₦airaland Forum

Jesuslovepeace:
Hi everyone please I need help for you guys �I apply for US student visa and I went for the visa this year January.the school that I apply for was Phoenix east aviation Florida,the officer who ask me some questions was a lady in Abuja.so she ask me all the questions which I have been studying I answer,them she ask me if I have travel before I said no and she said sorry will can not give you this visa.so what should I do guys?the school said I should go back and I have book another appointment day which is January.i need you guys help

Jummie14:
School: Western Illinois University, MS QE
Funding:4K
Deficit: 18k
Embassy: AbujA, window 8

VO: Your application looks good
Me: Nodding, yes it does

I have approved you, take this and
enjoy your stay.
VO: Bye bye (in a very friendly tune)

Before the interview, I was praying I do not want the most talked about K.guy. Well when it was my turn I was signaled to and went. Twas after the interview someone said wow you interviewed with the K.guy. I was like was that him?���, seriously �
My interview was stressless, God showed up big time.
Thank you all.

Akinoj044:
Hello house,
Please I need help also. I recently gained admission into a Seminary at Minnesota, USA with a full tuition scholarship while I only have to pay about 6.6k usd for rent and all and I'm to resume by fall 2022, September.
However I have not gotten any reasonable date as I have April 2023 as my date currently and I'm only hoping to file in for expedited interview within the 60days to my program start date of 14th September, 2022.

I have tried to reschedule about 3 times (I couldn't get a reasonable date either) and I logged out each time. Does it have any implication I must be aware of?

Is there any penalty really if I file in for expedited interview before the 60days ultimatum since there are issues with the process itself? I mean can I file in for expedited interview ahead? Reason is because there are protocols as an Anglican priest and i want to beat the time in a way.

I anticipate our friendly advice and responses

Schrodinger2:
When were you refused?

melinaaa:
quote this with your number

Alexanderfrost:
Hi Michaelshow,

Location really does not matter!

Lagos entertain a lot more applicants than Abuja, hence the higher number of delays than Abuja. Lagos also gives out more visa than Abuja, so make of it what you may.

Having said that, you might want to consider your present location, mental frailness and stolid manner before you pick a location.

All the very Best!

ObodoNaija:
There is a Telegram group for information about F-1 visa. Search for F1USVISAHOPEFULS on Telegram.

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

melinaaa:
Please anyone with abuja link for dates? help please!!!

Tirinng:
Good morning
Please does COA includes living expenses?

Captaintitan:
Yea it does

melinaaa:
quote this with your number

Christalt:
Congrats on everything. I’m so very happy for you.
Duly noted the tips you’ve given.
I’m about to fill out my d160 form this week, but with regards to sop, I’d gone through the form and didn’t know that would be required for post graduate tho.
Pls share a little more light.

Christalt:
Sorry I forgot to ask.
Are you sponsoring yourself , or did you put in a sponsor? If you did, who ?
I’m asking because I’m my sponsor and I have over 10 years of work experience. I’m hoping putting myself as the sponsor won’t be an issue.
Pls allow my draw from your experience..... many thanks

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.

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

pelpizy:
I was denied January, can I pick regular because there is no date for Previously, refused

Tirinng:
Good morning
Please does COA includes living expenses?

prince876:
Good evening guys

My wife and I applied for the F1 and F2 Visa appointment in Lagos but got a January 23rd, 2023 date.

My class start date is August 22, 2022.

Can anyone help with how I can get an Expedite Date for June? I will also love to join the F1 WhatsApp group( +27739432113) for guidance and more updates.

Thank you and congrats to everyone who has gotten their visa approved

Bofoni11:
Please can anyone help me with the whatsapp group

We have a few number of undergraduates. My son’s F1 visa got approved last week. Nothing spectacular about the interview and I don’t think there is much to learn but all the same, I will share the transcript below.

Pious101:
pls this is my first time visiting here....my sister is applying for MSc studies in USA and in an attempt to book an appointment we discover she had to fill an Ds-160 form first....my question is should that be the first thing before proceeding? Thanks for Ur anticipated response