₦airaland Forum

hunee:
@africankel please tell me the payment to be made for visa application. Visa fees for tourism , the embassy address. thanks

I paid 241k for express, they didn't give me the option of paying the regular fees (which is like half). After my interview, they handed me a document with payment instructions and asked me to pick up my visa the next day.

Embassy is on Constitution Avenue, Abuja.

hunee:
@kel, tell me how you got appointment for a tourist visa. Thanks

My travel was not for tourism, I went for a meeting. Invitation was issued by a Russian government official, so I simply emailed the embassy and they asked me to come the following day. It was a public holiday sef

Candybright:
Who had flown Lufthansa OF RECENT to Canada(TRV) with one layover? Did you need a transit visa or short stay visa?
Abi which airline una dey use ?

You don't need a transit visa. KLM, Air France and Lufthansa are great options.

Imzadal:
I wrote to the consulate and sent it through DHL but no reply, went to the consulate and they told me to send it through VFS … but I don’t know if it would change anything

I'm sure they received the mail from DHL, don't bother them again, it might trigger a refusal.

Imzadal:
it’s for study that’s why my program started on 1st July

Write to the Consulate in Lagos.

Imzadal:
Good evening Everyone

I submitted my visa application 2 months ago at the VFS Centre in lagos .. I was told I could write a letter to the embassy but I’m currently in Abuja .. can i submit it to the embassy here or I have to send it to lagos ?

Thank you

Your application is handled in Lagos; Abuja won't act on your letter. In addition, if your trip is for tourism, I'd rather you wait it out. You should receive a decision within the 3rd month.

Babsreus:
Please can you guide me on how I can send a letter to the high commission.

A sample of the letter and where to address it to please, my visa was rejected because I didn't include my third name during application

Reapply. An appeal is useless. At least I tried it for my staff whom they denied due to their own negligence. After much pressure, they called from the HC and asked him to reapply that they don't go back to an already decided application.

Olobitat:
Hello Everyone.
Please, I have applied for a SA visit visa since May 30th, the last mail I got from them said it is under processing,g but that's since 2nd June.
I called customer care, and they said it's still with the consulate, and I don't need to come physically to their office.

Does it usually take this long? Is there anything else I can do, please?

It can take up to 90 days

Sojeezy247:
It has not left the embassy yet, still under processing

Unfortunately, there's nothing else you can do other than to reschedule your flight.

Lmao. Did you read what you wrote here? 🤣

Efetobore1980:
@giselle.

Every country count in terms of travel history. Your purpose of visit is of utmost importance.

■ If Nairaland Nigeria sends you to Ghana, South Africa and Togo on official errands within 3 - years. You will have a better travel history than a multimillionaire who have been to Canada, UK and Germany for holidays or unnecessary funs.

■■ Nowadays, traveling unnecessarily to all countries without any reasonable reasons makes you a suspect at the U.S embassies. 👍

Phunky44:
This is the last notification I got from them since Thursday last week. @Africankel cc. @hunee

Please go to VFS ASAP, do not delay.

Phunky44:
@hunee please do you know if VFS is having system downtime ? I ought to get my passport since Friday but till now no show and my flight is for tomorrow morning..😩😫😖😣

Has your passport moved from SAHC to VFS? If it has, you probably should go to VFS today, don't wait for their call or email.

LaMujer:
Got denied this morning.
Lagos consulate, 7am


_{Probably only 1 person got approved before me} but who cares?


Transcript

VO: Good morning and why are you going to the US?
Me: Good morning, I'm going to my cousin's graduation at Uni of MD.
VO: Where does your cousin live?
Me: He lives in TX
VO: How long are you going to stay?
Me: 2 weeks
VO: What do you do for a living?
Me: I'm a senior data analyst at ...
VO: Have you been outside Nigeria before?
Me: Yes, I've been to Moz, ..., and
...
VO: And all these were in the last 5 years?
Me: Yes, Moz in 2022 ... and ... in 2023
VO: You said you visited Moz, why did you go there?
Me: I'm a lover of African culture and nature. Plus, they speak Portuguese which is closely related to Spanish, and I speak Spanish.
VO: Habla portugués?
Me: No, hablo español (we both laughed)
VO: How much do you earn?
Me: 1.3m, (he didn't hear, so I repeated it)
VO: Are you married?
Me: No, I'm engaged
VO: The house you stay, is it rented or you own it?
Me: It's a rented apartment
VO: Who do you live with?
Me: Oh, I live with my fiancée.


Then he really typed some stuffs for almost 2 minutes(no kidding), then he gave the blue paper with the generic statement that I can reapply again



Them just dey share blue paper anyhow 🤣 Didn't ask me or anyone else to see any documents, except for i20 for the F1 visas. Not even DS160s, I believe they have attached our ds160 to our passport, so the VO only ask for passport.


Until next time...

Quite unfortunate you were denied. I think the VO was extremely generous with his time with you, as he wanted to issue you the visa, but you failed to convince him. Here's where in my opinion, the problem is.

1. You should have said your trip was two-fold; attend your cousin's graduation and use the opportunity to holiday in the US. Here's why:- The graduation is for one day, why would you need to stay in the US for two weeks? Moreso the person graduating is a COUSIN, not sibling, not child, not spouse.

2. Your travel history:- You have only listed Mozambique, so I'm guessing the other two are insignificant. Again, when they asked what you went to do there, your response was unimpressive. You should have simply told them you went on a holiday. As a lover of African culture and nature, you can enjoy these even in Nigeria. Saying you went on holiday would have been better.

3. The VO asking for the ownership status of your home was a strong indication they wanted to issue you the visa. They never ask this question. If you have landed properties, this was the perfect opportunity to let them know. "I live in a rented apartment, but I have properties in xyz".

Good luck next time.

rima961:
Can I exit from a different Schengen country than the one I entered from?

Though, in my travel guide, I mentioned places I want to visit (the Netherlands and Germany). This is after spending the majority of my stay in France. But my last destination is Germany. Do you think I can exist from there (Germany), and this action won't cost me trouble in the future?

Please, anyone with this experience?

Yes you can, no problems at all.

You are not required to scan and upload all the pages of your passport, except those with visas and stamp.

abaskekere:
Hello everyone, please I have a worry.

Have completed biometrics and submitted passport to VFS, then later realised I did not add a scan of all the pages of my passport as it was a new one and all pages are blank, only added the data page to my self uploaded documents.

Please should I be worried about this? Any responses will help, thanks

Phunky44:
Thank you so much @Africankel. I checked my status today and it shows rejected and I didn’t get any email on why this was rejected. Please any suggestions on how I can go about resolving this. Thank you

So sorry to hear this. If you are able to see the status, I'm sure there's a way to navigate through. There's definitely a letter explaining the reason for rejection. Additionally, check your spam folder, the email might be there.

onile1975:
@ Afrikankel thanks everyday

Please to apply for holiday visa which one do you think has high chance of been granted, between me apply alone and live my family as home tie Or apply together with my family.

Which one has high chance of been granted?

You can all travel together, everything depends on how well your application is.

jetzyams:
Hello, please can you help?
It has now been 64 days since any response or feedback was received on this visa application.
What can I do? I've tried helping her check the VFS Global tracker, but it keeps displaying 'invalid input'. Is there any way to contact the embassy for an update?

What is the purpose of travel? Where did you apply?

Application processing may take up to 90 days.

This is blatant lie!!! Normally even if you have to go outside to get a missing document, they give you a slip called "Turn back checklist". On the slip they give you a particular time to come back with the missing documents, at no extra charge.

This nonsense can only happen in Lagos. 😡😡😡

broshowfar:
I just called the vfs office to confirm how i was overcharged at vfs office after paying my booking fee online. Please is it true that if you go and print a missing document within the office in lagos they automatically cancel your appointment and put you into premium service.

I have called the customer care line and from all indication i was overcharged and they are lying about it. My parents also paid a booking fee online and still went to the center and paid another service charge + visa fee.

The customer care person even requested to call me offline rather than the official customer care line saying it has a time frame. Please this is happening to nigerians at vfs office lagos. Is there a way to fight this?

Go back to the centre and ask for a refund. This should not be allowed to stand. If you paid 29400 x 3, online, you have no business paying for it again at VFS. Go there, ask for your refund.

broshowfar:
Hi, i paid #29400 online to book an appointment for each person. So for three of us we paid #88200. Each persons booking appointment was done and paid for online. When we got to the vfs lagos they still asked us to pay the same #29400 each for three of us again plus the visa fee. They called this service charge. What i am confused about is that is this correct? After paying to book an appointment for 3 people each at #29400 they still asked us to pay another #29400 each again at the vfs office.

Tizzie:
Thanks a lot. My husband is sponsoring the trip but I have a USD account with about $1k in it. Can I combine that with my Naira salary account and my husband's account for proof of funds? Also, is there limit to the number of proof of funds documents one can submit?

You can add all account statements. Make sure they all cover a three months period, signed and stamped at a bank branch.

onile1975:
@ Africankel thanks sir

I will be expecting the hotels that I can make reservations without paying

Holiday Inn - Johannesburg Sunnyside Park by IHG. https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/gb/en/johannesburg/jnbss/hoteldetail?cm_mmc=GoogleMaps-_-HI-_-ZA-_-JNBSS

Kindly note that you'll be required to input your card details during booking. Ensure you use a card that doesn't have any money

broshowfar:
@Africankel Africankel Pls does that mean asides from paying #29400 for booking an online appointment when you get to vfs you still pay an additional #29400 for service charge. Is that correct?

No. The first 29,400 paid online was for one person. Any other service charges paid at VFS was for the other people who didn't pay online. Kindly confirm if you paid service charge for two more people at VFS or three? If three, do not hesitate to request a refund for one person.

Service charge is 29400 per person. So yes, they were right to charge the others.

For premium lounge, you have been duped. The staff at VFS often add it to your bill (especially if you look rich). I once paid for it years ago because I didn't look at the receipt, only to get back home and started regretting.

After that experience, whenever they gave me a bill to pay, I'll always ask for a breakdown.

If you didn't step into the lounge and were charged, write to them, threatening to report to FCCPC in Abuja. Maybe something will be done.

broshowfar:
Hi everyone i went to the vfs office to submit my application today and i have a few questions. I paid the sum of 29400 for 3 people online to book an appointment. When they got to the center they were asked to pay an additional service charge of 29400 again for the 3 of them and then on the receipt they added courier service #8962 and premium lounge #18000 which was not selected when the booking was made to the applications. We were never put in any premium lounge.

All in all a total of #138,400 was charged for 1study visa and 2 accompanying visas at the vfs office in lagos.

Is this the right fee or was i overcharged at the center. The fees on the receipt i was given also do not add up as the staff that attended to us said changes have been made and they havent updated their website with the right payment.

Both gives you authority to travel to the Republic. No one has more advantage.

Tizzie:
Good evening everyone.

Please apart from it being cheaper, are there other advantages of E-visa over the regular VFS/sticker tourist visas.

Advantages could be speed of clearing immigration etc.

Thanks as you respond. 🙏🏼

1. For a family, you should probably look at 7 days.

2. DO NOT pay for a hotel until you get a visa. I pay for mine because I've been to SA many times and I'm almost guaranteed a visa.

I'll check some hotel and post here for you

onile1975:
@ Africankel thanks again

Please I just saw another better hotel that allows 4guest 2aduilt and 2children,the total charges for 5Nights is ZAR1700 and we are to make down payment of ZAR850

1) is the number of days we choose to spend for family holiday still Ok?

2) Can we make this payment with Naira master Card?

That's perfectly fine

onile1975:
@ Africankel thanks again


Please I saw one hotel that allows only 2Aduilt as number of guest, and we are apply with 2children, can we book this type of hotel in the name I and my wife? Hope it will not affect ur application

Congratulations

Vitra:
Thanks a lot @Africankel for your assistance.

Sticker visa arrived today.

Application date: June 25th, 2025
Passport got delivered today: July 8th, 2025

Applied for a vfs evisa on the 4th July because I was worried the sticker would take time to be processed. It is still pending. Should have been patient o.

1. 750k is a fair pay. When you say "I will be paying myself", I take it you won't be applying for your visa till around October/November. Because you must present a three months statement.

2. You can submit both accounts.

onile1975:
@ Africankel thank you for always been there for us


I am a self employed but I will be paying my self salary of 750k monthly from my business account to my personal account.

1) is this salary not too small to be use to apply for south Africa holiday visa with family of four?


2) can I submitted but business account and personal account for the visa processing?

Note that evisa processing on DHA can take up to 6 weeks.

Print an up to date statement.

Aquanitavit:
I have been having issues paying for my application at the DHA e visa portal . I will try this link you suggested today, Thank you. Please I printed my statement since 16th June will you advise I still submit this statement or I reprint before submitting at this new link suggested ?

It will not

onile1975:
@ Africankel thanks again

But my wife account those not have up 100k in her account as closing balance, since i am the sponsor I will put copy of my account in her application as sponsor account,and also put her account in her application.

1) I hope this low balance in her account will not affect the visa outcome?

1. Take your time to search, there are cheap hotels.

2. You can add your wife's account.

onile1975:
Thanks Africankel for been there for us God will bless you More and more


1) I have try the hotel as you talk but the price I saw for booking direct is too cost like the one I saw is 1500euro, meanwhile my statement of account will be 5m,is like hotel and flight have taken all the money in my account,what are we spending when we reach south Africa

2) I will be applying with my wife and two children and I am the sponsor, is it necessary we add my wife statement of account?