stdammis:
A reminder that this world is vanity. I wished we were immortals. Just like everyone that won the dv, josemaria never knew the 24th of July 2014 was the last day he saw he's parents, neither was he aware that he was never going to return to his father land... we got to America the same day last year, and we've been in touch since then, but then life happened and everyone grew farther apart. I found out yesterday that josemaria had passed on.....the pictures are on his timeline on Facebook. The most painful part of it is that, he died sometimes around December last year and nobody knew. I hope you are in a better place now, somewhere far beautiful and better than chicago. RIP pal. I pray that the rest of us won't lose our life in this struggle. Amen

Dekonjay:



Your transcripts are always necessary no matter what you decide to do (work/study). Especially for professions where you have to register with a board, like nursing or engineering. One of the most used education evaluation service centre is WES. It's best to start the process of evaluating your transcripts in Nigeria if you can before travelling otherwise you can ask someone else to do the running around for you.

http://www.wes.org

I found the following information on their website. I hope it is useful to you and others interested in the same information as well.

Technical and Vocational Higher Education

Higher technical education is provided at technical colleges, polytechnics and colleges of education. Entry to colleges and polytechnics is based on JAMB-administered entrance examinations combined with results from secondary and vocational schools.

The National Diploma is a two-year program and grants access to Higher National Diploma programs.

The Higher National Diploma (HND) is a two-year program that typically requires one year of work experience after the National Diploma, which is required for admission. The HND is not equivalent to a university degree. HND graduates will typically take a one year postgraduate diploma certificate before applying for a master’s degree in any Nigerian university.

Colleges and specialized training institutes offer various certificates and diplomas that may be obtained after one, two or three years. The Nursing & Midwifery Council of Nigeria awards the Diploma of Midwifery after one year of theoretic and clinical postsecondary studies and the Registered Nurse Certificate after three years of postsecondary study. The Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology awards the Associate Diploma of Medical Laboratory Technology and the Fellowship Diploma on a 4+1 basis of postsecondary education.

Educational Advising: The EducationUSA Advising Centers in Abuja and Lagos under the Public Affairs Section of the United States Embassy serve over 65,000 students per year in a wide range of programs designed to strengthen student applications and their readiness for U.S. higher education. We are eager to work with U.S. institutions to help boost Nigerian enrollments within the U.S. system of higher education. Please contact the Educational Advisors, in Abuja and Lagos, and refer your Nigerian applicants to us for any assistance that we can provide. The advising centers host annual College and Career Fairs in October that attract over 3,000 participants. We would like to invite your institution to participate in our fairs. For further information on how to contact the advising centers, please use details below:

Abuja:
Jennifer Onyukwu onyukwuj@state.gov
Folashade Adebayo adebayoso@state.gov
Hamza Dalhatu hamzad@state.gov
Phone: 234-09-461-4000

Lagos:
Ifeanyi Olagbaju olagbajui@state.gov
Margaret Anyigbo anyigbom@state.gov
Phone: 07031502444

The centers would appreciate two copies each of your catalogue, view book, video and CD-ROM, mailed to:

Abuja: Educational Advisor – PAS; Department of State, 8320 Abuja Place
Washington, DC 20521-8320

Lagos: Educational Advisor – PAS; Department of State, 8300 Lagos Place
Washington, DC 20521-8300

cute2014: Also to the preceeding lists,u may want to add:

Bottled groundnuts,Semolina,pap,snail(fried),hair attachments like Expressions,and Medicines like antimalarials and broad spectrum antibiotics.Also Robb and/or Aboniki balm.

For those with kids:Their backpack should contain cereals(dried),powdered milk,bread(toast) with a spread,bowl,apples,cookies (u'll get hot water in the plane)and a jacket.This is necessary if the airline serves an unfamiliar food.I can just imagine the twins when they eat,whatever they've eaten and no matter how late they must still step down with Golden morn cereal.Lol!

Also; u may want to do both ur natioanl drivers' licence and the int'l driver's licence as it depends on the state u are going to.LEARN HOW TO DRIVE BEFORE TRAVELLING!!!

As for graduate school;u need to do ur transcripts,some did via WES,don't av much details as it does not apply to me.

For women; Learn how to make hair.I am taking 1-2hrs on days I'm not on call to do this as my almost 6years' old girl is so fashion conscious when it comes to hair so I nd to be able to keep up wt her and also save money.

Also don't run down ur electronic gadgets' battery down,sm1 mentioned ds but do not know why.


Yes,ur passports AND medicals MUST be in ur handbag!!!

Most impt advice I got was to save and never try to borrow,except for Mortgage as an example.Live within your budget!!!

Dekonjay: @ Felixfelix, I'm glad you like the idea. From what I have been able to gather you are allowed to carry foodstuff as long as they are dried. For example:


Egusi, ogbonor, Local Crayfish, Okporoko, Mangara, Dried fish, Ukazi, Oha, Ugwu ,Kuli Kuli, Fufu, Groundnut Oil, Palm Oil, Egusi, Garri, Pepper – soup condiments, Beans, Atanla (red hot chilli pepper) and many more

Make sure your Egusi is well blended dried and well wrapped.
Do not travel with wet food items. Usually, wet food stuff can contain organisms not native to the US. Chicken is prohibited because of Bird Flu and beef because of Mad Cow disease.
Palm oil is allowed but only in small quantity and should be in branded packages if possible.
Dried/smoked fish should be properly wrapped also in order to avoid unpleasant odours.

Personally, I won't be carrying any of those items as you can easily get them to buy over there ( even though they may be quite expensive or not as fresh as you may want) and luckily for me my host ( who is my aunty) says she has enough of those. Will be getting her some other gift item though.
We booked our tickets this morning. We will be flying BA next Thursday.

Dekonjay: First of all I want to thank everyone here in this forum for their support. I want to thank God, cos he has filled my heart with joy.

It all started May 1st 2013 when I logged on the dv website and found my future husband had been selected. I was overjoyed at the result as it was the best wedding present ever. We got married May 2013. We had both played the dv lottery in October 2012 as singles even though we were engaged.


THE CHAT:
Co: Good morning Mr and Mrs Dekonjay
Us: Good morning to you Sir.
Co: You both have to raise your right hands up and answer YES or NO to the following questions.
Us: Did as we were told and took our oaths.
Co: (Addressing my husband who is the PA) Mr Dekonjay I see you moved your interview from the UK to your current country? Why is that and What did you do there?
My hubby: Explained.
Co: So tell me where and how did you meet your wife?
My Hubby: In 2010 bla bla bla.
Co: Have you ever met your wife's family? Tell me something about them?
My Hubby: talked away...
Co: (Addressing me - all the while I stood quietly at my husbands side while he answered the questions). And you Mrs Dekonjay have you ever met your husband's family? What do you know about them?
Me: Answered.
Co: do you like your mother in law?
Me: Of course , I do! ( we both laughed)
Co: I see you have both been married for a little over a year. Have you got any kids?
Us: hopefully one is on its way as we speak.
( more laughter as the Co joked about our response)
Co: Well, Mr and Mrs Dekonjay it seems everything is ok here. I have to say your visas have been approved. At that point I was already in seventh heaven and I wasn't listening anymore...

All in all the interview took less than 15mins. I just couldn't believe how smoothly it all went. The Co was nice, friendly and with a good sense of humour which made us feel at ease during our chat with him. It was a beautiful experience.

felixfelix: Glory to God, visa approved since morning. Details to come shortly.

EgbonBode: To God be the glory, my visa was approved this morning. I thank God and members of this house for help on requirements through postings on this forum. I will give details later.

rcha: [size=15pt]MY INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE[/size]

Had an interview appointment at 1pm. reached the embassy at around 11:30. Waited for 1hrs and 15minutes. Then when inside the embassy had the security checked and then went inside. Took the token paid my$330 and then had my finger print taken, submitted my document. Then waited for the call of the interview. Was called half hour after the submission of document for the interview. The interview was at not at the window where other had the interview but at a special window inside a room. Got scared why this. The CO was a white lady. Went in then the interview began.
CO: Good Day
ME: Good Day
CO: Is the document u sent is true?
ME: …………….
CO: Do u have a university Degree?
ME:………..
CO: How many years degree is it?
ME:…………..
CO: Where do u plan to go to US?
ME:………………
CO: Who is there?
ME:……………….
CO: How many children do you have?
ME:……………
CO: Do u plan to get married before going to US?
ME:……………….
CO: You visa has been approved come and collect at ….
ME: Thank u.
The interview lasted just 1min and I was said to collect the visa at following date. I could not believe I was asked just few question and a short time while for other it took about 5 min or more.
Learned a lot from this forum from the experience shared by all which has made my application successful.

johnsonadex:

VO response to the bolded part:

I have not heard that this is being considered -- and believe me, we are monitoring the situation carefully, so if it were being considered, I would have heard it.

Right now the important thing for everyone to do is just to stay calm and stay safe! Wash your hands, seek medical help if you feel ill, don't eat undercooked food and avoid contact with persons who are visibly ill. These are good ideas in general, not just for Ebola! Remember, your chances of catching Ebola are actually very very small, especially if you follow these sensible guidelines.

I've heard credible reports of people drinking salt water "to protect themselves" -- please let people know not to do that. Drinking large quantities of salt water can make you very ill or even kill you.

As always, you have my word that if our travel policies change, I will let you all know about it right away.

END


So, lets everybody keep praying as Maikael suggested. Our effort will not be in vain IJN

johnsonadex:

VO response to the bolded part:

I have not heard that this is being considered -- and believe me, we are monitoring the situation carefully, so if it were being considered, I would have heard it.

Right now the important thing for everyone to do is just to stay calm and stay safe! Wash your hands, seek medical help if you feel ill, don't eat undercooked food and avoid contact with persons who are visibly ill. These are good ideas in general, not just for Ebola! Remember, your chances of catching Ebola are actually very very small, especially if you follow these sensible guidelines.

I've heard credible reports of people drinking salt water "to protect themselves" -- please let people know not to do that. Drinking large quantities of salt water can make you very ill or even kill you.

As always, you have my word that if our travel policies change, I will let you all know about it right away.

END


So, lets everybody keep praying as Maikael suggested. Our effort will not be in vain IJN

tosinjoe: Please house, your assistance, We had our interview on the 31st of July, but the Visa case shows issued till now, though was updated on the 4th of August. shouldnt our visa be ready for pick up? And pls how do u contact the DHL office on phone? the number on that paper is not connecting

Sueadex: Pls, anybody interviewed on 22nd July that has picked his/her visa?

chuckvinz: Cynthia i haven't received your text,to get ur num...

tosinjoe: This is coming better late than never, it is more of my testimony of God's work than a visa interview experience.

Before my interview on July 31st, so many hurdles came our way, my wife and I had lots of financial scores to settle, at a time we almost gave up, our wedding pictures got corrupted on the flash drive, I only had the option of printing pictures from my phone and bringing the enlarged wedding frame in our sitting room.

To cut the long story short, we sold our phones and was able to do our medicals less than a week to our interview, in fact the days included Saturday, Sunday and the public holidays. Finally on July 30th I set out for Lagos from Akure around 5.30am to do my police report (my wife had done hers) and pick up our medicals result I borrowed money for transport, there was no money for either my police report nor our visa fees But I went to Lagos in faith, As I got to Ojota, I got a call conversation ensued and in less than 5min I got an alert. Brothers and sisters before the end of that day I received about four credit alerts, I finished everything and spoke to a friend at Obalende about coming with my wife to his plce for the night, my wife was still at Akure to collect her NPC attestation, for some reasons she was delayed in Akure till about 6PM(our interview is for 7am the next day) at a time she said she couldnt risk the journey again, but with God she got to Akure round 12:30am on the 31st,I had to go wait for her at Ojota. I called my friend at Obalende and he said it was too late and dangerous, despite being cash stripped we had to take a drop and lodge at obalende. checked in to the hotel around 1am, we asked the cab driver to come pick us by 4am. As at this time I had just the exact amount for both our visa fees in my account and a 1000naira in hand, after pressing our clothes and arranging our documents, another alert came in, this time it was a debit alert, making it impossible to withdraw d complete visa fees.

Not to bore u too much, we set out around 4:30am, we couldnt pay the cab driver, after all protocols our number came up on windows 16, all along I was praying seriously NOT to be interviewed there not knowing that was where God had set our table.
in less than 5min the interview was concluded
CO: greeted, asked what i do for a living, where I met my wife, when we got married, why we dnt have kids asked about two pictures
ME: answered accordingly
She called my wife and asked about three questions and then approved our visa
People where kind of surprised, though I wasnt. A lot of people discouraged us but with faith and persistence we conquered.

publicenemy: the man no want make she use grammar break people head oh.

Chanchit: Good, cos when protest disturb mama P' too much now, she go jst dey scatter grammar. Make she no go add injury to our insult in a foreign land.

VisaOfficer: For your situational awareness. Please note that the names below are only a few of the Diversity Visa imposters who were unfortunately detained by Nigeria's Police Special Fraud Unit in July....

http://www.punchng.com/feature/super-saturday-crime/visa-applicant-lands-in-police-net-after-boyfriend-helped-forge-visas/

Visa applicant lands in police net after boyfriend helped forge visas

July 26, 2014 by Kunle Falayi

Some visa applicants nabbed at the US Consulate-General in the month of July have been handed over to the Police Special Fraud Unit in Lagos for prosecution.

According to SFU’s spokesperson, Ngozi Nsitume, a petition from the US Consulate Lagos on July 9, 2014, alleged that one Adegbola Esther appeared at US. Consulate-General for a Non-Immigrant Visa Interview with forged Canadian Turkish and Angolan visas showing entry and exit stamps.

But investigation was said to have revealed that the visas were forged by Esther’s boyfriend, one Oloni Olawale, after she paid him N100,000 for the three fake visa, to facilitate approval of her US visa application.

In another case, the US Consulate-General alleged that on July 10, 2014, another applicant, Akinlade Olugbenga, appeared for a US Immigrant Visa interview with fake name – Awoleye Tope, an individual said to have won a visa lottery.

“The suspect knowingly and fraudulently appeared at the US Embassy to steal the identity of the real winner of the diversity visa lottery,” the statement said.

A day after Olugbenga was nabbed at the embassy, another applicant, Adewole Fatimah whose real name was Adeniyi Motunrayo, was alleged to have appeared at the embassy with one Adewole Oluwaseun for a diversity visa interview. Motunrayo was said to have attempted to steal the identity of the real winner of the diversity visa lottery.

It was the same case of identity theft against applicant Omoyemi Olaiya, whose real name is Samuel Ojo and Ibenne Nkem whose real name is Ogundipe Emmanuel.

Like a harvest of fraudulent applicants, the SFU said one Babatunde Abiola and Babatunde Adenike was also nabbed for presenting forged bio-data, wedding pictures, marriage certificate and fake result to the embassy even though their real names are Oguntimehin Olanike and Aderoju Eunice.

Nsitume said, “One Aderoju Qasim and Aderoju Eunice presented forged bio-data and fake documents to the US Embassy for immigrant visas. Their real names are Oyewole Tunde and Abelese Olayinka. Both suspects fraudulently appeared at the embassy to steal the identity of the real winners of a diversity visa lottery.

“In this same month, one Christiana Omagu, a female Nigerian–American citizen, appeared before the US Consulate General to process a US passport for a male child. Investigation revealed that the suspect and her husband, Donald Omagu, were not the parents of the child, but only needed the passport to traffic the child to US.

“Finally on July 17, 2014, one Idrisu Martins, an impostor appeared at the embassy for an immigrant visa but investigation revealed that he was not the winner of the diversity visa lottery he appeared to claim.

“Investigation is on-going on these individuals. All suspects would be charged to court soon to serve as a deterrent to other intending visa fraudsters.”

Copyright PUNCH.

Cynthia4real: tnx very much,tnx for the response. Bt were the three (3) vaccines administered to u? Or jxt the Mmr

stevSKY: Wow!!! Great Article!!! Well pointed out there.
Well value is something very essential to all humans and serious minded individuals.
As for me ?i'm awaiting my NYSC hopefully by November, but ??i don't just sit, i tried to lay my hands on books on how to run and be successful with business and also, ?i engage myself in communicating mostly with business minded Individual, who knows what it means to be successful with business. I am a graduate of Accounting as a field of study, So ?the business subsidiaries ?i took back in school and those ??i've come to learn on my own, have always kept me wanting to be a owner of a self made enterprise.
I also have knowledge of printing and customising(Branding) of special gift items. And ?i also have the business idea of a Laundry and hair cut services, which ?i hope to someday establish when ?i have the capital to.

Pipsland78: Email me asap if in need of accommodation in Dallas, but you must be single.

Iykonnet:

I think the Embassy usually keep the Police Report. So no worries.

armba2198:


Congratulations to you all on your visa approvals!

Congratulations also to Doro and Marymary14 on your visa!

May this showers of blessings never cease as long as this thread exists! N special thanks to all of us great n small for our contributions to the success of this thread! The results of our collective efforts is made manifest in the various success recorded by each n every person who has come here in deir need of guidance! May this spirit of selfless help never die in us but continues to grow til it becomes a huge flame that 'll help us reverse d ugly trend in our beloved country! Amen!

armba2198:

Hi, Cynthia, congratulations! Well, l m sure Q-life 'll charge u more money if u go there. I took my kids to a hospital in d East where they were charged N500 for MMR. I 1st went to d health section of d local govt, but they said they only administer it on Tuesday n charge N1000 per child n they referred me to St Anthony's Hospital that they gave d vaccine that day to administer. So l m sure u can get other hospitals to administer it 4 less like a Teaching hospital or General hospital. It's not mandatory u go back to Q-Life anyway

Cheers

Adeboy007:

Your Police Report and Medical are now the properties of US Consulate. It will not be given to u at the Collection Center.

U are told to travel wit ur Vaccination Record and ur X-Ray CD (If Q-life) plus ur international passport and Visa Package

thank you.

Cynthia4real: Pls house i forgot my original copy of police report.i wnt ask if it wil be given to me on de day of my visa collection.