Next time you re-apply go there with a white handkerchief with 2 drops of blood from a white broiler. Make sure you maintain eye contact with the consular during the interview and for every question he asks say 'Gbele'!. I can assure you...you'd be kicked out of there

What has God got to do with getting visa?

On my interview at water Carrington crescent lagos(us embassy), I was given visa approval without questions. tips: don't b too serious, just act as if u re receptionist, meaning" just b friendly with big smiles on Ur face, don't b too serious as if u re going on a wrestling contest.

OP, you dont have to be upset, there are many reasons in your explanations why you should be denied the US Visa.
* Earning 6m per annum and spending 1m for just a visit/shopping sounds crazy to me. 2 months earnings to be blown away just for fun ?
* Choice of New York firstly - Those guys, some of them may have not been to New York all their lives.
* Taking your 'new born' to shop for the kid isnt really a fantastic response
* Taking your wife alongside your kid on your first visit to USA sounds somehow.
Personally, I think you do not have a great reason for visiting USA.

otokx: Well sorry poster but 1 million naira is not enough to cover you, your wife and child air ticket and accomodation not to talk of internal transport then shopping.

Exactly my thots.u hav about 6000usd to go and spend as a tourist and u hav a family of 3.and u want to shop as well? Is it groundnuts u want to go and buy?
As a tourist, they expect u to enjoy sum level of comfort during your stay and so hotel shd cost u about 300usd a night. Hotels aare very expensive in new york, so assuming you are staying for just 10days, u hav eaten up half of ur 'tourist money'. If its two weeks, u'l almost be gettin broke without spending a dime yet in the stores. So if u budget 1000usd for conveyance(at 40cents per mile plus a flat 2.50 per cab ride) and tours(sum cost as much as 300usd per tour) communication (international)food,and other miscelleneous expenses, u practically have nothing left to shop,and u would be stranded. Perhaps they figured this out and decided not to grant u visa. As a tourist, next time maybe peg ur budget at about 15000 or so. Ie abt 2-2.5mill or so
Better luck next time

mba emeka: Next time you re-apply go there with a white handkerchief with 2 drops of blood from a white broiler. Make sure you maintain eye contact with the consular during the interview and for every question he asks say 'Gbele'!. I can assure you...you'd be kicked out of there

Billyonaire: OP, you dont have to be upset, there are many reasons in your explanations why you should be denied the US Visa.
* Earning 6m per annum and spending 1m for just a visit/shopping sounds crazy to me. 2 months earnings to be blown away just for fun ?
* Choice of New York firstly - Those guys, some of them may have not been to New York all their lives.
* Taking your 'new born' to shop for the kid isnt really a fantastic response
* Taking your wife alongside your kid on your first visit to USA sounds somehow.
Personally, I think you do not have a great reason for visiting USA.

Real talk!

You sound like an immigrant to them instead of a tourist and that is something they frown upon. Secondly your going to the most expensive city in the US with over 1/3 of ur earnings as a contractor doesn't sound right.

Just read ur post. Honestly you did not do enough to convince the interviewer.You source of income is questionable to him, I think saying you are a grahic designer did not help you.Do you work for yourself or for under a body? etc.The truth is, your trip is gonna cost more than a million.In the interviewers mind, he will be thinking,If u get about 6M in a year, it does not make sense to spend more than 10% of that on holiday.Again, it is suspicious for a married man, to be planning a holiday without his family Inaddition, you will not be given a visa if you did not know why you were denied the first time.Your response to that question could have been a lot berra... My brother, I have never been denied a US visa, I prepared my wife for a US visa interview and she got it.Even when she told them she was going there to have a baby.

Before you go for your next one(that is if you choose to) please consider my points above.
US visa is not difficult to get. People just dont prepare well enough.

Billyonaire: OP, you dont have to be upset, there are many reasons in your explanations why you should be denied the US Visa.
* Earning 6m per annum and spending 1m for just a visit/shopping sounds crazy to me. 2 months earnings to be blown away just for fun ?
* Choice of New York firstly - Those guys, some of them may have not been to New York all their lives.
* Taking your 'new born' to shop for the kid isnt really a fantastic response
* Taking your wife alongside your kid on your first visit to USA sounds somehow.
Personally, I think you do not have a great reason for visiting USA.

Bilikisu making sense

mba emeka: Next time you re-apply go there with a white handkerchief with 2 drops of blood from a white broiler. Make sure you maintain eye contact with the consular during the interview and for every question he asks say 'Gbele'!. I can assure you...you'd be kicked out of there

God is watching u .

otokx: Well sorry poster but 1 million naira is not enough to cover you, your wife and child air ticket and accomodation not to talk of internal transport then shopping.

you are very correct. Flight ticket for 3 of you alone is over 900k. Hotel, feeding and shopping will be way more than 100k. Your figures didnt add up and that was why you were probabaly denied.

Poster there is no logic to getting a US visa. My brother was refused a student visa with over N50 million in his sponsors account and full fees for Tuition and board already paid. He was in the cubicle for less than 1 minute and The clownsular didnt even look at a single document except his passport and the visa form from the school. He was asked for his name and what he was going to do in the US and after he answered, he was told 'you are not qualified'

Contrast this with my mates senior brother who went for an interview with their late fathers statement that had all of N300,000 in it and got a visa to go to a $40,000 school (tuition & board). Just like in my brothers case, they didnt look at any documents, they just asked the same questions and told him to come back for his visa.

@OP you were not denied US visa because of the money you have in your account but how your reactions to the questions asked on your finance. Those people you are dealing with are well trained psychologist, they can separate honesty from lies from a distance. Nigerians are known to be very arrogant and maybe you acted that way on your first trial who knows. Re apply again and try to be honest when next you are filing your form.

pappilo: Poster there is no logic to getting a US visa. My brother was refused a student visa with over N50 million in his sponsors account and full fees for Tuition and board already paid. He was in the cubicle for less than 1 minute and The clownsular didnt even look at a single document except his passport and the visa form from the school. He was asked for his name and what he was going to do in the US and after he answered, he was told 'you are not qualified'

Contrast this with my mates senior brother who went for an interview with their late fathers statement that had all of N300,000 in it and got a visa to go to a $40,000 school (tuition & board). Just like in my brothers case, they didnt look at any documents, they just asked the same questions and told him to come back for his visa.

Where you there with your brother when he was been interviewed? Please stop the false claim because Nigerians tend to play the victim when its obvious that they are lying. Your brother maybe nervous during his interview but too shy to tell you that he was denied for his inability to speak with confidence and answer questions in the appropriate way

Don't try to impress them, they can sense desperation.
My uncle had this experience in the US embassy last year.
A day to his interview he went to print his bank statement and found a long queue,
in a hurry he left and decided to use an older statement (2 weeks earlier),
the only problem was that the statement had a negative balance. -N57,000

On the day of the interview:
The interviewer asked him who was sponsoring his trip, my uncle said he was.
Then she looked at his bank statement and saw a negative balance and exclaimed
"But you have no money in your account!" My uncle replied: "Thats to show you the
kind of person I am, for the bank to trust enough to even loan me their money"
He said that he's a business man and doesn't believe in putting money in the
bank.
Surprisingly she told my uncle to come back tomorrow for his visa.

Be original and don't sense desperate.

browncool: [size=8pt]Its quite sad and painful going through such horrible experience however, if I were the consular, I would deny you again and again. First of all, after your first denial, you were suppose to apply at least after 6months secondly, I am not sure how long you planned to stay in NY, however, if you make 6m anually and planning to spend 1m for just a vacation, it obviously a red flag. The US Embassy usually do not check for your documents nor bank statement, all they want to see is your ability to speak and convince them and show you are confidence in your speech. You could have lied a little by inflating your annual income. Thirdly, if the ticket for the 3 of you is close to 550-700k Naira and your hotel cost 100 dollars per night and your itinerary says you are visiting for 20days that will be 2k USD which is relatively 1m budget you have mentioned. Now tell me where is your feeding allowance, transportation and miscellaneous?

The OP is whipping sentiment and not everyone will buy his claim.

denitro: Don't try to impress them, they can sense desperation.
My uncle had this experience in the US embassy last year.
A day to his interview he went to print his bank statement and found a long queue,
in a hurry he left and decided to use an older statement (2 weeks earlier),
the only problem was that the statement had a negative balance. -N57,000

On the day of the interview:
The interviewer asked him who was sponsoring his trip, my uncle said he was.
Then she looked at his bank statement and saw a negative balance and exclaimed
"But you have no money in your account!" My uncle replied: "Thats to show you the
kind of person I am, for the bank to trust enough to even loan me their money"
He said that he's a business man and doesn't believe in putting money in the
bank.
Surprisingly she told my uncle to come back tomorrow for his visa.

Be original and don't sense desperate.

Funny but true......lol

Real-Mccoy:

Where you there with your brother when he was been interviewed? Please stop the false claim because Nigerians tend to play the victim when its obvious that they are lying. Your brother maybe nervous during his interview but too shy to tell you that he was denied for his inability to speak with confidence and answer questions in the appropriate way

slowpoke. Speak with confidence? Since when was that a requirement to obtain a visa? He paid his fees and had been accepted by a school. How 'unconfident' could he have in 60 seconds?

I must admit this was in 2005 though. Maybe things have improved.

[b]I also had a similar experience. Few weeks back I went for the interview with my mum, sister and brother after all protocols it was my turn to be interviewed. I walked up to the consular officer exchanged greetings the following questions ensued consular:where are you going to in the us? me: Houston Texas, consular: for what purpose? me: holidaying, consular: what is your occupation? me: I am a ---level Electrical and electronics engineering student in ......university, consular: where are you going to stay in the us? me: to stay with my family friends, consular: who are your family friends me: bla bla and family, consular: what does bla bla do? me: works with so so and owns so so business, consular: how long are you planning on staying in the us? me: just tow weeks, consular: how did ur family friend get to the us? Me: ummm(stutter-because I never envisioned them asking me such an unfair question) he's a resident there. He paused looked at me and typed in d computer before him gave me back my passort didn't collect any document from me and said sorry you are not eligible for a visa at this time and gave me a paper that he said explains why.I was diasspointed because my mum and my sister where granted leaving only me and my brother and we all applied as a family.,,,I don't understand the reason for my denial as this is the first time I have ever been denied a visa. Experienced narialanders please what do you suggest I do? The location of the interview was in lagos.[/b]

Red-Light:
next time ... carry a big horn with red cloth ontop .. go to embassy ... swear for everyone of them, reach their gateman self then leave with ur pride intact then travel to a better city like amsterdam (aka the weed capital of the world) my favourite place

This one don lost for red light district

pappilo: My brother was refused a student visa with over N50 million in his sponsors account and full fees for Tuition and board already paid.

Contrast this with my mates senior brother who went for an interview with their late fathers statement that had all of N300,000 in it and got a visa to go to a $40,000 school (tuition & board). Just like in my brothers case, they didnt look at any documents, they just asked the same questions and told him to come back for his visa.

Who was your brother's sponsor? If it's not your parents, he will not get a visa nowadays.

Contrast that with your mate's senior brother...he used his father's statement, dead or alive.

kulboy: [b]I also had a similar experience. Few weeks back I went for the interview with my mum, sister and brother after all protocols it was my turn to be interviewed. I walked up to the consular officer exchanged greetings the following questions ensued consular:where are you going to in the us? me: Houston Texas, consular: for what purpose? me: holidaying, consular: what is your occupation? me: I am a ---level Electrical and electronics engineering student in ......university, consular: where are you going to stay in the us? me: to stay with my family friends, consular: who are your family friends me: bla bla and family, consular: what does bla bla do? me: works with so so and owns so so business, consular: how long are you planning on staying in the us? me: just tow weeks, consular: how did ur family friend get to the us? Me: ummm(stutter-because I never envisioned them asking me such an unfair question) he's a resident there. He paused looked at me and typed in d computer before him gave me back my passort didn't collect any document from me and said sorry you are not eligible for a visa at this time and gave me a paper that he said explains why.I was diasspointed because my mum and my sister where granted leaving only me and my brother and we all applied as a family.,,,I don't understand the reason for my denial as this is the first time I have ever been denied a visa. Experienced narialanders please what do you suggest I do? The location of the interview was in lagos.[/b]

You are a flight risk.

There is a high probability that if you go to the US you will not return, hence the denial.

thats what I can think of in your case

ogb5:


You are a flight risk.

There is a high probability that if you go to the US you will not return, hence the denial.

thats what I can think of in your case

Nawa o @ Op wish i had some sort of super tip to give but what i'd advise is give it a rest for now. Dont be in a super hurry to go there within the next few months. You said ''this is my second time applying for US tourist visa within the space of 5 months'' that is beginning to sound desperate which many people here have said is a big ''no no''. Better luck next time...

I also gathered that changing interview locations is usually a red flag. You said your first interview was held in Lagos but the second one in Abuja, they will assume you are deliberately avoiding Lagos because you were refused there. Consistency is key, I got this from an ex staff who was very involved with visa issues while there. But i think you should re-apply in Lag after nothing less than 6 months or a year.

Thanks everyone for your candid advise and opinions. Just to point out.. They never placed a ban of any sort on my passport and I applied alone without my family the second time. After reading so many replies, I can deduce from the person who wrote below

[b]@OP, I want to believe the consular office will like to deny your Visa application again and again. They probably have your records from your first interview which you failed. It'll become even more difficult for you to get your USA Visa application granted.

You applying as a Tourist in NY also doesn't sound right. It would have been more convincing if you already made contacts in New York through which your visit can be verified. An average American might find it difficult to believe that a graphic designer turn interior decorator will be able to afford close to $10,000 for a 6 month trip. Maybe it's possible but that's just their mindset, except your company is Noteworthy. (The Nigerian 419/Drug trafficking image wouldn't help either).

So I'll say, if you must visit North America, then why not opt for Canada, Toronto and Vancouver is a good substitute for New York with bright night lights and busy streets. After all you're visiting as a Tourist.

I think the problem has to be with how much I told the consular that I earned annually. He must have thought that 6 million naira annually for someone in his early thirties in Nigeria is too much. I guess he must be conversant with Nigeria and how much an average Nigeria earn. The few people that got the US visa were saying things like 2 million naira, 3 million kind of. If this were the case, the shocking thing will be.... why on earth will a family man in Nigeria that pays house rent of 1 million naira, pays school fees each term for his kids, feed and buy petrol for his car and generator will want to travel when his/ her basic salary is 2 or 3 million naira. I wouldn't even try it. When I travel, I travel large like some people call it. I pay for my hotel and even if I have relations in that particular country I don't stay with them because I love my space and I am a man of class, very fastidious about where I lay my head. I wouldn't travel out of the country if I have 2 million naira balance in my account. That to me is stupidity. In Lagos where I live, I live well drive an AMG benz ( not bragging but just want everyone to understand me). My wife drives a jeep. I am going to America to see what its like and spend my money. I wear designer cloths and was hoping to get some in New York, that influenced the choice of Newyork and my intention was to stay for 2 weeks.

I have over 20 friends in the US who are not qualified but went to America based on student grounds. It is funny because they complain everyday that they want to come home. The other day, one of them who eventually became a US citizen by marrying a black America and later divorcing her was asking for 500 dollars to bring the new 9ja wife to America. She's got her visa but he can't pay her ticket fee.

The pain is just because my intention is clean ( no hidden agenda) and i just feel proud of myself, achievements as a young lad. I always think that I am well qualified for the US visa because I don't have any false documents and I won't be telling the consular a lie. Someone just told me now that... lies that suit the requirements are necessary. So, i am thinking that I could have said that I earned 2 million and I am staying in a hostel and I work with a renowned company. That is what my so many friends that are over there said anyway. This were guys who dropped out when we were in school. So I guess my pain comes from.. how on earth will someone who is NOT soooo qualified, lied and presented oluwole document get a US visa while a genuine applicant like me will be rejected?? No wonder Bill Gates said life is so unfair. Teach your kids the truth but let them know eventually it pays but will not necessarily bail them out.

I am getting it off my chest by hitting the club tonight. Its there loss anyway because I am spending my money. I know they'll eventually give me sometime and I also know that I can't be a winner all the time. Like the saying in yoruba. You don't try to justify your rights all the time, you just let somethings slide even when you know you are right. things happen I guess this is part of life. So lesson learnt. I will just do Canada like someone advised but certainly not now. I will listen when my hood friends tell me about the US and mock me... after all your paparzzi, na me go tell you about US, not until you reach there

WHY DONT YOU GIVE THE GRIEVED SOME SUGGESTIONS RETHER THAN CONDEMN HIS RESPONSES

Billyonaire: OP, you dont have to be upset, there are many reasons in your explanations why you should be denied the US Visa.
* Earning 6m per annum and spending 1m for just a visit/shopping sounds crazy to me. 2 months earnings to be blown away just for fun ?
* Choice of New York firstly - Those guys, some of them may have not been to New York all their lives.
* Taking your 'new born' to shop for the kid isnt really a fantastic response
* Taking your wife alongside your kid on your first visit to USA sounds somehow.
Personally, I think you do not have a great reason for visiting USA.

Spend that money in Obudu instead and you don't even need a visa

ofeseluayakata: What has God got to do with getting visa?

Then you will say what has God to do with your life.... Smh for you in pity

You sound like someone who's trying to prove a point....better put, you sound PROUD