direct consular filing in Nigeria !

[omogenaija 0]

Hello all,

I am new to this website and I have been reading a lot about the process and all the new terms.I am a US citizen presently leaving in Nigeria with my Nigerian husband.I want to find out if we can do the Direct consular Filing at the US embassy in Nigeria to bring him back to the Sates with me?. I couldn't find any info about that on the US embassy in Nigeria but I did find it on US embassy in Cameroon.Can I go to Cameroon to file if not accepted in Nigeria?.Please, help me out guys. I need ur best advice on this. We can move to any african country and spend some time there until we can file if not in Nigeria. By the way, I was born in Nigeria and have my dual citizenship( also my Nigerian passport),and I have been living in the US since I was 7. I just moved back to Nigeria about 6 months ago.Please,VJ members help me out.

[Otto 83]

If you don't get an answer directly - try the DCF Forum

[stevi1123 0]

Hello, I don't any have information/advice to share, but I do send prayers out for the both of you . I pray that you will soon be able to come back home with your husband. God bless you. I hope you find the correct information here on VJ. There are some really great "experts" on this site. It has been very valuable for us.

Stevi

[Ta Ta 1]

Welcome to VJ and the sub - saharan forum.

I am not familiar with the DCF in Nigeria but do know that different countries have different residential requirements before filing. So if you move to another country make sure you do not have to live there for x amount of time before qualifying for DCF filing.

I tried the search feature but either it is not working tonight or there is no info on DCF in Nigeria.

Sooner or later someone will come along with input, meanwhile read the pinned thread in the DCF forum given above by Karin and Otto and email

the embassy for the DCF procedure........you may have to wait a while before getting an answer.

[kelly1290 0]

Hello omogenaija,

The answer is no, Nigeria does not do DCF filing as of 2003.

Best of luck to you,

Deb

Hello all,

I am new to this website and I have been reading a lot about the process and all the new terms.I am a US citizen presently leaving in Nigeria with my Nigerian husband.I want to find out if we can do the Direct consular Filing at the US embassy in Nigeria to bring him back to the Sates with me?. I couldn't find any info about that on the US embassy in Nigeria but I did find it on US embassy in Cameroon.Can I go to Cameroon to file if not accepted in Nigeria?.Please, help me out guys. I need ur best advice on this. We can move to any african country and spend some time there until we can file if not in Nigeria. By the way, I was born in Nigeria and have my dual citizenship( also my Nigerian passport),and I have been living in the US since I was 7. I just moved back to Nigeria about 6 months ago.Please,VJ members help me out.

[omogenaija 0]

Thank all experienced VJs here that responded to my question. I understand that US embassy in Cameroon and Senegal accepts DCF though.If we move to one of this countries,how do we establish the 6-month residency thing since I have my ECOWAS passport that allows me to stay in any west african country for 90 days.How do I go about getting residence permit in any of these west african countries?.We don't mind moving anywhere in west africa just to get this done instead of returning to the States and wait it out.Any advice on this DCF thing in any west african countries will be appreciated.

N.B: We can move to any west african countries including Ghana, Benin Republic,Cameroon,Guinea,S.Leonne, Gambia,Togo,Chad,Senegal..etc.Thanks .

[payxibka 10,045]

In there fee schedule (on the website) they acknowledge the collection of petition fees for the I-130. It is a bit out of date but maybe they still do...

The answer to your question before you decide to move all over west africa, is to ask the consulate itself!!

Inquiries

Lagos: (234)-1-261-5697/5699

or by

Lagos e-mail: lagoscons2@state.gov

[Ta Ta 1]

It is my opinion that you would have to ask each consulate that you are thinking of going through about residential requirements for that specific country. Some may have 30 days others 3-6 months.

Keep in mind that aside from very poor living conditions and more people than jobs, Sierra Leone does not process immigrant visas and you would be required to go through Dakar. That means extra flight fees to make trips back and forth to the embassy from Sierra Leone, Guinea and some other countries without immigration processing, that go through Dakar.

Think of where you could best support yourselves as far as jobs and living conditions and then choose a consulate with a fairly smooth processing

pattern ie. time frame and less difficulty.

Liberia comes to mind as a good option if they do DCF but Chad seems like a bad choice due to political hot spots.

Familiarize yourself with which country goes through which embassy and then email those embassies for residential requirements.

After that ask around how difficult the process is at each embassy and how long the time frame is to finish DCF cases.

It will take a lot of research and there are no easy answers.

I hope other African DCF filers will step forward to help and you may want to consult an experienced attorney with African DCF experience , that knows the consulates and may steer you either to or away from certain consulates.

Keep posting your questions as they come up.

[omogenaija 0]

Thanks once again for your prompt replies. I have read through the US embassy in Nigeria and cannot find any info about them mentioning DCF specifically like Cameroon,Senegal and Mali do. I understand we have to cope with some residency requirements and I believe looking for a job is not our option anyway.We can be better prepared with all the funds we will need.Is there anybody that has gone through DCF in any of these african countries?.I had read about Senegal being a tough embassy but having friends in Gambia appeal to us a lot.We have emailed and called all these embassies several times in the past with no response.We still have all the phone numbers and the email addys before I found out about this forum.You guys have been really helpful...better than the consulates. I have read about someone that lived in Equitorial Guinea and filed in Cameroon.I need you guys to put me through whatever advice you can give at this point before we make this big step.We just have to get it right one time !...We cannot afford to lose all the time and money in africa only to find out we cannot file.Please advice strongly.Thanks.