Nne/Obi

Before going to the state where he was born, he should probably just check first to see if he could get it done in the national populations commission office in the state where he resides. Assuming they are not the same. If not, then he could travel. Because I had mine done in a neighbouring state from where i was born. At the office, they will tell him the requirements. For instance, I had to get a court affidavit and pay about 2.5k, not sure exactly of the amount.

actually, when you send the DS-230 in, you must submit original documents and copies, they will return the originals at interview.

I'm not sure if you were referring to me or the op. but I've done my interview. So no need to tell me what happens there. I do know that I had to give them a copy of my marriage and birth certificate. Can't tell if the lawyer put photocopies initially when he submitted the packet. But if you carefully read the preparation for immigrant visa interview abroad, it's clearly stated( perhaps for Nigeria, perhaps not). Here I quote directly. "Do I need to bring copies of the originals submitted to the NVC?

If photocopies of original documents were not provided to the NVC with the original submission, they should be presented during the visa interview so that the original documents may be returned to you."

. That statement alone shows that there is no such thing as must. By all means, give your advice but leave me out of it.

It seems that people send things that are not asked for, ie: mostly photos. The DS230 asks for original documents and if you want them back at the interview also send a copy. The only photos asked for are 2x2 passport style photos. Save your photos for the interview.

Think about it the people doing the DS230 see photos that are not asked for and just throw them in the trash, you are wasting your time and money and their time seeing they do hundreds of documents each week.

Seeing that the DS230 asks for a small amount of paper work and documents just put everything in a folder with a plastic slide on the side to keep everything in order. Save you ten pounds of pictures for the interview.

Not exactly true. I totally agree with onye uwaoma. My pictures even though they were not in an album, but neatly glued to a paper by our lawyer was sent to the NVC with the DS 230. The NVC forwareded the pictures and everything to Lagos embassy. They were mostly church wedding and traditional wedding pictures. At the interview the CO didn't even ask for extra evidence but made use of those preciously submitted pictures. My original documents were intact, no file holes or anything. Just make sure to make copies of the original documents for them, either now or when going for the interview. My pictures were returned to me when I went to pick up the visa.

ok today was his last round of injection and he is feeling alot better. His interview is on the 27th. he is thinking about leaving abuja today to go to the village, so i didnt know if the injections he got would effect anything

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to. Would the injection affect his travel to the village or his medicals. Either way it shouldn't. He probably got an artemisinin injection. Hopefully he also got some oral medications as well, to complete the treatment. As long as he feels better and the fever has stopped, nothing prevents him from going about his normal daily routines, be it visa medicals or village.

He can delay for a couple of days if the interview is still a reasonable distance away. As long as he is taking medications, malaria parasites are cleared from the blood stream within 72 hours of taking proper medications. 24 hours even, for some types of parasites. Don't think it is biggie and he might not even need to take treatment proof. Though he can still take it to be on the safe side. I had malaria and concluded its treatment 3 days before I went for my medicals.

I read a post here about someone who went with Naira and when converted to the daily rate, it wasn't enough. She had to come the next day or so with enough money. So, all I want to add is that if the payment will be in Naira, you should make allowances for fluctuations In the exchange rate.

Divine had an American white lady with dark hair. He was in a four hour interview but was approved.

Ginie's husband interviewed with a White American CO with dirty blonde hair, highlighted. There were not so good things to say about her.

Divine did add, a security guard warned him to stay very calm while waiting, to not fidget around, pace or show nervousness. He was told the reason was he was being watched from a camera room in the back before actually being interviewed. (I'd never heard of this before)

Lol, when you say four hour interview, you might scare other people still waiting. The actual interview time is from when his number was displayed, to when he was approved. Mine was about 4 minutes, though I was inside the embassy for about two and half hours. He might not know it, but sometimes they may not be through with those sceduled for 7am before its time to call in those for 10am. Logically, the 10am people would have to wait till those for 7am are all done before they can start even though that wait is inside the embassy. However long they wait does not indicate the lenght of the interview itself. The little slip of paper they give at the door to the embassy building has a number and the time. So, while mine read 10:34 am, i noticed there was a guy sitting next to me, waiting for his interview and his read 7:38am. He did get interviewed and left long before i was called. But my pont being that by 11am he was still there.

An important building like an embassy would have cameras and they would watch people. I doubt if they would single anybody out to watch unless the persons acting suspicious or unless the persons petition already had lots of red flags and they were already looking out for him/her. My mum and I already discussed the possibility of cameras before I went and while there, I tried not to look nervous, instead I spent the time playing with a little girl whose mum was beside me. The guard while being helpful was probably also fishing for a tip. While leaving the embassy, the guards look at faces. If you look happy, they ask for a tip, if you don't, they keep quiet or they tell you 'maybe next time'. Lol.

Was interviewed by a young American woman, i think her hair was brown.

Wow. This is news to me that the CO's can now ascertain where a formal letter was written. In my own case, my husbands family all came down for the wedding because they were all really excited about it and could afford it. But that being said, not everyone can. About writing, when I'm informal, I'm very sure it's obvious that I'm Nigerian, but when I'm formal, I doubt if someone can tell. Unless Its the difference between American English and British English( Nigerians having been raised with british English) like color and colour. Center and centre, pants and trousers and so on. Maybe if another letter will be written, it should be such that it's authenticity cannot be doubted.

Those classes are not unique to Nigeria. My father, a retired university professor in the US has never used a computer and never will. The books he has written are done long hand. My mother still cannot attach photos to her e-mails while my wife from SEA with only a minimal education knows heaps more about computers than I ever will and schools me regualrly on stuff. My comment was based more on the fact the story seemed like nonsense that based on the fact his fiancee could get on MSN but not yahoo the OP had a friend help register "his" account on msn so when the CO checked into the e-mail address it came back to someone else's name. That sounds more than a little fishy to me.

I agree with you. My own email address on yahoo was set up by my sister. I had never any use for the Internet or even an email address until I met my husband. So, when he asked me to open an email account so we could chat, preferably yahoo. I called my sister and asked her to help out and she used MY NAME. And thanks to my husband i became computer literate in a hurry as we became more innovative in our communication. There are just so many issues which he needs to address before he can hope for an approval.

thank u ...God bless u.......But i my finacee want to come ,spend like another one week and go back,we are planing for mock marriage because she want the wedding to take place there because of her family who cannot come to Nigeria and she want the marriage very big over there and she said she dont want a court house wedding .... so she said she will come ,then we can do mock wedding were my families and friends can come and we do little party.... Then we can have more pic ... Regarding the issue of her having kids is cancelled because she can't have kids any more,so she said she wants us to adopt one... so can i just answer the Co mthat my future plan is to get married and always be there for my hubby and to grow old together till we die ...Short and simple!!!!!

I

I agree with the person who said do not do a mock wedding. As it stands now, from your above discussions, you haven't convinced me as to the validity of your relationship and im not even a co. You should be more certain of your future plans and not ask people what to say, just say the truth and be real. Honesty has a way of showing through. Be realistic in your answers, dont use phrases that will sound so alien to you and raise eyebrows or even seem memorized. I think I overheard certain parts of your interview and I remember being scared and hoping I didn't draw the same lady you did, but I eventually did and it was quick and painless for me

Don't mock anything. A court wedding is over in less than 15 minuites, very easy to do. It's basically just signing some papers and it makes you legally married. So no matter how much your fiancée might not want to do a court wedding, it might be the easiest thing for the both of you to do, in order to file the 1-130. Take pictures diring the ceremony. Then after the wedding you can have a tiny reception and take all those pictures you mentioned earlier. Then when you get to the states, you can have the big celebration you both want where you reaffirm your vows.

Wish you all the best.

Having cancer does not mean you cannot get a visa, as it is not a communicable disease. But they may want to ensure you will have the health insurance to be able to take care of any medical expenses in the USA, so be prepare to show that at interview. Visa issuance can be delayed maximum for a year, usually (based on TB cases I've seen on here).

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Please what documents do I need to show to prove that I will have coverage as per health insurance. My husband has coverage for spouse health insurannce but so far, he's been waiving it until I get there. What do I need to ask him to send me in the way of documents. I'm really worried over my lost records.

Congratulations. These success stories give the rest of us still waiting, hope.

After hearing that, my husband had a hernia when he was a kid so he has a big scar... should he bring paperwork saying what it was?

If he has access to the paper work, it won't hurt to bring so he doesn't end up in the same state I'm in, wondering what's going to happen. My husband isn't worried at all and he tells me 10 times a day to relax. But I can't seem to help it. I know it wasn't a cancer, but I don't know if they know and if they might request for any additional test which might affect my interview date. Been biting my fingers since.

There is a condition that causes "lumps" in the breast where high hormone levels create these. I forget what they are called, but I had this when I was younger ( 20's) and I am now in my 50s and no problems. They are totally non concerous and not a problem at all. It does mean you need to be watchfull about checking for any changes that might be something bad. This is probably what you have

It's funny how someone never sees these things until the dying minute. I went for my medicals yesterday and the doctor asked me, what's this scar on your breast. And I said, I had a lumpectomy done in 2009. He asked, what was it, do you have the records with you. I knew it was a fibromadenoma cause I had been told, however didn't have the records. I called my mum on the phone to help me trace the records and so far, she's not come up with anything from the hospital. The doctor says it might not be a problem, but I'm freaking out.

You may not realize this but every fingerprint certificate comes ultimately from Alagbon close. All other police head quarters merely serve as collecting points for the finger prints. I got mine from Owerri and it cost me 15, ooo naira, but the police inspector explained that that was the cost of transporting the prints to Alagbon and back for print scanning and issue of certificate. So when it came back, it bore the stamps and all as one which had been done in Alagbon close. 15K might be a bit steep but it woulda cost me more to go to Lagos at that time.

Any lawyer who says don't worry about evidence for Lagos should be fired even if he is related.

Are you both Nigerian born ? It makes a slight difference in the issues of the interview. I know NIgerian couples that have been tripped up assuming that there is a free pass for Nigerians at Lagos. When you submitted your petition what did you submit as proofs. Right now you are mostly interested in supporting that you are in continued contact and enough support that items sent with the initial petition. If your chat logs are huge , I would print out the pages of logfiles and then pick some number between 10 and 20 and print out every Nth chat in detail, highlighting the log to correspond to that. If you get a chance to photocopy the pages ( at least the best ones ) from the wedding album that works, you can show the album and pass the copy pages through the window with ease.

Thanks a lot for all the good advise. would print a few pictures from the photo book then. We are both Nigerian born, same tribe. Our lawyer filed for us and it's a very slim package based on what I've seen here so far. All that was included were some choice pictures of the church wedding, about 12 of them. so I've got my work cut out for me. My interview is fast approaching, and so far, there's been no advice. It was after I saw vj that I asked my husband for his phone bills with a logo. And it was also then that i asked for his boarding passes, but unfortunately he didn't keep those. I m a bit on the shy side, so apart from the wedding pictures, all other pictures are just my husband and I, and I always prompt them cause he's not really the picture taking type and we didn't realise how much evidence we'd need for lagos. We were basically just taking pictures for us, when we shoulda been taking for us and Lagos.

Are you both originally from nigerians? If so I believe you'll be viewed exactly based on your sole customs and traditions as against the otherwise, my own personal opinion... All the best dear

Yes we are both originally from Nigeria. From IMO state. He's the USC and he's older by 6 years. I'm grateful to everyone for the advice. Now I'm feeling much more confident about it all.

Wow. I wish my items were as we'll organised as yours. I have,

1) our call records from 2010 to 2012 . The company seems unable to retrieve 2009.

2) emails from 2009 to 2012, but we rely mostly on yahoo messenger chats, so our emails are mostly too naughty to print.

3) yahoo messenger chat logs from 2011 oct. didn't know to save them on time and by some stroke of luck, our yahoo messenger archives stored fat least those those.

4) Skype video calls, only 6 months old, cause I don't know to save those on time. However, when I print it, the time on it seems very faint. Barely visible.

5) have done court traditional wedding, court wedding and church wedding and I have the pictures. Can I show them all those and do I tell them that I've had all three types of wedding. The lawyer thinks I should focus on the court wedding. ( church wedding has a photo book which is really heavy)

6) pictures with family are just the wedding pictures. All other pictures we took were mostly just the two of us.

6) western union receipts. Have heard that this is controversial. In any case, my husband had to send plenty of money around a particular period when we were planning the wedding, hall, food etc. aside from that, he sends once in a while, just to make sure I'm ok.

7) joint bank account. If I'd known that was a requirement we woulda opened. My husband suggested it once, but neither of us followed up on it.

8) boarding passes, my husband didn't keep those. He has his online travel itinery. But I don't know if they put much stock on that.

If I had known what I know now 2 years ago, we woulda compiled a prefect package. Ah well that's life. Hopefully, that's enough.

I'm new to visa journey and can't even find some of the times when important moments occurred, so my timeline might be a bit wrong. But I'm preparing for my interview on the 8 th of November, in Lagos and I need help. My husbands uncle who is a lawyer is filing for us. I have a couple of questions which I need help with. For instance, Been trying to print out our emails, and they don't show the date when I print from the yahoo back ground. Then when I use the other print button, it shows nothing about yahoo. Just date, sender and receiver and message. how do I overcome this. This also happens when I try to print our messenger chat logs.

Also, we had a traditional wedding,, court wedding, then a church wedding in that order and the certificate I submitted was that of the court wedding. Do I still need to take the wedding programs, wedding invitation cards etc. because they are bearing the date of the church wedding and not the date that we submitted. Also we had only witnesses present at the court wedding, while for the church wedding, we had almost 700 guests. The lawyer said there's no need for all those but I was wondering.

And I also wish to know if i can take the church wedding album or just print some pictures from it. It's more of a photo book, very bulky. Will it be admitted into the embassy and returned to me when the interview is over.

And for our call logs, it's a bit poor since we both rely on yahoo messenger, and send emails only when the Internet connection is poor. And only call when the Internet connection is terrible. And then there's Skype, but I was looking through the logs and it only goes back about 6 months. And in the past 6 months, I started work and he started evening classes so we barely get time. So most of our calls consists of call attempts and when they do go through are about 4-8 minutes long, just to see each others faces. In the whole 6 months only found a few calls which were about 30 minuites long and mostly on a sunday. Hope that won't count against us.

I think I posted in the wrong section previously. So I'm reposting.

Thanks. Will appreciate your advice.

Congratulations. It's very nice to hear of success stories.