Nigeria (Lagos) Visa Appointments Mandatory Visits

[NwanzeILS 0]

Curious to know if anyone has gone through this requirement to visit the embassy twice, which seems incredibly inconvenient. What is that first visit like? I also want to know if it is truly helping with the delays. 

[appleblossom 3,615]

9 minutes ago, VickyandUche said:

Curious to know if anyone has gone through this requirement to visit the embassy twice, which seems incredibly inconvenient. What is that first visit like? I also want to know if it is truly helping with the delays. 

 

 

It’s standard now, most (all?) consulates are doing it. Too early to say if it’ll help with delays though but hopefully so. 

[KMG 176]

32 minutes ago, VickyandUche said:

Curious to know if anyone has gone through this requirement to visit the embassy twice, which seems incredibly inconvenient. What is that first visit like? I also want to know if it is truly helping with the delays. 

They are doing it here in Honduras as well, and it has helped a great deal with visa processing, and keeping people out of administrative processing.

[Edward and Jaycel 1,080]

Manila, Philippines started doing this with the biometrics and document review being conducted at an offsite Visa Applicant Center (VAC) last October. I don't know if it has improved things or not.

[TBoneTX 46,675]

Thread applying to general protocol is moved from the K-1 Process forum to the Embassy/Consulate forum.

[jan22 3,090]

Similar efforts have occurred over the years in other aspects of consular processing — for example, applications for Consular Report of Birth Abroad applications — and have been extremely helpful in having an applicant ready with all required information at the interview and, therefore, being approved the first time an officer reviews the case at interview.  
 

The ultimate goal is for an officer to have to review a case only once, thus freeing them for more cases, or reviews of cases that were previously 221(g)ed, or those that have finally cleared administrative processing and are ready for approval processing.

 

Ultimately, it should help reduce backlogs at posts — but that remains to be seen, depending on any new processing requirements that might be announced in the future.

Edited Friday at 09:20 PM by jan22

[JD2 105]

Isn't this what the NVC and getting DQ'd is for?

[appleblossom 3,615]

1 hour ago, JD2 said:

Isn't this what the NVC and getting DQ'd is for?

There can be 2+ years between being DQ’ed and interview though. And NVC doesn’t make the visa decision or require original documents, the consulate does that. 
 

When I was at my interview, at least half the people I saw being interviewed were sent away with a piece of paper saying they needed to send another document in. I’ve no idea why when the checklist is pretty easy to follow but it was usually simple things like only having a photocopy of the police cert rather than the original. Which then means that interview was wasted - hopefully this step will avoid that and mean people are only interviewed when the consulate is satisfied they have submitted everything required, and meet the criteria for the visa. 
 

It should also speed the interviews up if docs don’t need to be checked again, so they may be able to do lots more interviews each day. Which could really help those consulates with huge backlogs and 2+ year waits. 

Edited Saturday at 08:11 AM by appleblossom

[jan22 3,090]

On 3/29/2025 at 1:25 AM, JD2 said:

Isn't this what the NVC and getting DQ'd is for?

NVC reviews to ensure that you have submitted some documentation for all the requirements.  They do not evaluate the quality of those documents, as they are not authorized/trained to adjudicate visas.  They cannot review documents and determine, for example, that they are fraudulent.  The final evaluation and acceptance of documentation is done by the officials at the interview.

Edited Sunday at 09:33 PM by jan22