₦airaland Forum

Femmyy90:
Visa interview scheduled

On the 4th of Aug.... fear don dey catch me me

I feel you. Mine is on the 31st and I am quite nervous.

Ability247:
You don't seem to have much of a choice. Just go with what you have and hope for the best. You may not even be asked for the statement. But then, depending on what you filled as your current job, many VOs would be curious as to how you were able to save up that amount of money. And if you reply that your siblings or uncles gave you money to support your dreams, you would most probably be asked what they do. So reason well bro.

Thank you. What I was going to do was get a letter of support from the estate of my grandfather with the estate's statement saying that they would supplement the rest.

Hello everyone,

I've been following this thread for a while and it has been a roller-coaster of emotions. One person will get rejected, another will get accepted...na wa o!

I would please like some advice on preparation. I got accepted to an Ivy league school (think Harvard/Princeton/Stanford) for a masters. One of the requirements for issuing my I-20 was to show that I had all the money in my account. Luckily I got financial aid worth half the cost of attendance. I had to borrow the rest and put it into an account to show the school. I now have my I-20.

My interview is next week Monday and I am nervous because I have had to return some of the money. So what I did was print my statement up until when I still had the full amount in my account. By the time I go to the embassy, the statement will be 3 weeks old. Please would this be too late for the embassy? Do you think I would have potential problems?

Thank you!

People who have never been abroad or who have been there for a short time and met with the wrong set of people fail to see a very important point. The US and UK give you the freedom to be who you want to be! The only restriction in those countries is YOURSELF!

I hate hearing silly arguments like "Oh, Nigerians who live abroad are only washing toilets and doing menial jobs". The fact of the matter is that those people doing those so-called "menial" jobs live lives that are WAY better than their comparable mates here. For instance, a plumber in the UK or US is earning what a plumber here in Nigeria can only dream of. Even a fast food worker in the US earns a wage that can enable him to live a manageable life. Here in naija, all those Mr Biggs workers earn about 20k- 30K a month, if that. What are they supposed to do with that? How is a MAN supposed to live on that sort of money?

I don't blame Nigerians who want to run away. We keep shouting that people should stay here and fix it, but how can you fix something when you have been so beaten down and broken?

In the US, you don't have to be rich to live a decent life. What they call their minimum wage is actually a LIVING wage. Unlike the crap and parody that we call a minimum wage here in Nigeria. How is 18k a month a liveable wage when a bag of rice is 10K?

What rubbish!

Damojo: U ask 4 direction and even when they don't know the way, they go 'Oh, Little road? Just go straight down, turn left, then right and ask another person'...

I bleeping hate this!!!

Good question. I just never bothered with eating before church. It has nothing to with what the pastor said or anything. I just don't.

How nice of him...

I don't really understand that designation of "locally trained". What does that mean?

In any case I will say this, many of those traits on the list are generally true for ALL people, regardless of which country they are from. The problem is that our extreme poverty and backwardness compared to the Western world amplifies these traits. A poor man has no time to be sensitive and caring. He is too busy thinking of himself and how he will get by.

Go to any neighborhood in the Western world that is poor and you will see the same traits.

Those in the West were once like us, but they got their act together and developed their country in terms of technology, fine arts and philosophy. They have gone beyond the level of looking for the basic things of life such as food and shelter and clothing.

We are backward sha!

Lord_Reed: In my case the iPad I am using lags in certain things and has apps crashing so frequently I don't bother again now I have a Droid. No doubt iOS is quite polished but Android I think is more progressive having community development drive it forward faster in some ways than iOS. I think Android may out pace iOS very significantly in the future.

iOS7 is a beautiful upgrade and I like it.

Which iPad are you using? I am using the iPad 1 and it has started crashing out of every app. It cannot even handle facebook very well. Keeps crashing out.

Anyway I chose Android over iOS because I prefer the level of customization that Android offers. iPhone is extremely basic and boring to me. Plus the iPhone 5 is too slim and small and makes me sick just looking at it.

When Apple comes out with a large 5 inch phone and makes iOS more customizable with themes and such, then I may just think of an iPhone.

Zinosalexander: Lol. Same way armed robbers are behind the decay in the NPF, private school owners behind the poo we call an educational system, pure water manufacturers behind the lack of water. What i cant seem to understand is who is behind unemployment.

Spot on! We usually get cause and effect backwards in this country. Generator dealers are only taking advantage of a bad situation. The government itself has zero desire to see things change. This is why for over a decade, we are still averaging 3000MW of electricity generated. This is despite every so called "effort" to change things.

Reporting from Sabo, lagos. We have had only 4 hours of electricity in the last 5 days. I mean this situation is so sickening. How can entire nation be crippled like this. We nigerians have patience sha.

What is so annoying about this light situation is that they use it to play politics. In our estate in sabo, we will be in darkness while just round the corner there will be light all day. If you go and complain to the phcn office, they will ignore you. It is because we stopped bribing them.

I used the Bold 5 for a while. My biggest gripe with the phone was battery life and the fact that it would just hang or reboot randomly.

With that said, if you can manage the occasional hanging and rebooting, as well as poor battery life, then just buy a used one.

[quote author=smartnoni][/quote]What's your budget? If you have a high budget of above N67,000, I would just go for an Android phone like the Galaxy S3. I don't know anything about those Tecno phones o!

As for Blackberry

As a long-time user of Blackberry who just switched to Android (Galaxy S3 and NOT looking back ), I am really looking forward to the BBM app for Android. BBM is all I miss about BB. People should be angry that for N1500, all they are getting is an instant messaging device with almost no functionality. When I switched over to the galaxy S3, I was shocked at how much I could get done on just a phone!

Anyway with that said, BBM had to go cross-platform. I think BB realized that there was the risk of losing relevance. Their share of the smartphone market was getting smaller and smaller. BB realized that it would be VERY difficult to lure people away from iOS and Android on the basis of phone alone. They had to get themselves in people's faces and the best way was through IM.

BBM does IM so much better than Whatsapp. I hate Whatsapp smileys and the fact that it just feels impersonal compared to BBM. Heck, I would pay for the app if it came out sef.

ozor1: tomorrow we are gonna see either an official or leaked jelly bean 4.2.2 firmware for the GS3 with most of the GS4 features
#fingers crossed

I hope so!

Just moved over to Android from BlackBerry. Still can't understand how on Earth I could have stuck with BB. I was even THIS close to getting the z10, but then I came to my senses.

I mean wow! This is day 7 in which we have had absolutely NO power. Not even a flash. The crazy thing about this country is that there is no one to ask. NEPA officials just shrug and won't give a definitive answer, so we just sit in darkness.

I am now honestly seeing the negative impacts of this situation. It is frankly depressing. People don't even smile, they look stressed, it is hot...

Added to which there is fuel shortage.

We dey try for this country o!

Has anyone recently renewed their passport? I am going from the old machine readable one to the ePassport. I need to know what the process is and all. The website of the NIS is so terrible. It gives scanty information.

Thanks.

MTN does not really care about its customers (isuupose very few companies really care about hteir customers), but MTN is terrible in terms of customer service and care.

I would have gone Glo, but i do not like Mr Adeuga and i hear terrible stories of how he treats staff. I woull not add ONE KOBO to that man's bottom line, Not. One. Kobo!

So for now, i will stick with MTN. Hopefully the market will open up and better, more innovative companies will come in and bring in value added services.

My aunty used to work for MTN and they are a bunch of racist idiots.

fiz007:
hi guys ive got a problem here, just got ma visa today but ma school's last day for resumption was 2 days ago, i don't know what to do now,

Dude, it is very simple. Do not panic. Call the school, CALL THEM. DO not email and hope they reply you soon. Call them and tell them that you got your visa and that you are ready to come in. Talk to someone in your department and also call the international student services office. Have them issue you an email stating that you are still eligible to come. Congratulations.

justwise:
Get the school to put it in writing that you are allowed to come and start your course, if they do, print that email out and show it to the immigration IF u are asked. Phone call can't be used as an evidence.

Thanks for the advice. I called the school and had this big back and forth between the international student office and the department i am going into. I was finally told i could come in.

I have concluded that this whole visa process is completely random. My friend submitted 2 days after i did and he got his a week before i did.

dayo1401:
Nice one, Congrats to your brother

That's wat I did this time around

Can someone pls reply to midomido's post,
Will like to know myself wat happens to people who get their visas after the latest registration date, wud they be allowed entry at the port of entry since they certainly can't enrol as stated by the school

Yeah i need an answer to this too. I am two days past my latest registration date. I just received my visa and i am calling the school to find out what i can do.

muami:
I understand how you feel. However, I think you should mail them to enquire about the status of your visa. I submitted on the 8th of September and my passport was ready for collection on the 29th of September.

As for missing 3 weeks.I think you would catch up. Mind you, the first two weeks is usually induction and inaugural lectures. When I did my masters I arrived about two weeks late but still ended up making a distinction. So relax, all would be fine.

Thanks for the encouragement. I just got the text message that my passport is ready to be picked up. Now that i know it is ready, i am even more nervous.

I will go there first thing tomorrow and see what is up.

Wow, what a great forum. I have learned so much already.

Anyways i am new to the forum and i need to rant about my experience with the British high commission.

I did my undergrad in the US and each time you go for a visa interview or renewal, you got your visa, it took you roughly 4 days, FOUR BLESSED DAYS, to get your visa.

I (stupidly?) decided to go to the UK for my masters. Its relatively cheaper than the US, both in terms of tuition and accommodation.  Little did i know that it was going to be this nerve-wracking process of waiting weekds on end with NO CLUE what is going on. THis no-interview system is very impersonal and i hate it.

I applied for the visa on the 7th of September. School was supposed to start on the 20th of Sept. This is the 4th and i am still here biting my nails and wondering just why on earth it is taking so long. I have been given two extensions by my school and the 4th of October was my final deadline. I guess i can call and have it pushed back.

I guess my questions are these:

1) Why don't they just warn people that it will take two months to get the visa? I mean the silly 28 days rule and about a month to get your visa?

2) What are the Americans doing that the British cannot do? Turnaround time for any American visa is a week MAX. Plus you know IMMEDIATELY whether or not you got it.

3) Is there even any point? Even when i do get the visa, i will have missed 3 weeks of a one year Masters program. I don't know anyone in the program and i am not given any indication of what has been learned and how much i have missed. Heck the school even canceled my room allotment.

Rant over. I feel much better now.