LAGOS - VISA DENIED UNTIL.....(RFE)

[HoneyHummingbird 3]

My fiance appeared for his interview today at the Embassy in Lagos.

As part of our evidence, we submitted proof of over 3000 calls and 1000 texts in just an 18 month period (we talk every day at least 4 times per day and we text every day.) We submitted statements of our parents support of our getting married, photos......... proof, proof, proof.

We don't really email or IM so I sent what we had, including a few emails between me and members of his family. Maybe 15 personal emails between me and my fiance and on a few of the emails we blacked out information because I read and I was told that we could remove sensitive, personal information.

The interviewer says that she wants to see the emails in their entirety. What should we do? There was some stuff in the email we don't want to share because it was personal. For ex. we talked about a certain family member having a disease and the details of their treatment as well as our sex life.

Should I contact my state senator or representative? Is there a rule or printed law that says we can blacked-out personal information. We had a mountain of solid evidence, so honestly I feel like a few emails that had blacked-out marks is b.s.

[Twisted K 2]

sorry for the situation. at least it is not denied (been in that situation before). they want the unaltered emails because they think you may be hiding something that would otherwise hinder your visa. it is a good rule of thumb to not purposefully hide anything from them. looks like you will have to get over the shyness and submit the documents as requested. good luck to u

[Kanja 202]

yes u have to show them the rest of the email...the only thing ur allowed to black out is sensitive information like maybe account numbers, social security etc and even that I dont see y one would block it out because they have that information anyways

[HoneyHummingbird 3]

We have decided to show them the original emails.

We truly love each other and we are eager to show them we had/have nothing to hide.

Unfortunately for us, a little guilt and embarassment cost us our approval today. If we could do it all over again we would have submitted the emails unmarked.

[Nwanyioma 11]

We have decided to show them the original emails.

We truly love each other and we are eager to show them we had/have nothing to hide.

Unfortunately for us, a little guilt and embarassment cost us our approval today. If we could do it all over again we would have submitted the emails unmarked.

Honeyhummingbird,

Im so sorry to hear about you and your fiancee not getting the approval today. The same thing happened to me and my fiancee. We blocked out calling each other husband and wife. Were you issued a 221g or did they deny you? My fiancee goes back February 22 to bring copies of all the visa pages on my passport to prove that I have not visited Nigeria since 1985. I hope everything works out for you two. All the best

Nwanyioma

[HoneyHummingbird 3]

Honeyhummingbird,

Im so sorry to hear about you and your fiancee not getting the approval today. The same thing happened to me and my fiancee. We blocked out calling each other husband and wife. Were you issued a 221g or did they deny you? My fiancee goes back February 22 to bring copies of all the visa pages on my passport to prove that I have not visited Nigeria since 1985. I hope everything works out for you two. All the best

Nwanyioma

Hi, thanks.

He was given a slip to bring the emails in. He was not denied.

I read about the blacking out of text on VJ but I'm now starting to feel what was said was misinformation and as such we all have to remember that we read and do at our own risk. Now, I totally understand that blacking out SS#'s, bank acct #'s (identity fraud matters) and such are ok but much of the posts I read dealing with the blacking out issue talked about sex and "private matters", which I think can lead to problems.

The things we blacked out as private matters, in hindsight we feel almost silly about it because a reasonable explanation could've been given. Nwanyioma, girl, we innocently and affectionately called each other husband/wife too. A lot of people in/out of VJ do that. Plus, if a person has family statements supporting the fact that they aren't married why should they hide it. I know we will be victorious. I think the total context of the letter is the problem not the word husband/wife affectionately sprinkled here and there. All couples have problems and issues (including insecurities, disagreements, trust, fidelity, $, family etc.) they are dealing with in life and we at VJ are no different and we shouldn't be ashamed or scared. That's life. We had a ton of evidence so omitting a few emails wouldn't have tainted our case. We sent so many things hoping to show we are serious and instead it led to unnecessary confusion.

My advice to others in the future... If you're going to use it, leave it alone. Otherwise, don't use it.

Girlie, our approvals are on the way.

[evanscholly 1]

I am so sorry to hear of your experience but all hope is not lost as soon as you get the emails to them i am positive your visa will be granted so give them what they asked for and you will be fine. One of the things my husband recollected while he was being interviewed was that the lady read some of our emails and chat logs and was laughing all through cos we do write intimate stuff about our sex life and what positions we like, i guess that was what was cracking her up. I passed through Lagos Consulate while i was moving to the States so i kind of have first hand knowledge of what they like or dislike, they really really like transparency, don't keep anything secretive from them, be honest even if you don't know stuff just say you don't know and they will treat you kindly but blanking out portions of your emails or chat logs sends a wrong signal but like i said earlier you were not denied which is a good sign and i have no doubt you will soon be with your love. Be strong and remain blessed.

[HoneyHummingbird 3]

I am so sorry to hear of your experience but all hope is not lost as soon as you get the emails to them i am positive your visa will be granted so give them what they asked for and you will be fine. One of the things my husband recollected while he was being interviewed was that the lady read some of our emails and chat logs and was laughing all through cos we do write intimate stuff about our sex life and what positions we like, i guess that was what was cracking her up. I passed through Lagos Consulate while i was moving to the States so i kind of have first hand knowledge of what they like or dislike, they really really like transparency, don't keep anything secretive from them, be honest even if you don't know stuff just say you don't know and they will treat you kindly but blanking out portions of your emails or chat logs sends a wrong signal but like i said earlier you were not denied which is a good sign and i have no doubt you will soon be with your love. Be strong and remain blessed.

Thanks so much for responding. I really truly appreciate it.

We are handling everything positively. We have also decided that we will give this process a time limit and if it doesn't happen in that timeframe we will choose another option. All in all we are not going to let the 221g control our destiny. We will be together. As you know the economy and job market is tight right now so in order to keep my position I have been cautious about taking off and travel but because of this we are now exploring our next step, which includes using our savings so that I can make a trip to Nigeria... money we were hoping to use as a cushion.

[sachinky 465]

I haven't blocked out anything on our emails. The emails that contain intimate/private matters, I just choose to keep private. So I won't be submitting them. We have about 20/30 usual husband-wife-how-was-your-day-I-love-you-and-miss-you kind of emails and I will just use those. There's nothing that states that you need to submit 1000 emails or every single email that was passed between the both of you.

Similarly, for chats, I'm printing out several chat logs on different days from different months showing our continued communication. But I'm not planning on printing out two year's worth of chat logs. That's just a waste of paper.

[KDOR 1]

We have the same RFE too when hubby went for his interview on Tuesday, we are ask to submit an unredacted copies of chats that were redacted and the interviewer guess what was blackout was that i said i was gonna lie to the embassy, while what was there was about a discussion on calling the embassy to find out what i need to do to get a visa to visit hubby. Well we are submitting the unredacted copy to them next month and then we get our approval in Jesus name.... Have no fear hummingbird, give them what they want and your good to go. God is good all the time.

[SunDrop 59]

What's crazy about this is that there is nothing stopping you from actually deleting any sensitive material from your chat log/ emails before printing them.

I know that Lagos is a very different kettle of fish, but what is being suggested here? That if you take the line out of an email that makes reference to something extremely intimate, they will know because they'll contact your ISP and gain access to the original? One of the ways my fiance and I keep intimacy alive while we're apart is by talking about our sexual relationship, what we experienced together, and to be honest, it can get extremely graphic.

On a different note, I was chatting to a friend online while reading over our old chat logs, and was crying with laughter at some parts. I said to the friend "I don't know if I should send this one because they're going to have such fun reading it, they'll probably share it around the office and our petition approval will be delayed." lol...

[sachinky 465]

I don't think they're talking about having access to the originals.

In the OPs case, unless I'm mistaken, they printed out the emails and then blacked out the sensitive stuff out with a Sharpie. Which might pique the CO's interest.

[SunDrop 59]

I don't think they're talking about having access to the originals.

In the OPs case, unless I'm mistaken, they printed out the emails and then blacked out the sensitive stuff out with a Sharpie. Which might pique the CO's interest.

That's my point. There's no way of knowing that you have cut the sensitive stuff out of an electronic record and sounds like it's a better way forward than blacking anything out.

Of course, the easier thing to do is provide only emails/ chatlogs that are U rated

[sachinky 465]

Right--I only plan to provide emails and chats that are U-rated. This way I'm not blacking or editing anything out!

[HoneyHummingbird 3]

Thanks to all!!!

My fiance was approved today. They say the 3rd times a charm.

We are ecstatic!!!