₦airaland Forum

SuccesYear:
a job well done. Pls enlighten me on this issue as I believe with God all things are possible.


A family friend of mine jst got me invited & will sponsor.
Jst completed service (NYSC) & seeking for employmt.

Pls how do u think I can convince the VO? Share me fr ur wealth of experience. &



Others opinions are welcomed

First off, the VO, not God determines whether you get an entry visa or not. God will not change the VOs mind by magic if you do not qualify for a visa based on the requirements.

Second, it would be hard to convince a VO to grant you a B1 visa if you are unemployed and out of school. I presume you are also unmarried and have no children. Basically there is nothing that you must return to after your visit in the US. You should defer your travel, get a good job, work for a while...

olusegunthomas:
Hello guru in da room! Pls I had something about immigrant visa, pls I want to knw more about it and how to apply for the visa.

you cant apply for an immigrant visa. you have to be sponsored.

mic4us2005:
i want to apply for the first time how can i go about ii ahve no document yet and live and brought up in nigeria

What is the purpose for applying?

holysinner01:
Good morning guys, my interview is scheduled for nextweek but am scared i fcked up aleeady because my intended duration of stay is 3 weeks. I am a student of a private uni and i intend to travel with my aunt and her husband, they both have valid visas ,they intend to stay for three weeks, thats the reason why i wrote 3 weeks. My fear now is that wont they think that 3 weeks is too much for a final year student. Or do i just tell them i might not spend up to the theee weeks??

3 weeks is fine. Focus more on convincing the VO of your ties to Nigeria. For example, you are still a student and you certainly intend to return to complete your college education.

claremont:
Discrimination is discrimination, regardless of whether it's overt or covert. The person who ''perceives'' the discrimination can either choose to ignore it, or fight against it; ignoring it on the pretext of trying to be a good team player automatically means that you are a part of the problem. It means that such practices wouldn't change, because the person on the receiving end believes that it's a normal part of being a team player.

I doubt you understood anything i wrote. In no way did in indicate that i ignore discrimination just to be a good team player. I do not tolerate discrimination at all and i have had a colleague experience this at a former job and we took it to the highest authority to make sure it was duly addressed.

claremont:
There is no such thing as being hypersensitive if a person believes that he/she has been treated unfairly, such a person is well within his/her rights to complain.

The problem is that many minorities are on the hunt for "discrimination". If someone does not like your shirt, it must be because you're black... or perhaps that person just doesn't like your shirt?

claremont:
I will give an example of an applicant to a government job that just occurred here in the UK, and it was all over the news as well - a popular government TV station wanted to recruit 4 directors; and 5 people got to the final stage of the recruitment, 4 white males and 1 black female. The government chose to recruit the 4 white males for the 4 open slots, and when asked to justify their choices, the government said that the 4 white males were better qualified than the lone black female. That doesn't sound right to any rational person, and it doesn't instill confidence in highly-qualified black and ethnic minority groups who aim for the best government jobs.

I read this "example" at least three times to make sure i did not miss anything. What was the justification for assuming that the government was wrong to have considered the white males better qualified? Were you privy to the resumes of all 5 candidates? Why do you automatically ascribe some form of "discrimination" to this case if you have no evidence to support it? The black lady who got to the final stage of the recruitment process must have beaten out several other white men and women, are you claiming she was only put into that stage as a stooge?

The reason that crying "discrimination" now elicits yawns from many is because we've over-used it, even in cases where it did not apply.

claremont:
I agree with your wider point that naturalized citizens should rise above it and aim to be the best in their careers, and it's a point I have always advocated. That doesn't mean that we should ignore subjective bias just because we receive a mess of pottage on a daily basis that we call a job, it's absolutely important that we not only talk about it, but also rebel against it regardless of whether it's perceived or real. If we don't ultimately benefit from speaking out, we hope that our black and ethnic minority colleagues who come after us will benefit from our activism.

We should not ignore bias in any form, we should not assume that everything said or done comes from a place of bias either.

claremont:
Finally, subjective bias shouldn't be used an excuse for a highly-educated naturalized citizen to rest on his/her oars in achievement of career goals, it should actually be a spur. Personally, I have always worked in an environment were I was the only black person, and even more so, a black African. I have travelled with my white colleagues to most countries in 4 continents, with the exception of Australia; but, my white colleagues know that I don't take shee-it when it comes to making snide comments about my origin and/or accent. So it should be.

On this point we are agreed. I often say you are treated as much as you allow. If you command respect in the workplace, others will think twice before they make any snide comments about you.

dfrost:
TWoods what makes a name Nigerian?

That's a silly question. What does the name Ryan mean to the average Nigerian? Why the inferiority complex?

Jason, Jeff, Ryan, Reynold - lol when did those become Nigerian names?

KaptainAfrika:
Guys guys guys. It's just a US Visa biko. If Nigeria had developed itself with its natural resources, applying for US Visa would have been a formality.
Food for thought and no disrespect intended.
To whom do we accredit as the deity behind successful US Visa applications? The God of the christian, The Allah of the muslim, The Sango of the Sango worshipper, The Amadioha of the Amadioha worshipper or the nothingness of the atheist.
You getting your visa, is at the pleasure of the consular officer and nothing else, when I went for my interview; I saw a high ranking Army officer with his family, rejected and I was given, I had just started working, after returning from the UK with my MSc.

Thank you! Its sickening reading the "its just god", "pray, pray, pray", "fasting", quotes when folks attend visa interviews. The difficulty in obtaining visas for Nigerians is solely due to the incompetence of our government and our predilection for falsifying immigration documents and refusing to abide by immigration rules (including the most prayerful among us).

If we had all these many prayer warriors in Nigeria, why then is the country so backward and poor? Seems the Nigerian "god" only specializes in granting visas but not providing food, jobs, clean water etc. for "his" people.

lindaayim:
You must have plenty of downtime/time at work to be playing a guess game on peoples accent...i guess u got nice job though. on the matter of irrelevance which you brought up i guess u misunderstood my position and am leaving it at that... talking about not understanding what is assertive i believe you need to go read the meaning of what being assertive is. aside the above you made a good point of being proud of my Nigerian heritage but maybe you didn't read the topic. It's doesn't primarily focus on one's heritage but focuses on how naturalized citizens are treated compared to native born. thanks

Yes i do have a good relationship with my work colleagues. We travel on business together, we take lunches together, we work on projects together majority of the time, we have frequent happy hours or attend private parties hosted by each other... all of them are white, natural born US citizens. We joke about our selves, but we do so respectfully.

Don't get me wrong, i am not saying that subjective bias does not occur in the work place but oftentimes the problem we minorities tend to have is we are hypersensitive to perceived discrimination. So we read meanings to innocent questions and get defensive, assuming that everyone is out to get us on account of our skin color, accent or countries of origin. My colleagues sometimes find funny memes on Nigeria or they may run into a topic on Nigeria they are curious about, they send it to me... we discuss. I find memes about their own heritage too, i send it to them, we discuss... and get on with our jobs. No offense taken. If you command respect in your workplace, people will treat you with respect.

I absolutely disagree that naturalized Americans are treated differently from natural born citizens. I wasn't even an immigrant for many of the years i lived and worked here... yet i never felt anyone treated me differently because of that. Everyone knows i am Nigerian first and foremost... i'm proud of it. Anyone who doesn't like that fact can kick rocks.

AboveGod:
Hi Sir/Ma,I dropped out of medical school in my third year due to financial constraint. But am planning on continuing it in the US. So,please how will it be? how do I go about it ?considering that am not financially equipped completely. Also,can I get any sponsor from individuals or organization? as reading medicine has been my dream but my financial challenge is really handicapping me. I have my transcript. Thanks, for everything.

Not impossible but extremely difficult to study medicine in the US as a non-citizen/permanent resident. Most good medical programs will not even consider your application (a tiny minority may consider you, as long as you have the money to pay). Also where will you get the funding? You won't be able to get a loan as a foreign student.

lindaayim:
Good write up but let me address some issues you raised; how many times do you go around asking people born in the USA where they are from? i mean you from the Southern US like Texas, Alabama, S. Carolina etc. secondly...this question is for you what response would you elicit from an american if you asked (reverse racism now) were your great great grandparents slaveholders or telling someone from south Carolina who is white do you support slavery? as long as i'm concerned certain questions require certain answers and my answer was assertive not passive, aggressive or passive-aggressive. thanks

This is a fairly routine question that almost every American will get at some point. We often make fun of the southern drawl, the Jersey accent, the NY accent. This is nothing new. People comment on the French accent all the time... I work with European/Asian colleagues and part of our typical banter is trying to guess what country each person is from based on their accents. As far as i'm concerned, you're making a mountain out of a molehill. The problem is that you are very sensitive to anything that might be construed as racism so you take offense anytime you get a question that somewhat reminds you of your place of birth. There is nothing to be ashamed of in being born Nigerian.

Most white Americans are fiercely proud of their European heritage even though they are natural born US citizens. What is wrong in being proud of your Nigerian heritage, even if you are naturalized?

Your question with regards slavery is completely irrelevant. What has an accent to do with whether someone else had grandparent slave owners? Those are two completely dissimilar topics.

Your response to your co-worker was aggressive. Basically you've painted yourself into a corner... all of them now know to be extra sensitive and watchful of anything they say around you. Don't be surprised if they are not willing to invite you to out of office events.

You don't seem to understand what the term "assertive" means.

TheCongo2:
The danger about subtle racism is the fact that often time it can only be felt or perceived by the victim alone. And when the victim tries to cry for help, people think he is overreacting or he is crazy.

The danger about "subtle racism" is that often it is misinterpreted. Often times the "victims" end up being like the shepherd boy who cried wolf a little too often.

TheCongo2:
In Canada for example, when you are hunting for job, most companies will require you to have the Canadian work experience. Given this fact, many skilled immigrants who land in Canada struggle to find jobs in their fields, despite holding proper credentials. Employers in Canada frequently devalue foreign experience. As a result of this, many medical doctors and other professionals from third world countries are driving taxi in cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver in spite of holding the proper credentials in their fields of expertise.

Not dismissing your experience by any means but can we really compare the quality of medical education in Nigeria and Canada? Is a Nigerian medical license equivalent expertise to a Canadian? Of course if I ran a hospital here, I'd expect a Nigerian doctor to have obtained some additional education and experience here before I can employ him.

lindaayim:
Rightly said, it baffles me how despite working hard and ascending the socio-economic ladder, assimilating they still remind you of your alien status... guess what? i was talking to a lady at work and she asked "where you from you got a lovely accent?" i said "from here..i mean USA" she looked at me in a bizarre way with great disbelief...my reply was so an american can't speak with a foreign accent? she said well i meant where were you born.............i said i'm an american but was born in Nigeria......she sort of ended the convo..

To be honest, I think this was a passive aggressive and totally unnecessary confrontation with someone who was probably just trying to start a friendly conversation. I'm also fairly up the income/social ladder here myself and i often get the "where are you from" question from most people. The lady was correct, it's impossible for anyone born and raised in the US to have the sort of accent like yours so it was a fair question. There was no need for your response. It's ok to simply state that you were born African but a naturalized US citizen. We joke about it in my office here, people try really hard to say my name and i tease them by scoring them on points based on who can say the name the best. We all have a good laugh and that's it. I work with 99.9% whites and have never felt any disrespect on account of my name or accent (which people think ranges from English to Jamaican).

If you search desperately for bias or bigotry, you will find it.

Immatex:
The earth has no borders.

Borders and boundaries are man made segregation and limitations imposed by men to cause fellow men distress.

Christ will be king from one end of the earth to the other end of earth and there shall be no boundaries and borders.

Earth has no borders is what people say when they are born in poor third world countries.

imperiouxx:
Finally, this night I got in mail an acceptance letter to study medicine as PA (Physician Assistant).

I would be specializing in Surgery (Cardiothoracic).

What a marvelous gift for Xmas. All thanks to God.

Cheers! https://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/party/party0016.gif

Not to "rain on the parade" so to speak but the above is misleading. You are not actually accepted into medical school to study medicine (that is reserved for regular doctors or MDs)... - you do not specialize in medical school, you do that during your residency. What you got was acceptance to study as a physicians assistant.

ok, we don hear.

Pwhitelaw:
I will be getting married next month and my wife is pregnant. The only issue is having twins which is why am back here to know the best solution to solve it using the right info rather than fabricated ones

Better pray that your wife is pregnant with twins. Everything you filled in the DS160 is saved and can be retrieved when you apply for another visa. The other problem i see is going to be timing. If you get married, your marriage certificate will show a date much later than when you claimed you were already married on your last visa application. How do you defend that? Also even if you had kids now, they would have birth dates later than when you initially claimed you had twins?

In other words, you've pretty much screwed this one up, most likely for good. Never ever apply with an agent, always tell the truth. You can always reapply with a denial as long as a misrepresentation is not involved.

iamsouls:
Hello my fellow nairalander, I have been following this thread silently and thanks to you all because me, my younger sister and my moms visa has just been approved this morning despite the fact dat d VO was denying so many people's visa we met favor dere which goes like this

VO -your passport please
My mum-good morning sir
VO -no answer,how old re u
My sister-am 14
And I -am 16
VO. -were in us re u going to
My mum -chicago
VO -how much do u earn per month
My mum -(blah blah blah)
VO. - hv u travelled b4
My mum - yes to d UK
VO. -wot class re u
I. -ss2
VO. -wen will u graduate
I. -in 2 years time
VO. -checked ma mums passport nd started typing after 15 sec he handed over ma mums passport and took back mine nd sisters own and said our passport has been approved we should come 4 it in 3 wrkin daes bt (note) ma mums had us visa b4 bt she did nt use it.we really met God's favor despite d angry VO.

As a christian, i am not a fan of the over-spiritualistic approach to simple matters such as visa applications. Your visas were quite easy to approve.

1. You and your sister showed concrete ties to Nigeria - you are still students in school and certainly would be expecting to come back to complete your schooling.
2. Your mom already demonstrated that she has no intention of being an intending immigrant (which means her two minor daughters are likely to be coming back to Nigeria).

Regardless of how angry the VO is, he is compelled by law to treat an application strictly on its merits. He cannot refuse you a visa simply because he had a bad day.

Bakrabas:
Prayer is the master key to Nigerian problems

Prayer is a ready excuse for those who wallow in mediocrity.

Lexusgs430:
I am thinking of UK hustle, but the UK is not on your list

What is a "hustle"?

Bakrabas:
Its well In shaa Allah

What does Allah have to do with the incompetence of the Nigerian government?

optimusprime2:
Please advise him to stay in Nigeria.
I can't imagine someone planning something as risky as random migration to countries such as Turkey and T & T in a bid for greener pastures- the whole outcome is wrapped in uncertainty, I mean he has limited finances, no stated viable professional skill, he's not even a prospective student. In the absence of a solid laid out motive, he will just leave himself open to vices and illegal activities in the name of hussle, and that would be a dent on the Nigerian image, which has already been dented by this same category of people seeking greener pastures.

As for me, I am tired of being stereotyped in some countries, just because I bear the same passport as people who became a Nuisance in the name of street hussling. Some can't even speak proper English, & this affects Nigerians collectively. It should be understood by now, that any Nigerian abroad is an ambassador of Nigeria & should represent well.

Like seriously, enough is enough. Tell him to sit in Nigeria. If one is clueless at home, he will be clueless abroad as well. So until he has a definitive purpose of going abroad, he should stick his rear at home on his mama's chair.

It's time to reshapen the global image of the average Nigerian.

My brother, seriously indeed. Anytime i hear someone saying he is going abroad to "hustle", i just want to slap sense back into their heads.

Teddywhiz1:
A Nigerian student studying medicine in Poland, I will like to practice in the United States after my studies.. How do I go about it.... Please I require any info I can get.... Cc justwise

Get into a healthcare masters program here and use that time to write the ECFMG. That should qualify you to do a residency.

All in all, i had a great couple of hours. Good food, nice people, nice atmosphere and a healthy appreciation for the types of cultures that make up the fabric of America.

For my next adventure, i heard there's a great spot in Philadelphia where you can find authentic German cuisine and i obviously didn't need a second invitation to try it out. Pictures uploading later tomorrow...

There is something to be said for rustic looking streets with old lamp posts...

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You're also likely to find a local theater. Usually not the typical chain theaters that you're used to in big cities so don't expect the same level of comfort and equipment. Also the movie offerings are usually small. Today there were only three movies on offer, with a 3-hour gap between shows. Planning ahead is good if you intend to catch a show at any one of them.

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This was by far the highlight of my day... if you've never tried Belgian waffles with ice cream, you simply haven't lived!

May i suggest you make this little hole-in-the-wall your next destination...

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In my view, the best, cheap eats are to be found here. I saw this on State street but didn't stop in (i'll certainly be back to try the gelato).

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Of course, no American town is complete without its own pizzeria...

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Or bar...

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I recently became a fan of olive oil as an accompaniment to tomatoes and mozzarella so of course, i had to capture this -

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With the advent of google and computers, old school libraries are becoming relics of the past. I found this one on state street as well. Interestingly enough, i found quite a lot of old African Writers Series books here - The beautiful ones are not yet born (Ngugi Wa 'Thiongo), Mine boy (Peter Abraham). There was a section entirely devoted to Chinua Achebe and i could find a couple of works by Cyrprian Ekwensi. They had a book on the history of the Nigerian economy too... the things you find...

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Depending on the size of the town, you're far less likely to find your typical hotel chains here. Rather, you'd find older Beds and Breakfast-style lodges and Inns, like this one from 1902. They aren't cheap either.

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