₦airaland Forum

Floki737:
This is nice, how long will it take for the bill to be decided on?

Just curious.

Read the details through the link below:

https://www.differentshadesoflifewithmatilio.com/post/potential-shift-in-f-1-visa-requirements-what-international-students-need-to-know

International students in the USA might soon face a new rule that will change the duration of their authorization to stay in the country.

Read the full story through the link below 👇


https://www.differentshadesoflifewithmatilio.com/post/u-s-department-of-homeland-security-proposes-fixed-term-limits-on-international-student-visas

International students in the USA might soon face a new rule that will change the duration of their authorization to stay in the country.

Read the full story through the link below 👇


https://www.differentshadesoflifewithmatilio.com/post/u-s-department-of-homeland-security-proposes-fixed-term-limits-on-international-student-visas

JohnZak:
Thanks for clearing this up. Good luck with your trip and studies.

I’m sorry if this sounds like a personal question; but did you apply for ur green card that time through any of the employment based GC: EB-1A or EB2-NIW?

Please I want to ask if I need my original marriage certificate when filling my DS160 form online?

I got my GC through EB2-NIW. I could have gone with either EB2-NIW or EB-1A but I figured that I stood a better chance with EB2-NIW because of the reach and impact of the research that I was doing at the time.

irumole1975:
I’m sorry if this sounds like a personal question; but did you apply for ur green card that time through any of the employment based GC: EB-1A or EB2-NIW?

Timshin:
Which consulate is this exactly. Because I had my own interview at the Lagos embassy yesterday morning, August 20th, and my visa was issued this morning August 21st, on my caec portal. Exactly 24hrs after my interview. Infact I was called to come and collect my passport today.

I've been expecting to read about your visa approval testimony, and I'm thrilled to finally hear the good news! Congratulations! Now, go ahead and book that business class flight with Qatar Airways.

September 2025 is available for Abuja. January 2026 for Lagos.

October 2025 is available for Lagos. Dates are now available.

October 2025 are now available... If it goes keep checking the site they will still bring it back again

You are right. I spent almost 30 mins switching between Lagos and Abuja before I got the date.

delakson0:
October 2025 are now available... If it goes keep checking the site they will still bring it back again

JohnZak:
I got my GC through EB2-NIW. I could have gone with either EB2-NIW or EB-1A but I figured that I stood a better chance with EB2-NIW because of the reach and impact of the research that I was doing at the time.

Thanks for the response John. At the time you petition the EB2, what was ur profile like? How many publication did u have? Conferences? Were you doing ur PhD that time?

Efetobore1980 said the right thing. Deferring your admission in this situation is better. Learn from my INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT IN JANUARY, 16TH

School: State University of New York, Binghamton.
Course: Mathematics and Statistics
Resumption date and start of class: January, 21st

Supporting document: Letter from my Head of Department, telling VO and even PORT of entry Officer that I should resume by 21st


INTERVIEW PROPER:
Windown 5.

VO: Hand me your documents.
ME: I have another letter for you.....SHE IGNORED ME.

VO: Where are you going to?
ME: I'm going to BU for my Ph.D. study...... with my research interest in ...... [I mentioned it and included the readiness to return to my country]

VO: What will you be working on?
ME: I'll be working on.... I'm nervous here,,,, she cut me

VO: Wait, I know you've prepared and memorized scripts. I don't need them. Just talk to me naturally
ME: I regained my composure and told her the details.

VO: She showed my i-20, telling me the resumption date is 21st, that it would take 3days - a week at latest before my VISA would be ready if at all.
ME: I cut her whilst I was trying to explain the supporting letter from the department.

VO: I don't care about the letter. No ones care about that. Even if you pass here, you would not be allowed to enter at the port of entry.
ME: I continue my argument, because I thought she wanted to deny my VISA based on that.

VO: Cut me again, and said..."I'm not going to give you VISA if you argue with me."
ME: I calmed down.

She went inside for about 5min. Came back with someone, who also try to explain the same thing to me again. Later on, she brought out form 221g and ask me to message my school for updated i-20. I got it updated to Feb. 3rd, and send the to Lagos embassy while I copied my School. After that, I was put on Admin Processing. I was called on Jan. 28th to come and pick my VISA at the embassy gan gan. I travelled on Jan. 30th.

*******
Officers in Embassy and Port of Entry have more power over your VISA than your school. Ask the right question from the right source and do the right thing.

Efetobore1980:
@Ada.
Your school resumes tomorrow, 25th of August, 2025 and you are looking for a date search group today 😎
Do you want to go and do trial and error or how will you explain your late arrival to the consular officer ?

Lets assume that you get a date come next Friday (29th) and your visa got approved, then you should expect to finally pick up your visa let's say fastest 10th of September and you find yourself at the port of entry on the 13th. How will you explain the 15 days you have missed behind at the POE ? Mind you, this is just my assumptions of you as a student from a wealthy family otherwise you may still need additional week (s) to source for travel funds.

You must be a good negotiator to beat any visa officer when attending your visa interview after the start of class. Also don't rely on late arrival letter from your school when your lateness is over 1 - week at the port of entry. Hence, you are facing double brick Walls (embassy & port of entry). Defer your admission. 👍

hallysonia:
Efetobore1980 said the right thing. Deferring your admission in this situation is better. Learn from my INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT IN JANUARY, 16TH

School: State University of New York, Binghamton.
Course: Mathematics and Statistics
Resumption date and start of class: January, 21st

Supporting document: Letter from my Head of Department, telling VO and even PORT of entry Officer that I should resume by 21st


INTERVIEW PROPER:
Windown 5.

VO: Hand me your documents.
ME: I have another letter for you.....SHE IGNORED ME.

VO: Where are you going to?
ME: I'm going to BU for my Ph.D. study...... with my research interest in ...... [I mentioned it and included the readiness to return to my country]

VO: What will you be working on?
ME: I'll be working on.... I'm nervous here,,,, she cut me

VO: Wait, I know you've prepared and memorized scripts. I don't need them. Just talk to me naturally
ME: I regained my composure and told her the details.

VO: She showed my i-20, telling me the resumption date is 21st, that it would take 3days - a week at latest before my VISA would be ready if at all.
ME: I cut her whilst I was trying to explain the supporting letter from the department.

VO: I don't care about the letter. No ones care about that. Even if you pass here, you would not be allowed to enter at the port of entry.
ME: I continue my argument, because I thought she wanted to deny my VISA based on that.

VO: Cut me again, and said..."I'm not going to give you VISA if you argue with me."
ME: I calmed down.

She went inside for about 5min. Came back with someone, who also try to explain the same thing to me again. Later on, she brought out form 221g and ask me to message my school for updated i-20. I got it updated to Feb. 3rd, and send the to Lagos embassy while I copied my School. After that, I was put on Admin Processing. I was called on Jan. 28th to come and pick my VISA at the embassy gan gan. I travelled on Jan. 30th.

*******
Officers in Embassy and Port of Entry have more power over your VISA than your school. Ask the right question from the right source and do the right thing.

@hallysonia


YOU.
She went inside for about 5min. Came back with someone, who also try to explain the same thing to me again. Later on, she brought out form 221g and ask me to message my school for updated i-20. I got it updated to Feb. 3rd, and send the to Lagos embassy while I copied my School. After that, I was put on Admin Processing. I was called on Jan. 28th to come and pick my VISA at the embassy gan gan. I travelled on Jan. 30th.

Your visa was supposed to be denied outrightly as you had obviously frustrated the interview officer but you were saved by the supervisor 😊 Thank you for sharing empirical experience on the query. 👍

Lmaaaooi😂😂😂😂. Thank you bro.

Poormanpikin:
I've been expecting to read about your visa approval testimony, and I'm thrilled to finally hear the good news! Congratulations! Now, go ahead and book that business class flight with Qatar Airways.

Congratulations! Please do you know of any WhatsApp or telegram group I can join to find schools that are offering Full funding or graduate assistant positions in the US

Congratulations! Please do you know of any WhatsApp or telegram group I can join to find full funding or graduate research assistant positions in the US?

Roon9:
*Visa Approved*
Date: 21st Feb.
Attempt: 2nd
Deficit: 6,237
Vo : pretty woman of Dominican descent
Location: Abuja

My wife is the F1 and she left Aug, 2024. At her first attempt, we all travelled down but was denied. Two weeks to the slated date she got full funding but for some reasons they couldnt send a i-20 that reflected the funding and we went with almost 52k deficit; we didn't stand a chance.
Upon her second attempt however, it reflected and she was approved but I just didn't want to take the risk so I stayed back.

On the day of the interview, I tried to be very relaxed and didn't rush down even though I was slated for 9am, I got there few minutes to 9am & joined the long queue( from our first outing I got to know that as long as you are for that date the time stated isn't important)


*Interview*

*Vo* : pass me your passport & i-20s and where are we going today
F2: I'm traveling to columbus, Ohio with my son for three weeks during my annual leave and his summer holiday to visit my wife. She's a first year *** student at the **** currently on full funding.

VO : how long did you say you would be staying
F2: three weeks.

( long pause, she kept checking my son's passport and F1 i-20. She would leave and return, check her system & call out for someone. They were laughing and checking while I was rembering my hallelujah challenge the night before and praying. After 10 minutes plus she asked me to step back as they are trying to verify some things.

The next fellow was called upon to be interviewed and was summarily dismissed after which she called me back. At this point she was still not saying anything and was just focusing on the findings on my i-20. She seem to be writing them out & double checking with what she has on her screen. Meanwhile, before we came, my sister had jokingly asked my son to tell the VO that he wants to see his mommy, while we were asked to wait, I got really discouraged since I could hear everyone else around me getting bounced so I reminded my son to keep saying he wants to see his mommy once the lady calls us again. I thought this would be fruitless because I can't really communicate with him once I'm back with her.

VO: (After what felt like an eternity) How did you to meet?
F2: she was my neighbor during our undergrad years sometime in 2012 and we connected due to our shared passion for food, music & football. (She chuckled at this)

VO: When did you get married?
F2: 4th, July 2020. Around that time the covid pandemic was just getting relaxed so we were lucky to have about 170 persons present for our big day ( Nepa took light at this point and I could see her big screen. She had two separate DS pages side by side so I figured she was comparing the former with the current one. I used this opportunity to whisper to my son to "shout it" and he started singing it. Lol

VO: What do you do? ( she say up to look at my son and she asked what he's saying. I quickly told her and she rolled her eyes.

F2: I quickly started about how I'm a solar engineer with 3 branches in different locations....

VO : (seems to be getting impatient now) how much do you make?

F2: Due to the seasonal nature of the solar business, we sometimes make a quarterly returns of upto....

VO: cuts in.. I need an amount
F2 : 7,000,000

VO: (checks her screen, prolly to confirm my former DS input regarding this) Is he your biological child? And pass me his birth certificate.
F2: yes

VO: Pass me your marriage certificate.
F2: (I have about 4 documents regarding my marriage and didn't really know which she meant so I have her all of them including a wedding picture. She sighed and returned everything that only the certificate. Omo! I gave her what I thought was the certificate and she started checking the dates, comparing with her screen.

VO: have you been outside Nigeria before?
F2: I was in Ghana and togo last December where I collaborated with **, a NGO dedicated to empowering & transforming lives through efficient solar powered water solutions for rural communities across Sub Saharan Africa. Over the course of 3 days, my team and I successfully installed 17 automated water stations in Kumasi, Tamale & Kpalime (Togo)........


VO: congratulations, I'll be holding on to your passport...... Bla blaaaa blaaa! As the saying goes, I couldn't even hear anything after that. All thanks to God Almighty for this victory and also to Sir Don for the mentorship and guidance.

Many thanks Oyotunji and everyone else on this page for all the advice and corrections though I was a silent follower. To all prospective applicants please follow up on the transcripts of those that aced the interviews and learn from it.

Congratulations! How old was your son when your wife traveled?

Roon9:
*Visa Approved*
Date: 21st Feb.
Attempt: 2nd
Deficit: 6,237
Vo : pretty woman of Dominican descent
Location: Abuja

My wife is the F1 and she left Aug, 2024. At her first attempt, we all travelled down but was denied. Two weeks to the slated date she got full funding but for some reasons they couldnt send a i-20 that reflected the funding and we went with almost 52k deficit; we didn't stand a chance.
Upon her second attempt however, it reflected and she was approved but I just didn't want to take the risk so I stayed back.

On the day of the interview, I tried to be very relaxed and didn't rush down even though I was slated for 9am, I got there few minutes to 9am & joined the long queue( from our first outing I got to know that as long as you are for that date the time stated isn't important)


*Interview*

*Vo* : pass me your passport & i-20s and where are we going today
F2: I'm traveling to columbus, Ohio with my son for three weeks during my annual leave and his summer holiday to visit my wife. She's a first year *** student at the **** currently on full funding.

VO : how long did you say you would be staying
F2: three weeks.

( long pause, she kept checking my son's passport and F1 i-20. She would leave and return, check her system & call out for someone. They were laughing and checking while I was rembering my hallelujah challenge the night before and praying. After 10 minutes plus she asked me to step back as they are trying to verify some things.

The next fellow was called upon to be interviewed and was summarily dismissed after which she called me back. At this point she was still not saying anything and was just focusing on the findings on my i-20. She seem to be writing them out & double checking with what she has on her screen. Meanwhile, before we came, my sister had jokingly asked my son to tell the VO that he wants to see his mommy, while we were asked to wait, I got really discouraged since I could hear everyone else around me getting bounced so I reminded my son to keep saying he wants to see his mommy once the lady calls us again. I thought this would be fruitless because I can't really communicate with him once I'm back with her.

VO: (After what felt like an eternity) How did you to meet?
F2: she was my neighbor during our undergrad years sometime in 2012 and we connected due to our shared passion for food, music & football. (She chuckled at this)

VO: When did you get married?
F2: 4th, July 2020. Around that time the covid pandemic was just getting relaxed so we were lucky to have about 170 persons present for our big day ( Nepa took light at this point and I could see her big screen. She had two separate DS pages side by side so I figured she was comparing the former with the current one. I used this opportunity to whisper to my son to "shout it" and he started singing it. Lol

VO: What do you do? ( she say up to look at my son and she asked what he's saying. I quickly told her and she rolled her eyes.

F2: I quickly started about how I'm a solar engineer with 3 branches in different locations....

VO : (seems to be getting impatient now) how much do you make?

F2: Due to the seasonal nature of the solar business, we sometimes make a quarterly returns of upto....

VO: cuts in.. I need an amount
F2 : 7,000,000

VO: (checks her screen, prolly to confirm my former DS input regarding this) Is he your biological child? And pass me his birth certificate.
F2: yes

VO: Pass me your marriage certificate.
F2: (I have about 4 documents regarding my marriage and didn't really know which she meant so I have her all of them including a wedding picture. She sighed and returned everything that only the certificate. Omo! I gave her what I thought was the certificate and she started checking the dates, comparing with her screen.

VO: have you been outside Nigeria before?
F2: I was in Ghana and togo last December where I collaborated with **, a NGO dedicated to empowering & transforming lives through efficient solar powered water solutions for rural communities across Sub Saharan Africa. Over the course of 3 days, my team and I successfully installed 17 automated water stations in Kumasi, Tamale & Kpalime (Togo)........


VO: congratulations, I'll be holding on to your passport...... Bla blaaaa blaaa! As the saying goes, I couldn't even hear anything after that. All thanks to God Almighty for this victory and also to Sir Don for the mentorship and guidance.

Many thanks Oyotunji and everyone else on this page for all the advice and corrections though I was a silent follower. To all prospective applicants please follow up on the transcripts of those that aced the interviews and learn from it.

I applied after my PhD, while I was doing a clinical specialty fellowship. I had 27 publications -- about half were first-author. I also had about 45 conference presentations (mixture of presenting author and co-author presentations). I know someone who had 7 publications and was still approved but their papers were in very high-impact factor journals. Conference presentations don't count a lot regardless of the number.

irumole1975:
Thanks for the response John. At the time you petition the EB2, what was ur profile like? How many publication did u have? Conferences? Were you doing ur PhD that time?

JohnZak:
I applied after my PhD, while I was doing a clinical specialty fellowship. I had 27 publications -- about half were first-author. I also had about 45 conference presentations (mixture of presenting author and co-author presentations). I know someone who had 7 publications and was still approved but their papers were in very high-impact factor journals. Conference presentations don't count a lot regardless of the number.

Hmm. You have a very good profile. Top. So you were a medical doctor before u went for a PhD ?

Kindly add me too. Thanks

Timshin:
Hello King. I would be sending you an email.now so I can send you the link to our F1 group for your date search.

I would like assistance with those who deferred their admission and had paid sevis fee for the fall semester that already began.

Could you please outline the steps to update your F1 visa application with embassy for a new semester.
Did you email the embassy? If yes, what was the response or updates made to your visa application.

For those still wondering what F1 visa is being given, it's single entry with 3 months validity. I submitted for renewal in June before they passed the new rules and was put on AP.

Why is this group so quiet? I should be hearing news of F1 approval na

kimpoyo13:
For those still wondering what F1 visa is being given, it's single entry with 3 months validity. I submitted for renewal in June before they passed the new rules and was put on in AP.

Were you interviewed when you submitted for renewal in June?

I did dropbox

Otelsmyg:
Were you interviewed when you submitted for renewal in June?

Petrified235555:
Why is this group so quiet? I should be hearing news of F1 approval na

People already know that the U.S. is now giving only 3 months visa validity, so it makes more sense to apply around 2–3 months before your school starts. For those going for the January intake, November is when most people will likely start applying. The tough part is that some have even given up on the U.S. because with this short validity, you can’t just travel to see your loved ones and come back freely you’d have to go through the whole visa process again. That’s why many are beginning to see it as stressful and less flexible.

How’s visa application and approvals going for everyone.
We have a WhatsApp group for prospects, send me a DM if you’ll like to be added

I'm still waiting for my new i20 before doing mine. You actually need to fill a new ds160 form with your new sevis ID. Then send a message to support on AVITS portal to update your ds-160 number and sevis ID. When it is done, you will print out the new visa appointment slip that has the updated information.

roborstein:
I would like assistance with those who deferred their admission and had paid sevis fee for the fall semester that already began.

Could you please outline the steps to update your F1 visa application with embassy for a new semester.
Did you email the embassy? If yes, what was the response or updates made to your visa application.