₦airaland Forum

Unfelt:
Aunty, we are still waiting for part 2 oh..

Xclusivemaama:
Here is my full US trip transcript: PART 1

When i decided to use my visa for birthing purposes, my sister inlaw referred me to this thread on nairaland..So i came in here as a novice...i read through the different pages and made my jottings..started scouting for hospitals and got an affordable one in Marietta, Georgia in. September..

Called the hospital, paid my hospital bills and they emailed my receipt to me...Called their gynae clinic and scheduled an appointment with them..went to my hospital in Nigeria in my 31weeks and ran all the necessary test and ultrasound..
Booked my flight with airfrance for the 21st of October..saw on their website that i can get fit to fly from my doctor and was shocked wen i got to the airport that day and im told to go to their port health office for a medical clearance...after ranting and speaking in tongues, i sha went and paid 2k to get the cert..the fit to fly from my doc wasn't even asked for after wasting money..mtsheew!!

My flight to france was rescheduled from 11:05pm to 1:10pm and we finally left naija by 2:15pm..I was the only pregnant woman on board..There was no preferential treatment wotsoever..even when they announced our boarding, they started wit pple travelling wit kids then sky priority passengers..omo na so i get up go join the queue as i was already tired and angry with the whole delay..we sha left, the feeding was horrible..i kept on eating just bread �, drinking plenty water and using the toilet like mad woman. ( I made sure i chosed one of the aisle seat)

PART TWO coming shortly

Xclusivemaama:
So i arrived atlanta today 22 Oct by 2:17pm which was their local time....Flew in from Abujra to France then to atlanta..first time in the US...Got visa for a family vacation which i cudnt use(Stort for another day) and decided to use it for birthing purpose after i got pregnant...
Hmmmm....Will post my POE transcript later cos e still dey do me like movie...Make i sleep wake up first...Tired much!!

goobyparks:
Sharing time! �
So, on 6th Oct i boarded BA. The 6hrs Flight was ok bt d food wasn't, I got d opportunity to watch 'the wedding party' �  1st stop - Heathrow London; was there for abt 5hrs, slept all through, airport Wi-Fi wasn't working �, was hungry bt cldnt buy food coz I didn't  want to get my balance in £ and then start exchanging back to $ �. 2nd leg: London to Chicago abt 7hrs; older plane tho nt so bad, food nt so fantastic. Arrived CBP desk;
Cbp: hi
Me: hi, good evening
Cbp: what are you here for?
Me: vacation and to have my baby
Cbp: are u here alone?
Me: yes
Cbp: *types on his system* then gives my passport to another officer and asks me to follow him. I was taken to an office with many other travellers sitting and waiting..
After abt 4hrs, I was called and the bashing started  � can't even remember all of it.
Cbp: what are you here for?
Me: vacation and to have my baby
Cbp: when? (Due date)
Me: told her
Cbp: but that wasn't the reason your visa was issued (family vacation)
Me: trying to explain
Cbp: don't even try to lie to me, so you knew you wanted to have your baby here and you went ahead to lie to the embassy. I've met your type before. U didn't have the balls to state your reason so you just went the easy way. U are a pathetic liar (she actually said sth worse bt I can't even remember right nw).
Me: tried explaining again
Cbp: are u talking over me?
Me: i'm sorry
Cbp: just shut up. where did you say you were going during ur interview
Me: Florida, for a family vacation
Cbp: so who advised you to lie so that you can come into the U.S. and do wat u really wanted to do.
Me: a friend told us about her experience (giving birth in the U.S) and how it is legal and a good thing to do for your child. (Truthfully, We heard from few family and friends how it is nt really a big deal once u can afford it bt nobody told us abt medical visa cause all 3 of them we knw used b1/b2. They just said I shldnt disclose that I was preg both to VO and Cbp. This was all before I stumbled on NL while I was searching for hospitals and I saw all these info that nobody tld me abt. I just decided in my mind to say the truth at POE, take all necessary paperwork and pray that I wnt b sent back)
Cbp: Lemme see your documents.
Me: hands over
Cbp: is this ur 1st child?
Me: no, 2nd
Cbp: *looking thru d docs* see? Did u even see dis? U such a disgusting liar. U started contacting Drs & hospitals right after your visa. *reads the email from hosp* So VD is 20,000 bt with community discount they are bringing it down to 4200/5000. *jokes to her colleague* do u knw u can have ur child for jst $5000? I've seen so many like these *shakes her head*
When is your husband coming?
Me: by d end of November after I've had my baby.
Cbp: when?
Me: 28th Nov
Cbp: bt he hasn't got a ticket yet
Me: no he hasn't
Cbp: I thought so.
(I was smiling thru the whole interrogation) ... and why are you smiling to me face and lying like i'm saying sth funny.
Me: i'm sorry, just that I smile a lot
Cbp: it's just a defense mechanism (truth! If I wasn't smiling I wld'v prob be crying).
where will u be staying?
Me: told her the address @ Virginia. I'll be staying with my cousin.
Cbp: is she a citizen
Me: no, she's a green card holder
Cbp: how did she get it?
Me: I really don't know
Cbp: Give me your wallet, money and phone *I gave her*
Where did you get this money from?
Me: I got some from the bank and some from the black market.
Cbp: black market?
Me: bureau d change.  Where I exchanged naira for dollars
Cbp: i mean who did you borrow the money from?
Me: *confused* my husband is my sponsor and he's a business man, he gave me the money
Cbp: *sarcastic* 'everybody is a business man.
*counts the money ($9100), searches my purse, gives me a leaflet that explains why my phone will be searched and asked me to unlock it* 
Cbp: *checking my whatsapp chat* who is (calls name) is she the cousin? And u sent her "we just landed in Chicago" who is "we"
Me: yes that's my cousin. By "we" i mean the plane and it's occupants.  Drop your return ticket and go back to ur seat. I'll call u when I'm done.
(All these lasted for abt 25mins)
After abt 10mins, she comes out:
Cbp:*hands over my passport, ticket, docs and  phone*. You are very lucky, your records and answers are straight. Left to me I wld' ve jst cancelled your visa.
Me: Thanks. *checked my passport to see that I was stamped for 3months* *checked my phone and saw she went through my old chats with hubby*
I thanked God and made my way to baggage claim.
Of course i' d already missed my connecting flight with American airlines. So I went to their desk and complained. Unfortunately, they don't have another same day flight so I was given a boarding pass for another flight the next day @ noon. Unfortunately, they can't help with accomodation or meal voucher (so OYO was my case). She advised I either call a number to speak with a couple of hotels around or if i didnt want to leave the airport, I could go to terminal 2 and ask for a cart (or whatever it's really called) to spend d night.
Na so I waka round Chicago airport neither finding a cart nor able to call the number. Was even directed to bus/shuttle centre to make enquiries abt hotels bt I got lost on the way ���. Myself jst tire me! I was hungry, extremely exhausted from pushing my heavy bags, confused beyond comprehension and I just wanted to sit in the middle of the airport and cry  ��! I finally located the cart area only for them to say I can't pass through that particular security with my bags. Was asked to go back to the airline and check-in my bags. I dragged myself and my bags there only for d lovely lady to say that they don't keep bags overnight  except I can come back @ 3am dat' s when they start Check in for d day. (Time was past 9pm, 2hrs after I'd left CBP). Now I understand the meaning of "ur village ppl are doing u" �����
I kuku asked "pls where can I get food"? *she directs me*
I went to Starbucks and got sandwich & juice. D chic was busy complaining that she didn't have change for $100. (Hmmm... if only she knew my story). All these while, nobody @ home knws what's up with me, no free airport Wi-Fi. I havnt even called my host. Needed coins to use d payphone so I went to ask the Starbucks chic to help me change $20. She said it's too much she can't, I explained I needed to make a call, nobody knws where I am. I decided to buy more juice jst 4 d change, she saw I was serious and asked me to return the juice and gave me some change wc included $4 coins. I was able to call my cousin, said they waited 4 me @ d airport and thought I was sent back. I spent d remaining $3 trying to contact hubby, no way. Wo! I jst told my cousin to send d msg across to them. Found me a chair and jst decided to spend d night there using my bag as pillow to avoid story dat touch (thiefry �)
Checked in next day, arrived Norfolk VA @ 3pm. Exhausted much!

Thank you Jesus!

doreese:
Okay so am back. Lol

Long post alert. So my flight was for 10.30 pm and I left Ajah by 4 cos I heard traffic in Lagos was gangster that Wednesday. I spent over 4 hours on 3mb traffic. Apparently a truck had broken down somewhere. By this time I was already frantic that I wouldn't meet my flight. I checked in online and kept praying. 8.30 I just got to the end of 3mb and decided to take oshodi. Luckily for us the road was free. Got to the airport past 9. Check in was about to close. I quickly rushed to the line. There was no queue, my bag wasn't searched . I wasn't asked for fit to fly, neither was I asked to go to quarantine. I checked in and proceeded to board.

Used delta airlines. Flight was long but thankfully I was close to the restroom and had an aisle seat so I could go to the bathroom frequently.

Landed Atlanta and proceeded to customs. It seems ours was the only flight that landed that morning so the queue wasn't long.

It got to my turn and the con asked for my passport. I have it to her and she asked what I was here for. I said childbirth. Asked why us and I explained I had had 2 misccariages and this was my first child so I wanted the best healthcare. Then she said but healthcare is also good in Nigeria and that anything couldalso happen here and I replied yes we do have good healthcare but lack infrastructure in case of any complication and that my child gets to enjoy dual citizenship.

She asked how much I had on me told her 9800. Asked if I had more told her I did in my don acct in Nigeria totalling 14k usd cos at my interview I had stated my budget as 15k usd. Probably she don't hear me well she directed me to secondary inspection and wrote 14k usd on my custom form but stamped my passport.

Got to sec inspection. Waited 10 mins till I was called. Was asked how much I had on me. Told the con 9800 then he asked why the previous lady wrote 14k so I explained it was in my usd aget back home that I only had card. Asked the name of my doc who I'll be staying with if I had an appointment and when. I answered all questions.

No documents was asked for. My money wasn't even counted. Asked if I had food stuff. I said yes I had declared them on my custom form.

He told me to wheel my luggage to the scanner. I opened my box. I carried garri ,iru, dry fish pepersoup spice pepper crayfish and indomie chicken. Only my indomie was seized. I proceeded to join my connecting flight.

On getting to my destination I saw that my other box was broken open by tsa and I saw the card saying my luggage had been searched. Nothing was missing though.

So thankful for this forum.

I wasn't even asked why I changed destination from El Paso to Los Angeles. Wasn't asked for any documents also. So all in all I'll say it was smooth.

Wanted to specially thank @fygorgyn for assistance in getting docs and hospital details and everyone who has been helpful so far

EmekaBlue:
see her small nyansh

chibertha:
@xclusivemaama ,We did not do anything to them dear.
It's just that a lot of them will tell you they don't take international patients in case you need them to give you things to show while applying for visa.
But when you get there and go to them they take you on as a local resident, so next time you call give a address of the place you are planning to staying even if it's a hotel.
That's the way to go.

bestbuyer:
@Xclusivemaama....
are u at Phoenix now? my DW will be coming in next week.

apparently very few people at NL visit Phoenix so you have less info.

my DW used Maryville Hospital two years ago at 4500USD (CS) recommended by her obgyn... who is affiliated to AOB (Arizona Obgyn).

She is thinking of checking other places at lower rate when she lands. The AOB charges 3500USD, then paed and other stuffs.

you can also google Phoenix baby hospitals; which i did then to locate the doc and hospitals. There is also Banner Estraller Group...

Best of luck...



Im so happy.. Finally someone helped!!!!!
Kai!!!.. you are just Godsent..God bless you jare..I will contact the hospitals and look up for more as you said.. Im planning on travelling by October God willing if i get a hospital..
Please can you give me the name and number of the AOB your wife used in Maryville?i'd Probably contact her.

They've not been picking the one i saw on their website..It looks like a privately owned hospital yh?
AH!! I tire for my plenty questions

Safe trip to your DW