18 months for the registration decision; timelines vary widely and there is no published standard.
Cost
About $500–1,500: certified and translated records, a Certificate of Indigenship from the ancestor’s Local Government Area, and registration fees.
The hard part
Declaring, honestly, an intention to be domiciled in Nigeria — the law requires it alongside good character and the oath of allegiance, and it is the part most diaspora applicants overlook.
Who decides
The Ministry of Interior (Citizenship and Business Department), through a Nigerian embassy or consulate.
The first record
Your grandparent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport, and a Certificate of Indigenship from their Local Government Area, from The family’s papers and the Local Government Area secretariat. Start with family papers, then write to the Local Government Area of your grandparent’s hometown for the Certificate of Indigenship. nationalpopulation.gov.ng

How it’s filed

Where
Online on the Ministry of Interior's eCitiBiz platform (all documents uploaded); decided by the Citizenship and Business Department in Abuja, followed by the oath of allegiance. office list
How
Online; you appear in person
Appointments
eCitiBiz (account required). Account and uploads; the oath is taken in person.
Fee
Not confirmed: no official fee was found
Decision
6–24 months
What goes in the file (7)
  1. Passport photograph
  2. The applicant's birth certificate
  3. Marriage certificate, where applicable
  4. Nigerian residence permit
  5. First five pages of the applicant's passport, including the data page
  6. Evidence of the Nigerian citizenship of a parent, grandparent or great-grandparent (the checklist's wording), e.g. old Nigerian passport, NPC birth record, LGA certificate of origin
  7. Letter from guarantors, with each guarantor's photo, downloaded guarantor form, CV and ID
What goes wrong (5)
  • The checklist asks for a Nigerian residence permit: in practice this route is for someone living in Nigeria. The Constitution also requires good character and a clear intention to be domiciled in Nigeria.
  • Fee shown as 0 because the Ministry does not publish it on the checklist; unverified. Budget for the residence permit and guarantors.
  • The checklist mentions a great-grandparent, although §26(2)(b) of the Constitution speaks of grandparents; do not rely on a great-grandparent claim without confirmation.
  • Registered citizens must renounce other nationalities except one acquired by birth (§28), so a U.S. citizen by birth keeps U.S. citizenship.
  • unverified: decision times; the Ministry publishes none.

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Estimates are honest ranges from official fee tables and what families report; where a fee or time could not be confirmed, it says so.

08Where the records live

Where each record lives, and how to ask for it

  • birth

    National Population Commission (NPC), which runs civil registration (births and deaths) and issues birth certificates and, for adults born before registration, attestations of birth

    The NPC office of the Local Government Area where the birth happened. Recent births are on the NPC's online birth-registration self-service; older ones need the LGA registry. For people never registered, the NPC issues an attestation of birth on application.

    Ask
    Through an agent, in English · request page ↗
    Takes
    2–17 weeks
    Good to know (3)
    • The Nigerian parent's Nigerian passport is the usual proof for a §25 claim, so an NPC record is often unnecessary. For a grandparent (§26), their old Nigerian passport, NPC birth record or attestation, or an LGA certificate of origin is the evidence.
    • In practice a relative or representative in Nigeria visits the NPC or LGA office. unverified: fees and whether foreign requests are accepted online.
    • NPC now also runs a self-service birth-attestation portal (birthreg-selfservice.nationalpopulation.gov.ng, NIN-based, info@nationalpopulation.gov.ng); unverified whether it works for a descendant abroad requesting an ancestor's record, versus only the record-holder's own attestation, so the request channel here stays "agent" until that's confirmed.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

  • citizenship

    The Local Government Area (LGA) secretariat of the family's hometown: certificate of origin (certificate of indigeneship)

    The LGA of the ancestor's hometown, not necessarily the place of birth. The Ministry of Interior's checklists cite an LGA certificate of origin as evidence of a Nigerian's citizenship.

    Ask
    Through an agent, in English
    Takes
    1–13 weeks
    Good to know (1)
    • Issued in person, usually to a relative who can be vouched for locally; unverified: fees vary by LGA.

    Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

Translations

Into
English
Who may translate
No translation needed
About
$0–$50 a page

English is Nigeria's official language; English-language records need no translation. Records in other languages need a certified English translation (unverified: NIS standard).

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

The passport

Where
For a §25 citizen the passport is the claim (see 'Citizen by birth (§25)'). After §26 registration, the same NIS portal and a mission or an NIS office in Nigeria.
Fee
About $150
Time
3–17 weeks

Checked 25 September 2026 · source ↗

09Law changes

Recent and pending changes

The legislative watch has no pending bill or recent ruling recorded for Nigeria.

The watch re-reads the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person re-checks the rule before anything here moves.

10Other doors

If descent doesn’t reach you

One residence program leads to Nigeria without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.

11Sources

Every source on this page

1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing. Records and filing checked 25 September 2026.

  1. LawConstitution of Nigeria 1999, §25 (citizenship by birth) and §26(2) (registration for persons of Nigerian descent through a grandparent) · §25(1)(c); §26(1)–(2)(b); §28; §26(1)(a); §26(2)(b)
  2. RecordsThe National Population Commission, or the family’s own papers: Your parent’s Nigerian birth certificate or passport · checked 25 September 2026
  3. RecordsHow to file: Citizen by birth (§25) · checked 25 September 2026
  4. RecordsNigerian standard passport application on the NIS international portal, then biometric capture at the mission · checked 25 September 2026
  5. RecordsHow to file: Registration (§26) · checked 25 September 2026
  6. RecordsCitizenship by registration under §26(2)(b) (eCitiBiz online application, Ministry of Interior, Citizenship and Business Department) · checked 25 September 2026
  7. RecordsTranslations into English · checked 25 September 2026

Not legal advice. Postern’s rulebook is written from the statutes and tested against documented cases; where the law is unsettled, the answer says “possible” or “unsure” rather than guess.

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