₦airaland Forum

tunjilana:
pls what number did u call.....or what is the number to call for the lagos office

Eriokanmi:
Expect their feedback soon. Keep checking the cgi follow up appointment schedule link daily by...12:30pm, 2:30pm and 5:30pm respectively for your 221g appointment date. Check if they've also updated your status on ceac...if the the date has changed from the date you were refused on 221g.

Beelaye:
I know someone this happened too. His whole family was given visas through Dropbox and he was told he didn’t qualify meanwhile they all travelled together at the same time. He also received that 221g letter stating he should apply for an interview.
He had to email them explaining that he was qualified and he added his last visa. They had some back and forth but he was eventually asked to send in his passport again and he has even picked up his passport with his new visa.
So try emailing them and explaining with ur visa and other things that can boost ur case attached.

Eriokanmi:
UWC. The covid-19 was a good reason not to travel during that period. The entire globe was affected by the pandemic in one way or the other as everyone had a story to tell. I was one of those who narrowly escaped covid-19's arm of death. I was an index case. I infected my beautiful family as well but we all came out of it through God's mercies. I had never been so sick in my life. Everything just changed within 3 days with collapsed lungs. I was already praying to God to forgive my sins cos no sign of improvement despite all the prescribed drugs taken, kai. I shared the horrible experience on NL sometime ago. I renewed my German Shengen visa late 2019, thinking I'd use it in 2020, alas!. Till it expired late 2021, I couldn't use it due to same reason. I hope I'd not be on a hot seat by the time I go back there to renew. Good luck to you.

Eriokanmi:
No wonder the No Ststus update in your ceac. In most cases, when visa is issued, its expected that you use it for the purpose its meant. Another pertinent point to note is the ability to use the visa within the time frame of the purpose. For instance, if you said you'd attend a business meeting at a date but you didn't travel again until the visa neared its expiry, it could cause an issue when adjudicating on your case. I was issued a UK visa, 6 months multiple sometime ago but couldn't use it until 4 days to its expiry. At at Frankfurt after i was done with my engagements in Germany, one of the BA crews at the boarding gate looked at my passport and asked...why are you traveling to the UK with a visa with just 4 days validly and i told her i was going to spend only 3 days and return to Nigeria. She said its fine. At heatrow, the officer admitting me asked same question and I responded. I'd have returned to Lagos from Fra but just wanted to use the visa so I'd not have issues when renewing it.

By the time i wanted to renew, I was invited for an interview by the British embassy. They asked why did I wait so long before using the visa. I told them the programme was postponed and by the time it was rescheduled, I was preoccupied worh work so I couldn't attend and that settled it.

Maybe in your case, a similar scenario played out. Since you don't have to pay another fee, all you need do is apply for a regular appointment.

No Status means no visa approval and no denial. Just apply and explain why you didn't use the visa early enough for the propose it was applied.

Christalt:
Good day.
I was finally able to have my passports picked today from dhl port harcourt.
Enclosed within twas the 221(g) form and circled was the part where I was told I don’t qualify for a waiver. And I have to book an appointment and come with my ds 160 form print out.

I’m wondering why I don’t qualify for a waiver tho. My visa expired august 2021. My last visit was in May 2021 aswell and I stayed for only 2 weeks.

Also, when I’m rescheduling, how do I fill in the “have you been denied before” box? Cos I’m thinking if I do that I may not be able to get a sudden date, cos I intend to get a new date asap, possibly this month.
Pls any advice would be much appreciated

Pls see attached the 221(g) form in my passport

Eriokanmi:
Since the passport is already back, just go there, pick it up and tell us what it is. I wouldn't know of now. DHL at Muri Okunola, VI used to operate on Saturdays in those days for those picking up their passports. I wouldn't know if the situation is still same today or with other branches. If S/L isn't far from your location, you may just go there tomorrow around noon and check, if you're so anxious or you wait till Monday. It's here already.

Mandydaisy:
@Christalt you have to go on dhl portal to schedule a pick up appointment. That way, you can know where your passport really is.

Eriokanmi:
Since the passport is already back, just go there, pick it up and tell us what it is. I wouldn't know of now. DHL at Muri Okunola, VI used to operate on Saturdays in those days for those picking up their passports. I wouldn't know if the situation is still same today or with other branches. If S/L isn't far from your location, you may just go there tomorrow around noon and check, if you're so anxious or you wait till Monday. It's here already.

Eriokanmi:
You're kinda worried about your situation. You need to be calm. Refusal under 221g via IW or other means isn't a denial. It simply means they need some clarification on your proposed visit and to do this, you'd have a date with a consular officer in a face-to-face interview. 90% of the time, 221g situation results in approval of a visa. A lot of factors could be responsible for this. If you overstayed during your previous trips, you'd need to explain why. If you gave birth with your B1/B2 visa, you'd need to show up for an interview and explain why. You may be asked to show proofs you paid in full and you didn't enjoy any support to offset your bills, e.g, health insurance or other means. If your purpose of visit isn't cleanly defined in your DS160 too, you'd need to provide details.

Guy, your passport will be sent back to you, wait for it. Under 221g, one cap doesn't fit all so, every applicant is treated on a case by case basis. A letter will accompany your passport which contains different refusal reasons. The VO who adjudicated on your case would tick the reason you were refused and what you need to do next...some, only DS160 and appointment printout page with passport will be requested to be brought during the interview. To others, medical bills , letters and other documents will be requested. Some parents couid be asked for finger printing of their child as well.

A refusal under 221g( administrative processing) doesn't mean you weren't qualified for IW. If you weren't qualified, you wouldn't have received an approval mail to submit your documents to a DHL office with a date in the first place. When you chose IW on the cgi portal, you received a notification that your application would be reviewed and if approved, you'd receive a mail to schedule a date for doc submission, which you did, right? A robot didn't send that approval mail, neither was it an auto response so, that's a proof you qualified for the IW.

My cousin just called. He attended his follow-up appointment yesterday. In the 221g letter which accompanied his passport, he was instructed to only print his DS160 confirmation page, bring the 221g letter, his passport and his follow-up appointment letter for his appointment. The VO didn't ask much questions after the exchange of greetings. He only asked for his passport and...how long are you staying? His visa was approved. He said to me one thing, which I'd like to draw the attention of those with 221g to. He said he checked ceac website weeks after his refusal in March and realised its been updated twice despite being refused. This seems to me that 221g isn't a total denial as many may have thought. They need to check some other things about the applicant which could mean going as far as their home office to fetch some information about you and as they're doing that, they're updating your status. He was refused in March but His status was updated 5th April and 26th April respectively and he saw the first follow-up appointment dates as released the following day, being 27th meaning, ( in my opinion though), they were done with the administrative processing and he should now pick a date for his follow-up interview. He missed that slot as all the dates had disappeared by the time he checked later. He saw the date again this week and booked 4th May He said he kept checking the ceac and cgi randomly in case the status would change to something else, despite being refused, only to discover a change in the date twice

My candid advice...especially fist time applicants, always use your visa for the purpose it was meant, to avoid administrative processing or any form of delay when it's time for your visa renewal. Drop box is a great opportunity which would take a lot of stress and anxiety off your neck so always take advantage of this by playing by embassy's visa rules, now that they're issuing 5 years...that's a lot. Only Canadian embassy had done that once and it was 4 years, Germany did that to me once as well, on a renewed passport. They said I don't have to always come to them, based on my application history. The drop box I had enjoyed for nearly 20 years now, hitch-free. I don't need to see most embassy's faces....just by simply playing by their rules.

Good luck to all in my cousin's shoes.

Christalt:
Good day all.
It’s been almost 7 weeks of waiting and my process being updated over 8 times; I just checked now and saw no status.

What does that mean pls.

Walspring:
Thanks boss

Sauce22:
Like you said when you visited there your siblings are not aware cos you guys don't talk Use the same answer you used when you applied for your tourist visa regards to the question if you have siblings or not.

Regards your third questions, it's your story and no one knows it better, so sell your story to the VO, you are the only one that knows why you going for a particular course

covcon:
Thank you !

For the SOP I meant that one should use a scaled down version to respond to the questions like: why this program? why this school? why now? etc. You don't want to ramble on for too long, rather you want the VO to understand your motivation.

I really appreciate your response. Thanks a lot.



I got $10k funding and I specified that I would handle the rest from my personal savings, highlighting that I have been working for almost 15 years . So my I-20 has personal funds for the remainder.
I was particularly asked how I would fund the program; another point to note that the VOs do not necessarily look at the documents when passed to them, so you should ensure that you highlight those advantages, especially for those with partial or full funding.
When asked, I responded that I had a scholarship, and he interjected, "no that's not true" and when I started to respond, he looked, saw it and corrected himself. After that I mentioned personal funds for the balance.

covcon:
Hello Everyone, this is my first post. I have gleaned from the posts and experience here, so I decided to highlight some points that helped me.

For those who intend to apply for EA ahead of the 60 days when the rule clearly states 60 days is rather risky. Why would you want to risk that "golden ticket" by flouting the rules?

With regards to appointment booking, when I searched for appointment dates last month (April 2022) after filling out my DS-160, the earliest was April 2023. Being uninformed as I was at the time, I kept checking back and moving it (even as little as 1 week), I didn't know there was a limit to rescheduling until I got a message that if I changed my date 1ce more I would have to pay a new fee. I wasn't sure what that meant, so I stayed put, by this time I had moved up to Nov 22, so even when I saw September dates, I didn't bother rescheduling as that was still not early enough for my August start date. I forgot to mention that I selected Lagos, as that's where I live. I was tempted by the many Abuja dates that were opening up, but thank God I chose not to budge as I had giving myself a window till end of June to activate any contingencies. Well miraculously Lagos dates opened up last week, and I got a date for last Tuesday and picked up my passport yesterday. I can only describe the experience as miraculous.
Summary: Check for appointments regularly (but within the 3 times a day limit), join groups that monitor for openings, I was prompted by someone who was in one of these groups when dates became available.

With regards to preparing for the interview, I read a number of transcripts here that helped, but the most helpful was from a post that recommended watching ArgoVisa videos on YouTube. They have a lot of good free material and also options for paid services. For people who have had a refusal or complex situations, if you can afford it, I would recommend you schedule an appointment with them.

I saw someone who asked if you can go to another country to apply, well that's also risky (as I also gleaned from ex-consular officers). That was one of my contingencies. There are challenges with that, it would be more difficult to establish home ties and also your passport might stand out from the passports they would be used to seeing, thus increasing the scrutiny on you. If eventually you are unable to get an earlier date through any other means, then that may be sufficient justification to apply as a third country national. I advise you do additional research to be prepared.

When asked questions like why this school, why the US, why this course etc, I learnt that it's an opportunity to tell your story. Be an active interviewee and not passive, i.e. anticipate what the VO would like to know with that question, and provide a FULL answer that helps them relate to you as a person and not just some random applicant, in other words succinct responses scaled down from what you wrote in your SOP. This is what i did during my interview.

Travel history I have realized is also important, not impossible to get your visa approved without it, but it definitely gives you a leg up. If you don't have any travel history, then you have to look for other areas to highlight and take away the focus from it. It's better explained why you haven't travelled rather than just responding no to the question if raised.

Something I previously didn't consider important was my appearance, so 2 days before my interview, I went to the barber's for a haircut and a shave. I also wore a clean shirt with trousers, (no need to be overdressed), focus should be on neat rather than flashy. I have almost 15 years of work experience so I attempted to look the part.

If you have a "thick" accent, it's important to practice speaking clearly, use simpler words to express yourself. The person ahead of me had a hard time being understood by the VO, which I suspect contributed to the undesired outcome.

Despite my preparation, I was bombarded with contrary thoughts (high stakes) and so I reminded myself that the previous week, I had an appointment for Nov 2022, and then less than a week later I was about to be interviewed, and God who did that for me was definitely letting me know everything else was covered.

Thanks to those who have been sharing helpful tips. Many apologies for the long post

covcon:
Hello Everyone, this is my first post. I have gleaned from the posts and experience here, so I decided to highlight some points that helped me.

For those who intend to apply for EA ahead of the 60 days when the rule clearly states 60 days is rather risky. Why would you want to risk that "golden ticket" by flouting the rules?

With regards to appointment booking, when I searched for appointment dates last month (April 2022) after filling out my DS-160, the earliest was April 2023. Being uninformed as I was at the time, I kept checking back and moving it (even as little as 1 week), I didn't know there was a limit to rescheduling until I got a message that if I changed my date 1ce more I would have to pay a new fee. I wasn't sure what that meant, so I stayed put, by this time I had moved up to Nov 22, so even when I saw September dates, I didn't bother rescheduling as that was still not early enough for my August start date. I forgot to mention that I selected Lagos, as that's where I live. I was tempted by the many Abuja dates that were opening up, but thank God I chose not to budge as I had giving myself a window till end of June to activate any contingencies. Well miraculously Lagos dates opened up last week, and I got a date for last Tuesday and picked up my passport yesterday. I can only describe the experience as miraculous.
Summary: Check for appointments regularly (but within the 3 times a day limit), join groups that monitor for openings, I was prompted by someone who was in one of these groups when dates became available.

With regards to preparing for the interview, I read a number of transcripts here that helped, but the most helpful was from a post that recommended watching ArgoVisa videos on YouTube. They have a lot of good free material and also options for paid services. For people who have had a refusal or complex situations, if you can afford it, I would recommend you schedule an appointment with them.

I saw someone who asked if you can go to another country to apply, well that's also risky (as I also gleaned from ex-consular officers). That was one of my contingencies. There are challenges with that, it would be more difficult to establish home ties and also your passport might stand out from the passports they would be used to seeing, thus increasing the scrutiny on you. If eventually you are unable to get an earlier date through any other means, then that may be sufficient justification to apply as a third country national. I advise you do additional research to be prepared.

When asked questions like why this school, why the US, why this course etc, I learnt that it's an opportunity to tell your story. Be an active interviewee and not passive, i.e. anticipate what the VO would like to know with that question, and provide a FULL answer that helps them relate to you as a person and not just some random applicant, in other words succinct responses scaled down from what you wrote in your SOP. This is what i did during my interview.

Travel history I have realized is also important, not impossible to get your visa approved without it, but it definitely gives you a leg up. If you don't have any travel history, then you have to look for other areas to highlight and take away the focus from it. It's better explained why you haven't travelled rather than just responding no to the question if raised.

Something I previously didn't consider important was my appearance, so 2 days before my interview, I went to the barber's for a haircut and a shave. I also wore a clean shirt with trousers, (no need to be overdressed), focus should be on neat rather than flashy. I have almost 15 years of work experience so I attempted to look the part.

If you have a "thick" accent, it's important to practice speaking clearly, use simpler words to express yourself. The person ahead of me had a hard time being understood by the VO, which I suspect contributed to the undesired outcome.

Despite my preparation, I was bombarded with contrary thoughts (high stakes) and so I reminded myself that the previous week, I had an appointment for Nov 2022, and then less than a week later I was about to be interviewed, and God who did that for me was definitely letting me know everything else was covered.

Thanks to those who have been sharing helpful tips. Many apologies for the long post