Consulate Review: Nigeria
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 15, 2006 |
| Embassy Review : |
The following is me and my now husband's interview experience at Lagos in June 2005. This information will be beneficial for genuine Nigeria-USC Couples who want to diminish the stress of going thru this difficult consulate.
General Tips for Dealing with Lagos
1. You must do your research! Every case is different so you must understand what could possibly be viewed as being a problem by the consulate. Carefully review others experiences so you know what to expect. Start this well ahead of your interview day so you can rectify any possible problems in time.
2. Related. You must be prepared and well organized. Keep all your paperwork in such a way that everything can easily be located and that you have all the necessary details and papers.
3. Have ample proof of your relationship. I can only speak about going through the K1 experience but the consulate namely looks for emails and pictures. Print out every single email correspondence and have plenty of pictures. I mean hundreds. If you have handwritten letters over the span of your relationship, especially from before you filed the K1 (i.e. not just a few weeks prior to the interview) this will be to your benefit BUT only if you have the postmarked envelopes to prove the date.
4. Have your financial information in order. You must be able to show proof that you make over the stated limits and that you are currently employed. Lagos claims that it does not accept co-sponsorship for K1 visas, so be prepared for this!!
The following is re-posted from some time ago after we got approved at the interview in Lagos::
We arrived at the embassy at 6:30AM and it was already packed (interview was scheduled for 7AM). There were two separate lines: One for non-immigrant visas (NIV) and another one for immigrant visas/diversity visas (IV and DIV). The NIV line was considerably longer than the IV/DIV line.
Around 6:45AM they told us to have the following documents handy: 1. the interview letter 2. international passport 3. passport photographs (you’re supposed to have 4) 4. medical results. They then told those in the IV line to open their packet where the x-ray and medical results were contained, take out the white envelope and then open it while still in line.
Around 7AM they started to admitting people in. The person admitting those in line made sure that each person had those items. When it was my fiancé’s turn the person there looked at me and told us (very monotone voice-seems to be a standard line for him) “you are not allowed inside, but tell the CO that the petitioner is around, and if there are any concerns they will call you in.” I was fully prepared for that, so I gave my fiancé a kiss and went outside to wait.
Directly across from the U.S. consular section there are benches that you can pay N50 to sit on. So I planted myself there and waited for about 4.5 hours until my fiancé came rushing out to tell me that the CO wanted to see me. But I’m jumping ahead of myself. This is what happened to my fiancé while I was waiting outside:
There are two waiting rooms. The first one you enter you pay your fee ($100 for K1), you are assigned a number and then you wait until your number is called. When your number is called, you go into the second waiting room (which is very cold) where the interview is conducted.
He was called by the first interviewer. The man was a Nigerian, and he just collected his documents. He asked for his forms (DS 156, DS156K, birth certificate) and the financial documents (I-134, taxes etc). He scanned through them and did not suggest there were any problems. In fact he joked with my fiancé that he was going to the U.S. to enjoy life (said this in Yoruba). He asked him what I did for a living. He told him that I was a student but I had had some part-time jobs.
While he was waiting for the second interview, my fiancé sent me a note through someone that had already finished their interview to tell me that everyone was okay, but that there was no news, and I should stay calm (what a sweetheart  .
Then he was called by the second interviewer. She said, “Actually you will not be granted the visa today because for K1 visas we do not entertain co-sponsors and your fiancé does not make enough money to support you” His response, “no problem, ma” and she said, “but that does not mean we cannot still conduct the interview. I will still look at your evidence.” She also said, maybe something can be arranged so she can come to Nigeria, and you two can get married. To which he said nothing.
CO: When did you meet?
Ans: 2001
CO: Where?
Ans: At the airport.
CO: Do you work at the airport?
Ans: No
CO: So how is it that you met her at the airport?
Then he explained to her how my aunts came to Lagos to pick me up from the airport when I came to Nigeria in 2001. Since he and his family live close to the airport, my aunts stayed at their house (Our families are family friends). My family lives about 4 hours from Lagos so they came earlier and stayed at his house. Because my aunts are not that familiar with Lagos, he took them to the airport upon his brother’s instructions.
CO: So what is the relationship between your brother and her aunt?
Ans: They are family friends.
CO: How many brothers do you have?
Ans: 2
CO: Only 2? Where do they stay?
Ans: Lagos
Then she asked for his evidence. He first pulled out some emails. She had a look on her face, as if to say “is that all?” But we had separated the emails into folders according to years, so he had to go to the other folders to pull the rest out. We had about 125 emails. Then she said “You have had a relationship for four years and you only have that amount of emails?” He responded, “No, ma. You asked us when we met. We met in 2001, but the relationship did not start until 2003.” She replied, “ok,” and she seemed to be taking some notes.
He handed over the emails. And then he handed over the photographs (we had separated the pictures into 4 small photo albums, with about 200 photos total). She asked him when I had been in Nigeria. He answered, once in 2003, twice in 2004, and that I was here now. She was then asking him, how is it that I am able to afford to come to Nigeria based on my income. And how do I get money? He said that I was a student, but I worked part-time sometimes and that my school gives me money, but he doesn’t really understand the setup. And she said, “She’s here now?” She then pulled out a blue form and checked a box that said, “Return immediately with the petitioner,” and asked him to come get me.
I was outside, sitting on those benches, reading a Nigerian magazine, when my fiancé came running towards me to tell me “they want to see you.” I saw a blue form in his hand so I was really scared. But it was a form asking that he return with me. I was surprised, but for some reason I knew I was going to be called in. I had our cell phones and my camera with me, so he had to run back to the car while I waited with the security guards to go through the checkpoint. He returned really quickly and the security guards, asked “Did you fly there?” He wasn’t even out of breath. They let me in, and as we were walking inside, he filled me in as much as possible. I went to the window of the interviewer.
While he was outside getting me, she had gone through the emails and the pictures.
I greeted her and she greeted me. And she said, “There is a problem. You don’t make enough money.” I was prepared for there to be some problems with my financial information, but I was sure that my co-sponsors information would make everything okay since she makes way over the limit. I tried to explain my situation to her (that I was a full-time student, I received a stipend from my school for living expenses and that I had worked some part-time jobs in the past). I actually did make over the limit, it just wasn’t fully reflected in the taxes I filed because not all the money I get from my school’s fellowship is taxable. Anyways she was not really trying to hear that, we were kind of talking past each other. She told me that she does believe the relationship is genuine and for that reason if I can prove that I can support only 1 person (instead of 2) that she would have no problems (around $11,000). She said by law you are required to have a job before you can petition for anyone. I said I do have a job! I’m a graduate student, and my school pays me. Anyway we went back and forth for a few minutes, and I continued to plead my case. She looked over my W2’s and taxes from my other part-time jobs (which I did not currently hold). I don’t think she really looked at the 1098’s that my school gave me that reflects the stipend. And then she said, I need some kind of employer letter or something. So I said, well there are the letters from my school. But my fiancé had not handed those over (doh!), so I gave her the funding letters from my school, which gave details of the stipend amounts and conditions of my fellowship. She took them and said “sit down, I will be back”
About 10 minutes later, she called us back. She said, “Congratulations! Good luck on the rest of your life together” and my fiancé and I hugged each other. And I was jumping up and down saying “thank you, thank you ma’am.” And she gave us a blue letter and told us to come back on Friday to pick up the visa. We went Friday to pick up the visa. The letter said we should be there at 2PM. We were there at 1:30PM and no one else was in line. The guards told us that they were closed, which was a lie. They just wanted us to tip them. But we just waited there and another security guard let us in. They let me in with my fiance. When we got there, we handed over the blue letter to a security guard and waited in the first waiting room. They were still conducting NIV interviews. Then my fiancé’s name was called about 15 minutes later. He went to the second waiting room, where he was handed over his passport and the brown envelope.
So that was it! We prevailed in the end. I don’t know what really convinced her. Maybe she was just trying to see how we would react to her. It just goes to show you how subjective the process is though. I hadn’t heard anywhere that they don’t support co-sponsorship for fiancé visas. Thanks to everyone on VJ who posted their experiences in the past, especially those going through Lagos in the past. Praise God. And thanks to the CO that interviewed us.
My overall advice would be that, make sure your relationship and financial evidence is solid. Be organized and prepared. I think the only reason she approved us in the end was because it was obvious we had a genuine relationship. As far as the relationship evidence is concerned, for fiancé visas they are primarily looking for emails and pictures. I think letters (with postmarks) are bonus and really only useful if they are from before you filed. Phone records are useless if they don’t show the phone numbers dialed (but bring them anyways!).
We arranged our evidence into a 3 ring binder; each section divided by color-coded tabs. Each section had its own folders. As I said the only thing they really looked at as far as our relationship evidence was emails and our pictures, and that seemed to be enough for them. They kept all my financial information (except for the school letters) along with my co-sponsors information (although they said I couldn’t use a co-sponsor!) and returned the emails and pictures.
Section #1 BENEFICIARY’S INFORMATION
-Form DS 156 (2 copies)
-Form DS 156K
-Certified copy of birth certificate
-Police certificate
Section #2 PETITIONER’S INFORMATION
-Certified copy of birth certificate
-Copy of Front page of passports
-Notice of Actions from I-129F petition
Section #3 EVIDENCE OF RELATIONSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT
-Letter of intent to marry from Petitioner
-Pictures (from our official engagement ceremony last July, excursions around Lagos, family events, random candid photos)
-Handwritten correspondence between couple (letters, cards, postcards)
-Electronic mail correspondence between couple
-Correspondence between Couple and Family
-Phone Correspondence (copies of phone cards)
-Proof of Petitioner’s travel to Nigeria
-Yahoo Chat logs
-Pictures of souvenirs handed out to guests at our engagement ceremony
-Engagement Ceremony guestbook
-Statements of family consent and support for the engagement
-Congratulatory greeting cards on engagement
Section #4 EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT-SPONSOR
-Letter explaining financial situation of sponsor and providing information about co-sponsor
-Notarized I-134
-Letter from Bank
-Bank Statements from December 2003 to May 2005
-Funding letters from University
-Copy of 2004 Tax return
-2004 W2’s and 1098-T
-Copy of 2003 Tax return
-2003 W2’s, 1098T and 1099-MISC
Section #4 EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT-CO-SPONSOR
-Letter from co-sponsor explaining why agreed to sponsor and summary of financial security
-Copy of Naturalization Certificate, front page of U.S. passport to prove United States citizenship
-Notarized I-134
-Bank Letters
-Letter from Employers
-Copy of 2004 Tax returns and W2’s
-Copy of 2003 Tax returns and W2’s
-Copy of 2002 Tax returns and W2’s
-Recent Pay stubs
-Recent Bank Statements
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