₦airaland Forum

Katripka:
Hi Guys!

I've been a silent reader but I thought to share my experience

Visa was denied at the US Consulate Lagos

My transcript goes thus:

VO: Pass me your Passport, I-20, SEVIS

Me: Passes documents

VO: How did you get the scholarship?

Me: A culmination of my application - competitive GRE Score, Quality work experience, stellar recommendations and an impressive interview experience

VO: (looks impressed)...I can see your husband has been in the US for the past one year. Care to explain why?

Me: We are divorced, He is my ex-husband.........

VO: Sorry, you do not qualify for the visa...blah blah and hands me the pink slip

Me: Walks away feeling super-dejected


(Please note; My total funding was $75,594 per Annum = $151,188 for two years)

Hope you know the obvious reason for your denial?


Obviously you weren't divorced when he was going. He used you as home tie then all of a sudden you're coming with a different status.

A lot of married men have changed their status this way by divorcing their wives back here and getting married to an American and the VO is very much aware of this.

So it is a very difficult one here. You have to pray you come across a VO that will ask for documents to back up your point. You're his home tie.

juliusdudu:
Transcript


Me: Good Morning
V.O: Good Morning
V.O: can you pass me your passport?
Me: struggling to pass through the passport via the small opening but succeeded in passing it immediately I became conscious that I am now at Walter Carrington. He opened my passport, then, I remember that I did not pass my other passport to him. I quickly did and he gladly collected it.
V.O: What are you studying at UC Berkeley
Me: LLM
V.O: You are going to UC Berkeley, Why UC?
Me: I am focusing on energy law.
V.O: Why Energy Law?
Me: Nigeria is currently grappling with the required power for development. Infact, she is in a full blown energy crisis. I want to focus my studies on the legal and regulatory aspect of the electricity market. California is one of the leaders in renewable energy, I want to learn about the system and find a way of adapting what suits our system. Nigeria must be able to develop the needed electricity infrastructure to power the economy.
V.O: I can see that you onces studied in France?
Me: Yes, I studied at one of France's Grand Ecole, precisely, Sciencespo Paris.
He focused on his computer. I suspected that he was confirming a few things about Sciencespo.
V.O: Oh! It has another name. I know the school with the other name. A good university.
Me: yes.
V.O: What did you study in Paris?
Me: Energy Politics. Energy warrants a cross-discipline, cross-sector study as its supply and use is centre-stage of heated political debate at all levels, in relation to economic growth, sustainable development and climate change.
V.O: When did you study in France?
Me: Between 2013-2015
I saw him looking through my old passport. He saw the Benin-Togo-Ghana stamp, moved to the French Visa, then my first France residence permit (OFII), then Qatar Visa.

V.O: You are married?
Me: Yes, I am.
V.O: Any kid?
Me: I have a kid
V.O: Will they be going with you?
Me: No.
V.O: I could see that you have a scholarship
Me: Yes
V.O: Can I see the scholarship letter?
Me: I handed it over to him and he began to scrutinize it.

Me: I was awarded 20,000 dollars. Divided into 10,000 each semester. On my i-20, only 10,000 dollars was there.

V.O: Your visa is approved. Have this leaflet, it contain information for US bound student. And this white paper. You should pick your passport in 3 days. Congratulations and have a nice time in California.
Me: Thanks.

My personal opinion:
I have guided a few students (genuine) to get admission to Universities in UK, US and France. One thing I tell them is that someone should always make sure that he or she is a genuine student. While this is not rigid, the following are my personal conviction to being successful at US visa interviews:
1. Note that no two interviews are 100% the same. You have to be alert enough and try asmuchas possible to avoid cramming your lines. Be flexible.
2. Do your best to be admitted to any of the tier1 schools. If you can’t, go for only the top tier 2 schools and NOTHING LESS. Not only that good schools make your interview easy, it also helps in recouping your investment- top schools pay off earlier.
3. Have genuine documents. US embassy now confirms your documents at random. There is a rising case of students subjected to administrative processing. Be on the good side of the law.
4. Prepare for your interview. You can’t substitute good preparation for anything. Other things you do are addendum.
5. Be attentive when you get to the interview centre. I gained more listening to the transcripts of 3 students that were interviewed before me. I used them as leapfrog. Do it too.
6. Be yourself. No stress, no panicking. Be confident and above all, trust in God. Do your part and leave the rest for God. No one beats his or her destiny.
I succeeded. You can and infact, you will!

Congrats Bravo


Quick question..

Did you sit for the LSAT exams?

Time2win:
So the answer remains, not possible now?

Yeah

Time2win:
Do you know anyone that has done it? Heard it's not possible.

Lots of people have done it up till last year.

The present change of policy is putting a check on B1 so it is currently impossible to do so.

Googledrive12:
Good day good people ,
Please I ask again in a polite and pleading manner , is anyone here in or going to Indiana University Bloomington ?
Please help a brother!!!

Anything you're looking for?

Arebjosh:
Good day to y'all
Had my visa interview with an old white man in d widow close to the entrance on the 10th of dis month, and i was denied, am going for an undergraduate study, got my TOEFL, BS, and all
Here is my transcript,

Me: good morning
Vo: good morning (with an angry face)
Vo:Pass me ur I-20
Me: I did
Go: when did u finish high school ( didn't even check my I-20 if it was an undergraduate study, or if am going to US self)
Me: I finished high school year 2017( am currently 19 years old)
Vo: what have u been doing since
Me: I am currently a 2nd year university student in uniben studying entrepreneurship ( guess dis is were I bleeped up).
Vo: why nt continue here
Me: firstly d strike it has really been slowing my education so my dad made a decision for me to go study in d U.S,( d man said there has nt been any strike, didn't give me time to complete my response, he just cut me and was typing)
Vo: sorry I can't grant u ur visa, go and finish in uniben with an angry tone, I took d pink paper almost forgot my passport sef, he denied d first 3 people in front of me.

So pls guys, were did I go wrong, am going for an undergraduate management degree in isu, d school resumption date is in Aug,planning to fire back.

And if I am to fill my ds-160 again, I want to remove d part dat say I am currently in d university is it advicible , pls I need u guys help

Forget about the people that was denied before or after you bro.

Focus on you.

Where you transferring to that school or going for a fresh course?

You not finishing your current degree before pursuing another is a huge red flag.

360gospelvibes:
There was date for July 9 as at yesterday for Lagos

So I heard. That's good

lextube:
Hello, good morning all. Please I was reading somewhere in a blog about US and Donald Trump immigration policy for Africans and Africa.

A section of the article focused on Nigeria, and what I picked from it was that Nigeria accounts for about 25% of the total number of visas issued to Africa in 2018 which was the highest among other African countries, followed by South Africa and then Egypt. Therefore, starting from 2019, Nigerian student visa applications to the US will be suspended indefinitely pending when Donald Trump and the US government finalize their immigration policy for Africa and Africans.

I don't know how true this is, but already they have increased the cost of sevis fee from $150 to I think $350-$400 (not precisely sure of the exact amount) and the high rate of refusal is dramatically increasing by the day. So personally, I am not surprise if this is true, but I want to confirm from others if they have come across this information so that they can share it with the house as well and we all get informed. Thank you.

Wait let me cut you short before you continue.

Are you coming here to make inquiries or to make false statements?

Adek13:
@Brown2green. I had to mention you on this dead thread. I. need ur help on admit matter

PM

Cryomancer:
I really appreciate your kind input Sir. Go bless you.


Please I can't find their support line either. All I got was a feedback link and I've used that too. Please if you can help me with the support line, I'll be very glad. Thanks

support@ustraveldocs.com

Cryomancer:
Abuja is not even an option for me... I needed a far date that's why I wasn't bothered with the dates. I even wanted to extend my date further before all this rubbish happened.

Cool then.
Pick any date you see
Dates will surely open up

Davidkking:
July 9 is available for lagos as of today.

Ok

Cryomancer:
I only cancelled it once which is this morning....

Now I can't even log onto the site again sef my email has started bouncing too.... what kind of rubbish is all this?

Mail the Support Line .
I guess the system has limited you for the next 24 hrs.

Cryomancer:
Goodmorning house. Please I scheduled an appointment yesterday and I tried to change the date to an available date today, so I clicked on the cancel appointment option. Now my MRV number has been bouncing back. Please who have any idea what I can do thanks. I've used the feedback option but no response yet.

I'm open to any ideas. Thanks

Cc: fairheart brown2green Lagosismyhome bracelum walspring sheke01

Shoot!

You were not supposed to cancel if you want to reschedule.

You only Cancel if you want to change Location.

My advice is to consider Abuja because Lagos date is far now.

pierre92:
He needs to take the foundational courses for credit seeing as he has no background in computer science(a degree in maths,physics might help) A thousand online courses won’t help him in this regard.UPenn’s MCIT program, a masters program for those without a computer science degree is a better bet. UChicago has such a program too.

That is not true.

I have someone in Duke that took online courses to meet up for the requirements for Business Analytics.

You can take online courses and carry out activities that can be put as work experience.

It all depends on the way you present your Application Portfolio.

chiefololade:
Thanks once again, I just did a test evaluation.

Do I need to apply to a school before completing the registration because it is asking for institution to send to.

Lengthy process
You must complete them.
Until your evaluation is complete , you don't have a transcript.

chiefololade:
Thanks Mr Brown, but to be honest with you, I don't know anything about the WES you wrote up there. I'll appreciate your further clarification. Thank you.

wes.org

chiefololade:
Please house, can an HND holder apply for MSc in the US?

Yes.
Evaluate your transcript with WES so it can be converted.

Adedayo65:
Can I have your mail pls?

beezee719@gmail.com

Pefuele:
Did you check Indian transcript thread.
They get VISA easy.
All this second degree nah naija wahala to japa.
If we get clean slate things would have been totally different.

You're totally correct.

We are too desperate I say that always. It comes back to hunt us.

No one wants to take time to build their profile, or take standardized tests, or source for funds.
Everyone wants to run to the embassy.

When the demand exceeds supply, the Value increases.
I can tell you , the Value of the American Visa is only as high in Nigeria compared to anywhere you can think of.

Adedayo65:
Thanks anyways!
I will try an google the names you mentioned, never heard of them bfr

I am currently taking a course on R with financial aid from Cousera.
No big deal.

Information, they say, is expensive.

Pefuele:
Honestly,no one can say what goes on in the mind of the VO .However,body language can tell.The person being interviewed will know better when the countenance of the VO changes.I have seen people going for a second degree on this thread get VISA.
Though they are few.What of if he is going for a second degree in IVY league on full ride?So,nothing is impossible.Getting a VISA was not as difficult as it was 20years ago.It is just where we found ourselves...
Canada that find it difficult to give naija people in naija VISA is dashing naija resident in Germany and the likes five years tourist visa ....

My advice for you...

Go through this thread from page one and count the numbers of denials second Bsc has so far...

Adedayo65:
I tried applying for msc, but my applications were rejected in both schools, they said I didn’t have a foundational course in computer science hence, I can’t be considered.
That was why I just went for bsc

Not an excuse!

You can build yourself.

Coursers, Udemy and the likes have courses in that aspect.

You don't have the money?
Cousera gives financial aid if you apply by writing an essay why you cannot foot the bill for the course.
You get full funding to take the course with certificate.



I have several people that built themselves through that platform and got admitted even to the IVY afterwards.

So you see, there is no excuse for going for a second Bsc.

Pefuele:
I had a similar experience.The point he gave may not be excellent but are fair enough.He could have just talk about passion and personalize it with a short story.
Jobs should have been left out...it is okay to say it offers more opportunities!
However,the reason I see for the denial is not this response but the SOA.The calculations the VO they make shows he wasn't convince about something and he mentioned co-sponsored whereas he has only one SOA.If he has both it may have changed the complexion.
I told the VO co-sponsored last year and she gave me a funny 'family is struggling financially look'.
Another could have approved though!

.


The reason of denial has Nothing to do with SOA.
The VO has denied him since the point he mentioned going for a second Bsc.

Predstan:
your stipend covers your living expenses without paying a dime to the school. Some GAs even come with Health insurance yet have deficits. You call that partial or full funding?

Don't mind them.

Johnkay101:
Do you know that you are the one that is actually talking rubbish about full funding?

That's your business man.

TheZed:
Gbam. Let him go for his interview with an i20 that has a deficit and tell the VO he has full funding. Well, I guess he has his visa already so there won’t be a need for that.

Stop talking rubbish.
Go and read the transcript from page one.

Time2win:
Don't confuse English language biko. You are free to view it that way. Any offer that has deficit is not full funding.

That's your headache Oga.

Time2win:
Some schools pay stipends and waive out of state tuition, meaning you will pay instate tuition. Some waive the tuition fees and pay partial stipends. Some give full tuition and full stipends that covers living expenses. I won't say full funding when there is deficit.

Don't mistake full funding with full ride.

We have the one that takes care of hostel, books and every single expense.

MTSU offered partial GA which covers only the in-state tuition
Full GA covers in and out of state tuition.
And monthly stipends takes care of the rest living expenses. But because Tennessee has higher cost of living , the stipends is not sufficient.

NIU is different . They offer stipends high enough to cover the cost of living and DeKalb has a low cost of living compared to Tennessee.

So there are lots of intricacies you must consider.

Full Funding must not have zero deficits.

Time2win:
Yeah but he is just trying to correct the term full funding that you used. Full should mean no deficit.

No it doesn't mean no deficit.

That's not a right way to view it.

It differs from school to school.

TheZed:
How then is it full funding when it has some deficit?

Living expenses might be very high in some places and monthly stipends might be too low.

KingStefan:
Please somebody help!

Whenever I try to log in my profile for the visa application, immediately the site directs me to the CGI website, the location turns to Algeria. Please what can I do? Should I use another device? Or what might have been the mistake?

Only the support Desk can help you here. Take a screenshot of the page and attach to a mail to them. Explain that your location redirects to Algeria despite filling Nigeria.