₦airaland Forum

Hello house, I received my Schenghen business visa from the French embassy today (one month visa)

Submitted application on Jan 6th, received collection sms/email today, Jan 14th.

My case is quite peculiar.

Early last year, I won an award with my organization and they decided to sponsor myself and a guest (I picked my mum) to Paris where I would participate as an Olympic torchbearer. I received all relevant info from my company who was a sponsor for Paris 2024 and my mum and I were both denied. I had an active 5-year U.S. visa, which I had used the year before. I also had a previously used Canadian visa and had stamps to Senegal and Gambia. My mum was also actively traveling to Dubai and China for her business, so we were confused.

My organization decided to give me another opportunity as a Paralympics torchbearer and we got letters from the Paris 2024 team, and my organisation's director in Paris and still yet, we were denied again. Emails were also sent to the French embassy from my organisation in Paris but we received no response.

That's how I missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Fast forward to October last year, my company decided to send me to Amsterdam for a training and because I was rejected twice previously, I was scared, but I still applied. Picked up the passport after 2 weeks and discovered they gave me 1 month visa.

Unfortunately, the training was canceled and I couldn't travel and I honestly did not feel like traveling at that time so the visa expired and I didn't use it.

This year, my company decided to send me to Amsterdam to attend a conference in February and because of my terrible history, I was a bit reluctant. However, in my cover letter, I included the reason I couldn't travel (being that the physical training was canceled due to budgetary concerns). I also added a letter from my manager confirming that the training was canceled and including that they were sending me to Amsterdam on the provided dates.

Because I have another trip for Ghana on Jan. 16th, I had asked them to expedite the process in my cover letter, providing the booked flight tickets to and fro Ghana.

I'm just glad that everything worked out and wanted to share here, because I have really benefited by being a silent observer.

To everyone looking to get a visa, I wish you the best of luck.

KolaSteven:
Hello folks,

I want to travel on to the US for a week from November 27th to attend the most prestigious academic conference in my field (Artificial Intelligence) and its location changes every year. And I want to know if it's still quite feasible to apply for the needed B-1 visa or if I should save my strength and scrap the plans.

My workshops papers are still under review but if accepted (will.know by Oct. 20), I'll be presenting two research papers at 2 workshops at the conference. I am also invited as a keynote speaker for one of the workshops at the conference. Can I request an expedited appointment slot on this basis?

My profile:
- I am a final-year undergrad in Nigeria
- Previous travels: Italy, Germany, Tunisia - all of them earlier this year, and in the process of getting another Schengen visa to speak at a tech conference in Lithuania in early November.
- Fundings: I'll be funding myself. Might still get a scholarship or something but I won't know until close to the date.

Considering the close timeline, do I still have a a realistic chance of getting an appointment slot/visa in time to go to the US? Looking forward to your responses. Thank you!

Hello Kola, I’m very familiar with this conference you’ll be attending as I have been accepted as well to present a paper at a workshop and also deliver a speech. I’m looking forward to attending the conference too and I sincerely hope this visa wait time would not be a hinderance.

Do you mind us connecting so we can figure this out together? I’d prefer to work through the processes with someone else than doing it alone.