My people.
I don come again.

Bikonu, please note that having a credit card and playing around with credit, or more properly, debt, is not a “must” in this wonderful world of obodo oyibo. There are people who have not used debt all their lives whose only credit product na mortgage, and they still dey here, dem never die. The myth that debt and debt cards are absolutely necessary to build up a so-called credit score without which you might as well be dead in this country is just that – a myth. Debt isn't always easy to manage - we dey see as e dey happen, some recent incomers are showing up now with issues.

Make una softly-softly with the debt o. Use it prudently and as necessary.

No-one should come for me biko, I dey try fill my APC form before the deadline.

Lexusgs430:


Which kin foam, do they spray .......... Una no go kill pesin........

Skin cleansing foam, used for incontient patients.

quivah:
Living in Wales has been different than what I thought. Reading reviews on Google isn't the best.

So far, it's been very good here, rains everytime and the people are polite and always smile and say hello when you pass them by.
Rent is cheap or can be high too depending, as low as £480 for two bed apartment.

When I first came, k was trying basically all the nice food I can find in the store but 96% of them I had to dispose...so right now, my daily food is toast and burger, chips and chicken, rice and my little swallow remaining . My hubby and child have adapted to their food but it's hard for me..esp the baked beans gosh!! I wish I can adapt to their meal oo, I don lean lol.

Hian.
This diet no go make you lean o, rather the opposite.

Viruses:

But why your wife no get friends amongst Nigerians

As Bubu said during his first coming when asked why his then wife no dey do first lady things: "He married his wife for himself, and not for Nigerians".

icon8:
O[b]ur people and their penchant for telling people how to live their lives[/b]. Someone asked a very specific question about car financing and people would rather advise them of buying a dead car, while ignoring the question asked. If they wanted your advice on what type of car to buy, they would have asked just that.

By the way, not every newcomer or foreign student is poor. Someone planning to buy a £6k car certainly knows why they want just that, and the type/model/age of car they want to own. Quit being sanctimonious and answer the question if you can, or simply ignore/look away if you don’t have an answer. Your unsolicited advice is not always welcome.

@OP, access to credit is based on your credit profile/records/score, and that, more often than not, is dependent on how long you have been in the country. While it is not impossible to get a car finance as a student, especially with 50% equity contribution in your case, it will certainly be expensive. In a nutshell, give it a shot.

When I talk say Nigerians and their communities are best dealt with in very small doses, people no go understand.
When I first come this country, my madam don already go put hand for Naija community for Manchy. I can live with Nigerians and their faking and forming (the number of strange approximations of British accents person hear dey wonderful), but when they come up with their so-called advice giving, na there I leave them. When I moved to Edinburgh, I select them carefully. The all-knowing crew: "Why you go buy manual moto, e dey pain for leg o" or "You for put those tickets for your credit card, credit card dey help for this country o" (as if person no sabi how much person get for pocket), I just avoid. No more Naija community for us, na one one.

kollah66:
I am currently into construction in Nigeria (building construction) and plan to move to U.K with my wife before the end of the year, Please, how do I get started in the construction industry over there and be able to get sponsorship. we are moving to Glasgow

Housing tie wrapper for Glasgow this period, so unless you've already sorted where you'll stay, check whether one of you go come first to sort that out.

gistbite:
I know this question has probably been answered before but I don't remember the page number.
So for ancestors that have travelled to other European countries with their Nigerian passport please help with guidance; if I want to travel to Paris in November, when should I apply for a visa and what I do need to present?(Proof of funds, documents etc)
Thank you.....

You go use TLS here in the UK. Check the French Embassy's website for the form and process.
I know TLS dey Manchester and Edinburgh (I used to live in Manchy and I now live in Edinburgh, so have used both centres) so it depends on where you are. Edinburgh covers all those who live in Scotland.

You can apply up to 6 months before your planned date of travel, and they simply require 3 months' payslips if you're employed, not sure what the requirements are for students, a letter from your school, I would think. A bank statement showing enough funds to cover a planned stay is OK, I think there's a calculation basis of 60 euro per day or something like that. I usually print 3 months worth of bank statements along with the payslips.

The application process is straightforward - Manchester TLS is not, it can be crowded and the staff so-so, Edinburgh is way better.

BouharryArtikou:



Dear Former banker (in Naija).
Thank you for wishing us good luck. We are warriors indeed.
We do not have to depend on our spouses who are Nurses to migrate to the UK.

Yours sincerely,
CareHomeWarriors

Dear Nigerian who obviously suffers from an excess of toxic masculinity,

This comment made my evening. Hilarious.
So as far as you are concerned, your manhood is dependent on who is the principal visa applicant in your pairing, and if na your madam who hold a Tier 2 or Tier 4 students visa and na you dey answer dependant ( which I suspect is probably the case), you would be having high BP per day per day and feeling like a woman and not a man? So all those men whose wives are doing masters here while na dem be dependants don turn to women for your eye, abi?

Be calming down o. Na obodo oyibo you dey and toxic masculinity fit cause wahala for you here o.

As an aside, my madam was working in a bank as well, lost her job, and we decided since her original degree was in the sciences, say she go come UK to do nursing and so forth. So she came, did that, got registered, got a job, and that was that. I'll let you figure out, for "manhood" purposes, who was paying the fees and who maintained the family until she was through with everything.

No over-inhale the cleansing foam, my brother. It is well.

Jisike.

DeeOneBangin:
Anybody here living in Exeter that can help with renting a shared accommodation or if you know someone that wants to rent out a room or can connect me.

Moved down south from Manchester due to change of job.

Awon Care Home Warriors, going into battle with cleansing foam and pads.
Go forth in glory, men and brethren, the road to success in this country starts with such steps (and extended arms and forefingers).
Good luck to all.

Lexusgs430:


Don't bother yourself too much, when you get to NHC and receive PO details. ...... A post office is about 4 minutes walk (depending on how fast a walker you are).........

Lol.
And once you reach that post office, they already know wetin carry you come - as soon as you open your mouth and they hear your African accent dey don already begin print postal order for you. Zimbabwe HC dey that same road, but na Nigerians dey full there pass.

Nigerianophobe, lol.

Nigerians reach to phobe o.
The thing is that Nigerians in the UK are just the same as Nigerians in Naija - every man for himself, dog eat dog, out-compete and outdo your imaginary neighbours, no paddy for jungle, blowing fake accent 3 hours after landing at Heathrow for the first time and no be every pesin wey don waka comot from Naija wey want all that often negative Naija vibe around them again. Better to deal with Nigerians in very small doses.

Chreze:


Some years back I was able to seat down and break down what is really happening in relation to racism. My aim was to take out the word from my dictionary as I felt it was too negative to use, or misused most of the times. I realized that we have two kind of people in the world, the good and the bad.

Bad - people who are uneducated+inconsiderate, wicked, envious boss, educated but unexposed, uneducated+unexposed, educated+envious —— just like that.

Good - people who are : considerate, understanding, human sympathy, share feelings, reasonable, uneducated but human, rational, —— and the likes

I advise people to try to take the word out their mouth too because we mistake that a lot. Your white boss treats you in some way that is different from how he treats the whites, your boss is just Bad, a black boss will still do that to you. Something is missing in a place, everyone turns to you cos you are dark skin, those people are just dumb (Bad). In some areas, someone will see you, then run away or not want to get close to you, that person is just not exposed (Bad). All of these present day experiences are Bad people(though may be racist when given the opportunity, but at the moment, what they display are just bad related n not racism).

How do you know the person is just a bad person n not racist, some of these behavior you still get in your country or in the mist of people of same color/race as you. The world has changed a lot and people are a lot nicer. In todays world, you see more of good people than bad.

For the sake of our children, let’s just try to delete that word, cos our kids relate and play perfectly with kids from other race/skin color and they don’t know any of these things, if we keep up with the word, it will destroy the future just like it’s affecting today.

Racism to me was experienced long ago by our fathers who were considered to be inferior, enough as to turn them to slaves or making them work in demeaning conditions/environments. Wearing them chains just to show they are inferior and not of equal class. That harm and torture is racist to me. And that’s the reason why I said a bad person can be racist if given the chance, but at the moment the person is only displaying bad vibes.

Gini ?
Bros, re-read what you wrote.
For one, children play well and relate well because them never get sense.
As dem dey grow them go absorb from society and adults what the deal is and start segregating among themselves.
No vex, but the rest na wishful thinking.

Ah ah.
We still dey on top this matter?
It's time to close it, abeg una, but to clarify, madam (and for others) PayPal 3 in 1, and Klarna and all the rest of the Buy Now Pay Later schemes (BNPL) are a form of credit being given to you.

The HRGuy was right when he said that when you use 3 in 1 at checkout, you are applying for credit. It's usually a soft search they carry out and its automated, without their having to ask you to fill form or provide info, so many people feel say its different from a standard credit application, but all na the same thing. The FCA is trying to clamp down on these lenders, because they are saying that the affordability checks are not as stringent as for other credit providers, and so on, but make una note say all na credit. You have your item,Curry's has its money and you owe PayPal.

Oya, make una bring another topic o. Wey the person wey wan claim asylum, come forward, please.

TheGuyFromHR:


And that's how it should be.
I'm still waiting to see if someone with experience/knowledge in fraud prevention can come and give us insight.

Lol, HR, me too dey wait.
Abi them no dey give Nigerians work in fraud prevention units?
Nobody should come for me, biko, even though I'm not fasting.

Lol.
I work in financial services and my take is that both sides of the debate are right.
In normal circumstances there would be no reason for someone to link this lady's online profile(s) from her personal information and that could be classed a breach, DPP fail, whatever.

If, as is possible, them bounce the original Paypal credit payment for something CIFAS or no match-related (understood that the lady has used 3-1 several times, possible the almighty computer wey dey like say no was also having a headache or a bad day), then there might be reasonable grounds for the employee (who left a clear trail when doing so) to run a quick online check as part of anti-fraud measures. I find it very difficult to believe that someone not authorized to do such a thing would do so that openly thus opening themselves and their employer up to possible FCA sanctions.

Anyhow wey e take be, madam has filed a complaint, make we see the outcome. Madam, I see say the various opinions on the matter don dey give you headache, but na you carry am come, which means say you should expect people to both agree and disagree with you, and not see it from your point of view only.

Make we leave am there.

TheGuyFromHR:


That may be the case in your customer service role, but as I earlier pointed out, it might not be the case in fraud prevention, and we don't know what methods they are authorized to use when conducting their investigations. Where they not authorized to view your public profile in this instance, it would be a very incompetent person who would have left that trail for you to see and[b] I would happily write out a dismissal letter for them right now were it to be my organisation[/b].

OgaHR himself!
Fire and hire!

Amarathripple0:


On the contrary this gives them leverage! Even better with group travels, applying with fellow classmates!

Ah well, we agree to disagree.
I dont see any particular advantage in a US visa application process in being a student on a tier 4 visa with little or no income and a Nigerian passport.

TheGuyFromHR:


It goes without saying that London will offer your husband more opportunities than Bournemouth would, just like Lagos offers more opportunities than Enugu or Akure, however unsalubrious Lagos/London might be.

Glasgow is another city that offers some good opportunities for finance professionals.

Correct.

AgentXxx:
you pass your message with a great sense of humor ... really grateful for the head up... I have been driving for about 15years driving experience in Lagos, have registered with Uber here in Nigeria , that should be a plus right? ... how person go fit jam person pikin? More details

Lol, Nigerian driving experience na liability, Lagos driving experience na double liability.
But Bradford might make you feel at home, its as if that place is almost totally Asian.

Lexusgs430:


Download a voice changing app ...........

That would probably make me sound like an Indian instead, shebi na dem dey develop all these apps.

Amarathripple0:


I think this travel experience before getting a US visa is a myth. I had an empty passport when I applied for my first US Visa back in 2013. And I was given a visa, over the years, my colleagues with empty passports applied and got theirs as well. Just have a valid reason for traveling to the US, have the right information for the places you’ll be visiting, be confident when speaking to the Clearance officer and have home ties. Just ensure your information remains consistent when you apply for future visas. You’ll be fine.

I tend to agree, but I think people on student visas are still seen as possible flight risks from their biased standpoint.

Lexusgs430:



Nothing like cold calls, from someone in business.........

Can people generally understand you, when you speak ?...?

Lol, yes.
What I meant was not that I cannot be understood, but the fact that people generally associate the Nigerian man with some kind of nefarious intent , just the same way all those scam calls here in the UK come in with Indian voices.

Ticha:


Ed Wales ed@mcbfinancialservices.co.uk
T: 01603 864760 | M: 07709 316927 | DD: 01603 964924 | W: www.mcbfinancialservices.co.uk

Ezra Le Mon​
Ezra.LeMon@JohnCharcol.co.uk
020 3334 9967

Those are the 2 I use. Ed is free but Ezra charges a fee. Ezra deals with my more complicated mortgages and being a 2nd generation immigrant, he's is more on the ball dealing with visas, multiple streams of income from different countries etc.

Madam Ticha,
Quick question regarding your brokers - I don finally sell some of my property in Naija (exchange rate na die, APC e no go better for una) and I'd like to see if I can get a property purchase ongoing. The gentlemen whose contact details you shared here - would they be open to receiving cold calls from Nigerians with heavy Igbo accents - i.e. could you give or have you previously given them a heads-up that you've recommended them elsewhere?

Thanks.

Anyone got today's pounds to naira exchange rate, abeg?

Aprokodaughter:


Lols chai JJC life. I will start looking at banks and their deals.

Then this credit card which one will you advice JJC like me to start with?

Check and see if the bank where you receive your salary will give you one.
As you don dey UK for some time now, apply in your bank app, walking in to your branch na when you never really dey UK for long (less than a year or so, depending) and applying in the app will most likely mean a bouncing.

jobinto:
TLS said asked us apply through them, they gave us their refund email address, we mailed them, they responded with a form to fill all your details for the refund including your account details, we did and they haven't replied again since first week of December last year, if you mail them, they send another refund form to fill and after a week they sent you another mail that a customer agent has spoken to you and thus your enquiry is closed when no one has spoken to you. It's not the same as the post office analogy, the a post office don't ask you to apply for your refund through them, send you forms to fill and then claim every day that they have responded to your enquiries anytime you ask them for a status update when they wouldnt been assed enough to respond.

I think the HRGuy and Justwise have given you a clue regarding this matter.
It is probably not TLS sitting on your refund, e fit be UKVI itself, given that TLS no go collect money wey UKVI no say make them collect, and any money they collect for all those priority and the rest na still UKVI dem go go give am.

Amazoner01:

Capiital one declined the credit card application. Is it because i haven’t stayed in uk for a long time.

HRGuy said it clearly.
Leave credit cards for now, and don't apply for more.
Wait until you don dey here for a while.

canadaishome:


Please kindly provide more insight.
If I use £50 so I have a month to pay it in full?

Better take time out and go online and read up about how credit cards work before you apply for one, the types of CCs, purchase, rewards, combos of the different types (balance transfer no concern you for now).
MSE, fool.co.uk, etc, all have very good guides explaining wetin dey involved in credit. CCs are good, especially regarding section 75 and all that, but its easy to mess up with them o.

If you have been in the UK long enough, get a purchase credit card with a good interest-free period.
These are usually offered by the banks and not the bad credit/credit builder card people.
Go to the bank where your salary is being paid and talk to them in person, so that you avoid the 'computer says no" rubbish.
I went in to my high street Bank of Scotland branch and spoke to a rep. Theirs is 17 months interest free, others have longer or shorter periods, Natwest has 22 months, for instance.

Engobi:

What’s the best bank you advice to open a bank acc and I keep seeing thread for credit card is that applicable here pls kindly share with me the benefits n your advice to a new comer thanks.

All banks na the same and offer the same services.
Apart from Barclays wey get shakara like the old Zenith bank of the early 2000s when it comes to new arrivals to the UK.
And you asked about Scotland - its part of the UK and there is no difference between banks or any other services anywhere else in the UK - except you pay more tax here when you start earning better money. But you get more for your tax (free prescriptions, more hours of government funded nursery school, and now free bus travel for under 22s) as well, so all balances out.

The credit card thing has been asked many times before, go back and read these threads from the beginning, but to summarise - no waste time applying for credit until you have been here at least 6 months and most likely more.

TheGuyFromHR:


Some people have money they want to get rid of so they dont enter a higher tax band by force and are happy to push it into a pension and pay the fees in the hope that the accrued yields covers that.

The fiscal drag thing they're talking about, abi?

Estroller:
No need, the only criteria to fulfill is to be out of job for a minimum of 4 months I think.

Exactly.

TheGuyFromHR:


Basically, when you receive your salary in your bank account, your employer has already deducted the pension contribution (along with tax, NI, etc.) before you get it. So you can decide to invest money from your salary into another pension if you like. You can have any number of pensions, the government encourages saving for old age, which is the rationale behind the favourable tax treatment.

The NHS pension scheme, as I earlier pointed out, is a defined benefit scheme, meaning that you know how much you will get out of it when you start drawing it, and the government might adjust for inflation as well.

Private pensions (SIPP means self-invested personal pension), on the other hand, are called defined contribution pensions, which are basically savings accounts with investment aspects and tax-friendly treatment. You put in money, and it is invested in stocks and shares, and when you decide to retire (or are allowed to start drawing from it, at age 55 now in the UK, changing to age 57 in a few years time), you can only get out what you have put in plus any income accrued from the investments.

So you have to be careful with an SIPP and note that it is possible that one might eventually get out less than what you put in. On the other hand, your NHS pension is government-backed - the UK government guarantees you'll get your [specific amount of] money based on your final salary when the time comes.

Conversely, stocks and shares are the best hedge against inflation, which eats up any money you just leave in a bank account.

Generally, if you aren't up to following the stock market and investing, you could use one of the robo-investing schemes, such as Nutmeg where they do the selection of investments for you, take a fee and pay you the income on your investment.

Thank you for this, OgaHR.
As a matter of fact, I don dey look all this investment and pension stuff with a sharper eye recently, I changed jobs and my new employer just re-enrolled me into the pension thing and I was wondering about the one I bin get with my former company and that was when the HR guy told me it would still be there, or I could transfer it, that person fit get plenty pensions if you move around jobs. That was when I started looking at the whole personal pension waka.