₦airaland Forum

Calm yourself. We have October candidates still waiting but answers seem to be trooping In. You’ll receive your visa shortly.

Scentiments:
Hello everyone, I have been a silent reader. My husband and I submitted our visa application on Nov 16 in Abuja and still no news. I see many people who applied in Dec have received their passports. Please is there anyone here who applied in Nov still waiting for a response??

I noticed the same when I tried calling and someone mentioned it depends on your mobile operator. I believe MTN and glo had that difficulty.

Retry the email but with a Visa card that is still within the $100 spending limit or you can try to call from Skype instead. You can top up your Skype account and make the call from there.

Osondubueze:
That's what I did.
Yet it wasn't connecting.

Awesome! Glad to hear. Has the tracking status changed to received at VAC or what does it show?

Debbieeeeeee:
Collection mail dropped. Thank you, guys!
Signed - Prophetess

Interested. I'll DM you

njidekachi:
if u need early 2022 appointment date, pls hook up with me asap

You're most welcome :-) The first time we reached out, they responded within 48 hours. Subsequently, they have typically responded within a day. The most recent conversation, they responded within an hour. So, give or take a few hours.

Loyaltysoul:
Thanks very much Amelia, I have sent them email now and how long are they going to response ? Note this is my first email

https://ukvi.mysecurepay.co.uk/Home

The email just needs to state your intentions in a respectable tone; there’s no science to it.

Example below:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Good Afternoon and a Happy New Year to you.

I would like to know if a decision has been made on this application? The application was submitted X months ago with the biometrics done over X weeks ago. Do kindly share status.

Thank you.

Best Regards,

Your Name

Loyaltysoul:
PLS Amelia give me the email you use to sent them a message and the example of how to write them plzzzzzzz

Haven't call or email them before

Hi everyone,

Perhaps a glimmer of hope for some. I sent another email today and I got a response to say that a decision has been made on my husband's application and we should receive the passport within 10 working days. Prior to this, all emails had stated that the application was still awaiting review. Praying for the best outcome.

Application was done over 50 WD ago.

Benicetome:
now i believe there are issues with October applications, we have to flood their mail box with complaints.

Congratulations!!! Elated for you.

knighteengale:
Applied for 2yrs visit Visa Nov. 29
Did biometric Dec. 13
Got my Visa today via DHL.

From the 7 Jan, Fully vaccinated passengers are not required to take a test pre departure to the UK. They will still need to test on arrival but can choose a lateral flow test as opposed to a PCR test.

Unvaccinated regulations remain the same- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

Lems2:
Hello please, do we still need to do PCR test 72hrs before departure? Or just day 2 test ?

I think the point here is that based on the form she filled, it is indicating that she went there on holiday and actually spent 6 years there which is an obvious breach in immigration laws and grounds for the UK to refuse her. @motunrayoo, sorry about this. It depends on how thorough and forgiving the ECO is. If it was a recent trip, the ECO could check the submitted passport for entry and exit stamps and realize it was an error and move on but this was 10 years ago so they may take it that you overstayed your visa and are a flight risk. Or they may reach out to you for further information to clarify this. Have you been to the UAE after this?

@debbie what do you advise in this case?
1.Can she reach out to TLS or the embassy to correct this mistake with proof of the entry and exit stamps?
2. Does she withdraw and re apply
3. Or does she just hold out and pray?

Nchabuomo:
Oh I see, the last time I filled the VAF, it had that option. Well I think it's not something you should worry about though.

Hello,

There's no way to say for sure. Your circumstances have changed but I'm not sure how significantly.

Does your employer pay well? How much are you paid?
Do you have any property, investments, businesses in Nigeria?
I'm not sure if this year is feasible as the interview dates are in 2024.
Is your wife also gainfully employed? Many people have a wife and family and still abscond while sending money home. So, it's important to also show strong financial and productivity ties.
Have you gone anywhere else apart from South Africa?

amanonymous:
Good morning house.

Have been following this thread for 5 years now

I applied for b2 visa 2016.i was denied bcs i believe my ds160 wasnt filled correctly i rushed it .
Secondly i didnt take my time i was so eager to book my appointment
I filled the whole form between 2 hours ,hence there was no correlation in my day of arriival and day of interview
( no mind me jare,i was a novice then)
I was given a blue paper which stated i should come back when my circumstances as changed.(cant really remember word for word jare) smiles..

2017 i travelled to johannesburg.i spent two weeks on the trip,i logged at protea hotel
2020 i got married i have a kid now
2020 i also got a job with lagos state
Am still on the job

I intend to go on a visit to the states.later this year.
I am not goin with my family in other to show intents of coming back.

Based on my story ,as my circumstances severely changed?

What re my chances?
I await your honest opinion
�

Hello,

I would advise that you run through this thread for vital information but a couple of things to consider.

1. How old are you, what's your marital status?
Young and single people are usually considered as flight risks but if everything else is in order, there should be no issues?

2. Why are you travelling?
Do you have close family or friends there? Is it a family wedding or graduation? I am not sure that a vacation all the way to the US for just tourist purposes would suffice for a first time traveler. They may expect you would have explored countries that are in closer proximity to your home country first.

3. What do you do for a living and what's your monthly income?
It needs to be healthy.

4. What strong ties do you have to Nigeria that will give them assurance of your return?
Do you have property, children, strong investments and earnings?

Earliest date is 2024 for interviews.

I would advise that if you don't meet the criteria above, you should try to travel to other well developed countries before then for about 7-10 days, return within your visa validity. Countries such as the UAE, Turkey, The UK (if possible).

Goodluck!

chizorkay:
Hello everyone.

I'm looking to apply for a visiting visa to the US. Where do I begin?

I haven't travelled before so my passport is virgin. Any tips on how to go about it successfully?

Also what's the earliest appointment date I can get pls?

Thanks in advance for your help.

In the western world, there are a lot of principles around spending; which many people swear by and many more ignore. For instance, a man spends 2-3 months of his income on an engagement ring for his fiancé. People follow the 50:30:20 rule for spending and saving. Most people spend 5-15% of their annual income on vacations. This is about 2.5 weeks to 2 months of your salary on a holiday. So, people may have derived this guideline from there but there's really no hard and fast rule. Some people go on holiday once in 4 years and so can spend 6 months of their saved salary for this while some people go quarterly and spend less than a month's income on their holiday. It all depends on your earning power, frequency of travel, overall lifestyle and priorities.

Gentlesoul3268:
Her salary is 88k even her 2 month salary without deducting her monthly expenses can't fly

Nchabuomo:
Pray tell who set this 2 month rule?

Debbieeeeeee:
Honestly I don’t understand the whole two month rule thing because I just input what I actually have and spend.

6 months statement is ideal.
I won't say there's an exact amount you need to have in your account but do consider SIX things.

1. Length of stay. Let's imagine it is for 10 days.
2. Daily means of substinence. Something we ignore is that a lot of European countries have an amount they expect the average genuine tourist to spend per day based on the country of visit's standard of living- This includes accomodation, food, transport and basic entertainment. Let's say this is 100 Quid for boarding, food, transport and entertainment. It could be less if you're staying with friends. This brings your budget to 100 x 10= 1000 Quid.
3. You need to add your flight. On average, you can get a return for 600 Quid.
4. This brings the total cost of the trip to about 1600 Quid. The embassy uses Oanda Converter as their reference point for exchange rates. So, the total comes to N893, 735. Circa- 900,000 NGN.
5. You then declare whatever this amount is on your form as your intended holiday spend, now here is the tricky part. Many people will then ensure they have N1M in their account but the ECO rejected a friend for this and said that once the cost of trip is taken out, she wouldn't have enough to sustain herself upon her return to Nigeria and that nobody would clear 90% of their savings for a trip and as such he doesn't think it genuine that she intends to return. So, the advice I would give is to have 2-3 times the budget in Point 4 within the account.
6. Watch Outs; it would be more authentic if this money already exists with your accounts and is not being inflated at the last minute. So, depending on your earning power/potential and current state of account, you may need a few months to build this up organically.

I know people who got approved with about 2K GBP in their account whilst others with 7k GBP got disapproved. The important thing is to have a consistent thread that runs through the application that shows the ECO you are a genuine tourist with no desires to abscond as you have a productive life in Nigeria and you can genuinely afford the trip while there and will not seek public funds for any reason whilst returning to base promptly.

All the best!

Oneguy03:
Please how many months of bank statement does one need to provide for standard visit visa for a wedding?
Also, what's the least amount to have in the account.

Thanks for the prompt response. Much appreciated and well noted.

Segun889:
Yes he can apply in England.

UmmZayd:
1. Yes, by applying
2. If UK Visa allows him to apply to another country while still there, then he can provided he has home ties.

Thank you so much. Greatly appreciated.

naxee9294:
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/ng-niv-waittimeinfo.asp

Amen, my sister!!

Debbieeeeeee:
It's a new year and the holidays are over, visa officers on the thread can rest now because the real visa officers are back to work today.
I hope we all that have been waiting get our passports with visas in them this new week by God's grace.
The wait to renew a standard visitor's visa has been nothing but tiring plus frustrating. 47 working days here!

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice on this thread. It's been great reading through. I have two questions I would like to kindly ask for your help with.

1. Is there a way to get expedited interview dates?
2. If not, I am British and my husband is Nigerian. He has held previous US Visas and has been there frequently with no issues or previous refusals. Is it possible for him to apply and renew in England which is my country? He does not live in England and will be on a visitor visa but based on his spouse being British, is this something that can be done especially if he's in England for a period of about two months for our childbirth?

Please advise. Many Thanks.

Wow! Could you please send the link to check when the dates are? Thank you so much

naxee9294:
Wahala oooo interview dates are june god…….

This is fine because the UK commission even says not to make any commitments In the form of flight or hotel.

I would advise you send the hotel a message letting them know you are unable to board with them on the intended date and then cancel. You can save this as evidence but you’ll be fine without it.

falilatu:
Happy new year family,may Uk respond to us positively this week amen.

In a case where ones application has not been decided and the proof of reservation is mearnt to be charged and was cancelled before the due date what can be done,

My cousin was supposed to travel for 15days from december 15-30th 2021 but her visa was not out and booking.com sent a mail that her card will be charged on the 7th of december and a reminder sent to her and she has funds in the card and cant be moved out cos its a credit card,she then cancelled the reservation and the apartment is no longer up for booking again and uptill now her visa is not out.what can be done biko.thanks

Hello, the advice I got is that 6 months is required for a first timer. I am British and my husband is Nigerian and when applying, we were advised to apply for the 6 first and then go for 2yrs and then 10yrs. This is the same route most of my Nigerian friends have taken. It's better safe than sorry but if anyone has experienced contrary, please shout!

Joyousgem:
Good afternoon house, compliment of the season to you all. Just to pick your brains regarding first time application for my dad. Is it advisable to apply for 6mths visit visa or can I apply for a 2yr one straight away. It is to safe him the stress of travelling to Lagos for biometric after the 6mths visa runs out as I'll like him to visit yearly. He only has travel history to African countries. My mum has had a 6mth UK visa previously, so planning to apply for 2yrs for her. It's a joint visit visa application. I would appreciate your input please. They are both employed, well established with strong home ties.

Debbieeeeeee:
By the First week in January I’ll get my passport back. Tired of tracking, I think I’ve lost count of working days too right now. Prophetess is tired

Yikes! So sorry, Debbie. When did you apply and is it the first time? My hubs applied 50 WD ago and no feedback still. We’ve raised so many escalations; and no luck yet. It’s beyond nerve racking.

Lems2:
Finally got a collection mail from TLS after 55 working days !!!
Biometrics done at Abuja TLS

Wow! Congratulations; holding faith that my husband’s also is out soon.

Kaddy102:
Help oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I got my refusal letter today and I was banned but the problem is I actually didn’t know about the refusal cause I was a minor about 12 years and my grandma didn’t tell me about the refusal please advice what I can do and how to proceed

This is very unfortunate. My heart goes out to you, I would like to ask that you write a letter to them detailing that this was your first revelation of this. Upon investigation, your grandmother admitted she did an application. You grannie can also write a letter and perhaps include a sworn affidavit to this effect. It may not change their mind but it could help clear your name.

giselle237:
nothing to add. Do you have children or other property ties to Nigeria? That will be the only addendum. I think the others are okay. Just harpen on your ties to Nigeria… that’s the only way to prove you are not trying to usurp the system seeing that you are british… they might be wondering if you are trying to not just put in a spouse visa etc. goodluck especially if you have submitted this application. Overall i think ok.

Thanks a lot for your prompt response; we don't have children yet but our children are automatically British so they would get automatic access in and out of the UK. So, I'm not sure how strong that tie would be. My husband has land in Nigeria but nothing substantial; we didn't include these in the docs. I'm a senior exec at a well recognized multinational which we also mentioned. The application went in already so we can't add these additional details unfortunately. We only included those basic documents which was my fear when reading through this thread now and seeing how people include so so much.

I also thought they may suspect we wanting to bypass the spousal visa application but we included our savings account to show that we have more than enough to fund the application and legally move as we individually earn more than the minimum required 18k Pounds for this if we wanted to (my husband is vehemently against moving to the UK). His history also shows our travel frequency which is usually twice a year and when we go, we do multiple countries at a time so I hope they will also see that we definitely will not want to go there illegally and be cages and unable to travel. He's been to the US three times in the last six years, the UAE four times, Italy once and other countries in the North American continent and Middle east. We always go together so we are hoping this shows them our genuine and true passion for tourism and that's all we want from this holiday.

VirusOO7:
Please, I will appreciate sharing of UKVI mail or how to contact them. It's been almost 44working days since my wife application, and we've not received anything. She did her biometrics 20,October. Perhaps, sending them a paid mail or call will help if anyone can share how to get that done. Thanks

Wow! Same day as my husband. Still waiting and this is now 50 WD. Any luck yet?

Link here- https://ukvi.mysecurepay.co.uk/Home

Lems2:
Good morning. Please is their anyone still waiting since October, I need to be sure I am not alone. This is tiring��

Oct 20- my Husband

harwe:
It's unfortunate you are in this position. I feel you can just relax your nerves and hold on for 10 years as much as you think its long it will soon be over.

Get some other things doing for yourself and after 10 years you feel you still want to visit or school in UK do all you can to state it precisely that you were refused on such grounds but you are not matured and can take better decisions for your self.

I wish you the very best in your sojourn in life..

This is very unfortunate. My heart goes out to you, I would like to ask that you write a letter to them detailing that this was your first revelation of this. Upon investigation, your grandmother admitted she did an application. You grannie can also write a letter and perhaps include a sworn affidavit to this effect. It may not change their mind but it could help clear your name.

RennyKitty:
Omo the cheap hotels in Turkey I’m seeing sef online for 6k Naira and some are even lesser. Hope no be say na scam. Make I no go wash plate for turkey oo. They look too nice for that price from the pictures ooo. Please anyone who has been to turkey before should shed more light. It’s even to book a multi city ticket from Los-Istanbul-Ldn. Toor

Their currency is very weak so tourism in Turkey is super affordable. I went there on an official trip just before the pandemic and we stayed at a luxury hotel and the price was still very affordable. As long as you use a reputable site like booking.com, you should be find.

@giselle237 and other gurus in the house, thanks for your wonderful guidance. I wish I had found this thread sooner. I am British citizen married to a Nigerian and w live in Nigeria together. We have been together for 8 years and married for almost 3. In this time, we have been to more than 12 countries together including the US, British territories, the UAE, amongst many others. My husband has never overstayed his visas or been deported. He has very good and compliant travel history.

He has never been interested in the UK as he prefers America and other countries that are more exciting but he finally applied for a UK visa for his first time. He runs a genuine service business that turns over about 3m a month so he included his reg documents, business account statement which showed over 20m in genuine customer transactions over the last 6 months. The transactions are daily and consistent and his cover note explained the nature of his laundry business. He also explained he has a team of over 15 staff as well as his parents here in Nigeria. He also included his personal bank statement as well as my savings account which had in excess of 10m; as I am a director at an American company in Nigeria. We included my British passport, marriage certificate and explained we are going there to visit my family (mum and family) who are also British and his own brother and sister who are also British. We included the invitation letter as well as a breakdown of how much he would spend while there which is about 2K pounds and he had double that in his personal account and the amount is also less than his monthly income. Based on his extensive travel history, his British spouse and our strong finances, do you think he has a good chance? Is there anything else we should have considered?

I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Arizzglobal:
Same with me.mine is 2 months plus.

Wow! When did you go for biometrics? Any luck now?

Tehmitopeh:
Good evening house I went for my appointment on 8th of October and the next day they sent me mail that my application has been received. It's been more than a month now and have not received any reply. Although I was refused visa this September due to quarantine issues and I made sure I rectify the issue in my second application. Please what should I do

Same thing with my husband. It should normally take 15 working days which is 21 calendar days but there have been severe delays. Got yours now?