Tinyemeka:


Hi Tim,
Good day and Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Love your in-depth and concise response to questions.

I have one which I'd like clarifications on please.

Several visa interview transcripts and responses from people here seem to give the impression that one might get unfavorable visa response if you have relatives in the US. How true is that please?

My sponsor happens to be my uncle who has been resident in the US for decades. This in addition to several other cousins, uncles and aunts residing there. Will this be a problem?

Gladly appreciate your response. Thanks.

Hi Emeka,

Truth is, there is no hard or fast rule to this. There are people who've been given visas with sponsors resident in the US and there are others who've been denied. In my honest opinion, beyond your sponsor (which you can't change), there are other factors that can improve your chances of getting your visa. First, if you have a graduate assistantship from your school that covers a significant part of your cost of attendance, it removes the focus from your sponsor to a large effect. Also, having strong ties to Nigeria such as a good and/or well-paying job or working in a well known company, as well as having a very solid plan of how/what the degree obtained will do for you upon returning to Nigeria, will improve your chances.

Even if you can't address all factors above, try and get an assistantship from your school and be able to clearly explain what the degree will do for you...and you may be shocked that you may not even be asked for your statement of account or about any of your relatives. All in all, do your part and always hold out for the best outcome.

patricktoks:
Good evening Admin and all.. please I need an assistance/help....
I am a graduate of Animal science (Animal Physiology), M.Agric certificate and currently running a PhD degree in Growth and Lactation physiology here in Nigeria in same field. A citizen of United kingdom by birth as well. The issue now is I would love to travel out preferably to US/Uk via scholarship but don't know how to go about it with the use of my birth certificate... Please I need someone to help assist. Thanks and Merry Christmas and a lovely new Year to us all.

Your case is quite unique. There are a few things that you may need to resolve. Do you have a British passport? Given that you were born in the UK, per the UK regulations, "you're automatically a British citizen if, when you were born, one of your parents was a British citizen or settled in the UK. You can register to become a British citizen if, when you were born, neither of your parents were British citizens or settled in the UK." If you have a British passport (or if you don't, you can begin the process of getting one), then doing a PhD in the UK on the surface should be cheaper. However, since you're not resident in the UK, you'll have to pay for things such as accommodation, feeding, transportation, etc, unless you can secure a scholarship or funding that gives you funding in excess of your tuition to cover those expenses.

On the other hand, while doing your PhD in the US on the surface may look more expensive, it may actually be cheaper if you can get a PhD that offers you a full tuition waiver and a graduate assistantship that pays you a generous stipend per month.

The tricky part for the US though, is applying for a student visa. If you're applying from Nigeria using a British passport, then you'll be applying as a “Third Country National” (https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/ng-gen-faq.asp#qlistgen5) and you'll need to answer quite a number of questions such as, where you're resident...Nigeria or the UK? and why as a British national you're not going to the UK for your PhD or applying for your US visa from the UK, amongst other questions.

With respect to the application process, for the UK, you'll be applying as a UK citizen and not as an international student. This will preclude the need for a UK visa. For the US, you'll apply as a UK citizen, but you'll need to get a visa as you'll be considered an international student.

Ultimately, you should explore both options and see which one works best for you.

Badguy001:


Hi Tim, good evening. I need a clarification on the matter I stated above about having a valid passport throughout the duration of one's course of study. Refer to this screenshot I took from the US traveldocs website. Is it a new policy or what?

Hi,

I sincerely understand your concern as the wording on the webpage suggests that the passport should be valid at least 6 months beyond the intended period of stay in the US. I'm not exactly sure if it's a new change as the same wording are on different other "state.gov" webpages. However, up till December 23 when the embassy went on break, I know of a few folks with passports with only 9-12 months to expiration who got their visa approved without any problem. To be doubly sure, you can send an email to the embassy and they'll get back with clarification.

abrahamfexli1:
Good morning beautiful people, please i need help.

What documents will i present at the point of entry?

Thank you

1. Valid Passport: must be valid at least 6 months into the future.
2. Valid U.S. Visa
3. Form I-20. Make sure you sign it.
4. I-901 Fee Receipt (SEVIS fee receipt)
5. Copy of your admissions letter and proof of funds: While you may not be asked for it, it is advisable for incoming new students to carry these documents as well.

Note that covid vaccination for F-1 visa holders isn't required at the POE. However, the airline may require covid vaccination (see email screenshot below from the US embassy)

illumined999333:
So I wrote the Gre on December 6, 2021 and I scored 299. After seeing the score, I knew I was going to write another one before the year ends. I had just 2 weeks to improve on that score to atleast 310, as one of the schools I wanted to apply to ( North Dakota state University) requires a minimum Gre score of 310. I wrote yesterday, but I scored 304. It is clearly not the score I wanted, but I'm mentally fatigued to study further for the Gre.

I'm looking at using the 304 score, I'd like to see opinions about my chances of admission and possible funding.

Intended course : Industrial Engineering
Wes evaluated GPA : 3.47/4.00
GRE score : 304

I've been a follower of various us. visa student threads since 2017, and I know a predstan who scored 303 in Gre, but still got admission and teaching assistantship.

Apply with the 304 score. Your GRE isn't the only thing that is assessed on your application. You have a good GPA. What you need is to get very strong recommendation letters (not the typical ones written by most lecturers). The recommendation letters should be personal and give examples of attributes that are stated in the letter. I can send you a sample of a strong engineering recommendation letter if you need one. Additional, have a well written personal statement that clearly outlines your research interest(s). If you have any publication, it can further strengthen your application. But if you don't have any, it wouldn't harm you either. I have a friend who had a WES evaluated GPA of 3.11 and a GRE score of 294 who got admitted to the chemical engineering masters program at the University of North Dakota with full tuition waiver and a graduate research assistantship for Spring 2022 (he got his visa yesterday). He had very strong recommendation letters and a well written personal statement that strengthened his application.

Simonokeh7:

Thank you very much sir for your apt reply, and yes I was referring to a research publication.

But I still have some questions.

Thank you very much sir for your time.
I truly appreciate..

* Must my research publication be limited to my final year project, or can I write on any topic germane to political science that interests me?.
No, it doesn't have to be limited to your final year project. Your research paper can be on any topic in political science that you like. However, your final year project may be much easier to use as you've done the bulk of the research work already. I'm not sure if you fully grasp the process of conducting research and writing a research paper. A research paper isn't exactly like a commentary or an editorial that you just write like an essay. You have to develop a research question, study rationale and study objectives/aims. Then you need to obtain the dataset that you'll be using for your data analysis. Findings from your data analysis will be reported in your results section and then you'll discuss about your result findings with respect to your study objectives, hypothesis, and existing literature (previous studies that have been done on the research topic).

*And isn't there some measures to trim down the amount of research publication that is published on a certain journal or can any and every body publish a research publication?.
I'm not sure if I fully understand you here, but I'll try. Not every paper that is submitted to a journal gets accepted. Most journals have acceptance rates ranging from 10% (or less) to about 30%. The more prestigious the journal is, the more difficult it is to get accepted. You can determine how prestigious a journal is by using the "impact factor" of the journal. The higher the impact factor of a journal, the more prestigious the journal is.

*Can I publish my research in multiple journals, and can I write multiple research publications?.
As a rule, if you submit a paper to a journal, you cannot submit it to another journal, unless the paper is rejected and then you can resubmit it to another journal. Simply put, you can only publish a paper in one journal. With respect to multiple research publications, yes, you can write multiple papers, but note that conducting research and writing the manuscript is tedious.

*And finally is there any monetary aspect to the publication?. If so, does that invariably means that the best journal charge the most. And what could be the cost range?.
The issue of cost of publication depends on various factors. If an author wants to publish an "open access" paper (open access means that anybody can view and read the paper), then there's a cost, which can range from $1,000 to $4,000 or more. However, for most journals, if you do not want open access, then there's usually no charge. But people will only be able to read the abstract of the paper unless they have a subscription that gives them access to the full paper.

Simonokeh7:
Hello, does anyone has any idea on how I can go about to release an official publication.
I'm a final year student of political science..
It's getting me all confused is it like publishing my final project after my defense, or writing some political articles that would be published on site like punch.ng you know like the kinda articles you read on the Huffington Post.
Thanks

I believe you are referring to a research publication. Research papers are usually published in academic journals. Examples of political science journals include "The International Political Science Review", "American Journal of Political Science", etc. Many students publish their final year project in journals. You'll have to first look for a suitable journal, preferably one that is friendly to international papers (or even local, as in a Nigerian/African journal), and then trim/reduce the length of your project as well as format it to the journal specifications. Informal articles written in columns such as the Huffington Post or newspapers/magazines are not considered research papers.

Chynwem:
Please guys the person I sent to pay the Sevis fee for me, paid it yesterday and till now I have not gotten any email. I'm supposed to get an email immediately right?

Go to www.fmjfee.com and directly check the status of your payment.

Kevdee4reel:
Please I’m on western union and don’t know the next thing to do. What’s the step cos I can’t find how to go about. There is no link to pay

If you have a US Western Union account (you can create one online), login to your account. At the top of the homepage, click on "Pay bills". It will take you to a page where you have to search for the biller. Type in "U S Bank DHS" (make sure to give a space between the U and S; for some reasons, their system won't find it if you don't give a space). Next, put in the amount ($350) and your account number as listed in your SEVIS coupon. Under the "Attention field", you can put "SEVISFEE". Then click on pay with debit/credit card. It will take you to the payment page where you input your debit/credit card details and then review and make the payment. Payment reflects immediately and can be confirmed on the www.fmjfee.com. Hope this helps.

Olaniyi55:
May I know if this process can be carried out in in Nigeria banks

Unfortunately, at the moment, I don't think you can create a western union online account in Nigeria. It has to be someone's account in the US or elsewhere. Thanks. Also, you can't send money via western union outbound from a Nigerian bank.

Chynwem:
Please guys can one book ER with only VISA fee, without Sevis fee?

No! You'll need to also attach your SEVIS fee payment receipt.

HDwayne:
Hello guys, pls I need to confirm if this is the right step to pay for the sevisfee using WU quick pay. My friend trying to help me seem confused, she said WU agents don’t know what sevisfee is and even the quick pay. Pls I need your help.

This is the right step. However, many western union staff do not know much about SEVIS. Alternatively, if your friend has a western union account (an account can be easily created), he/she can login to their account and pay your SEVIS fee online on the western union website (www.westernunion.com) and the payment will be reflected immediately. When paying online, instead of SEVISFEE or SEVISFEEMO as written on the SEVIS coupon, the recipient should be "US BANK DHS" (SEVISFEE or SEVISFEEMO are not available online). Note that a $30.49 payment fee is also included to the total amount. Hope this helps.

Janet200:

I de just laugh, the guy de use the forum for business, I never knew he used to charge until someone close to me posted here that he needed mock and Fairheart told the guy to dm him which the guy did, he told the guy to send his proposed transcript he did, Fairheart went blank for some days, only to tell the guy that he is a very busy person, if the guy want them to continue he should pay 20k. The thing wen pain me for inside be say, you for de post the price you de charge for here, make people get am for the back of their mind, last last Na only God know our heart.

Sometimes, I believe that we as Nigerians fail to effectively comprehend. There's something called a "disclaimer" or "conflict of interest". Fairheart has stated on numerous occasions that if you reach out to him personally, he charges a fee, but if you state your issue(s) on the forum, he can help to the best of his ability. If you don't want to be charged a fee, then post your issues on the forum and let everyone try and help. You can only label him dubious if he swindled folks, especially under false pretext. But I haven't seen or heard of any of such to think that.

Predstan:



We are waiting. Share the person’s monicker as a member of this thread. I don’t think justwise will be dealing with anything privately. If you are trying to expose someone, bring it out in the public and let us see for ourselves.

I’m 2018, I exposed someone on this thread who charge 80k for transcripts and mock interviews. There were over 5 people who came out to mention their encounters with him. They weren’t Ghost or some imaginary being. If your main point was to expose him for charging people to do mock, you should be available to mention them so they can tell their stories

I've watched for a while how "Prexy1999" continuously tries to discredit "Fairheart". However, what I find amusing is that "Prexy1999" comes across as a very dubious fellow to say the least. He claims to have gotten his visa in 2019 to do a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Yet he claims to have completed his PhD only after just 2 years, which is IMPOSSIBLE. Someone picked him up on this and the next thing he claimed was that he had a Masters degree from the UK, hence the speed. This is another false claim. First, on his visa interview transcript, when he was asked about his degree, he stated that he only had a Bachelors degree. Ok, let's even assume he has a masters degree. Even with a masters degree, you CANNOT complete a PhD in 2 years. It's not possible. In a PhD programme, you use the first 2 years to complete your course work before you then become a doctoral candidate and commence your dissertation. If your dissertation goes smoothly, the earliest you can complete it is in one and a half years, making it at least three and a half years at the earliest to complete a PhD program.
So, Prexy1999, I will love to pose the same question to you that you have been posing to "Fairheart" all these while. Are you really a student at University of Michigan? Did you even attend the University of Michigan?

Also, before you try and come back at me as is your way, let me let you know that a few of us with invaluable help from this forum were fortunate to get our visa in 2011 and have gone on to complete our masters and PhD and also worked at the University of Michigan.
Personally, having to confirm your student status in the Chemical Engineering doctoral programme or which research team you are (or were) shouldn't be a problem for me. Truly, I intend to fish you out. I wouldn't make it public, but be rest assured, I will get to know the face behind "Prexy1999".

Chibaby98:
Thank you for the reply and I do know all that. I’m renewing the visa because I intend to travel outside the US. So that when I travel out, I can be able to come back. Thanks for the concern though.

Okay. I was just a little concerned. Good success in your interview.

Chibaby98:
Hello everyone, so I have a question to ask. What documents do I have to present or if I do not have any documents to show, how do I prove that I intend to return to Nigeria after I am done with schooling in the US during my visa interview?
I am actually going to renew my visa, I have been in the US for 2 years.

I'm a little curious as to why you want to renew your visa when you're still in your academic programme. If your visa is expired, as far as you maintain your student status and have a valid form I-20 that states your programme completion date, you will have no problem whatsoever (https://www.ice.gov/sevis/travel). The only challenge you'll have is if you have to travel outside the US (then you'll need to renew). Renewing your visa while still in your academic programme has its risk. I know of a few folks who their visa renewals were denied even with their programmes being partly funded.

NoQualms1:
I mailed a professor and he asked, in his response, if I have funding. I replied that I was hoping to get from the school but he has not responded since then. Was my response wrong? If yes, what's the best way to respond to such question?

Thanks.

Just a little chip in as to why he may have asked you about funding. Is the PhD programme fully funded? If it is, is funding provided by the department or by professors whom students work under (i.e. your advisor/supervisor)? If funding (in part or full) is provided through the grants of professors in the department, then the question will be whether the professor in question has any current grants for his research projects. If he doesn't, that may be why he asked you specifically about funding to be sure that if he accepts you, you will be able to fund yourself. You can check online if the professor has current grants for his research projects.