₦airaland Forum

mrkossy: for those that wanna get a degree in Business school. University of Essex is the best.

Are you their recruitment rep? I think just saying it is the best doesn't make it the best.
A quick search via google will throw more light.

Dis Guy:

you can always try Lufthansa

Their fare is like N140,000 higher.

Please, I read on the emirates airline website their baggage allowance is 30kg.
This seem rather small compared to my younger sister that was allowed 2 bags of 23kg each(46kg in total) on Lufthansa when she was travelling to Hungary.
Any idea if this weight is strictly enforced? I will appreciate comments from anyone that have flown qatar or emirates as they both have 30kg as baggage allowance.
I will be flying to Manchester direct and my clothes alone will best the 30kg.

kellyemms: I realli appreciate u all here... I went to the local government today so was given anoda birth certificAte...

This are my document checklist:
1. International passport
2. Bsc certificate as been stated on my CAS
3. Bsc transcript
4. Olevel result
5. Birth certificate
6. Affidavit showing my dad is my biological father (tinkin of submitting both my birth certificate and d affidavit for d application)
7. 2 passport photograph
8. CAS letter
9. Statement of account
All originals and one photocopy each for all documents.

Am i good to go?

Was ur Bsc transcript and Olevel listed in your CAS among documents to provide?
If no, then you don't need to submit them.
They requested for my Bsc certificate only which I provided and I was given visa.

worry 359: bunburized
Please don't let me pour cold water on your plans but please be aware.
A lot of the Uni will be on holiday from tomorrow untill New year.
This might make things difficult to get accomodation Etc.
Also if you are on your own and it's your first days then Christmas in a strange town can be very lonely.
With no friends or contacts it can be hard.
You might be better travelling after about the 5th Jan when things open again.

Actually, I may just travel 2nd week of Jan, sort out my accommodation and fly to meet my younger sibling in Hungary.
I guess getting a schegen visa won't be an issue if I apply now.
Na touring things before school resumes o.

awistle: Since u are a female, I doubt u eat much so i will suggest lyk 7-8 pounds a day, lol yeah u can even travel from that 14th of Dec and it's better u come earlier to get urself use to this weather and ur shopping cos it's really cold in Manchy and also to sort ur accommodation too.

Bros, that is a fair amount o. What food will I be eating that will be "just" £8 for a whole 3 square meal? UK aint costly as I was made to believe then.
I found out a class mate of mine attends UoS so she has agreed to house me pending when I sort out my accommodation.
Please, I read on the emirate airline website their baggage allowance is 30kg.
This seem rather small compared to my younger sister that was allowed 2 bags of 23kg each(46kg in total) on Lufthansa when she was travelling to Hungary.
Any idea if this weight is strictly enforced? I will appreciate comments from anyone that have flown qatar or emirates as they both have 30kg as baggage allowance.
I will be flying to Manchester direct and my clothes alone will best the 30kg.

lahwummie: @bunburized Wah uni u going to please? tnx

Salford

@awistle
If I elect not to cook at all how much do you suggest I budget weekly for feeding?
Though, I intend cooking my meals 80% of the time I also want to have a fair idea of my expenses as I intend to come 1week before resumption.
Secondly, my visa date started 13th December, 2013. Does that mean I can travel tomorrow if I wish? My resumption date is 20th Jan 2014 but I won't mind travelling to the UK to acclimatize and shop way before resumption if It won't be a issue.
My inlaws are leaving for London 29th Dec,2013 and I won't mind doing a quick pre-resumption tour with them.

xteeeee: You can get a winter jacket very affordable in YABA market. For d MasterCard it can work over there too but the I also requested for a dollar MasterCard,

Thanks. Why request for a dollar mastercard? I feel it is useless considering the billing address will still reflect Nigeria.
I would rather use my naira mastercard than a dollar denominated one. It will be way cheaper that way.

Season greetings everyone. I am heading to Salford January.
Please I need advice on food stuffs to pack(considering the limited baggage weight allowance); where to get winter clothings in Lagos; pounds sterling I should take along to cover emergencies when travelling; if I should just stick to using my Nigeria bank cards or open a Uk bank account; hw soon and easy I can open a bank account in the Uk if necessary and life generally in the Uk/Salford.
Any and all contributions will be appreciated. Thanks.

danny4sure: Congrats dear bunburized where are u headed too

Tnx. Salford

awistle: Congrats Lool no wahala, just get a decent winter jacket when coming.

Thanks dear. Do you have any suggestions where I can get a good winter jacket and shoe in Lag? I am having problems thinking of a place I can get them. I am betting on the fact that someone may have given a suggestion here in the past or you got yours in Nigeria before travelling.
Also, I intend using either emirate or qatar airline and they have a baggage allowance of 30kg(small if you ask me). I need to know the very essentials I must bring along(food + other items) so I don't leave the important stuffs behind.
Finally, how much in pounds do you advice I have on me when I travel and how soon can I open a bank account?
My bank assured me my mastercard will work over there but I will love to have a bank account. One shouldn't put all hope on a Nigerian bank promise.

guardian09: Uwc and congratulations. Wish you all the best

Thanks

mayo47: Congrats what course will u be studying at salford.

HRM

miz Gene: Yaaaaay!! glad to hear. Happy for u guys. Oya begin to de write list n pack ur bags. I wish us all God's grace in our endeavours.

Lol. Madam what list again? Maybe u can help me with that. Right now na serious flexing jor coz masters level no be joke.
The only scary thing is the cold. I will make sure I am prepared in terms of clothing.

I want to specially appreciate the following persons who have been so great all through my journey.
Thanks to Don Oms, Miz Gene, Mayo47, awistle, royalsweetness, guardian09, xteeee and abbakacici. Special thanks to everyone else who made the thread worth visiting everyday. I am one happy lady right now.
Oga Mayo47 and awistle over to you guys now to make sure I have a smooth transition from Nigeria to UoS .

miz Gene: You will get ur alert today(speaking with faith )
@ Bunburized sorry u were disappointed yesterday.even if u don't get an alert today, just go n pick up, the vfs has been known to fail to update status n send sms.

I was at vac 2day but still nothing. The dude who attended to me assured me it will be there 2mrw. However, after reading royalsweet's post that she got an email I had to check my spam and voila bhc abuja had sent me an email since Friday 13th Dec that my visa was issued. I have jst been unnecessarily worried since friday evening. Thank y'all for ur patience and assistance.
May God bless y'all according to ur needs.
Now they can keep my passport till Friday if they wish. No more anxiety things

abbakacici: actually i get zero ams and i paid the 400 naira, but i will advice him to wait till his status change

The cs at vfs said it shd be there by now though.

miz Gene: Congrats, @ Bunburized, u next

Sure madam. Still didn't get a sms or any update to pick up when I tracked online. Hopefully, will pick up 2mrw.

royalsweetness: How would they know whether you subscribed for the text msg notifications . On a more serious note sha, I believe you could just wait till tuesday to clear all your doubts.

I did subscribe but got just one sms till date. I wonder if it is now N400 for one sms. They even failed to send me an update sms that the passport is on transit to vac, so the point of paying for it is defeated.
Anyway, I will be there Monday. Don't think I can be patient enough to wait till tuesday.

miz Gene: I didn't get a mail., u' ll definitely get it on Monday!

Did you get a sms telling you the passport is available for pickup before you went or that isn't mandatory? Don't want them stopping me @ d gate coz I didn't get a sms asking me to pickup.

@ miz Gene
Did you got an email telling you it has been approved like guardian09 stated before you actually got to pick up your passport?
Secondly, I live quite far from Ikeja o. You guys sure I will be able to pick up my passport Monday(since it showed processed passport on transit to vac friday) so I don't end up "travelling" that far for nothing?

royalsweetness: How is the tracking thing done please. Let me track mine too

Visit:

https://www.vfs.org.in/UKG-PassportTracking/ApplicantTrackStatus.aspx?Data=QjjeqT6tBJlHwGRUVZxtkA==

miz Gene: Mine is out oo, got the visa too. I got it on Monday so it basically took 6 working days. Am sure u'll get urs by Monday or Tuesday

Congrats dear. That is good news. Tracked mine friday and saw it has been updated to processed visa on transit to vac. Is that good or bad news? How soon can I visit the vac for my passport considering the update was done friday evening? You can't imagine how anxiety wants to finish me o.

royalsweetness: Haha, thought it was just me who's dying from the waiting. It was Mz Gene who submitted a few days before you, I submitted after you. This week is gone, I think we are gonna start getting messages by next week.

Sorry for the mix up. This is why I like the US embassy. You knw right there if you will be granted or not.
I have now resorted to traveling around for events just to kill the time.
Mz Gene biko let us know whenever something happens. So I can start looking forward to mine

royalsweetness: So how come they let me take my handbag, how is that much different from a backpack.

Hi madam, any update from the embassy? I deduce from your msgs here that you submitted your application 3days before me. This waiting is killing me o.

EMMAUGOH: best way to upgrade your phone is to download ruu for asiai rom,and flash from there u can get upgrade from htc ota to 5.0 [color=#990000][/color]

Actually, all you have said above seem like french to me. I will appreciate directions or a link where I can get step-by-step directions.
Statements like the above you dropped only complicate things the more. Thanks.

rockyk: I use a HTC one xl.the pics below is what I get when I try using the sense 5 toolbox.btw,my celly is a 4.2.2 android custom Rom.any help plss?

Pls how did you upgrade your htc one xl?
Also I will appreciate if you can tell me how to root and flash custom rom on my htc one xl.

awistle: If u have someone u can stay with for a few days when u come that would be better, budget depends on each individual, if u are the type that can cook and eat inside, then u should not be spending more than 40 - 60 quid a week on a regular, african shops are in Salford so no wahala about that. Part time jobs should be available, u just need to check the internet and check the international center in the school or ask friends around they will tell u places u can apply.

Ok bro, I will make a hotel reservation for 3 days then.
Hopefully, I will be able to get a suitable accommodation within that period. I am happy to know that I can actually prepare my own meals inside. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get use to their meals.
Is there any wisdom in packing the usual african food stuffs when coming or I should just get them from the african shops you mentioned?

mayo47: Well in terms budget for feeding and other expenses all depends on your spending culture. On the average excluding monthly accomodation fees, i'll say £250-£300 should do. As per job matter not so easy getting a "office like" job but since its not compulsory, i guess u just keep trying u just could be lucky.

Thanks bro. £300 is fair enough, it still gives me an extra £100 savings as I was actually budgeting £400.
I like cooking my own meals and hope this will also help to reduce my expenses.
Should I bother about carry garri, smoked fish, crayfish, melon, ogbono etc when coming?
I could have my people courier it later to me also if it will be a bother while trying to settle down.
Please can someone engage in "light" trading while schooling? My mum was suggesting she sends me smoked fish from Nigeria so I can sell over there in UK.
I know this is a no no considering the visa rules but can one be careful enough to do this without consequences?

kellyemms: if u in need of accomodation u can search thru studentpad.co.uk. Its a good site in terms of looking for accomodation

Thanks. Done that already but nothing beats advice from the people already on ground.

royalsweetness: I also tried using my UBA mastercard first but it didn't go, though I've always been using it to buy stuff online. Their customer care gave me some crappy explanation too. Btw, how do you have a card for your domiciliary (pounds) account, I went to apply for one and they told me they don't give it.

I don't have a pound account. All my accounts are in Naira.
However, they don't provide atm card for pound denominated accounts. You can only be issued one for a USD account.

royalsweetness: @Wilzz26: GTB charged me 266/267 naira per pound to pay by credit card. That's insane and not too different from black market rates, but I was sha relieved to escape the stress of having to carry money up and down. Someone said on this thread that new generation banks like First bank charge much lower, if you still have the time, you could go ask them. And yes, you can make the payments from your current account.

Gtbank charges are way higher than other banks.
I was charged N261.XX when I used both my Stanbic and Zenith mastercards. Same period my friends were being charged N266.XX.
Yes, Firstbank according to research seem to have the best rates currently. I have gone ahead to open an account with them for future purpose.