phatzyka: We did our interview on the 30th of April. On the 2nd of July we went for sample collection at the USA Embassy Lagos. On the 14th of July the result was delivered to the USA Embassy Lagos. With this piece of information I believe it will go a long way in knowing the present state of my case.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

VisaOfficer:

Thank you sir! Safe travels. I expect to hear of great successes from you and your future family over there!

I'm going to hassle you one more time, because I can. I feel a sudden urge to remind everyone that American culture has a weird fixation with youth and beauty, and everyone firmly believes that the words "old" and "elderly" only apply to people at least 15 years older than they themselves are. Even if they're 70, in their hearts they will believe that only 85-year-olds are old. Even when it's patently untrue, you may want to practice looking surprised when someone (male or female) tells you their age, and saying "I never would have guessed, you look so much younger!"

Along the same lines, never ever tell anyone that they have gained weight, and NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant, even if she is visibly giving birth right that moment.

Trust me.

YettyOla: Our Nairaland VO Mum, I sometimes wonder how you multitask working as a VO right @ the consulate and still give us time here on Nairaland. Big Thanks.

Pls, when can I one go to pick up passport if interviewed 22nd July. I've been ttrying to call the collection centre but its not going through, advice ma?

Ddream77:
Dear V.O,
Thanks for you response.
You made mention "Just remind us when you come back for your next interview, and we can update the case notes for you"
Does that mean i'll still have to come for another interview?
Wow!!! Well, I just hope me name gets cleared.

VisaOfficer:

If your baby's first name starts with P, we should already have contacted you (with good news). I'll follow up and see what's going on.

VisaOfficer:

Don't worry, justwise, I think s/he meant the SSS is always ready to support the Consulate in dealing with serious wrongdoers. We're interviewing young DV couples according to the same standards as we always have!

justwise:

vickkyplus: @justwise,I want to hope you don't make mockery that there are no more credible Nigerians?
Fair enough I believe you are among the credlbles.Pls peruse my post perfectly.

According to my post,I never advocated for a reduced standard,infact I wrote on the limited timing.I,as a matter of factly,asked for ample time for young couple to prove the union since the VO stated clearly that it is difficult to know who is real or not.Am not a mouth piece,but I feel certain things should be corrected.Or are you not a Nigerian?I speak for Nigerians and you mock me?God! see how we belittle our country,Nigeria.It is a pity.If u were to be an American, you would swallow my words.
Long Live Nigeria.

terefe: helo visa officer... My mom applied for residence visa for me , shes a PR, unfortunately a mixup in the documents she submitted and the applcation was denied but then she filed an appeal with d right documents. its over 8months now and we havent gotten a decisio on the appeal. how long does the appeal process take please?

VisaOfficer:

The case notes say "Contact sheet received." Thanks for checking!

VisaOfficer:

Based on what you've written here, yes, the spouse can file an I-130 on his behalf. The beneficiary will still need to convince the officer that the two have a bona fide spousal relationship.

aariwa: Dear VO.please i need some clarifications.If a nigerian man marries his first cousin who is an american citizen in nigeria or ghana,is he eligible to file for form i 30 or immediate relative/spouse visa,The cousin is from a state in U.S where first cousin marriage is legal while the laws in Nigeria and Ghana are silent on it.

alchemist13: Good evening VO. I have a concern I want to share with you. I received a call from someone who claims to work for the agency from which I applied for the DV 2014 visa lottery. He told me that I am one of the 7 lucky winners of the visa lottery before he sent me a text containing the contact details of one Mr. Joel Olaniyi, a 'Recruitment Officer' for the American Embassy in Carrintgton, Apapa.
However, I decided to check the status of the visa lottery (I had almost forgotten about it at that time) online to see if I had truly won. I found the lottery printout, followed all instructions, and found out that my entry had not been selected. So I decided to call the Mr. Olaniyi just to hear what they had to say.
What I gathered from the call has almost made me to be convinced that this is a scam. First of all, he said I would have to come to Apapa today but when I said wont be able to make it to Apapa in such a short time (the call was made by 3 PM) that I will come tomorrow, he told me i must first buy a form from somewhere in VI for N20000. Secondly, when I told him that I do not have that kind of money now, he told me that I can pay in installments. Finally, he told me that I do not need to go to VI if I can pay the first installment immediately so that he can tell his people in VI to bring the form to Apapa.
I don't know much about the processing of the visa lottery so I want to ask if this is the process or if this is a scam. Remember that from the official site (https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/), my entry was not selected. Thank you in advance.

kole10: [i][/i]

Thanks so much for checking on our case for us.

I am the petitioner this time, and I had a quick question about the administrative processing process. Now, I am aware that you cannot go into detail about specifics, or give information about if a case will or will not be approved for obvious reasons, however is it not possible to give likely timeframes?

I absolutely understand that some cases necessitate the need for this additional review, and I am not asking that it be negated or discontinued, but why is it so important that the applicants be left in this sort of abyss, with no real timeframe given whatsoever. I know your office has stated that these cases are usually resolved within 60 days, but I have heard of several cases that have taken in upwards of 1 year to be completed, which quite frankly is really frightening and unnerving.

I was just hoping that you could provide some measure of comfort and ease during this protracted “administrative processing” wait.

Thanks again.

olabowalebiyi: Hello our amiable V.O.
Pls my question is : I'm a DV winner and we have our Visa approved on 7th July but we cannot travel because I'm pregnant n close to delivery which I informed the C.O during our interview and let them knw that I will be having my baby here in Nigeria but will go with my baby before the end of the year. He said I should notify them immediately my baby arrives for further processing. My major concern is hope the processing won't be delayed leading to expiration of d parents Visa cos d Visa expires by Dec 28th and baby is due later August or early Sept. Please your candid advice is highly needed ma.
Thanks and God bless.

Goodybag: Good evening VO, such a wonderful work you are doing here. Your kind gestures will definitely speak for you. What a selfless service rendered!! There is a saying that the beautiful ones are yet unborn, however I counter such by saying the beautiful ones are very much present at this dispensation and you are one of them. Chai!!, to be candid, i regret not finding this great platform on time, sobs! sobs!! Sobs!!! it is just informative and educative. A saying that "when someone is not informed, definitely he/she is deformed!! Processing the DV lottery was hell for me, right from the time I played, the waiting period, time to check for winnings, processing, waiting again, another processing and finnally the interview proper. I had to make calls both here in Nigeria and abroad just seeking for information about the whole process which was very vague to me, sometimes calls of more than an hour, imagin!! See me see gbege!! but thank God I was able to scale through from the help I received through info i got from a friend that won same too. I remembered you asked if I was on Nairaland and I said no. On getting home I did a little research about nairaland, here I am. I will never forget a prayer made by you after I and my wife were interviewed for almost 2 hours. "you shall Give Birth another Barrack Obama of the United States" hope you can still remember Ma? I was just opening my mouth but couldnt say anything because withing me it was tears of Joy, but as a man, you know what I mean now, I was just flashing my 32 teeths in an open and close style lol! I pretended, maintained my ground like say nothing happened lol! meanwhile my wife was just shouting Haleluyya, jubilating at the top of her Voice, she couldnt hold her self lol! Hnnnn permit me to say this, I have never encountered such interview in my life time!! Looks as if I was on a hot seatooooo, I wasnt feeling the air conditioner at allooo, even when the Ac was chilling like never before. I will never forget such experience in my life. However my Joy was that at the end of the tunnel, there was light and the truth prevailed and our Visa was approved. Sincerely you all are doing a great Job Ma. I sincerely salute your office VO. Pls VO/Ma, we need more of you ma, we need information, pls I beg you not to leaveooooo, lots of people are out there seeking for info, dying in silence and crying where will their help come from! dont abandon us plssssssssssssssssssss. My wish for you is long life, wisdom, good health and ultimately the GOOD LEGACY you will be leaving!! And to the Administrators/Moderators of this platform, more power to your elbow. Great Job and God bless you all. To all members, I found your contributions awesome, love you all!

aariwa: What they have for each other over the years is a fillial agape kind of love between cousins which is not sexual/conjugal.The law in some U.S states like Wisconsin[where she resides]states that the woman should be past child bearing stage for the marriage to be legal,which applies to this particular case.Methinks the intendment of that law is to prevent cousins from having intimate relationship.So please how can the beneficiary prove bonafide spousal relationship in such a scenario?Thank you.

oluwa4us: Goodevening VO,thanks for your time here.Pls I really need your clarification here.Now a quick one.
My wife being a DV applicant,was at the consulate mid-june for her interview, only for her to be told she would not get her visa unless we are both interviewd.Is that suppose to pose a problem if am absent?I thought since she won as single,it wont be a problem.Really on that day I was at my work place,I thought she was joking when she said she included me in her forms sent.
Now she called my attention to a status check site where it said her case is under Administrative processing.Dont really know this phrase.Pls what are they processing?since she was asked to inform the consulate when I will be ready for interview.I think am ready now,but why that AP stuff?Was it because I was not present at the embassy or is anything missing?
Pls I hope it's not late to write back to the embassy informing them of my readiness?

Eagerly waiting for your response,cos my wife wont sleep.

alchemist13: Good evening VO. I have a concern I want to share with you. I received a call from someone who claims to work for the agency from which I applied for the DV 2014 visa lottery. He told me that I am one of the 7 lucky winners of the visa lottery before he sent me a text containing the contact details of one Mr. Joel Olaniyi, a 'Recruitment Officer' for the American Embassy in Carrintgton, Apapa.
However, I decided to check the status of the visa lottery (I had almost forgotten about it at that time) online to see if I had truly won. I found the lottery printout, followed all instructions, and found out that my entry had not been selected. So I decided to call the Mr. Olaniyi just to hear what they had to say.
What I gathered from the call has almost made me to be convinced that this is a scam. First of all, he said I would have to come to Apapa today but when I said wont be able to make it to Apapa in such a short time (the call was made by 3 PM) that I will come tomorrow, he told me i must first buy a form from somewhere in VI for N20000. Secondly, when I told him that I do not have that kind of money now, he told me that I can pay in installments. Finally, he told me that I do not need to go to VI if I can pay the first installment immediately so that he can tell his people in VI to bring the form to Apapa.
I don't know much about the processing of the visa lottery so I want to ask if this is the process or if this is a scam. Remember that from the official site (https://www.dvlottery.state.gov/ESC/), my entry was not selected. Thank you in advance.

cute2014:

SCAM!!!! The agent should be arrested,period.

Firewami: Good morning ma and happy new month.
Kindly assist ma, i read here on nairaland of someone who has a case similar to my family case and how you were of great assistance to them. Pls my family and i will be very grateful if you could render the same assistance to us. We had our interview on may 6th and we're asked to do a dna test, we dropped samples on july 7th and on july 18th the laboratory(DDC) that did the test informed us that the result has been sent to lagos embassy but since then we've not heard anything from the embassy. Please ma help us to look into it.
Thank you ma.

VisaOfficer:

I know that many genuine marriages don't involve physical intimacy for a variety of reasons, but the way you describe this relationship (a filial agape kind of love), I'm guessing that they got married so one cousin could help the other get to the United States? Our regulations don't permit us to grant visas in the cases of marriages created solely for the purposes of immigration.

VisaOfficer:

Good news! You're the family in which the mom's first name starts with T, right? If so, the results were in that pile I wrote about yesterday. You'll hear from us Monday or Tuesday, and I think you'll be pleased.....