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| Nigeria |  Review on November 15, 2006: |
masterpiece
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Firstly, we are yet to attain normalcy as regards appointment scheduling and handling at the Lagos embassy. I look forward to the day when interviews can be strictly by appointment. In other words, you have an appointment for 9a.m and you can be there at 8.30a.m and not have to struggle to get in.
I cannot help but envy countries that have figured this out and I cannot help but ponder on the mitigating factors that prevent same orderliness occurring at the Lagos embassy. Too many applicants? Too many unruly people?? Too little motivation to make this work?? What really could be the issue why a simple orderly method cannot be instituted and (wait for it…) maintained? Sometimes I tend to liken this to the difference between the two legs of the trip from U.S to Nigeria. The first leg U.S – Europe goes smoothly and then Europe-Nigeria……Hello!!!!!!! Call me paranoid or cynical but suddenly the planes don’t seem too nice and the cabin crew lose their smiles…..
I certainly recall the hey days of WAI- the Idiagbon years- when it was inconceivable to be seen as unruly at a bus stop or any other place for that matter where queues are being formed. I intend to ask these questions at a later date by e-mail to the U.S consulate. The idea that people cannot simply form an orderly way to enter this embassy simply leaves me befuddled. Why should there be a rush at a certain time when the security folks appear. If people are given dates and they show up at those specific dates, surely that same idea can be translated to specific time. For those who miss their appointments, they can go to the back of the line for that day. Would it take a tragedy occurring at those gates for a more civilized method to be fashioned out? I think these questions for the most part revolve, as with most things in Nigeria, around commitment. Anyway I digress from the reason for this post…
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By 10.00a.m est (4.00am Lagos time), I called my fiancé to sing…….This is the day that the Lord has made…….just kidding………called to wake her….doubt if she even slept…phone rang but once
As early as 5a.m my fiancée was on her way to Eleke crescent. The time you leave home is directly related to the proximity of your residence to the embassy. If you have a relative or friend staying in Victoria Island, you may want to perch there for one night if you can. You certainly do not want to be ensnarled in the infamous Lagos traffic jam. A trip that may take 30minutes in the early hours of the morning before rush hour (try 6.30am for rush hour if you are going through parts of Lagos Island to get to the embassy) could extend to one and half hours. Getting to the embassy very early does not mean you get in early because there is no existing queue. People simply hang around until the security people call out and then…………the mad rush to get in line….
So if you are a pregnant lady and you are there alone but you made an effort to be an early-bird, you may not have achieved the feat of escaping mad rush. I shudder to think of some less ambulatory persons trying to cope with
6.30am- Screening
Security personnel call for applicants to queue up. Scrambling and jostling ensues and perhaps a little wheeling and dealing (not all who rush to queue up enter…..my fiancé got help….she needed a less conscionable person who will aim for top of the line…she got that!)
After the mad rush (talk about a great work-out) the security men asked applicants (with so much gusto….ah but the lust of power even for these few moments!!) to “present arms” for inspection. These would include the following:
-Passport
-Letter of appointment
-Passport pictures (they do verify that pictures are acceptable)
7am- Admission into embassy begins
7.30am- Collection of Documents
At this point, a Nigerian U.S embassy employee requests, more civilly but certainly with a palpable undercurrent of power-thirst, for the following documents:
-Passport
-Letter of Appointment
-Medical Reports
-Passport Pictures
-DS156 and DS156K forms (Try and use bar-coded 156 forms: makes for easier & faster processing; scanned info can be accessed on PC)
-Form I-134, pay-stubs, bank statements
Then if all is intact, you are ushered in to the room where you sit and wait to be called by the consular officer. At this point, you should have all your documents arranged in order for presentation and review when called. The span of time you wait from when you are ushered to sit down until when called by a consular officer may take from 1-4hours. Some have sat from 8a.m and not called until 12noon and beyond (consular officers also take lunch at some point, so you should aim to be done before lunch)
My fiancée was ushered in to sit at about 7.30a.m and got called to see the consular officer (a nice Caucasian lady…hmm huh…tell that to the countless B2-visa seeking applicants that she will be bouncing) at 9.30am
9.30am- Interview proper
The interview proper then started with the following questions being asked:
• When and how did you meet your fiancé
• What does he do for a living
• How did you both communicate (at which point fiancée mentioned phone, e-mails, text messages and showed details of these in a separate bag: too overwhelming for consular office to bother inspecting)
• How did he propose (Fiancee thinks she asked this, in a sort of chatting manner after browsing through my perhaps too romantic, “letter of intent to marry”……Not me! I think you stay alert and never let your guard down or get too complacent `cos you never really know when you are being “psyched out”, but then again I am Bill Maher`s coz…I am Swiss!)
• Looked at two pictures and wanted running commentary on them
• Asked Fiancee if she will work in US… (That’s a trick question that was already answered in the DS-156 form…of-course you will work after being duly authorized by INS to do so)
The interview lasted for about 20minutes.She was asked to return on Tuesday 21st to pick up the visa
By10.20am Lagos time (4.20a.m est), I received a call from my fiancée: mission accomplished! __________________________________________________________________________________________
TIPS:
The issue of being organized has been stated here on VJ to the point of being over-flogged but you certainly need to know where your documents are. Fidgeting about looking for W2 or pay stubs sends out the wrong vibes of a nervous person.
Part of being organized is having a firm grasp of your TIMELINE: I stated this so many times to my fiancée because I felt, and was proven right, that it would be tested in our case where we have been acquainted for quite a spell even though not engaged for that same length of time. She knew my travel dates and other key dates cold and could state them without a moment of hesitation.
For those who may not have been inside the embassy, it does get chilly (and chillier with the apprehension). You may want to dress warm or at least have some top to cover up.
Talking about appropriate wear: I informed my Fiancee that after being bounced a couple of times for B2 visas and even student visa years ago (pre-911), I was done trying to look too nice at the embassy so I opted for comfort. I asked her to wear whatever she felt she would be comfortable in as, in my opinion, that would have no bearing on the outcome. She went casual and i think being in that comfort zone helps during the waiting period. I recall pictures of loosened ties after one hour of waiting. What to wear must be a personal choice.
Not every person at the embassy during the mad rush plans on traveling to U.S…need I say more? Pilfering does occur. So watch out for items placed loosely in back pockets etc…
Another overflogged statement but which should be reiterated because new members continue to panic over various threads they browse through. It is clear that each interview is different and the contents of documents presented also differ. Just gather as much as you can without setting a target like…I need 300pictures cos someone else mentioned somewhere I had 300pictures or aim for 400e-mails because some other person stated that may have clinched their case. I personally, and I have stated this even before this interview date, think that it is a total picture, a combination of documents that makes the case not an overwhelming number of pictures or e-mails.
DISCLAIMER!!!!!!!!!!!
I will not hesitate to add that I am not an attorney. Just a regular guy-
• who joined VJ on August12,2006 after filing the K1 visa
• who got frustrated by some members` lack of interest in dishing out vital info and
• who promised self to do an over-the-top detailing of information that comes to hand. That, I hope, has been accomplished.
Ultimately you must do your own research and be accountable for all decisions you take.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1023