Germany Moves Student Visa Processing to Lagos VFS Center

The German government announced that student visa applications from Nigeria will now be processed exclusively at the VFS Global center located in Lekki, Lagos, rather than at the German consulate. This new arrangement, which officially launches on March 25, 2026, was communicated through a notice from the German Embassy in Nigeria.

Prospective students will be required to register online for appointments at the VFS center, where they will submit their applications and biometric data. The Deputy Consul General, Gerald Wolf, and VFS Global's General Manager, Stephen Kubasu, are overseeing the development of this process, which is expected to streamline the visa application for Nigerian students.

The move comes as Germany has seen a record number of international students, with approximately 402,000 enrolled for the winter semester of 2024-25, marking a 6% increase from the previous year, according to the DAAD's Wissenschaft Weltoffen report.