₦airaland Forum

abbeymaniak:
Congrats, pls am new to dis. Can we dm I need u to put Mr tru wit sometins pls

frankarecords:
Has anyone gotten emergency date from the embassy?I herd thy hardly reply the request in time.i booked mine since yestaday and hoping I can get a mail from them today.so any one gotten a mail from them before?

Horayce:
VISA APPROVED this morning at the Abuja US consulate office
Hasn't sunk in yet. I'll post a full debrief later.

sobatec:
I asked for advice not insult please if u know u can't help don't ask how far let d guru advice at least I have seen some one did it here

Ctemi:
Got my emergency request approved same day I make request

frankarecords:
Wow serious? When was that? Sent mine dis morin and gettin scared thy won't reply me.i am really praying thy approve mine.let me wait and pray.

Ctemi:
Last week friday

I woke up this morning around five thirty and went for a light 2km run. I’m an occasional runner and it’s something I usually do when I have a big event (say, a job interview, a presentation, a major exam). It usually helps my mood immensely when I run. I got home, and wanted to go over a 3 page word document I prepared last night for my interview, instead I just wolfed down breakfast and watched BBC. Mum came over to my room and said a little prayer with me though I’m not really into praying. About 8.30 I drove off to the Abuja consulate office (it’s about 12 mins from my family home) and was surprised by how chill the venue was relative to all the stories I hear about US embassies. I was thinking I’d be asked to wait till my appointed time but the guards ushered me in just before or after 9am ( much earlier than my interview appointment time of 10:15) That’s how the protocol and document checks began till I was moved, a moment later, into the section with the VOs.

Standing on the queue I was still a bit fidgety and caught myself making nervous movements with my feet, despite how well prepared I thought I was. One slim light skinned chick directly behind me looked far more assured. I noticed how crisp her greetings to the guards and protocol officers were compared to mine during the document checks. Read about how people try to make small talk to break the ice, but the people on my queue no gree at all. Chalked it down to the Abuja factor. Went through the pre interview routine without much hassle and tried to use it to rehearse my gestures just before I go against the real VOs. I found it hard to pay attention to what was going on around me but I felt visa approval rates were quite fair today. Some young undergrad bound chap who couldn’t even remember where he kept his grant/funding letter was given his visa. The friendly looking male VO who attended to him wished him a merry Christmas. At counter nine, a female VO, probably in her early to mid thirties was grilling an F1 visa applicant, asking him for reasons why he would return to Nigeria. He went off saying he was a reverend father and there’s no way he would live in another man’s land at the expense of his fatherland. I thought his response was so-so but he spoke quite confidently and he was granted his visa. On the queue, I wished the male applicant before me good luck and the fair lady behind me good luck.

And then it was my turn at counter nine.

VO: Next applicant..
Me: Hello (with a forced smile).
VO: What are you going to do in the US?
ME: I’m going to study a post graduate degree in Subsea Engineering at the University of Houston. (I didn’t say more than that, against my colleague’s better judgment that I should be as vocal as possible. But I observed and noticed how some applicants before me who were talking plenty weren’t necessarily the most composed. I was still slightly nervous and went for the cool and calm method, opting to give measured answers for anything I was asked)
VO: When did you finish your undergraduate studies?
Me: I finished in 2006 from FUTMINNA with a bachelors in mechanical engineering.
VO: What have you been doing since?
ME: My core work experience to date has been in banking and finance.
VO: So why are you going to do engineering?
ME: Well, I had a career rethink right around late 2013 and was looking at other career options. I wanted to go back to my engineering roots and an ex school mate of mine who works as an Instrument engineer with an oil services firm recommended I give subsea engineering a try. I did my independent research and found the UH Subsea curriculum a good fit for my academic and career needs. (By this time I had my composure back and was a bit more relaxed)
VO: Did you apply to other schools.
ME: Yes. I was admitted to study Subsea Engineering at Curtin university, Perth, Western Australia but UH was my first choice. (*In my notes I was going to tell the VO I applied to four engineering programs but that sequence skipped my mind).
VO: Did you do the GRE?
ME: Yes
VO: Can I have your score report? (I panicked a bit, couldn’t remember hearing any applicant being asked for a Test score sheet. I thought by now she still wasn’t convinced I was a strong applicant for a masters program in engineering.)
ME: Gave her my GRE & TOEFL score sheet
VO: Looks like you applied to many schools
ME: Yes I sent my scores to quite a number of schools (I sent scores to 10 schools, lol, I was worried again that I didn’t mention I had applied to more than ten schools for management & engineering programs. I only mentioned the one in Australia when I was asked earlier on)
Vo: Who will sponsor your education.
ME: My mum
VO: What does she do?
ME: She works with XX banking institution.
VO: Ok, your visa has been approved, kindly pick it up on Tuesday….

Was a bit thrown off by how it ended all of a sudden, considering the applicant before me spent quite a bit of time with her. I grabbed my documents and wanted to ask her hey, just that? But kicked against it before she changed her mind for being a confused applicant. As I left I met the chick who was behind me and was kind of shocked she was already done with hers. I acted all glum and told her I wasn’t given mine. She brushed it off saying yeah right she heard the VO approving my visa. She was also granted hers. On our way out she was the one giving all the guards tips, I left my wallet in the car and just looked on like a mumu who didn’t know how things were done in naija. I also did well to collect her number and bade her good luck in her PhD program in public health.

It goes without saying that this thread has been of tremendous help to me. I began this process from around mid 2013 and at that point it looked like a tall order I’d never surmount. I just lurked around for the longest time reading and soaking bits of advice from active forum members. I really just want to say thank u to everyone for being such a helpful and supportive family and really wish the rest of spring 2015 and fall 2015 hopefuls all the best in their applications. One thing of note that worked for me was my determination to be as honest as possible. I have zero experience in engineering and read on here about how VO’s deny people who go for stuff unrelated to what they’ve been doing. I took the advice and was tempted to embellish my resume or lie about the fact in my interview. But then I trusted my inner instinct to remain as honest as I can possibly be about my intentions to study. So for people who don’t fit the ideal requirements in terms of age, work experience, course of study, etc. Try to do the best you can in your application in areas u can control like your SAT/GRE/TOEFL/ scores. Apply to good reputable programs and maintain a consistent and coherent narrative about your intentions so that when you’re in front of the VO you’d be far more convincing. Some applicants today were giving out canned and memorized answers. I believe reading other people’s transcripts had such a calming influence on me in the end and made my preparations far less difficult than it would have been. Thanks for everything. Dogged determination and honesty would see you through!

Horayce:
VISA APPROVED this morning at the Abuja US consulate office
Hasn't sunk in yet. I'll post a full debrief later.

Ctemi:
Last week friday

Horayce:
I woke up this morning around five thirty and went for a light 2km run. I’m an occasional runner and it’s something I usually do when I have a big event (say, a job interview, a presentation, a major exam). It usually helps my mood immensely when I run. I got home, and wanted to go over a 3 page word document I prepared last night for my interview, instead I just wolfed down breakfast and watched BBC. Mum came over to my room and said a little prayer with me though I’m not really into praying. About 8.30 I drove off to the Abuja consulate office (it’s about 12 mins from my family home) and was surprised by how chill the venue was relative to all the stories I hear about US embassies. I was thinking I’d be asked to wait till my appointed time but the guards ushered me in just before or after 9am ( much earlier than my interview appointment time of 10:15) That’s how the protocol and document checks began till I was moved, a moment later, into the section with the VOs.

Standing on the queue I was still a bit fidgety and caught myself making nervous movements with my feet, despite how well prepared I thought I was. One slim light skinned chick directly behind me looked far more assured. I noticed how crisp her greetings to the guards and protocol officers were compared to mine during the document checks. Read about how people try to make small talk to break the ice, but the people on my queue no gree at all. Chalked it down to the Abuja factor. Went through the pre interview routine without much hassle and tried to use it to rehearse my gestures just before I go against the real VOs. I found it hard to pay attention to what was going on around me but I felt visa approval rates were quite fair today. Some young undergrad bound chap who couldn’t even remember where he kept his grant/funding letter was given his visa. The friendly looking male VO who attended to him wished him a merry Christmas. At counter nine, a female VO, probably in her early to mid thirties was grilling an F1 visa applicant, asking him for reasons why he would return to Nigeria. He went off saying he was a reverend father and there’s no way he would live in another man’s land at the expense of his fatherland. I thought his response was so-so but he spoke quite confidently and he was granted his visa. On the queue, I wished the male applicant before me good luck and the fair lady behind me good luck.

And then it was my turn at counter nine.

VO: Next applicant..
Me: Hello (with a forced smile).
VO: What are you going to do in the US?
ME: I’m going to study a post graduate degree in Subsea Engineering at the University of Houston. (I didn’t say more than that, against my colleague’s better judgment that I should be as vocal as possible. But I observed and noticed how some applicants before me who were talking plenty weren’t necessarily the most composed. I was still slightly nervous and went for the cool and calm method, opting to give measured answers for anything I was asked)
VO: When did you finish your undergraduate studies?
Me: I finished in 2006 from FUTMINNA with a bachelors in mechanical engineering.
VO: What have you been doing since?
ME: My core work experience to date has been in banking and finance.
VO: So why are you going to do engineering?
ME: Well, I had a career rethink right around late 2013 and was looking at other career options. I wanted to go back to my engineering roots and an ex school mate of mine who works as an Instrument engineer with an oil services firm recommended I give subsea engineering a try. I did my independent research and found the UH Subsea curriculum a good fit for my academic and career needs. (By this time I had my composure back and was a bit more relaxed)
VO: Did you apply to other schools.
ME: Yes. I was admitted to study Subsea Engineering at Curtin university, Perth, Western Australia but UH was my first choice. (*In my notes I was going to tell the VO I applied to four engineering programs but that sequence skipped my mind).
VO: Did you do the GRE?
ME: Yes
VO: Can I have your score report? (I panicked a bit, couldn’t remember hearing any applicant being asked for a Test score sheet. I thought by now she still wasn’t convinced I was a strong applicant for a masters program in engineering.)
ME: Gave her my GRE & TOEFL score sheet
VO: Looks like you applied to many schools
ME: Yes I sent my scores to quite a number of schools (I sent scores to 10 schools, lol, I was worried again that I didn’t mention I had applied to more than ten schools for management & engineering programs. I only mentioned the one in Australia when I was asked earlier on)
Vo: Who will sponsor your education.
ME: My mum
VO: What does she do?
ME: She works with XX banking institution.
VO: Ok, your visa has been approved, kindly pick it up on Tuesday….

Was a bit thrown off by how it ended all of a sudden, considering the applicant before me spent quite a bit of time with her. I grabbed my documents and wanted to ask her hey, just that? But kicked against it before she changed her mind for being a confused applicant. As I left I met the chick who was behind me and was kind of shocked she was already done with hers. I acted all glum and told her I wasn’t given mine. She brushed it off saying yeah right she heard the VO approving my visa. She was also granted hers. On our way out she was the one giving all the guards tips, I left my wallet in the car and just looked on like a mumu who didn’t know how things were done in naija. I also did well to collect her number and bade her good luck in her PhD program in public health.

It goes without saying that this thread has been of tremendous help to me. I began this process from around mid 2013 and at that point it looked like a tall order I’d never surmount. I just lurked around for the longest time reading and soaking bits of advice from active forum members. I really just want to say thank u to everyone for being such a helpful and supportive family and really wish the rest of spring 2015 and fall 2015 hopefuls all the best in their applications. One thing of note that worked for me was my determination to be as honest as possible. I have zero experience in engineering and read on here about how VO’s deny people who go for stuff unrelated to what they’ve been doing. I took the advice and was tempted to embellish my resume or lie about the fact in my interview. But then I trusted my inner instinct to remain as honest as I can possibly be about my intentions to study. So for people who don’t fit the ideal requirements in terms of age, work experience, course of study, etc. Try to do the best you can in your application in areas u can control like your SAT/GRE/TOEFL/ scores. Apply to good reputable programs and maintain a consistent and coherent narrative about your intentions so that when you’re in front of the VO you’d be far more convincing. Some applicants today were giving out canned and memorized answers. I believe reading other people’s transcripts had such a calming influence on me in the end and made my preparations far less difficult than it would have been. Thanks for everything. Dogged determination and honesty would see you through!

djmakson:
First of all let me congratulate you on your breakthrough. I also want to commend your precise and concise transcript as well as your command of English. I tap into this testimony. May God see you through it all. Congrats once again.

jenns:
#Congrat bro...Welcome to Obamaland

Amefrica:
Congrats.

Mystiqme:
You just know Some people will be granted visa.

sirRiddy:
Horayce, oya o. We dey wait the shayo o and the testitranscript o...

*playing PSQUARE's testimony*

Horayce:
Thanks amefrica, loved some of your humorous posts and the feel good vibe u exude

frankarecords:
So wat next after thir request came.thy gave u date to choose from or what or thy gave u a specific date?i send mine dis morin,hopefully I cud be lucky like u rite?so u choose ur date already? And wat date where available?

zeezahbee:
I figured out it was so easy to get A here, follow the instruction and be consistent. I gat a 4.0 anyways. I never missed any class and was active in class and had a convo with the instructor at the end of each class
I can't be paying that kinda money and have bad GPA, ko possible

frankarecords:
Has anyone gotten emergency date from the embassy?I herd thy hardly reply the request in time.i booked mine since yestaday and hoping I can get a mail from them today.so any one gotten a mail from them before?

Ctemi:
Emergency available date will be open&you chose from the available date.

Bibbzy:
my emergency date was denied...i did it on tuesday and they send the message today friday

sirRiddy:
If you want to get any good response from here, you need to bury your ego, not lower o, totally inter it, and you need a thick skin too. Even if person insult your VC here, brother, na you need help, either ignore or reply politely. I only wish the best for you. Good luck

frankarecords:
Thanks dearie,but that will be after thy approve my request rite?after the request has been approved then thy will give me date available to choose from rite?

seangy4konji:
Sorry bro but you only wasted money and time.you should have asked for advice before going there and with what you typed here?if I were the vo. I would ban you for another 5 years for wasting my time. D gurus will come and advice you but my 2 kobo is defer that admission if you intend to still pursue this. Do GRE and toefl.know why you are going for this course and how it will be of advantage after finishing and lastly. Buy enough mb and read from page 1 of this page. [b][/b]Don't give that your babalawo any dime again. E is a fake.

Faraidi:
bullshit,why must he insult him because he asked 4 advice? Is he the first person that diden't write TOEFLor SAT? Some people fell as if they own this forum.It irked me alot.

seangy4konji:
Sorry bro but you only wasted money and time.you should have asked for advice before going there and with what you typed here?if I were the vo. I would ban you for another 5 years for wasting my time. D gurus will come and advice you but my 2 kobo is defer that admission if you intend to still pursue this. Do GRE and toefl.know why you are going for this course and how it will be of advantage after finishing and lastly. Buy enough mb and read from page 1 of this page. [b][/b]Don't give that your babalawo any dime again. E is a fake.

sobatec:
all house pls I need advise on my case,
though I went to Abuja us embassy for interview yesterday but I was refused with unknown reasons. this is my story..........
I had an hnd cert in accounting
I applied for academy of art university with school sat and my hnd cert to study graphics design,
reason y I choose graphics is that am a computer guru, I have a computer school and computer sales and services center, have been doing this for the past 5 years but I registered my company about a year and half.
I was admitted by the school and got my i-20 in which other document was prepared as normal, paid my sevis and others.
the sad story.... the interview goes thus
me - good morning
vo - same
vo - why did u chose the school
me - the school is prestigious........ bla bla bla
vo - did u have toefl, great...... etc
me - no
vo - why
me - not require by the school (nb) on my i-20 was written epc will available for you
vo - why did u chose the course
me - to improve my graphics knowledge........ bla bla
vo - do u have copy of your work here
me - no
vo - who is your sponsor
me - my mother then I showed her d account of 18.6m
vo - she typed on her system and said sorry you're not qualify for us student and better try next time....
.
..
.
don't know y I was refused so I will be more careful next time cos I want to read apply

profojah:
Bro ...my advice
Kindly post d full transcript....I swear, gurus here will help u out..they'll point out where u gt it wrong
And also, take the standardize test, it will increase your chance of getting d visa and that means you'll defer your admission to fall'15....
Then prepare wella for the next interview...go with every necessary document

sobatec:
all house pls I need advise on my case,
though I went to Abuja us embassy for interview yesterday but I was refused with unknown reasons. this is my story..........
I had an hnd cert in accounting
I applied for academy of art university with school sat and my hnd cert to study graphics design,
reason y I choose graphics is that am a computer guru, I have a computer school and computer sales and services center, have been doing this for the past 5 years but I registered my company about a year and half.
I was admitted by the school and got my i-20 in which other document was prepared as normal, paid my sevis and others.
the sad story.... the interview goes thus
me - good morning
vo - same
vo - why did u chose the school
me - the school is prestigious........ bla bla bla
vo - did u have toefl, great...... etc
me - no
vo - why
me - not require by the school (nb) on my i-20 was written epc will available for you
vo - why did u chose the course
me - to improve my graphics knowledge........ bla bla
vo - do u have copy of your work here
me - no
vo - who is your sponsor
me - my mother then I showed her d account of 18.6m
vo - she typed on her system and said sorry you're not qualify for us student and better try next time....
.
..
.
don't know y I was refused so I will be more careful next time cos I want to read apply