HDwayne:
Okay, so if I fill a new DS-160 and update the application ID on the cgi page will the Emergency request option be available for me again?

It worked for me… as long as you have not canceled or rescheduled any other appointment before on the same MRV. Fill the DS160 and choose Abuja, I’m assuming you already canceled your previous appointment in Lagos, then update your profile on the cgi portal with the new DS160, you should see “new appointment” tab, click on it and follow the instructions to pick a regular date in Abuja, then the EA tab should show up. EA tab won’t be added until you’ve picked a regular date. Again you can only do this on the same MRV if you haven’t canceled or rescheduled any appointment before.

HDwayne:
Hello there, I just changed the location and rescheduled a new appointment but the Emergency Request option is not available. Pls, what could be wrong ?

You definitely need to fill a new DS-160 or have you forgotten that you had to choose a location when you filled the last DS-160? Fill a new DS-160 and choose Abuja as location.

Gent2nice:
First Attempt: (expedited appointment) Tuesday, Aug 31, 2021
Lagos Consulate
Status: Approved, later...denied (Program start date was Aug 30, 2021 had extension till Sept 6. Went with the letter but didn't present it because it was not asked for)

Around 10am, I met with the VO, a very black lady in her 50s (VO Valerie).


VO: Good morning

She collected i20 and passport, started typing, looking carefully.


Said to us please wait while she typed on.

Finally
VO: tell me why you are going to study this course and why this University. And she gave us a full attention

Me:
I spoke about how I have good background in Deaf Education field, my first degree in special education (hearing impairment focus), my masters degree in Deaf Education. I have taken leadership position in Nigerian Deaf community which I have used all to contribute towards Development of Deaf Education. I mentioned that I am Education Officer under ministry of education. (At this point I realized I have blown myself enough and needed to proceed to the relationship with the current which I intended to do, I wondered if she wouldn't have started wondering if I understood her question) so I continued
I want to study this course because I want to acquire adequate knowledge, experience and build up my skill in research, advocacy and innovation as a tool for contributing to the development of Deaf Education in Nigeria.

I chose Gallaudet University because it is the only University all over the world promoting bilingual and bicultural education, known for its excellence in teaching pedagogy, where Deaf students from all over the world find a sense of belonging , the needed learning resources, supportive faculty, student and staff. It will help me to achieve my aim (I stopped there, I momentarily lost what to continue with but immediately realized it was worth ending there)

Then she *signed* thank you while I blushed. She typed briefly.

VO: You said you work under ministry, tell me what exactly you do there.
Me: I have been an education officer under ministry of education since (my thought was to continue explaining the duties I carry out at different stations I've worked)

VO: cuts, Ok, since 2014?
Me: responded positive (she typed)

VO: I can see that you have school scholarship that covers $26k+, tell me how you will pay the deficit of $23k+.

Me: I will be co-sponsored by my sister and my friend. My sister is Mrs xyz, she works as accountant under KPMG, abroad , she also has landed and rented properties back here in Nigeria. My friend is Mr abc, he works as , Tennessee.

VO: Have you traveled out of Nigeria before?
Me: No, because I've not had a reason to.

VO: Where do you say your sister works?
Me: she works as accountant in audit region at KPMG,

VO: Typed... Do you have any document to prove that your sister works at KPMG?

Me: Yes. (Reached for my file and brought out document her employment letter, Bank statement and Sponsorship affidavit filled because I stapled the three together)

VO: Looked thoroughly and calmly . Typed, then put up her hand to get a white paper, took my I-20 and placed it where I should pick it and said Be careful about covid-19...


Three days after I got called to send an update i20 because I attended the interview postdated. I sent documents required within the hour... And later rejected.

In my Ds160, I noticed minor error and corrected the error.
Also when I was explaining under yes to previously denied, I added that I have convincing and compelling socioeconomic ties. I stated that I have a permanent and pensionable appointment as... And also I talked about my achievements in community service in Nigeria etc then ended that I am a credible Student . ( I practicalized FAIRHEART theory, lol, because I went back to read this Nairaland page from page 1, lol).

I got date through surge appointment after so much stress trying to get date.
I did more prep and talked to some mock VOs (Carter, Francess and Jake who i met on GraithF1 visa whatsapp group ) who expressed concern about a friend as sponsor and was advised to find a way around it.
Note, sister was my major sponsor covering 85% of the deficit and it's her detail I input into Ds 160.


Second attempt
Wed 24th, November, 2021 (surge appointment, 7am)
Lagos Consulate
Status: Approved
Vo was a black lady, probably in her 30s, at extreme window.



Interview proper around 8.35am , can't say..by 8.55am, I was out!

Vo: Good morning
Me: good morning

Vo: where are you going to?
Me: I am going to Gallaudet University, Washington, DC to pursue a doctorate degree in CSEDL which is under SEVIS category of Education/ Teaching

Vo: What do you do?
Me: I work as Education officer under ministry of and my current post is at Federal Education... -----state where I ensure quality service delivery at schools through monitoring,and inspection of school, curriculum and pedagogy. Also I provide recommendations and reports for the Education of children with disabilities, also I supervise the library service of the department (*she fixed her eyes to the computer reading my job section to ensure it is a match)

Vo: You have scholarship of $26000+ and your sister is sponsoring you. What does your sister do?
Me: she works as accountant at KPMG , and she also has rented and land properties in Nigeria. She has been supporting me in my undergraduate when I was best faculty student.

Vo: how much does she earn?
Me: about $45000 annually

Vo: do you have any document to show me regarding your sister's job?

Me: nodded, searched and gave her recent appointment letter dated Nov 23rd, together with her recent bonus letter.

Vo: went through it.

Vo: there is Mr abc here who is covering the deficit, who is he to you?
Me: He is someone that has known me before I became Deaf and after I became Deaf and who knows about my academic and community achievements despite been Deaf and he is willing to support me.

Vo: How long have you known him?
Me: I have known him since , before I became deaf and after I became Deaf and he knows about my academic achievement and community contributions.

Vo: When did your sister started working at
Me: 2019

Vo: when did she arrived
Me: 2018

Vo: when did Mr abc leave for the US?
Me: was saying 2016/17 (not sure, though my disposition indicated I wasn't sure I was unruffled. It was as if I was answering to a normal conversation)

VO: When last did you see him?
Me: since..., ha I can't remember, since... (my mien was truly like trying to recollect something while having an informal conversation)
Vo then helped me add that ok since a long time.

Me: yes a long time.

Vo: has he ever come to Nigeria since he left?
Me: Noooo, but his wife and children have visited when they came for burial of his in-law.
Vo: asked about his job
Me: said it


vo: when did you start working under ministry of ?
Me: 20**, I was first posted to Federal bla bla bla (one of the federal unity colleges), where I taught chemistry to students.. and ... and ....

Vo: ok

Vo: where is Mr abc in the US?
Me: Tennessee


Vo: Do you have any family or friends in the US?
Me: Family? Family? (I wanna be sure what interpreter signed, because the 'friend' looked dicey to me) Nooooooo


Vo: Where will you be staying in the US
Me: On campus. The school encourages her international student to reside on campus so as to learn culture (deaf culture)...

Vo: brought white paper.. I will be approving your visa.

Me: thank you ma. God bless you ma.

Exit

(Visa issued next business day)



PS: At both my first and second interview, I was very confident and even more relaxed or settled at the second..hmmm. I said more than I wrote to the first question in my first interview because I recall I hinted about my proposed thesis interest too.

Visa interview is exam, take it as one! Let your profile be rich. Bank on the areas where you are loaded, academic? Career experience/achievement? Community contribution/volunteer experience? Financial capacity? Travel experience etc. And wherever ur application gives you fear (weak), find your way around it.

Note that VOs are not doing giveaway with visa approvals and they are there doing their job while they also have their own constraints too. The onus lies on you to do your part and do it well. Seek help, study and practice. Before my first interview too, I had my transcript vetted by friends schooling abroad too and I started following Nairaland page two months prior the interview.

If anyone has a denial, especially after a meaningful interview, look inward to see what you can do better, study, seek help, take advices and do your best. Don't just get angry at the VO.

Ensure you have a copy of your DS 160 which you must review over and over as interview approaches and if you see anything to change, kindly retrieve and fill another one latest before 72hours to your interview (I made that mistake with my first interview)

The God factor still remain a sure factor, trust Him too and honour him.

I'm very grateful to everyone who has helped me on this journey, some of whom I have mentioned earlier. I wish everyone the very best.

How did you get an updated I-20? Did your school update your I-20 with a new date after an extension from your department?

Olaslaze:
Please what are the documents you sent when requesting for the EA because i just got denied and I don’t know what i did wrong

I uploaded I-20, Sevis, appointment confirmation page and admission letter. Make sure to write a good explanation for why you need EA. Let them know what school and program you’ll be attending, your resumption date and that you couldn’t secure a date (state the date you picked) that would help you resume your program on time.

Theflint1:
Hi house, trying to book a Visa appointment in the Lagos embassy and I'm getting dates in 2023. Do I choose a date and then book an emergency appointment?

My school resumes July 27th

Yes, pick the earliest date you can get and apply for emergency. But note that you shouldn’t be applying for EA until you are within 60 days to your resumption otherwise you may be denied (though there are some lucky ones). My own suggestion is to wait and just keep checking for an earlier date for regular appointment till you are within 60 days to resumption (e.g. May 28 and beyond). If Lagos doesn’t open up dates by then, then pick a date and apply for EA. Hopefully Lagos starts responding to EA by then as well because lately they have not. But you still have some time sha.

ny11:
yes. May 17th was the first available date I chose. I was able to choose an earlier date of May 5th a few days later. You need to choose what’s immediately available and keep trying for a better date before the EA approval expires.

Oh ok. Thanks for letting me know. I appreciate your response. I wish I could know the best strategy for checking this calendar everyday because seems like i can only check 3 times a day. So far May 18 is what I see.

ny11:
my experience: after waiting for one month to get EA in Lagos, I canceled Lagos appointment and used the same MRV to apply to Abuja this week . I was able to initiate another EA request to Abuja using the same MRV.EA was approved in Abuja within a day. I called embassy contacts several times to be sure the same MRV can be used for Abuja EA. The contact person said it might not but if it does, fine. So you can’t be too sure the same MRV will allow you book another EA. Regular available dates in Abuja is now April 2023. EA available date is May 18, 2022. I’m still checking two to three times a day to see if I can get an earlier date.

Were you able to get an earlier date?

My EA request got approved today after switching to Abuja from Lagos (after waiting a month with no response from Lagos) with the same MRV fee. Please if I pick the earliest available date, would I be able to reschedule if another earlier date shows up? Please does anybody know if an earlier date would even show up?

ny11:
Yes I experienced the same thing. The moment I submitted for Abuja, the EA tab was no longer visible. I called the Contact number to be sure they could see the latest EA request and to confirm it’s under review which they did.

Okay. Good to know. Thanks.

ny11:
No I didn’t specify that in my request for EA on CGI. But I discussed my plan with the customer rep. I don’t know if it makes any difference to put it in and I don’t think you have anything to lose by including that as a footnote. Also, the trail of your EA request is visible to them.

Ok. Thanks for your response.

macuwon:
I just got my emergency request denied. Please what's the next step i can take, my resumption date is may 20th. I'm suspecting it's because I didn't complete my ds-160 yet. I felt we could complete it at worst 3days to the interview.

When did you apply and where?

I cancelled my Lagos appointment and EA request today so I can switch to Abuja. I was able to use the same MRV fee and still saw the Emergency appointment tab on the CGI portal after updating my profile with a new DS160. However, After submitting another EA request to Abuja, I noticed that the EA tab is now gone on the portal. Did anyone experience this?
It did show that my application is now under review after submitting but just wondering why the EA tab is now gone.
For those that switched to Abuja recently, did you also observe this?
Thanks

Ijchichi5190:



This is not necessary atall.Just apply for your EA straight with all your supporting documents and written note why you applying.

Ok thanks for your response!

Ijchichi5190:



There is a WhatsApp group for that.Send me a mail to add you up if you interested

I’m interested too! I’m switching to Abuja for EA visa interview. I really need a date in May for resumption. Please add me. I have sent you an email request.
Thanks

Faskyyoung:
Good afternoon. I applied for EA via the Lagos embassy about 3 weeks ago but there has been no feedback or decision.


I am contemplating on changing to Abuja but before I do cancel my visa appointment in Lagos, I would love to confirm if I will need to pay a new visa fee before I can apply for the emergency request in Abuja or emergency request is one for Lagos and one for Abuja?


Thank you.

Please I sent you an email request. Kindly respond pls. Can I please ask you some questions about how switched to Abuja? Did you put in your new EA application to Abuja that you had originally applied to lagos embassy for an EA?

ny11:
May 18 is the emergency date I was able to book. the earliest available date when I was initiating the EA was April 22. I don’t think the embassy works over the weekend. Best to wait to COB Monday if you want to wait another working day before switching. You might pay another MRV cos of a second EA. You have nothing to lose if you call to request using the same MRV for a 2nd EA since you don’t have any response from them. No guarantees.

Pls when you submitted another EA request in Abuja, did you put in your application statement that you had first applied in Lagos but it took too long? Do you think that would help?

ny11:
May 18 is the emergency date I was able to book. the earliest available date when I was initiating the EA was April 22. I don’t think the embassy works over the weekend. Best to wait to COB Monday if you want to wait another working day before switching. You might pay another MRV cos of a second EA. You have nothing to lose if you call to request using the same MRV for a 2nd EA since you don’t have any response from them. No guarantees.

Okay. Thanks. Can we connect via email pls. I sent you a request via Nairaland.

Ok. Thank you!

beejhay69:
You can cancel appointment and switch to Abuja without paying another visa fee, if there are closer dates, you'd get to pick one. However, if you wish to use the Emergency request at Abuja then you'd have to entirely cancel your appointment, pay a new visa fee, and restart the process.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. This is really helpful. So May 18 is the emergency appointment date you were able to get after approval or is that currently the earliest available appointment that they normally show on the EA section of CGI? (for example in Lagos the current earliest available appointment in Lagos shows May 3 when you click on the EA section in the CGI portal).
do you know if they respond to EA requests on weekend or should I just wait till Monday morning to switch to Abuja? just in case Lagos responds Monday morning.
Thanks again.

ny11:
my experience: after waiting for one month to get EA in Lagos, I canceled Lagos appointment and used the same MRV to apply to Abuja this week . I was able to initiate another EA request to Abuja using the same MRV.EA was approved in Abuja within a day. I called embassy contacts several times to be sure the same MRV can be used for Abuja EA. The contact person said it might not but if it does, fine. So you can’t be too sure the same MRV will allow you book another EA. Regular available dates in Abuja is now April 2023. EA available date is May 18, 2022. I’m still checking two to three times a day to see if I can get an earlier date.

shawnmich:
Good day guru, can anyone please advice on how to expedite my emergency date request. I requested for this since March, no response since then and my school will resume by next month, first week.... Any help please?

Has your EA request been approved?

Faskyyoung:

I got approved after changing to Abuja

Please how long did it take to get approved after switching to Abuja and when did you apply for your EA?

beejhay69:
You can cancel appointment and switch to Abuja without paying another visa fee, if there are closer dates, you'd get to pick one. However, if you wish to use the Emergency request at Abuja then you'd have to entirely cancel your appointment, pay a new visa fee, and restart the process.

Ok. Thank you. Please do you know if there are early dates available (in May) in Abuja for regular appointments? Are people still seeing dates in May for Abuja? This would be really helpful to know so I can decide whether to just go ahead and pay for a new MRV fee and apply for EA at Abuja or if I would be able to find early MAY dates for a regular appointment with my current MRV fee.

Hi, Please can someone share the WhatsApp group for the Abuja visa/appointment date with me? I would really appreciate it.
Also, has anyone switched to Abuja from Lagos after waiting too long for EA approval from Lagos? I've been waiting for a month now for the EA request and am due to resume in less than a month. I want to switch to Abuja but want to make sure I do it properly. When I called the US Consulate service desk, they told me you can only have one EA request per visa fee receipt. Does that mean I have to cancel my current appointment, then pay a new fee?
Please if anyone has gone through this process recently, kindly walk me through it.

Thanks

Whogochuk:


I applied on March 10 and got a response April 5

Ok thank you. Please I sent you a direct message.
I appreciate your response.

Please has anyone gotten emergency US visa appointment recently? I’ve been waiting for response on my emergency appointment request at Lagos since March 20 and my graduate program resumption date on I-20 says May 19th. I’m getting nervous. Plsssss could anyone share their experience with getting the EA. I would appreciate any advice.
I’m considering maybe switching location to Abuja but I wish I could know if Abuja has earlier dates.

Whogochuk:
Visa approved
First Attempt
Zero travel history
Lagos
12th April 2022 (Emergency Appointment)
COA: $84,300
Scholarship: $59,300
Mpower loan: $28,000
White Female VO at window 6

Transcript
VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning
VO: pass me your passport and I-20
VO: why this school and why are you going for MBA
Me: After the COVID 19 pandemic, there was a rush for risk management specialist as banks and other financial institutions try to upgrade their risk management framework. However, one requirement is that the applicant must have a Masters degree or MBA. Therefore I decided to research about MBA schools in the US and went for QS educational fairs.
VO: How are you funding your education
Me: I have a full tuition scholarship and then I took a loan from Mpower financing for the deficit.
VO: What is MPOWER
Me: It's an international organization that gives loans to international students with a maturity of 10years
VO: what's your current salary
Me: I earn over 400k monthly
VO: typing... I will be approving your visa. Bla bla bla
Me: thank you very much

This forum has been very helpful to me on this journey. Thank you all.

Congratulations! Please how did you get your emergency appointment? I’ve been waiting for response on my emergency appointment request at Lagos since March 20 and my resumption date on I-20 says May 19th. Plsssss could you share your experience with getting by the EA. I would appreciate any advice.