With this answers, it showed you weren’t prepared for the interview.

Send me an email (Addiss.baba@yahoo.com) i can guide you into a proper analysis and prep for your next interview.

ide2012:

My interview answers was not wrong I think but I was nervous at first.

V.o - when did you finish high school
Me- 2020

Vo- have you ever traveled before
Me- no

What will you do after you finish college:
I’ll come back to Nigeria and work here.

Vo- sorry I can’t approve your visa at this time.

Guys I later discovered my sevis number was not updated on my visa appointment and I choose self paying for my fees on my ds160.

Bro, I will say relax, drop your transcript and let people analyze for you.

ide2012:
Guys I was refused my visa on the 27th at Abuja Emb

I am applying again, I'm filling out a new ds160 since I'm going to Lagos this time. what do you guys think, is Lagos ok, and I know evrery where is the same if you answer your questions correctly and confidently, but I'm asking is Lagos Ok ?

I am filling out a new ds160, and there's a question on explain why you have been refused a visa before, what can I say ? need suggestions

Is there a wait time after you're denied before you can apply again ? I am looking to chnage location, is there a wait time

what should I take note of since I have been denied b4? suggestions

I suggest you get someone from the US make the payment for you using Western Union

Otelsmyg:
Pls which app can I use to pay for SEVIS fee without going through the hassle of looking for how to buy dollar.

I would advice you use your dad

Lenashantell:
Please help me decide which is best.
My actual sponsor is my Dad's sister who is a nurse and has been based abroad (same place I'm going) for over 20 years, but I've been advised to use my Dad as my sponsor, he's a lecturer here and we'd have to arrange a statement of account to be able to use him.

this is interesting.

Let’s connect. What course are you going for?

Email me Addisa.baba@yahoo.com

Bleble2022:
This is my school too going for my Master's
So I tap from your blessing too.

Congratulations!!

Congratulations!!! I tap into your grace.

This is my school as well but I am going for a masters.

I wish you best of luck in your schooling

krcboy:
I got my visa today at abuja. Here is my transcript:

Firstly I want to thank God for granting me success in this journey, It can only be Him cos the ammount of fear I had based on the fact that I had no funding and COA was on the highside. Omo my advice is do whatever you wan do o, but put God first.
I also wanna thank the creators of this Group cos the knowledge I gain from here Omo. But all in all I want to thank @⁨𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡.⁩ for the countless mocks and corrections he did for me @⁨Moshkom⁩ for link ing me to @⁨Waju🌱.⁩ my Ever ready VO who run me mock session even at midnight or anytime I message am. Thank you again @⁨Waju🌱.⁩ @sheila my second VO anytime I dey play PUBG mobile I go dey hear " jona why this course" thank you so much Sheila. Thank you @Jerimiah I no fall your hand. Thanks for the mocks
@⁨~Xavier 💯⁩ @⁨~E Don Soft!!!!!!⁩ @⁨~Zuko✰⁩ @⁨Ted .⁩ thank you all
Small story : Omo i witnessed denial plenty, I saw my guys get denied right in front of me, But I wasnt nervous for some reason I was smiling all through and making jokes with my guys. One guy was asked a question He started talking something them no ask am😭. One Guy in the waiting area, during passport checks, that woman asked him I see you been to Ghana so what year did you go, He said something wrong she disagreed with him then she asked him again how long did you stay in ghana he said 1day(long story short, she seized his old passport and said she was going to flag it )

Interview proper:
SCHOOL : EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY
COURSE :Bsc In Computer and Information Science.
COA: 45,000$
*No Funding*
* VO : BALD MAN IN ABUJA*
* First Attempt*

V.O - Have you travelled outside Nigeria before?

ME- No

V.O-When did you finish your highschool?

ME- In 2019 sir


V.O- What do you do here in Nigeria

ME- Im currently interning as a junior software developer at Microsoft Nigeria, where my roles includes me writing basic codes, assisting the senior software developers in their day to day tasks and also Testing out new softwares.

V.O - So you are working at Microsoft?

ME - No, Im volunteering as an intern at Microsoft Nigeria.


V.O-Who will be paying for your education?

ME - My father has demonstrated his ability to pay for my studies before my i-20 was issued. He is the Chief Medical Director at Reddington hospital in Lagos, as well as a private Medical Consultant to several hospitals around Lagos. Asides from that , He has set aside a savings account which he intends to fund my education with.


V.O- What will you be doing after your program

ME- I will be returning back to Nigeria for my mandatory NYSC program, Afterwhich I will be applying for a job role as a software developer at the Ministry of Science and Technology in Nigeria where I will be working with government agencies to create software solutions that can enhance citizen engagement. (he nodded)

* Small talk him and I had*

So have you paid your sevis fee? (na here I know e don soft)
Yes and he asked how I did, I said I used western Union and he said ohh Nice that it was fast cos I paid it in yesterday and its always slow going from Nigeria to there. and laughed.

Next thing I heard was Everything Looks good, I will be approving your visa this white paper will guide you .... I thanked him and left as I came out of the consular office, I showed everyone that were still in the waiting area my white paper" I don get am" . They laughed and I ran out🤭🤭🤭

Observations ; He likes straight to the point answer and Eye contact, especially when you talking of ur sponsor, make sure you look him directly cos thats when he will pause what he is doing to look at you and judge from there. Also, just try to be calm even if everywhere blue , distract yourself and lastly, pray its important.

As long as you have your I-20, it should be a problem I guess

kenlouis:
Pls is this gist about dollar rate going to impact on an already submitted SOA. Like for those who already received I20.

Thank you

ikelords:
I wasn't fully funded. Your job roles/ duties and how you explain them matters .. It was my first try and I had a deficit of 32k usd

How much do you think should be fine. I know it mustn’t be too big as well.

BigIyanga:

80m/per annum/6.6m seems low for someone witn a huge investment portfolio .. by the time, he’s done taking care of his immediate family, he may not have enough left to cover ur $40k deficit.

In filling your DS-160, what did you put as your monthly salary ?

GirlyLois:
VISA DELEYED 20th June 2023
Lagos Embassy
6:30 appointment but I was interviewed around 7
Will just go straight to the interview 🥲
Me:Goodmorning sir
Vo:Good morning,pass me your passport &i20
Vo:what course are you going for?
Me:I’m going for masters of public Administration at Georgia southern university,statesboro
Vo:Do you have a bachelor’s degree?
Me:Yes I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in History &International studies from delta state university Abraka and I graduated in 2021.
Vo:I can see you have a 39,257 deficit ,how will you cover for it?
Me:My beloved maternal uncle will be covering my deficit ,he has been sponsoring my education since my first degree and since my father fell ill in 2016 and he also understands the importance of this degree to my career advancement.
Vo:what does he do and how much is his income?
Me:He is a successful business man ,he is into real estate and hospitality,he is a major player in this business for 20 years now with 15 rental apartments across Lagos ,Abuja ,he owns an hotel with a staff strength of 25 and a combined income of 80m.
Vo:so you are telling me your uncle has makes an annual income of 80m ?
Me:Yes sir ,he makes 80m annually.
At this point he was just typing and typing he didn’t even look up self .Then the next thing I heard was😣👇🏼
Vo:Sorry we have strict policies bla bla and gave me blue paper😩


Please gurus in the house what went wrong ,I need your advice on this and how to go about it next time🥲Should I have used my parent instead or is the uncle income too small? Cause I want to reapply and my program earliest date is august and I don’t know if I should still go to Lagos embassy or Abuja ?

Guys, has anyone gotten date yet with Abuja embassy?

The wait is getting longer mehn

Yes it is. Questions that can come up are:

Your Relationship with the person
How did the person get into the US(very important). NB: I hope it wasn’t through F1 cos that’s a red flag
Status of the person in the US
What the person does in the US and annual income of the person.

kenlouis:
Hello,
Please is it possible for somone in the US to provide me with POF like a foreign statement of account for I20 application?
Will it be a concern during the visa interview?

I agree with you. Are there some salient things you think they pay attention to in the DS-160?

Was it your first shot? Or have you been denied before?

We’re you fully funded?

ikelords:
There is nothing to learn from mine o.. my interview was just funny and few questions were asked... It seems they study your Ds160 before you arrive and know who to give visa or not. Pray for God's mercy most especially.

This is quite tricky but the truth is your visa can still be approved.

This one your husband is there, there is a likelihood the VO sees a great potential of not coming back.

Basically, you need to prove a very strong home tie. What are you coming back to do. What were you doing before.

Do you have children? If yes what are you plans for taking care of them.

Sponsorship: do you have funding? If yes better for you. If not, who is your sponsor?

Don’t b discouraged to give it a try!

Just4000:
Please I need help here on these;
1. How possible can one be granted visa, when given admission in same school with your spouse who is already there studying? (Am trying to go on f1 as well)

2. What are the likely questions that one need to prepare for in cases like this?

It’s an error from the portal. Just ignore it and schedule a new date. You don’t have any issues

reigningme:
On the cgi portal of someone who had a delay, it is showing , your passport is still with the US embassy. What could be wrong. In addition, she is planning to reapply

Hello All,

I am just putting this out there for people who just got denied. Please note, there is always so much urge to try again without correcting the main issue that caused your denial.

This happened to me and I am regretting that I tried it again. I was denied Dec 2021, two days after I got new MRV, got lucky with EA that got approved and got another date for January 2022 but I still got denied because I didn’t address the main issue.

It’s over a year now and I want to try again. I now know better and my situation has changed 360 degrees however, The truth still remains that the more denials one has , the lesser the chances of been approved. Anyways, miracle no Dey tire Jesus and I am doing this Afraid all the same.

So guys, please ensure you understand why you were denied and probably defer your admission and then try again at a later time.

May we all have good luck before these VOs.

The visa fee remains $160 however the exchange rate changes from time to time.

As at two days ago, it’s still N75200

Ogundare26:
Please how much is the visa fee now is it still $160 ? I want to get a new one tommorow and I am not sure if it is still $160

Hello great people.

I just got a new MRV in the same account I was denied last year. The EA option doesn’t show up on my portal I thought it was going to reset with a new MRV.

I also couldn’t create a new account so I had to stick to my old account.

I was denied January last year.

TEMIT0PE:
Then maybe you should email them (support-nigeria@ustraveldocs.com) and explain your situation

Hello great people

Is anyone having issues with registering on the cgi portal? I keep getting “your request cannot be processed at this time. The site administrator has been alerted”

this is really comprehensive. I learnt a lot from it.

Thank you very much!

TeeD:


Wow. a few things:
how old are you?


the VO thinks that pharmacy and chemistry aren't closely linked. Here's how you could have responded:
"Yes, my college bachelor's degree was in pharmaco-chemistry" or some shit like that. Always know what the VO wants to hear and try as much as you can to give him that. That question is to show if what you studied, or currently do is linked to what you're going to study. Every question counts.

Also, seems you were already answering the 'what will you do after your studies' question, and the VO thinks you were trying to be disingenuous with your answers. Answer what is being asked, or closely. Don't answer unrelated questions, or at least answer the main questions without a doubt and see that the VO is nodding before moving on to your own agenda.


This question is to ascertain the economic status of your sponsor. You're supposed to use recognizable words like:
My sister, she and her husband (if she's married) are Cofounders of Bleep Company, a logistics tier-2 company based in Aba, with headquaters in X. Upsell your sponsor to improve your chances. $10k is not much money, this question was just the last straw.



"Yes, if you mean sponsoring part of my college education" shows that your sister has always been involved in sponsoring you in some way (especially if she's 10 years older) eg pocket money. If you answer Yes, then demonstrate that it has always been the little things, and this master's education is the apex of all when she'll finally stop sponsoring. Don't say all of this, of course, but you get the point. Say something that hints that your dear sister and her husband has been involved in your career progress.

the question isn't really a big deal and I can see why you immediately answered "No." which is equally a good answer but depends on what you follow with it. How would you even know if she has sponsored anybody before? Not sure if this question is really a thing. Maybe you should verify with your sister if she has, the visa officers might keep a record, who knows?


My advice is, you should try again soon. And prepare harder. Get every possible question and get the appropriate answers. Remember, it isn't about how truthful you can answer, it's about what they want to hear (truthful of course). If you have a deep Nigerian accent, then you want to keep your answers short, sweet, and to the point.

Get someone to look at your DS160 form, most disqualifications result from what is entered into that file. Usually, the VO makes up their mind before you even open your mouth. Make sure you have enough social and family ties back home. really important

Asinnn

Like I literally wait and refresh everyday looking forward to his transcript.

80-90% of people I have seen on this thread with MPOWER Loan gets denied. So I was eagerly looking for his own and what made the difference

Zihno:


You shouldn’t have dropped this if you weren’t going to follow up with your visa transcript especially after several people asked you.

Can you please share your transcript. It is going to help a lot of people here

Belle123:
Yes . I got approved using Mpower loan of 48k and personal funds of 10k

There is really no manual for this US Visa thing. I have read someone here whose sponsor is in the US and still got the visa.

It marvels me sometimes.

BigIyanga:

It’s very hard for bur brother in the US to pay $19k every year for your study.
You have no hometies

Please don’t try this at all.

Use bank statement and then when you get to the US sort out MPOWER.

I was a victim of this. Nobody informed me. I got denied twice due to the whole MPOWER thing.

ajayiolatunb:
Hello House,

Please I will like to know, if anyone have gotten US visa approved before, using solely mpower loan as funding.

well, it’s not compulsory but you must be able to convince the VO why that person who is not related to you by blood wants to spend that much on your education.

What does the person stand to gain.

cobby14:
Please is it compulsory for the sponsor to be related by blood or I can have someone who is not related by family be my sponsor. Do I stand a chance

Hey, you shouldn’t have even mentioned your sister at all.

Also, from my experience Loans are somewhat a red flag too. Avoid them as much as possible

So my advise is, get another sponsor, don’t use loans at all, and hope that the VO hasn’t put a serious note on your profile cause that your sister ish is a major red flag!

Are you married? Do you have kids here in 9ja? You need a very strong home tie as well.

Good luck to you

Bluemix:
Visa Transcript
May 23, Lagos
Status: Delayed not denied
COA : $60045
Deficit: 46k (31k loan(tuition bal) 15k fam support(living cost)


VO: Good morning
Me: Good morning sir

VO: Have you traveled before?
Me: No, I haven’t had any need to

VO: where are you going to?
Me: ( knowing that he just wants me to say worchester Massachusetts) rather I said I am going to obtain a master in marketing analytics program in Clark university school of management ( VO looked at me like he was about to cut) then I said Worcester Massachusetts, he nods his head yes.

VO: what did you study?
Me: I studied Business Administration at the National Open University of Nigeria

VO: what do you do?or what are you doing?
Me I work as a sales administrator at *** international limited a global business conglomerate, in my role, I streamline data from sales invoices and design sales prospecting plan, was about to start and use customer insights from web analytics VO CUTS AND SAY (next question)

VO: how are you paying for your study
Me: I have a merit based scholarship of 40% of my program cost,(looks at my i20) and to cover my short fall, I have loan and my family support from my sister, she makes an annual income of $***, *** as a senior software
engineer at Big tech, Bay Area California in the USA
Me bringing out my SOA
VO: How did she go?
Me: she went through an FI visa application

VO: So she never returned?
Give me back my passport and i20 and passport
Sorry ma’am I won’t be approving your visa today

I said thank you.


---------------------
How can I navigate the question in my new appointment? My sis is now a permanent resident(GC). She left in 2018 for a 2yr masters and has not visited since then. I added this info in the relative in section in my ds160

What could I say? I did not anticipate this at all and VO just denial me without an opportunity to speak.

Please share it ASAP 😀😀😀

Congratulations to you

Tingale773:
Hello! I've been following this thread and reading the experiences of other members silently, I am grateful to everyone who shared their visa interview transcripts because it helped me in one way or the other. I got my visa approved at first try recently without funding. I will share my experience soon.

This depends on your school. Do you have full funding? If not you would be required to send bank statements for your deficit.

It shouldn’t take up to two weeks to get it sent to you.

Swaycater:
Good morning everyone, I will like to ask how long it takes before someone can get i20 form after gaining admission

Thank you for this Chief.

The narrative I am thinking of pushing is that of my job.

After my last denial last year January , I got a role with an oil firm. It’s an IT cloud/DevOps Engineer role. They sponsor one staff per year for schooling to come back and utilize the knowledge for the growth of the company.due to my excellent performance last year, I got on this offer and they r sponsoring me. My salary has also greatly increased from the last interview till now……

Not sure how convincing this sounds.

Please can I have your inputs 🙏🙏🙏

BigIyanga:

Funding is your biggest enemy.
If you dont want to be classified as a perennial applicant, you have to fix your funding issues.
If you’re self-funded now, how did you go from personal loan to self-funding? Did you win BetNaija?
Have you thought about going back to Civil Engineering where your core strength is?
Remember you’re competing for funding with Asians in Asia and US….who are more likely to have majored in CS with proven work history and publications.

Good luck.

Thank you so much Chief,

Yes I know this like I know my name. Funding is my greatest enemy here.

Another challenge is that to apply for civil Engineering is even going to be difficult cause I don’t have more than 5 months experience post NYSC.

I have been doing IT in the past 3 yrs. It makes it more complicated for me cause civil Engineering might not even give me funding without experience.

Andracarles:
It is very difficult to get funding for computer science, especially as your first degree is not in CS, and you seem not to have any work experience. did you write gre? the thing is that, for someone who has gone twice, you need funding. you need it badly. my advice to you would be to write gre, look for funding in civil engineering, get your visa, when you reach the US, you can transfer sevis to any school you wish and study any course you wish. your chances of approval without funding are low. not impossible, but low. and if that happens, you are looking at interview number 4. not a good place to be.

I don’t mind sharing my profile tbh.

this your analysis was my exact projection but it did not just work.

Applied to four schools, 2 gave admission other didn’t. The two that gave TTU and ETSU. I personally wrote to several professors for assistantship but to no avail.

Reached out to some 9ja students in TTU via LinkedIn and they told me that it’s very difficult to get funding in Computer science department as a masters student. Some of them even advised to check other schools as they are even facing some issues with the department.

I am in touch with the program coordinator for ETSU. He is very responsive. He said they funded only 10 people out of about 400 students applicants . He further said even tho my application was one of the top considered but I couldn’t fall into the 10 people that got funding.

I also reached out to another 9ja student in ETSU and he said if you are able to get visa, with your skills set, you will get job here.

Brief Profile

I had my first degree in Civil Engineering. Grad 2017.

Switched to IT during COVID and have been working since then

First application was to WPI. Had a loan of $50k and COA was about $43k. Same goes for the other one( I just jumped into the second one based on impulse from the first)

Now I and trying ETSU. I haven’t gotten I-20 yet cause I am trying to get peoples opinion before I start using money to get POF.

I am open to constructive criticism here. From your experiences and analyzing my chances

Thank you

BigIyanga:

We all know that $300 is a lot of money for most Nigerians… but you have to see it as a return on investment ie. If u use $300 to gain $30k scholarship/stipend/gtra/.. it means ratio of return is 1:100. This na best legal ritual and Betting odds.
It’s up to u to choose what you would like to do. Do you want to share your profile so that other folks can critique and swot-analyze it… for a better outcome.

Good luck!!

Thank you so much for this. Yes my financial situation has improved greatly from the last interview.

I have spent about 300 dollars applying to schools and trying to get funding but it’s all negative. I get the admissions but not the funding.

From my assessment, my last denials were based on the fact that I was using MPOWER loan solely for the funding. I had low income and couldn’t prove that I can pay back the loan upon my return to 9ja.

Got a couple of people who advised that it was a wrong decision to have solely used loan for funding. Tbh, I had given up this whole race not until recently.

I am actually doing this very very scared but maybe an extra trial wouldn’t hurt.

BigIyanga:

You have had 2 strikes and cant afford to be inconsistent with your answers.. if your financial situation has changed, you have to make it make sense to the VO.

You have to tell yourself the truth.. what caused 2 denials in the last 2yrs plus? If you didn't get funded in the last 2 interviews, why are you going on the same route of no-funding? Try something different.
Only you can help you! Good luck