Bristol, at a reception in honour of the visiting Foreign Minister Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru on Sunday in Lisbon, said that Nigerians faced many challenges before they renew their passports.
``A lot of Nigerians in Portugal are trying to make ends meet and cannot afford to go to Spain to renew their passports," she said.
We recall that the Nigerian Immigration Service in 2007 introduced the e-passport in order to check the growing cases of forgery, duplication and identity theft associated with the machine readable passport.
Reports say that Nigerians in countries without the e-passport facility travel to neighbouring nations to acquire the document.
The envoy, also said that the non acceptance of Nigerian driving license by the Portuguese authorities, remains a challenge.
It was leant that it is impossible for Nigerians who do not speak Portuguese, to drive, especially as a driving test in that language is required.
In his remarks, Ashiru, re-echoed government's resolve to strengthen its embassies and missions abroad.
He said that the ministry would continue to push for increased funding.
The Minister also charged the Nigerian community to continue to promote the nation's image positively, by being law abiding in their host nation.
According to statistics from the embassy, more than 1500 Nigerians are registered as residents in Portugal.
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