Olomi_811

When you extended your stay from 2 weeks to 3 months that was a major flag that you provided misinformation. Did your ex bf telepathically sense that you were coming to the states and the day/ time to be at the airport. And of all places to "visit", you just happened to pick a city near him. Stop it!

First everyone needs to quit comparing the K-1s to CR-1s. Total different ball game. K-1 and K-3 (mostly defunct) are non-immigrant visas. Yes, they get an approval a little quicker, yes, they get through NVC in a few days, yes, they seem to get interviews faster. Once they get here, they have three to five months more wait for their green card. Their visas are substantially more than a CR-1. CR-1's POE, have their temporary green card in their passport, get a SSN in a few days and are ready to take on their new life.
K-1 and K-3ers still live in limbo, even after everything. If they don't have their ducks in a row and have all the evidence and the I-864, it's all for nothing. They can't get a job, they can't volunteer, they can't get a driver's license in most states.. it's sit around and wait, wait, wait. Just like all of us are doing now, the only perk, they get to spend it with their significant other. How much fun would that be after six months of sitting on the couch watching the world go by. There's a reason money and jobs were invented, so you can spend 8 hours a day away from each other!
The big, bad US government isn't out to get anyone. Yes, it's a good joke of mine, but I don't think anyone employed by Uncle Sam is monitoring what I do or when I do it. When you send in that I-130 it's a ####### shoot. You go to one of two service centers. California being notoriously slow, or Vermont being faster. You don't know where you'll end up! Once there, you don't know who's desk you're going to end up on.
Suzy Q. might not be as fast at hammering out petitions as Johnny B. Or Suzy Q. has a lot of petitions from high fraud countries that take extensive work, you might be at the bottom of the pile. Johnny B. might not be even reading anything and just rubber stamping stuff as it goes through. Everyone has heard the stories about getting to the Embassy/Consulate and being denied because of something USCIS should have caught. Or even being denied at POE because everyone dropped the ball. Hell, our petition was LOST! I have no doubt we would still be in California in a USCIS black hole if it wasn't for my congressman lighting a fire under their butts. The US Government is highly inefficient, but not out to ruin someone's life just for the kicks of it.
There's probably been dozens of people over the years on VJ making spread sheets and mining data, crunching numbers to figure the system out. No one's been able to crack the holy immigration code.
Maybe some Embassies/Consulates really do stick to the first two weeks of the month rule, maybe not. Maybe there's thousands of other people all around the US and the world going through the same thing, and they have to have an appointment too... It's not just us. You have the CR-1s and IR-1s and K-1s and K-3s and HB-1s and F-1s... the list goes on. There's been people waiting for decades, years!
Ya, it's no damn fun to sit here and watch people with NOA1/NOA2/NVC dates before ours zip through the system and be with their spouses and come and tell us how grand life is. It's all sunshine and cupcakes and sprinkles! Wish you were here! It made me mad, jealous and down right pissed off when I was watching people from September go to interviews while we sat in CSC. In a perfect world it would be first come, first serve, here's your visa, have a nice day. Unfortunately we're not living in a perfect world.
There's my .2 cents on the whole thing.. take it or leave it.

The Nigeria threads of the Africa board will give you a lot more information. It is best to stick with that for any country-specific questions.
For most countries, your time together seems sufficient. From what I understand though, for Nigeria, it can be questionable. Go to the Africa board and commit yourself to reading maybe 10 or so threads every day (it is easy enough with the pages in date order from the last post) and see what situations you read about there. As you have seen in a response to one of your threads before, most questions you have have already been discussed and answered, probably with better details in various other threads instead of just this one that you are starting now.
It could be especially helpful to read about other interview experiences and the things asked or asked for. Considering the disproportionate number of Nigerians that I know and have known that live here, I would guess that you know some, too. See any that you can find IRL (in real life) and treat them to lunch to pick their brains about their interview and paperwork experiences. Take notes.
You are not the first person to do this. Learn from everyone who has marched this road before you. VJ along with other resources are goldmines for you and can save you a ton of stress and heartache if you can avoid many of their mistakes just by learning first.
Edited to add:
Oh yeah--take up a hobby while waiting through this--especially if it would be super annoying to a spouse since you are alone now. (I made a ring for my fiance. Bang-bang-bang-bang with a hammer for 6 months while watching TV shows on Netflix.) Or, get a second job. Being busy will keep you from focusing every minute on the delays and any extra money is a godsend when you have a spouse.
Good luck.

You can only judge your wife on being a liar if she's lied to you about things during your marriage. She was not obligated to tell you about that relationship or any other. You kept digging for what you wanted to hear and now that you heard it you are crying fraud. Since this was an arranged marriage not one of chance meeting or true love couldn't you also be accused of perpetuating a fraud? Perhaps she was ashamed and she knew that that relationship was going nowhere. It's not something she would not disclose to you, your family, or her family.
If you want to challenge moral turpitude you must also call your own into question.

You can only judge your wife on being a liar if she's lied to you about things during your marriage. She was not obligated to tell you about that relationship or any other. You kept digging for what you wanted to hear and now that you heard it you are crying fraud. Since this was an arranged marriage not one of chance meeting or true love couldn't you also be accused of perpetuating a fraud? Perhaps she was ashamed and she knew that that relationship was going nowhere. It's not something she would not disclose to you, your family, or her family.
If you want to challenge moral turpitude you must also call your own into question.

You can only judge your wife on being a liar if she's lied to you about things during your marriage. She was not obligated to tell you about that relationship or any other. You kept digging for what you wanted to hear and now that you heard it you are crying fraud. Since this was an arranged marriage not one of chance meeting or true love couldn't you also be accused of perpetuating a fraud? Perhaps she was ashamed and she knew that that relationship was going nowhere. It's not something she would not disclose to you, your family, or her family.
If you want to challenge moral turpitude you must also call your own into question.

You can only judge your wife on being a liar if she's lied to you about things during your marriage. She was not obligated to tell you about that relationship or any other. You kept digging for what you wanted to hear and now that you heard it you are crying fraud. Since this was an arranged marriage not one of chance meeting or true love couldn't you also be accused of perpetuating a fraud? Perhaps she was ashamed and she knew that that relationship was going nowhere. It's not something she would not disclose to you, your family, or her family.
If you want to challenge moral turpitude you must also call your own into question.

You can only judge your wife on being a liar if she's lied to you about things during your marriage. She was not obligated to tell you about that relationship or any other. You kept digging for what you wanted to hear and now that you heard it you are crying fraud. Since this was an arranged marriage not one of chance meeting or true love couldn't you also be accused of perpetuating a fraud? Perhaps she was ashamed and she knew that that relationship was going nowhere. It's not something she would not disclose to you, your family, or her family.
If you want to challenge moral turpitude you must also call your own into question.

Hi, I was going crazy calling NVC everyday and I had given up when I had saw this on a post from another person and decided to give it a try. I went to www.dhl.com clicked Express then Tracking, then Track by Shipper's Reference, on this page you add your search info..You change the day and month to what you think your's might have left NVC
EXAMPLE:
* Shipper´s Reference : EXP 24 MAR 2011A
* Date range for shipment - From: 23 - 03 - 2011
* Date range for shipment - To: 26 - 03 - 2011
Account Number - Leave this blank
Shipment Destination: Egypt / You Choose your Country
The day I was trying this I saw a package had left for Egypt. I thought could that be our's? I called the NVC and I was told our package had gone out. The one I had saw was our's I was so happy. I just checked our's it's at the Sorting Center in Egypt now, it's moving fast
Someone with the example date I made up above for the country of Egypt has a package going to Egypt now as you will see if you try this.
The best of luck to everyone

See...you were stressed over nothing! CONGRATS!

All of above is correct, but what they really wants is proof that will show that your husband was invovled with his daughter durning her childhood years. They will be requesting the DNA in addition to all of this.

I read your post, but also read down to the "Thank you my wonderful God in Heaven." I've heard my husband say a few times, "man proposes; God disposes." Perhaps it's not in God's plan that you be approved the first, second, or third time. Perhaps it's not in God's plan that you and your husband live in the US. My plan was to have my husband come to the US to visit first on a tourist visa. God's plan was to deny it and have me go to Nigeria and had that not happened I never would have seen things intended for me to see. At the end of the day remember your words and live them "Thank you wonderful God in Heaven."

In theory- and even 'morally'- I agree with you. In reality, I do not. Is the process fair? No. But it is in place for a reason.
If we fall in love and file a petition we'd probably forget to be objective and look at this with a practical point of view. We overlook certain things CO's are trained to catch. Frankly, I rather a CO 'break my relationship' due to a scammer being caught, than a man 'break my heart and bank account' due to falling prey of his scam while still be under my affidavit of support. I personally know a man that scammed an older lady; the stereotype you mention. He is under her affidavit even after abandoning her and finally granting divorce (he wanted to wait until ROC). He works and dates as he pleases, and yes, he is looking to marry someone younger.
It happens. Unfortunately.

It's all about what the IO implies about your relationship and what you infer from that.
There is no doubting that spouses and fiances/fiancees from the MENA region, South America and the Indian region (examples) get treated, by comparison, very differently from the spouses and fiances/fiancees from Europe, Canada and Australia (examples) and that's not likely to change. If a lot of fraud is found to come from that region then you can understand why the Consulates in those regions become jaded and find excuses to refuse visas rather than find reasons to approve a visa.
In order to find reasons to refuse they will use observations such as age difference, cultural difference et al. A lot of the time the refusal is for a bona-fide reason though. This website sees a lot of refusal traffic so it appears a lot, but I doubt that a lot of the refusals are actually unfair or unjust, in the scheme of things.

There is a lot of fraud in Nigeria but I meet alot of very good people while I was there. There are alot of bad people here in the states too but I would not say a whole country is bad because some people there are bad. I would never defend stealing or lieing but seeing how people live there I can understand what motivates them and for the most part it is not greed it is desperation... But everyone is entitle to there own opinon this is mine and you are welcome to yours. As far as sending him a copy of your passport if you are worried about him having a copy of your passport then think about what you are doing you have to decide if you trust him or not if you dont maybe you should rethink moving to Nigeria and just visit for a few weeks or not go at all until you are more comfortable with him. Again that is just my opinion. Best of luck in whatever you do because it is Nigeria and that is a stigma that you will have to overcome no matter what the truth is...

My husband and I tried for b2 and were unsuccessful. He says when the lady saw my passport she starting asking questions about me...oh she's a US citizen? Is she your friend? Then implied I was a girlfriend and it was over from that point. She never took the time to read any of the letters from employer, pastor or family.

Sorry about your denial. It is common to "hook up" with someone after a DV lottery win and fraudulently claim them as spouse in exchange for monetary compensation. No "individual" can in any way benefit from somebody else's win except a spouse, children. There must have been discussion going on about it between both of them. It is also common to have eggs in several baskets at the same time, going with whatever visa comes around first. All visa applications are cross checked in the data base to find things like this.
It is a misrepresentation and will ban him for life unless he is given a waiver which is very expensive ($4000 usually for attorney fees), very complicated and it takes about a year or longer. He now has the burden to proof his innocence, if indeed he did not understand what he did.I do not understand the motivation of her actions if he didn't sign anything and why she would have forged a signature, makes no sense. You need an experienced lawyer to advice you at this point but you need all the facts, half truths won't do. I am not saying he did anything wrong, at the same time I want you to be aware what you may walk into without sugar coating it. Good luck.

YAY, still excited got approved today. But before I go into brief VJ hiatus (i don't need to have the record for most posting, u knw who u are.. lol) I feel the need to share some insights on this journey especially for couples just starting and mostly for those going thru difficult Lagos consulate. This is also a view from what I have noticed from various VJ journey especially through Lagos. I know somethings are repetition and some can be sensitive, but I mean no negative thought...
- really consider front loading on your initial application. You don't have to submit 200 pages of paper to USCIS to start, but begin building your interview process by letting them understand your story right away. For example, you don't have to put 20 pictures, but you can put 10 pictures of both of you, and few with family/friends. Same applies for emails, phone-records and others
- do your own research, and not just what VJ has or says. We actually stumbled on VJ a day before we sent the petition. Go to the USCIS website when in doubt and follow the steps. For example, we knew we didn't need letter from bank but because we knew lagos is unpredictable, we still gave them all and closed the loop-holes an unhappy CO might want to pick on
- be each others eyes and critic. read and then proof-read each others task when putting documents together. we can count experiences where people got denied because of such errors
- start preparing for the interview process ahead, if possible. do away with last minute preparation/organization
- here's sensitive: for couples with different culture/race, age/religious difference, if possible, just consider a CR-1 application right from the start. From what I observed (and i'm sure its not just me), Lagos is not trusting interracial relationship going through a K-1 visa and especially if the male is the Nigerian. It stinks because when you get denied, you then switch to CR-1 and wait another 6-7 months and still not guaranteed. If its possible, spend more time together to build a CR-1 visa and then file.
- please tackle your Red flags head-on. If you can question yourselves about something so small, then find answers to it. And USC, we need to take charge and ask your partner to reveal everything in their past to you. Couples should be on same page and need to understand that they can't hide any past interaction with U.S embassies/consulates.
- prepare for the worst CO and then pray you get an easy one. prayer without work is nothing, so don't just wish something will be missed by the CO's.
I'm not suggesting all above guarantees a visa, because Lagos is unbearable, but at least you made it hard for the CO to find unsupported cause to deny you. I also hope I haven't given fraudsters any hints because they are the reason real relationships get denied at Lagos.
This initial stage of the journey is a tiring project and even feels longer when you apply distance to it, my heart always sadden for couples when i read a denial, but then my head shakes when its due to something that could have been prepared for.
The journey continues.... Are we there yet?!!!

I am sorry to hear about the denial. However, the story he gave about the picture that he thought it was for single is nothing but total BS. It does not matter that he did not file for the DV. If she got his picture, she would have filed as husband not as boyfriend because there is no provision for that. Dis he know the outcome of the DV application? What happened to that so called "Ex-girfriend"? How did you guys meet? And what the hell is certiificate of bachelorhood in Nigeria? (That's a new one!) Why would he need to get one? Listen my sister this man has not told you the whole story. The US embassy in Lagos assumed from the get go that all Nigerians are crooked untill proven straight, it's sad, but that is the reality. This is one big mess and I do not know how he can get himself out of it. I have always advised my sisters on this forum to please vet these men thouroughly before making a lifetime committment. You need to ask him a lot of questions, because I don't want you to get hurt in the process. This could be a blessing in disguise for you. Wishing the very best in your journey of love and life.

I believe I know the post you are referencing (She's talks about how the guy came over, she got pregnant in 3 weeks, he left her, and she uses this as her platform to warn others.) My personal truth (I don't care if people agree or not) is all too often people see signs of fraud, but because they are so caught up in their romanticized version of love they ignore what is blatantly infront of them. This can happen to you whether your mate is from the same culture or different. Anyone who cries foul should examine what role they played in the relationship. If you chose to wear blinders and not see the picture it's not the others fault. People want to say "oh it is the Nigerians or Africans who are the biggest scammers." Truth is, because of ethnic prejudices perpetrated one group will always get labeled as being the worse. That is clearer to me as I read the stories and posts here on this site and as I become more aware of the immigration process.

I believe I know the post you are referencing (She's talks about how the guy came over, she got pregnant in 3 weeks, he left her, and she uses this as her platform to warn others.) My personal truth (I don't care if people agree or not) is all too often people see signs of fraud, but because they are so caught up in their romanticized version of love they ignore what is blatantly infront of them. This can happen to you whether your mate is from the same culture or different. Anyone who cries foul should examine what role they played in the relationship. If you chose to wear blinders and not see the picture it's not the others fault. People want to say "oh it is the Nigerians or Africans who are the biggest scammers." Truth is, because of ethnic prejudices perpetrated one group will always get labeled as being the worse. That is clearer to me as I read the stories and posts here on this site and as I become more aware of the immigration process.

kinda sounds like she's got someone she is more interested in than you

Prime example of why people shouldn't give relationship advice...

It appears that somewhere along the line you mistook me for your child. Thanks for your advice and list, but freewill prevailed on this one. Maybe someone in this predicament will see this post and believe that perhaps your way works, but they'll look at mine and know for certain it can be. done.
Peace

It appears that somewhere along the line you mistook me for your child. Thanks for your advice and list, but freewill prevailed on this one. Maybe someone in this predicament will see this post and believe that perhaps your way works, but they'll look at mine and know for certain it can be. done.
Peace