MY VISA JOURNEY FINALLY OVER IN 8 MONTHS (SPOUSE OF LPR)/ MY REVIEW OF THE ENTIRE JOURNEY

[Xie 2]

[Xie 2]

Im sorry, this is my first post ever so im probably not doing it right. Ive just copied and pasted the contents of the first post in this one in case you cant download the doc.

I thought that it would be helpful for me to write down my complete visa journey in order to inspire or assist anyone still on this nerve racking, time consuming journey. Forgive me, because this is quite a long epistle but I wanted to make it as detailed as possible. I’m quite thankful that from uscis till I got my visa lasted only six months despite all I read about the journey for spouses of LPRs going on for years which I indeed prepared my mind for at the start of the journey.

I will use headings for this review for ease of writing as well as reading and so you can jump to whatever section interests you without having to read everything.

OUR BRIEF RELATIONSHIP HISTORY

We dated for 4 years (from 2005) and were engaged for another 4 years therefore 8 years in total pre wedding (not typical in Nigeria but that’s our story). Distance began after 4 years of dating and right after we got engaged. I went to the UK for my masters while he moved to the US having received a family sponsored green card. We eventually got married in April 2013 and after honeymooning he return to the US and we filed in June 2013 and our journey began with US immigration.

USCIS and NVC

Seeing that we were expecting USCIS to last years we were pleasantly surprised when in September we received mail advising that our case had been sent to NVC. I remember screaming, dancing and doing all the crazy things I do when I’m really excited. Our NVC journey was straight forward, we followed their instructions to the letter and our case closed with NVC in the first week of November with no RFEs. However WE DID NOT FRONTLOAD. Yes we didn’t, not with anything extra apart from what NVC asked for in the instructions. It was not until after our case had closed that I came to VJ one day (of which I have been a silent reader) and realised that being a high risk country we needed to front load. I beat myself up for overlooking such an important point. I actually read it in various places that front loading was a must, but I simply assumed it was for k1 visa as I hadn’t really gotten a grasp of the different visa categories at that point.

My Advice: Get a joint-sponsor even if you feel you don’t need one, because NVC doesn’t make the final decision about the need for one. If you get a joint sponsor beforehand it saves the stress of waiting till interview and also delayed printing of visa which can give you so much emotional stress.

ZERO FRONT LOADING

Oh my gosh…a high risk country and I didn’t as much as send any shred of evidence to either USCIS or NVC apart from exactly what they asked for and my file was off to Lagos. I came across this long discussion about how Nigeria is a high fraud country and I was going crazy! My husband assured me that it was okay and that I’m a confident girl and our genuine relationship will shine through at the interview. I could hear him, but it didn’t stop this girl from worrying (yes, im the worrier of the two of us, he is constantly calm…how he does it I still don’t know). Eventually I accepted my fate and knew that I will have to go to the interview knowing my man in and out and our relationship upside down. My husband assured me that they will not just reject our case because we didn’t front load but the questions they ask me at interview will help them determine if they feel its genuine or not. So I began to prepare for my interview which I was sure will involve a lot of questions.

My advice: I’m not in the school of thought that says front load because you are from a high risk country because I didn’t front load and it was smooth (unless of course you have red flags you need to support with extra evidence). So I’d say, if you have red flags you’re concerned about and you probably don’t know your spouse completely (I mean all the little details) then probably frontload because I think it tends to reduce the number of interview questions. If you’re in my position where it’s too late to front load, then study your spouse like there is no tomorrow to get to know him or her, it will enable you answer questions well and will boost your confidence because they will ask you lots of questions. Also try to know all the little details like dates and number of days of visits, I heard a CO ask someone about what sort of house his wife lives in, car etc.

EVIDENCE AND PREPERATION FOR INTERVIEW

A month after NVC closed my case, I got my interview date (after what seemed like a year to me) and began gathering all my evidence, because I realised that I needed to be extra prepared since I had not front loaded. Fortunately we had cogent evidence to corroborate our for every year and in 3 different continents. It was obvious the pictures were taken at different ages and cities so we hoped that will be helpful. We had a large bunch of money transfers as well as emails between me and him and me and his family. Call records clearly highlighted of daily calls (rebtel), emails, chats, traditional marriage album, life insurance etc Needless to say I gathered every shred of evidence I could lay my hands on. To the extent that my husband would ask me if I really needed whatever I was asking him for, then I’d remind him that I was the one who would be on the firing line, therefore wanted to be as prepared as possible. He understood and brought every document I asked for on his trip to visit me in December.

Being no stranger to preparing for tests and exams, I created our relationship time line and studied our relationship, including stuff like his work history, and even mine (ie everything I filled out in my I130 etc). I memorised all this information and then a few weeks to the interview we began our mock exams interviews. I was initially doing so badly… could not remember enough but it was a good opportunity to clarify some dates and stuff like that. We kept remembering stuff every day and sharing that information, by a few days to the interview I was completely confident that there was probably no question that I could not answer about him and our relationship so that was a good boost going to the interview. I made little flash cards like you would for SATs or GREs and carried them around to test myself from time to time which helped a lot.

My advice: Gather every last piece of evidence you have on your relationship. I was lucky enough to be asked to show anything I have, however some COs ask for specific things, so it pays to be prepared. Also I think that when she saw how much evidence and how arranged they were it made my story more believable. I had two big folders and a bulky album, arguably the person with the most evidence at my interview, but I knew that I had covered all basis and it kept my mind at ease. I just used a cloth bag with no pockets to carry them and at the entrances they checked the contents of the bag and it wasn’t a big deal at all. Just generally avoid hand bags because they are bulkier and they have a forbidden list that a carrier of a hand bag may easily fall foul of.

TWO PREVIOUS TOURIST VISA REJECTIONS (MY RED FLAGS)

If I had any sort of red flags it would be that I had been rejected twice for tourist visas, once in the UK and the 2^nd in Nigeria because they felt I didn’t show proof of ties which I didn’t agree with to be honest and for the first interview in the UK, the CO was quite rude and I would have none of it and asked for my passport back, because she didn’t give me a good enough reason for rejecting and just printed that standard letter. In Nigeria, the young man explained better that I had not been back to Nigeria for long enough to show that I had developed ties. My concern was that I didn’t want these two previous rejections to bite me in the back side. However the good side of the UK rejection is that my mother in law sent the letter of invite directly to the US Consulate inviting me on holidays so I was sure they still had that in their records showing that we knew each other since 2009 (That is proof of a relationship right?).

My Advice:

Don’t let previous visas bother you so much, just have a good explanation and story to tell. My strategy here was not to mention my previous rejections till I was asked and stuck to that strategy and it worked. My plan was if asked why I hadn’t seen my mother inlaw till 2012 for example, I would say I tried but it didn’t work in 2009, so we had to wait. However I wasn’t going to delve into the rejection until they mentioned it and I had a good reason for wanting to visit with proof of my mother in-laws invite.

MEDICALS

I lived in Abuja and so I didn’t really want to have to go to Lagos twice for the medicals and then interview so I planned to go a week before my interview and do my medicals. The plan worked and got my medical result in 3 days. I went to the hospital in Ikoyi, it was the Muslim holiday that day. I called them to verify what I needed to come with and if they were working on that day being a holiday and they advised that I come with my bank card as they would not receive cash. I got to the hospital at about 7:50am because they told me over the phone that it would last from 8-10 (There was a lad who had been there since about 6am…crazy). You won’t believe they made people sit and stand outside because they did not open till 9 on that day despite what they told me, I was quite disappointed as I expected a higher standard from a hospital selected by the US consulate. Not bothering too much about it, they eventually called us in and we waited in a room that had AC (thanks goodness because Lagos heat is killing). We waited a while and they started calling people according to the attendance list we completed on arrival and they registered everyone, then called us for blood tests and x-rays and eventually we went to see the doctor for our medical interview. I was done with the whole process by 2pm and was grumbling that it took long, but my husband told me that in his time it took much longer and so I stopped complaining. It was a fairly straight forward process and we were asked to return 3 days later between 4pm and 6pm to get our results. I waited about 15 minutes or so to get it and then they gave instructions not to open and to take x-ray with us on our trip and not to the embassy (yet…I saw a good number of people with their x-rays at the interview. Does it mean they didn’t listen or didn’t believe...i wonder).

My Advice: Go with cash and a bank card too just in case. You can never tell what goes wrong. Don’t be in rush, everything will eventually happen may just take a bit longer than you expected. You know your medical interview is fine if you get it back on time and don’t need to discuss further with them (so said a medical staff when I asked how we know).

INTERVIEW DAY (Drum roll)

Of course I hardly caught a wink the night before, in-fact I thought I had a fever they day before and my hubby called it exam fever or tension fever. I also hardly ate the day before, I just kept practicing my memory verses (hehehe…answers to our mock interview questions) and we carried out our last interview test which I smashed if I may say so myself. Anyway, I got up really early, prayed with hubby, showered and forgot to have breakfast or carry the apple I intended to eat in the cab. I stayed at my sister’s house and she had work so I booked a cab for 5am (hubby insisted I leave at 5am even though I was at lekki phase one and I wanted to leave at 6am for my 7am interview). I left at 5am on the dot and got to the embassy before 5.30am and as expected there were already people there. I chatted with a girl beside me till they called us at about 6am or so to line up for body searches. After the search we all stood around waiting for the announcement of the first set of people to go in. Eventually they called 6.30 non-immigrants and 7am immigrants and we lined up. We were asked to open all sealed envelopes and bring out our international passports and p4 interview letter. We eventually went into the first entry and got our blue tags and they took the interview letters from us and gave us a slip to fill out our details and then asked us to sit down and wait to be ushered in. Whilst in the line some busy body girl who was there with her family told me I was wearing too many earrings and that could affect the outcome of my interview because they look at such things. Oh gosh, that bell in my head began to ring because I can’t stand such pretentious behaviour and also people who don’t mind their business. To begin with I have 2 piercings on one ear and 3 on the other, I wore tiny studs in each piercing. Nothing dangling or even noticeable. I wore no other jewellery apart from my wedding ring and this girl was talking about my earrings instead of minding her business. I refrained from snapping at her and just told her I have no problems with my piercings and left it at that. We waited some minutes and then they were ushering people in, in groups of fives. Oh yes I carried a cloth bag because I had a lot of evidence and couldn’t carry in my hand, so they kept stopping me to search the bag, but it was a very simple bag with no pockets or anything and only documents. We were finally ushered in and passed through various scanners and searches and then we took numbers from the number machine at the door and then went to sit down and waited. Non-immigrant applicants were so many and were in the bigger side of the room, while immigrant applicants were on the right side and we were asked to listen to our numbers at those windows. Nigerian agents called the numbers and collected documents from people (probably documents requested in the p4 letter). They took my international passport, passport photographs, the blue tag they gave me, the slip they also gave me and no extra evidence, I didn’t bother trying to slip in evidence at that point as I had read in some reviews.

We waited and waited before they began our interviews maybe at 10am or so and they began with old people and kids. For the elderly they asked them only a few questions and approved them. I observed that for many who came in groups like families, their interviews seemed to last so long like 30 minutes or more. Whilst listening to a certain interview I heard them refer to a previous visa rejection of someone or something like that as I couldn’t hear clearly, but it got me a bit worried for a few seconds. By the way it was only 3 interviewers, an Asian looking man who is possibly of Philippines origin probably in his thirties or forties by my guess, then a black lady probably in her thirties with an African accent (to me..), and then a young Caucasian lady who interviewed me probably in her twenties with a European accent surprisingly. There was an elder lady who was generally hanging around and reviewing cases with them so I figured she was a supervisor. So each CO had some long interviews, some would asked couples questions together, then separate them and asked them questions separately then call them back together and probably give the verdict.

I also observed that before each interview they would bring the persons file and flip through it and note whatever red flags or issues they had with it and usually review with someone else before calling the person to the window, and at that review stage I felt they had pretty much made their decision. I also noticed that for cases they rejected like a particular k1 lady, the supervisor woman stood in a corner and listened to the interview as well as watched the lady’s reactions, and then they will discuss for as long as 10 minutes sometimes before telling people their decisions.

My advice: If you’re religious, pray pray pray. If you can’t do without breakfast have some before you leave home or carry a fruit or snack you can quickly eat before you go in, because it lasts hours and low blood sugar can set it. I was hungry, but I think the effects of the adrenaline kept me going, however after the interview I was sooo hungry and I had a headache for the rest of the day.

THE INTERVIEW PROPER

I knew it was my turn because they had just concluded with the guy with the number before mine and the supervisor lady and my CO flipped through my file (probably very tiny file as I didn’t frontload) and they would look at each other and nod and stay stuff. They didn’t flip for too long and then they agreed on whatever and called me to the window. Good sign was the supervisor didn’t listen in to my interview and the interview went as follows:

CO: Hello there

Me: Hi (with a smile and looking into her eyes, we seemed to click instantly)

CO: Here are all your original documents you sent to us and she handed them all back to me. So who petitioned for you?

Me: My husband and I called his full name

CO: Looks like you lived abroad because you submitted a UK police report.

Me: Yes I lived in the UK for almost 4 years

CO: was it for school or what?

Me: Yes, school and then I also worked

CO: Where do you live now?

Me: I told her

CO: When did you meet?

Me: I said

CO: When did you get engaged?

Me: I told her

CO: When did you get married?

Me: told her both trad and registry dates

CO: You were engaged for 4 years?? She asks in surprise

Me: yes we were, but we always knew we would get married.

CO: How long did he stay when he came for the wedding?

Me: 3 weeks because we went for our honeymoon immediately after

CO: oo nice and where was your honeymoon?

Me: I told her and she seemed impressed

*********She kept looking at her screen to verify my answers for each question because they do have most of the answers in front of them, and she also typed a bit*************

CO: Show me any proof you have of your relationship

Me: Wow..i have so much stuff with me not sure where to start. (Then I started with the album of our traditional marriage because it was quite pretty and elaborate) The album was big so she asked me to just hold it up to the glass and flip the pages. I did so and explained some of the pictures. Showed her crucial pictures like that of my family and my hubbies family etc. whilst flipping through she was also chipping in questions probably to catch me while I was distracted.

CO: So how did you meet?

Me: I told our meeting story, and that I made the first call.

CO: (In surprise and possibly impressed) you called first???

Me: yes I did. I was sceptical but eventually called after having his number for so long and he thought it was a prank so really wanted to meet me..bla bla bla (we both laughed and it was quite a fun conversation)

CO: What are those? (In the picture some men were carrying giant yams)

Me: Those are yams

CO: Wow, they are so big!!

Me: Yes, they are. I’ve never seen yams that size myself. Its part of the things they gave to my family as tradition and the traditional weddings were I’m from are very elaborate (And we had a laugh).

CO: How many siblings does he have?

Me: almost said the wrong figure because I was counting him and then I corrected myself quickly and called their names too.

CO: Have you been to the US? (The question I dreaded because I didn’t want my 2 rejection to come up..oh Lord save me!)

Me: No I haven’t (I refused to refer to the rejections until she did, this was always the plan in our mock exams)

CO: When did he become a citizen (Now this was the trick question and I caught it immediately)

Me: Oh no, hes still a LPR but hopes to apply for citizenship in a few months when he becomes eligible (she checks screen as usual)

CO: When did he apply for you?

Me: I told her June and she was quite surprised and said

CO: That was so fast, you are really Lucky

Me: Yes it was fast im so happy about it

CO: What do you do?

Me: I practice law

CO: What sort of law?

Me: I explain…

*****all this was whilst I was flipping through pages of the album and she was half looking and half looking at her screen****

I then show her a bunch of money transfers my hubby kept and I apologise for some old ones because we had them for years.

CO: Good things you kept them (She opens up a few)

Me: Yeah, he kept them and im glad he did.

I then show her his boarding passes for various trips to Nigeria after marriage.

CO: How often does he visit you?

Me: Every other month (She was surprised but could see it on her screen obviously)

CO: Where does he work?

Me: I say..

CO: Have either of you been married before?

Me: No

CO: Do either of you have kids?

Me: No

I then offer to show other documents and pictures and she says its okay that everything looks ok. And smiles at me. She says the only thing which is not a big deal is that my hubby needs a joint sponsor, and im shocked because we checked this over and over and she shows me the list for a 2 household home and explains that based on what he declared its fine but on looking at his tax returns because he pays full tax its not up to (something like that. All that went over my head because I had already entered panic mode). She again assures me that all looks very ok with my interview and evidence and she’s satisfied and then gave me a piece of paper to tick what im submitting ie joint sponsor papers and returned my passport to me and asked me to submit them together at the dhl office. Immediately told her that im sure my hubby’s mum will be glad to be our joint sponsor. She also said if there any issues which she doubts there will be they will be in touch with me and we said bye to each other.

Of course I called hubby immediately I stepped and out and I must mention that the cab park at the embassy is crazy expensive. We discussed and immediately his mum arranged the joint sponsor docs and posted off to me by FedEx. Took three days to get to me.

It was a pleasant interview more like a conversation with a friend…I was done at about 12noon

My Advice: Compose yourself, stay calm and keep any worries inside and not on your face or reactions, because at the interview they notice these things and might give them cause to be concerned. Just smile at your CO and have a discussion, because that’s really what it is. Don’t offer extra information that will lead to more questions, just answer what you are asked.

POST INTERVIEW WAITING AND CEAC UPDATES

In my opinion this was probably the most nerve racking stage of the process. Interview was on Jan 21^st, I dropped off my passport and outstanding docs on Jan 27^th. Right after my interview, my status on CEAC website changed to AP, I was a bit worried but read up about it and chilled out a bit. By 27^th evening the status changed to Ready. By 28^th morning it changed back to AP. I couldn’t help checking later that day and it said ISSUED. I could not believe my eyes, because we had just submitted the day before. I kept refreshing the page and then I called my hubby, bless his heart I knew he was sleeping but could not contain my excitement and he checked on his end and it was excitement galore.

My hubbys best friend submitted my passport at dhl for me as I had to leave Lagos and so she also collected a proxy form so I didn’t need to return to Lagos to collect my passport (We trust her with our lives) Do not ask just anyone to collect for you. My sister was out of the town so she was the 2^nd best option, if not I was going to fly into Lagos same day and return that day.

We found someone coming from Lagos and back so I completed and signed proxy form and sent back and didn’t get back to her till weekend and so she picked up my passport on Monday the 3^rd of January morning and took a picture of my visa and sent to me. I was at work and I was mighty excited. Hubby called we screamed and shouted and I called most of my family members with the good news and was now confident to complete the packing of my stuff and selling my car etc.

My advice: Send any outstanding documents as soon as possible to reduce the amount of pressure put on your heart. Do not sell any property or even buy tickets till visa is in hand. Not all cases are as straight forward as mine, you can only hope for the best but always be repaired for the worst.

POINT OF ENTRY ATLANTA

So I had a very comfortable trip to the states with my hubby and I was on a high. By the time I got to the airport, I went to the tripod section to drop my documents and wait, whilst my husband went to get his entry stamp and came to wait with me afterwards. After about 15-20 minutes wait I was called to do my finger prints. The immigration man asked me who I travelled with and I said my husband and then he asked who petitioned for me and I said it was him. He was very shocked and said it wasn’t possible seeing that my process only took 8 months from start finish. He said something must be wrong somewhere and that triggered my panic button. I just said “we were current at nvc level and passed through the whole process”. He kept saying it was impossible and called a colleague to verify. The man asked when we got married and I said April 2013 and he asked when we petitioned and I said June 2013 and he said it’s impossible that we are done with the process so quickly unless we got married before we said we did. That pissed me off but I kept my cool. They asked me to call hubby and collected his green card and passport and asked us to wait. My hubby was not worried at all, he just said they’ll do their checks so it’s not a big deal. I overheard them saying that everything checks out and there is always a first time, because they both had not seen such a fast one. After about 10-15 minutes he called me back and asked me to come with hubby, gave me the sheets with my rights as permanent resident, showed me my residency stamp and told me other details and finally said welcome to America. It was a bit anti-climatic for me at that point so I was a bit grouchy, but in hind sight I believe that it all happened to let me know that my case was indeed a fast one and I ought to be grateful.

I’m finally home with my best friend, lover and soul mate and I’m very very happy. I wish everyone luck and blessings with your individual journeys and advise you to keep the faith. Envision whatever you want in your mind and it will be yours, we are mini gods!I thought that it would be helpful for me to write down my complete visa journey in order to inspire or assist anyone still on this nerve racking, time consuming journey. Forgive me, because this is quite a long epistle but I wanted to make it as detailed as possible. I’m quite thankful that from uscis till I got my visa lasted only six months despite all I read about the journey for spouses of LPRs going on for years which I indeed prepared my mind for at the start of the journey.

I will use headings for this review for ease of writing as well as reading and so you can jump to whatever section interests you without having to read everything.

OUR BRIEF RELATIONSHIP HISTORY

We dated for 4 years (from 2005) and were engaged for another 4 years therefore 8 years in total pre wedding (not typical in Nigeria but that’s our story). Distance began after 4 years of dating and right after we got engaged. I went to the UK for my masters while he moved to the US having received a family sponsored green card. We eventually got married in April 2013 and after honeymooning he return to the US and we filed in June 2013 and our journey began with US immigration.

USCIS and NVC

Seeing that we were expecting USCIS to last years we were pleasantly surprised when in September we received mail advising that our case had been sent to NVC. I remember screaming, dancing and doing all the crazy things I do when I’m really excited. Our NVC journey was straight forward, we followed their instructions to the letter and our case closed with NVC in the first week of November with no RFEs. However WE DID NOT FRONTLOAD. Yes we didn’t, not with anything extra apart from what NVC asked for in the instructions. It was not until after our case had closed that I came to VJ one day (of which I have been a silent reader) and realised that being a high risk country we needed to front load. I beat myself up for overlooking such an important point. I actually read it in various places that front loading was a must, but I simply assumed it was for k1 visa as I hadn’t really gotten a grasp of the different visa categories at that point.

My Advice: Get a joint-sponsor even if you feel you don’t need one, because NVC doesn’t make the final decision about the need for one. If you get a joint sponsor beforehand it saves the stress of waiting till interview and also delayed printing of visa which can give you so much emotional stress.

ZERO FRONT LOADING

Oh my gosh…a high risk country and I didn’t as much as send any shred of evidence to either USCIS or NVC apart from exactly what they asked for and my file was off to Lagos. I came across this long discussion about how Nigeria is a high fraud country and I was going crazy! My husband assured me that it was okay and that I’m a confident girl and our genuine relationship will shine through at the interview. I could hear him, but it didn’t stop this girl from worrying (yes, im the worrier of the two of us, he is constantly calm…how he does it I still don’t know). Eventually I accepted my fate and knew that I will have to go to the interview knowing my man in and out and our relationship upside down. My husband assured me that they will not just reject our case because we didn’t front load but the questions they ask me at interview will help them determine if they feel its genuine or not. So I began to prepare for my interview which I was sure will involve a lot of questions.

My advice: I’m not in the school of thought that says front load because you are from a high risk country because I didn’t front load and it was smooth (unless of course you have red flags you need to support with extra evidence). So I’d say, if you have red flags you’re concerned about and you probably don’t know your spouse completely (I mean all the little details) then probably frontload because I think it tends to reduce the number of interview questions. If you’re in my position where it’s too late to front load, then study your spouse like there is no tomorrow to get to know him or her, it will enable you answer questions well and will boost your confidence because they will ask you lots of questions. Also try to know all the little details like dates and number of days of visits, I heard a CO ask someone about what sort of house his wife lives in, car etc.

EVIDENCE AND PREPERATION FOR INTERVIEW

A month after NVC closed my case, I got my interview date (after what seemed like a year to me) and began gathering all my evidence, because I realised that I needed to be extra prepared since I had not front loaded. Fortunately we had cogent evidence to corroborate our for every year and in 3 different continents. It was obvious the pictures were taken at different ages and cities so we hoped that will be helpful. We had a large bunch of money transfers as well as emails between me and him and me and his family. Call records clearly highlighted of daily calls (rebtel), emails, chats, traditional marriage album, life insurance etc Needless to say I gathered every shred of evidence I could lay my hands on. To the extent that my husband would ask me if I really needed whatever I was asking him for, then I’d remind him that I was the one who would be on the firing line, therefore wanted to be as prepared as possible. He understood and brought every document I asked for on his trip to visit me in December.

Being no stranger to preparing for tests and exams, I created our relationship time line and studied our relationship, including stuff like his work history, and even mine (ie everything I filled out in my I130 etc). I memorised all this information and then a few weeks to the interview we began our mock exams interviews. I was initially doing so badly… could not remember enough but it was a good opportunity to clarify some dates and stuff like that. We kept remembering stuff every day and sharing that information, by a few days to the interview I was completely confident that there was probably no question that I could not answer about him and our relationship so that was a good boost going to the interview. I made little flash cards like you would for SATs or GREs and carried them around to test myself from time to time which helped a lot.

My advice: Gather every last piece of evidence you have on your relationship. I was lucky enough to be asked to show anything I have, however some COs ask for specific things, so it pays to be prepared. Also I think that when she saw how much evidence and how arranged they were it made my story more believable. I had two big folders and a bulky album, arguably the person with the most evidence at my interview, but I knew that I had covered all basis and it kept my mind at ease. I just used a cloth bag with no pockets to carry them and at the entrances they checked the contents of the bag and it wasn’t a big deal at all. Just generally avoid hand bags because they are bulkier and they have a forbidden list that a carrier of a hand bag may easily fall foul of.

TWO PREVIOUS TOURIST VISA REJECTIONS (MY RED FLAGS)

If I had any sort of red flags it would be that I had been rejected twice for tourist visas, once in the UK and the 2^nd in Nigeria because they felt I didn’t show proof of ties which I didn’t agree with to be honest and for the first interview in the UK, the CO was quite rude and I would have none of it and asked for my passport back, because she didn’t give me a good enough reason for rejecting and just printed that standard letter. In Nigeria, the young man explained better that I had not been back to Nigeria for long enough to show that I had developed ties. My concern was that I didn’t want these two previous rejections to bite me in the back side. However the good side of the UK rejection is that my mother in law sent the letter of invite directly to the US Consulate inviting me on holidays so I was sure they still had that in their records showing that we knew each other since 2009 (That is proof of a relationship right?).

My Advice:

Don’t let previous visas bother you so much, just have a good explanation and story to tell. My strategy here was not to mention my previous rejections till I was asked and stuck to that strategy and it worked. My plan was if asked why I hadn’t seen my mother inlaw till 2012 for example, I would say I tried but it didn’t work in 2009, so we had to wait. However I wasn’t going to delve into the rejection until they mentioned it and I had a good reason for wanting to visit with proof of my mother in-laws invite.

MEDICALS

I lived in Abuja and so I didn’t really want to have to go to Lagos twice for the medicals and then interview so I planned to go a week before my interview and do my medicals. The plan worked and got my medical result in 3 days. I went to the hospital in Ikoyi, it was the Muslim holiday that day. I called them to verify what I needed to come with and if they were working on that day being a holiday and they advised that I come with my bank card as they would not receive cash. I got to the hospital at about 7:50am because they told me over the phone that it would last from 8-10 (There was a lad who had been there since about 6am…crazy). You won’t believe they made people sit and stand outside because they did not open till 9 on that day despite what they told me, I was quite disappointed as I expected a higher standard from a hospital selected by the US consulate. Not bothering too much about it, they eventually called us in and we waited in a room that had AC (thanks goodness because Lagos heat is killing). We waited a while and they started calling people according to the attendance list we completed on arrival and they registered everyone, then called us for blood tests and x-rays and eventually we went to see the doctor for our medical interview. I was done with the whole process by 2pm and was grumbling that it took long, but my husband told me that in his time it took much longer and so I stopped complaining. It was a fairly straight forward process and we were asked to return 3 days later between 4pm and 6pm to get our results. I waited about 15 minutes or so to get it and then they gave instructions not to open and to take x-ray with us on our trip and not to the embassy (yet…I saw a good number of people with their x-rays at the interview. Does it mean they didn’t listen or didn’t believe...i wonder).

My Advice: Go with cash and a bank card too just in case. You can never tell what goes wrong. Don’t be in rush, everything will eventually happen may just take a bit longer than you expected. You know your medical interview is fine if you get it back on time and don’t need to discuss further with them (so said a medical staff when I asked how we know).

INTERVIEW DAY (Drum roll)

Of course I hardly caught a wink the night before, in-fact I thought I had a fever they day before and my hubby called it exam fever or tension fever. I also hardly ate the day before, I just kept practicing my memory verses (hehehe…answers to our mock interview questions) and we carried out our last interview test which I smashed if I may say so myself. Anyway, I got up really early, prayed with hubby, showered and forgot to have breakfast or carry the apple I intended to eat in the cab. I stayed at my sister’s house and she had work so I booked a cab for 5am (hubby insisted I leave at 5am even though I was at lekki phase one and I wanted to leave at 6am for my 7am interview). I left at 5am on the dot and got to the embassy before 5.30am and as expected there were already people there. I chatted with a girl beside me till they called us at about 6am or so to line up for body searches. After the search we all stood around waiting for the announcement of the first set of people to go in. Eventually they called 6.30 non-immigrants and 7am immigrants and we lined up. We were asked to open all sealed envelopes and bring out our international passports and p4 interview letter. We eventually went into the first entry and got our blue tags and they took the interview letters from us and gave us a slip to fill out our details and then asked us to sit down and wait to be ushered in. Whilst in the line some busy body girl who was there with her family told me I was wearing too many earrings and that could affect the outcome of my interview because they look at such things. Oh gosh, that bell in my head began to ring because I can’t stand such pretentious behaviour and also people who don’t mind their business. To begin with I have 2 piercings on one ear and 3 on the other, I wore tiny studs in each piercing. Nothing dangling or even noticeable. I wore no other jewellery apart from my wedding ring and this girl was talking about my earrings instead of minding her business. I refrained from snapping at her and just told her I have no problems with my piercings and left it at that. We waited some minutes and then they were ushering people in, in groups of fives. Oh yes I carried a cloth bag because I had a lot of evidence and couldn’t carry in my hand, so they kept stopping me to search the bag, but it was a very simple bag with no pockets or anything and only documents. We were finally ushered in and passed through various scanners and searches and then we took numbers from the number machine at the door and then went to sit down and waited. Non-immigrant applicants were so many and were in the bigger side of the room, while immigrant applicants were on the right side and we were asked to listen to our numbers at those windows. Nigerian agents called the numbers and collected documents from people (probably documents requested in the p4 letter). They took my international passport, passport photographs, the blue tag they gave me, the slip they also gave me and no extra evidence, I didn’t bother trying to slip in evidence at that point as I had read in some reviews.

We waited and waited before they began our interviews maybe at 10am or so and they began with old people and kids. For the elderly they asked them only a few questions and approved them. I observed that for many who came in groups like families, their interviews seemed to last so long like 30 minutes or more. Whilst listening to a certain interview I heard them refer to a previous visa rejection of someone or something like that as I couldn’t hear clearly, but it got me a bit worried for a few seconds. By the way it was only 3 interviewers, an Asian looking man who is possibly of Philippines origin probably in his thirties or forties by my guess, then a black lady probably in her thirties with an African accent (to me..), and then a young Caucasian lady who interviewed me probably in her twenties with a European accent surprisingly. There was an elder lady who was generally hanging around and reviewing cases with them so I figured she was a supervisor. So each CO had some long interviews, some would asked couples questions together, then separate them and asked them questions separately then call them back together and probably give the verdict.

I also observed that before each interview they would bring the persons file and flip through it and note whatever red flags or issues they had with it and usually review with someone else before calling the person to the window, and at that review stage I felt they had pretty much made their decision. I also noticed that for cases they rejected like a particular k1 lady, the supervisor woman stood in a corner and listened to the interview as well as watched the lady’s reactions, and then they will discuss for as long as 10 minutes sometimes before telling people their decisions.

My advice: If you’re religious, pray pray pray. If you can’t do without breakfast have some before you leave home or carry a fruit or snack you can quickly eat before you go in, because it lasts hours and low blood sugar can set it. I was hungry, but I think the effects of the adrenaline kept me going, however after the interview I was sooo hungry and I had a headache for the rest of the day.

THE INTERVIEW PROPER

I knew it was my turn because they had just concluded with the guy with the number before mine and the supervisor lady and my CO flipped through my file (probably very tiny file as I didn’t frontload) and they would look at each other and nod and stay stuff. They didn’t flip for too long and then they agreed on whatever and called me to the window. Good sign was the supervisor didn’t listen in to my interview and the interview went as follows:

CO: Hello there

Me: Hi (with a smile and looking into her eyes, we seemed to click instantly)

CO: Here are all your original documents you sent to us and she handed them all back to me. So who petitioned for you?

Me: My husband and I called his full name

CO: Looks like you lived abroad because you submitted a UK police report.

Me: Yes I lived in the UK for almost 4 years

CO: was it for school or what?

Me: Yes, school and then I also worked

CO: Where do you live now?

Me: I told her

CO: When did you meet?

Me: I said

CO: When did you get engaged?

Me: I told her

CO: When did you get married?

Me: told her both trad and registry dates

CO: You were engaged for 4 years?? She asks in surprise

Me: yes we were, but we always knew we would get married.

CO: How long did he stay when he came for the wedding?

Me: 3 weeks because we went for our honeymoon immediately after

CO: oo nice and where was your honeymoon?

Me: I told her and she seemed impressed

*********She kept looking at her screen to verify my answers for each question because they do have most of the answers in front of them, and she also typed a bit*************

CO: Show me any proof you have of your relationship

Me: Wow..i have so much stuff with me not sure where to start. (Then I started with the album of our traditional marriage because it was quite pretty and elaborate) The album was big so she asked me to just hold it up to the glass and flip the pages. I did so and explained some of the pictures. Showed her crucial pictures like that of my family and my hubbies family etc. whilst flipping through she was also chipping in questions probably to catch me while I was distracted.

CO: So how did you meet?

Me: I told our meeting story, and that I made the first call.

CO: (In surprise and possibly impressed) you called first???

Me: yes I did. I was sceptical but eventually called after having his number for so long and he thought it was a prank so really wanted to meet me..bla bla bla (we both laughed and it was quite a fun conversation)

CO: What are those? (In the picture some men were carrying giant yams)

Me: Those are yams

CO: Wow, they are so big!!

Me: Yes, they are. I’ve never seen yams that size myself. Its part of the things they gave to my family as tradition and the traditional weddings were I’m from are very elaborate (And we had a laugh).

CO: How many siblings does he have?

Me: almost said the wrong figure because I was counting him and then I corrected myself quickly and called their names too.

CO: Have you been to the US? (The question I dreaded because I didn’t want my 2 rejection to come up..oh Lord save me!)

Me: No I haven’t (I refused to refer to the rejections until she did, this was always the plan in our mock exams)

CO: When did he become a citizen (Now this was the trick question and I caught it immediately)

Me: Oh no, hes still a LPR but hopes to apply for citizenship in a few months when he becomes eligible (she checks screen as usual)

CO: When did he apply for you?

Me: I told her June and she was quite surprised and said

CO: That was so fast, you are really Lucky

Me: Yes it was fast im so happy about it

CO: What do you do?

Me: I practice law

CO: What sort of law?

Me: I explain…

*****all this was whilst I was flipping through pages of the album and she was half looking and half looking at her screen****

I then show her a bunch of money transfers my hubby kept and I apologise for some old ones because we had them for years.

CO: Good things you kept them (She opens up a few)

Me: Yeah, he kept them and im glad he did.

I then show her his boarding passes for various trips to Nigeria after marriage.

CO: How often does he visit you?

Me: Every other month (She was surprised but could see it on her screen obviously)

CO: Where does he work?

Me: I say..

CO: Have either of you been married before?

Me: No

CO: Do either of you have kids?

Me: No

I then offer to show other documents and pictures and she says its okay that everything looks ok. And smiles at me. She says the only thing which is not a big deal is that my hubby needs a joint sponsor, and im shocked because we checked this over and over and she shows me the list for a 2 household home and explains that based on what he declared its fine but on looking at his tax returns because he pays full tax its not up to (something like that. All that went over my head because I had already entered panic mode). She again assures me that all looks very ok with my interview and evidence and she’s satisfied and then gave me a piece of paper to tick what im submitting ie joint sponsor papers and returned my passport to me and asked me to submit them together at the dhl office. Immediately told her that im sure my hubby’s mum will be glad to be our joint sponsor. She also said if there any issues which she doubts there will be they will be in touch with me and we said bye to each other.

Of course I called hubby immediately I stepped and out and I must mention that the cab park at the embassy is crazy expensive. We discussed and immediately his mum arranged the joint sponsor docs and posted off to me by FedEx. Took three days to get to me.

It was a pleasant interview more like a conversation with a friend…I was done at about 12noon

My Advice: Compose yourself, stay calm and keep any worries inside and not on your face or reactions, because at the interview they notice these things and might give them cause to be concerned. Just smile at your CO and have a discussion, because that’s really what it is. Don’t offer extra information that will lead to more questions, just answer what you are asked.

POST INTERVIEW WAITING AND CEAC UPDATES

In my opinion this was probably the most nerve racking stage of the process. Interview was on Jan 21^st, I dropped off my passport and outstanding docs on Jan 27^th. Right after my interview, my status on CEAC website changed to AP, I was a bit worried but read up about it and chilled out a bit. By 27^th evening the status changed to Ready. By 28^th morning it changed back to AP. I couldn’t help checking later that day and it said ISSUED. I could not believe my eyes, because we had just submitted the day before. I kept refreshing the page and then I called my hubby, bless his heart I knew he was sleeping but could not contain my excitement and he checked on his end and it was excitement galore.

My hubbys best friend submitted my passport at dhl for me as I had to leave Lagos and so she also collected a proxy form so I didn’t need to return to Lagos to collect my passport (We trust her with our lives) Do not ask just anyone to collect for you. My sister was out of the town so she was the 2^nd best option, if not I was going to fly into Lagos same day and return that day.

We found someone coming from Lagos and back so I completed and signed proxy form and sent back and didn’t get back to her till weekend and so she picked up my passport on Monday the 3^rd of January morning and took a picture of my visa and sent to me. I was at work and I was mighty excited. Hubby called we screamed and shouted and I called most of my family members with the good news and was now confident to complete the packing of my stuff and selling my car etc.

My advice: Send any outstanding documents as soon as possible to reduce the amount of pressure put on your heart. Do not sell any property or even buy tickets till visa is in hand. Not all cases are as straight forward as mine, you can only hope for the best but always be repaired for the worst.

POINT OF ENTRY ATLANTA

So I had a very comfortable trip to the states with my hubby and I was on a high. By the time I got to the airport, I went to the tripod section to drop my documents and wait, whilst my husband went to get his entry stamp and came to wait with me afterwards. After about 15-20 minutes wait I was called to do my finger prints. The immigration man asked me who I travelled with and I said my husband and then he asked who petitioned for me and I said it was him. He was very shocked and said it wasn’t possible seeing that my process only took 8 months from start finish. He said something must be wrong somewhere and that triggered my panic button. I just said “we were current at nvc level and passed through the whole process”. He kept saying it was impossible and called a colleague to verify. The man asked when we got married and I said April 2013 and he asked when we petitioned and I said June 2013 and he said it’s impossible that we are done with the process so quickly unless we got married before we said we did. That pissed me off but I kept my cool. They asked me to call hubby and collected his green card and passport and asked us to wait. My hubby was not worried at all, he just said they’ll do their checks so it’s not a big deal. I overheard them saying that everything checks out and there is always a first time, because they both had not seen such a fast one. After about 10-15 minutes he called me back and asked me to come with hubby, gave me the sheets with my rights as permanent resident, showed me my residency stamp and told me other details and finally said welcome to America. It was a bit anti-climatic for me at that point so I was a bit grouchy, but in hind sight I believe that it all happened to let me know that my case was indeed a fast one and I ought to be grateful.

I’m finally home with my best friend, lover and soul mate and I’m very very happy. I wish everyone luck and blessings with your individual journeys and advise you to keep the faith. Envision whatever you want in your mind and it will be yours, we are mini gods!

[vkrishn 97]

Congrats and what a detailed write up! Welcome to USA!

[Shiraj 2]

Congratulations. There are more few lucky ones like you who had a very fast approval from start to finish. I am one of them. Have a good life in USA.

Edited February 23, 2014 by Shiraj

[Xie 2]

Thanks guys!!!

[GAFL 16]

I love your description. Congratulations!!! Welcome to my home country

May God continue to bless your union..

[guillermorjoanna 0]

i wish our papers could also be faster as that:) my husband is also lpr from seattle washington...we file the petition last December 15,2013....thats why we wait for the 5 mos approval process of I-130..ive read your story and it gives me hope that it could possibly work faster in petitioning spouse of lpr.Thanks for the tips and ideas!GOdbless!

[Xie 2]

I love your description. Congratulations!!! Welcome to my home country

May God continue to bless your union..

Thanks a lot GAFL.

You'll be fine guillermorjoanna...just keep the faith.

[vkrishn 97]

i wish our papers could also be faster as that:) my husband is also lpr from seattle washington...we file the petition last December 15,2013....thats why we wait for the 5 mos approval process of I-130..ive read your story and it gives me hope that it could possibly work faster in petitioning spouse of lpr.Thanks for the tips and ideas!GOdbless!

Just curious. If your husband is an LPR and is sponsoring you, why do you have K-3 visa in your profile?

[guillermorjoanna 0]

im a liitle bit confused so what it should be?isnt the k-3 visa?huhuhu...pls help us:(

[guillermorjoanna 0]

is it the f2a? or the CR-1?which one of them? my husband is LPR from seattle washington?pls help us:) thanks