Opening your book…
Reaches a grandparent.
Each answer assumes none of your ancestors became a citizen of another country before their child was born. Below is what changes each answer.
Citizen by birth (§25)
A child of a Nigerian citizen, born anywhere, is a Nigerian citizen by birth.
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.
Registration requires that the President be satisfied the applicant is of good character; a conviction weighs on that. Constitution of Nigeria 1999, §25 (citizenship by birth) and §26(2) (registration for persons of Nigerian descent through a grandparent), §26(1)(a)
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.
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.
Nigeria’s rule gives the same answer whether the line runs through a mother or a father.
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.
Open to you through a parent
Open to you through a grandparent
Closed: no one qualifies this way today
Nigerian citizenship reaches children by birth and grandchildren by registration, not great-grandchildren, unless a closer relative is registered first.
Through a parent
Through a grandparent
Most countries also want proof that your ancestor didn’t become a citizen somewhere else before their child was born: the naturalization record with its date, or a letter saying there isn’t one.
Consulate General of Nigeria, Atlanta
Serves Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia
Consulate General of Nigeria, New York
Serves Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin
Fees are each office’s published fee, converted to U.S. dollars.
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.
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.
English is Nigeria’s official language; English-language records need no translation. A document in another language goes in with an English translation signed and stamped by a registered or certified translator.
We know of no pending bill or recent court ruling for Nigeria.
We re-read the official pages behind this guide every day. When one changes, a person checks the rule before we update anything here.
One residence program leads to Nigeria without an ancestor, each with its own law and road to citizenship.
1 laws and official pages behind the answers, then the offices and pages behind the records and filing.
Not legal advice. Every answer comes from the country’s own laws and is tested against real cases. Where the law isn’t clear, we say “possible” rather than guess.
Tell us about one parent or grandparent. We’ll answer in about a minute, and show you the law behind it.
Check your family