Armed robbers and their timing!

[ndu26 114]

As I write this , I am besides myself .Bear with me as I know this is a long read. we share our stories but do not know how it helps others. Right now I am drawing strength from other people's patience: Darnell (who requested an expedite on their case at USCIS but is yet to hear a decision), Dwheels76 (who has been a victim of several botched jobs by courier companies hence stalling her at NVC for 5 months), Teague (who is still waiting on USCIS after 10mths) and countless others !!!!

Just yesterday , NVC sent us the IV bill which I paid and then mailed out the AOS and IV packages. Same yesterday evening my husband called to say he was attacked by armed robbers as he left the house. They stripped him of his wedding ring, expensive wristwatch(wedding gift by a friend) all bank cards, his phones, vital documents and cash. As he went on and on , it didnt mean anything to me cos I kept thinking " we are about to get our interview date and you will come over here for some peace, those things can be replaced". Then I asked, "where was your international passport"? and he replied "they took that also". I went what?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love surprises and so was waiting to surprise him with "you have an interview date!". Even when he asks, I try to play down our progress in this process.

As soon as he mentioned the passport was among the stuff taken, I must confess i freaked out on him and started screaming " why did you have to go out with it"? My mom had to calm me down warning me to remember that I am pregnant.

All I am thinking is why now?...the process of getting a lost passport replaced in Nigeria is not easy;moneywise and procedures(we went through it for my mom in 2011, unless things have changed).

Now the IV package I mailed out has the copy of the stolen passport biodata and police report with that passport number so what do we do?

wait for NVC to complete our case and go with the new documents at the interview or contact NVC to notify them and then forward the new documents before they get to case complete? The thing is i dont know if he can get these documents again within the two weeks needed for case complete and so do not want to hold our case at NVC and get a later interview date. The earlier he gets here and settles down while I can still work and actively show him how to start life here the better for us. OMG I am at my wits end!!!!!

[Roosha 51]

oh wow i can't imagine what you're going through right now, and pregnant too! Hold on to the thought that the CO at the Nigeria embassy knows how it is there so it's not like this will be something unbelievable! I know there will be others with more experience than me along to give you advice, but I just wanted to add my support.

Since it takes so long to get passport I'd wait until you get case complete and then when you go to interview or when you have interview date try to talk to CO and explain what happened. Have your husband file a police report or something that he can use at the interview to prove that he was robbed. I'm sure that people lose their passports all the time, this won't be a catastrophe. Again, I'd wait until case complete and when you have interview date talk to the consulate, they might give you a better idea of what to do.

[EmilyS 11]

I'm sorry to hear that...when we talked last you were happy about paying the IV bill, and I can imagine how you feel right now...I don't know what you need to do at this point as I have no information about nigeria and how long it takes to get a new passport but just wanted to show my support. Hope everything works out for you guys

[greg&onos 0]

Am so sorry about this.. look unto the bright side the lord will perfect everything for you.. he has ways of making things work for his children...your hubby should get a police report to back up his explanation during the interview.. please do not panic because of your condition. it is well hun

[ndu26 114]

I tell you, I hope some of us dont go crazy at the end of this journey I just got off the phone with hubby. I could not sleep after my post so called him couple of hours ago. I started rambling about how we should proceed to get the passport: he has to fly to abuja ( the state capital) to do this with court affidavit and police report). I was asking if his contact in our current city might be of help. he let me go on and on for few minutes and said "I dnt mean to interrupt but can I say something"?... I kept quiet and he went on : 'so you mean you did not hear the end of what i said yesterday?" he said when I asked him if he had the passport with him during the attack, he said yes he was taking it to his pastor to pray over after he is done with the day's activities but when the robbers asked him to give up the envelop he had, he informed them that it just contained papers so they took it and threw away on the street. After they rough handled him at gun point and went away with other valuables as mentioned, he went and picked up the envelop with the passport and documents. A good samaritan passing by also gave him some money right there .

I felt very foolish :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: :bonk: but still thankful at the outcome . i had to come back here to let readers know this.

the moderators should feel free to delete the post if they want since the reason why i posted is no longer valid. unless my premature act of panic will help someone else relax from their stress.

I just bless readers in these forums who are always ready to comfort and encourage. Thnks everyone.

[Teague 6]

Oh thank you , Lord! see, God really works people with good heart like you and your hubby... Good luck on your journey and tell your hubby be careful next time lol.. and have a safe delivery ahead!

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

Oh I am so glad he has the passport at least! I just came on here as I had the idea to post a notice in the newspaper giving a money reward for anyone who "finds" the passport, but glad it is not necessary.

Unless you want it deleted, I think the topic should stay, nice to see the (semi) good outcome.

[NikLR 13,232]

Wow I'm so happy the ending to this story is much happier than you initially thought it was. I can say my husband also complains that I don't pay attention to everything after getting stuck on a detail, and next time I'll have to blame it on being female (just kidding) and say others do the same thing so gimme a break!

Rejoice you no longer have to worry and tell your husband to keep the darn thing locked up somewhere safe!

[memlaura 60]

I am very glad your hubby has is passport I have been at NVC since July my husband has been working on getting his passport all this time. And it has cost him some money and 3 trips to Abuja. It has not arrived yet... He was told it would be here the 2nd week of January but we are in the 3rd week and still nothing so we sit at NVC..

[ndu26 114]

Oh thank you , Lord! see, God really works people with good heart like you and your hubby... Good luck on your journey and tell your hubby be careful next time lol.. and have a safe delivery ahead!

Thanks! trust me now he also knows how valuable it is at this point. I mean I have sentimental attachment to our wedding rings( since I picked that design) but i didnt even fuss when he mentioned it was taken. Funny enough he had called me the previous day to say he had a nightmare about us and has been worried and praying. God sure did protect us out of His love.

[ndu26 114]

Oh I am so glad he has the passport at least! I just came on here as I had the idea to post a notice in the newspaper giving a money reward for anyone who "finds" the passport, but glad it is not necessary.

Unless you want it deleted, I think the topic should stay, nice to see the (semi) good outcome.

Thanks! such Newspaper announcements do not work in Nigeria . It is such a relief now even though I had turned red in the face when i came back to correct the information

[ndu26 114]

Wow I'm so happy the ending to this story is much happier than you initially thought it was. I can say my husband also complains that I don't pay attention to everything after getting stuck on a detail, and next time I'll have to blame it on being female (just kidding) and say others do the same thing so gimme a break!

Rejoice you no longer have to worry and tell your husband to keep the darn thing locked up somewhere safe!

Trust me I thought the same thing to myself while he was correcting me (annoyingly after my reaction LOL). I have now stressed the importance of that passport at this stage to him.

[ErinO 9]

This is our year of favour!!! I am particularly happy his got his passport!!! That step alone is a nightmare and it takes forever. ThankGod for his loving kindness! Congrats on ur remaining journey.GOODLUCK

[PMartin37 161]

Thanks! such Newspaper announcements do not work in Nigeria . It is such a relief now even though I had turned red in the face when i came back to correct the information

This process is so stressful , it's really understandable that the first response is FREAK OUT! haha Been there, done that a million times already! Glad to hear it all turned out well and your hubby is safe. It gives confirmation there are good people in this world and good samaritans everywhere.

[ndu26 114]

This is our year of favour!!! I am particularly happy his got his passport!!! That step alone is a nightmare and it takes forever. ThankGod for his loving kindness! Congrats on ur remaining journey.GOODLUCK

Thanks Erin It sure is, something good awaits His people.