musa

That's huge! Congratulations!!

I don't mind transiting at all. I love flying actually. And I love airports. I once got a student visa to Germany. Spent 7 years there. Flying home from Germany to Nigeria always involved 6 to 8 hour transits in Amsterdam. I LOVED it. I would spend all that time strolling around in Schiphol, reading, watching people, window shopping. It may sound weird to some, but that stuff is FUN. lol

Also, got a tourist visa to Rwanda and stayed 3 months. But I'm half Rwandan (still waiting for passport, tho) so I don't know if that one counts.

we're going end of december. having a hard time finding flights out of nigeria to st vincent, right now.

I am trying to find cheap flights from Nigeria to the Caribbean (St Vincent). Does anyone have any sites to want to share with me? My fiancee and I are planning to meet on St Vincent in December.

We were planning on Germany, but that is not going to work out. Now we're planning on going to St Vincent & the Grenadines in December (anyone been there before?).

Some of you talked about meeting somewhere else other than the U.S., so now I'm looking for info (websites?) for cheap travel from Nigeria. You mentioned China with the ongoing Olympics. I'm also looking at the Carribean. What else? Any more ideas?

Actually there are some trips to places that would be cheaper than just the ticket to Nigeria. I know right now a RT ticket to Nigeria is running about 2200 and by just pulling up a travel site I can see offers to from 780 that is 1400 less. How much is a ticket from Nigeria to there ? If you try this with several locations you can probably find somewhere where it is really cheaper to meet at. Yes it would be lovely if you could just pop over here on a visa waiver probram like so many others do but that isn't possible. We have to deal with situation we find ourselves in. None of us like the fact we don't have much choice but wait this process out while others make monthly visits during their wait. When most of us were first attracted to each other we fought with how to meet. Jospeh makes about the same money as you and owns several plots of land yet he tried twice to get a visa here and was rejected both times. He really wanted to be the one that travelled because of my work and family. But it wasn't to be and we had a huge delay because of that. If you really want to make this happen as quickly as possible then think outside the box. Seeing that you will have more trouble with travel documents than her where can you go easily ??

Yes, I think we need to do some research to see which options we have, when it comes to the cheapest way for us to meet. Be it in Baltimore in somewhere else. The Carribean is still the first thing that comes to mind for me, but the world is a huge place, isn't it?

I understand her not wanting to up and quit her job with the economy the way it is here. Perhaps she could take and unpaid leave of absence for a shorter period of time 6 weeks maybe and still be able to come back to her job. Has this option been concidered?

I agree with everyone else getting a tourist visa to the US from Niaja is next to impossible. Another option you said you already had a success with a tourist visa from Germany, perhaps another country? Is Singapore still visa free for Nigerians? I know it used to be. Also try China, I know of people here on VJ who have had thier rendezvous in China, when are you planning to do this? Might be easy to get in with the Olympics going on.

There are some options to explore, Nigerians can still go some places outside of Africa visa free, not many but some try this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_passport you may have to paste it into your browser.

Dont give up and keep us posted

P

We also need to consider the cost involved in both of us travelling somewhere. It's not cheap. That's why we're looking at just one of us travelling. And right now, it doesn't look like she would get leave, paid or unpaid. Singapore isn't visa free, but I know my sister went there once and it wasn't difficult at all. But like I said, when it comes to us both travelling, we have to look at what we can put together. We were looking at the carribean, anyway. Barbados, Trinidad or St Vincent.

I understand her not wanting to up and quit her job with the economy the way it is here. Perhaps she could take and unpaid leave of absence for a shorter period of time 6 weeks maybe and still be able to come back to her job. Has this option been concidered?

I agree with everyone else getting a tourist visa to the US from Niaja is next to impossible. Another option you said you already had a success with a tourist visa from Germany, perhaps another country? Is Singapore still visa free for Nigerians? I know it used to be. Also try China, I know of people here on VJ who have had thier rendezvous in China, when are you planning to do this? Might be easy to get in with the Olympics going on.

There are some options to explore, Nigerians can still go some places outside of Africa visa free, not many but some try this, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_passport you may have to paste it into your browser.

Dont give up and keep us posted

P

We also need to consider the cost involved in both of us travelling somewhere. It's not cheap. That's why we're looking at just one of us travelling. And right now, it doesn't look like she would get leave, paid or unpaid. Singapore isn't visa free, but I know my sister went there once and it wasn't difficult at all. But like I said, when it comes to us both travelling, we have to look at what we can put together. We were looking at the carribean, anyway. Barbados, Trinidad or St Vincent.

I hope you didn't take my above post the wrong way. I am just offering the perspective of what will the CO think and what are they looking for. I by no means tried to insinuate you are not engaged, am just throwing things out there.

We felt we were engaged before we met also but what goes on paper and why is a grey area with not having met but saying you are engaged.

I still don't know the correct answer to that. That is why my lawyer said you can say no, which gives you a better chance for B2 approval. But is that 100 % correct ? I am not sure. Will the K1 CO question that and say you misrepresented your no fiance statement on the B2 forms ? I don't know.

Kind of in between a rock and a hard place.

What if the K1 CO sees emails about you both discussing being engaged ? You see what I mean ? What if he asks when did you propose and how ?

If you say she is your fiance on the B2 form you would most likely be denied because they will think you will marry here and try to adjust status. If you say she is not your fiance, they may hassle you at the K1 interview later and slap you with misrep on the B2 form.

It may be wise to consult an attorney with that question. Ours said, no fiance was fine, because you had not met at that time, how can you be engaged online ? How can you not ?

Gray area

No, I'm not taking it the wrong way at all. I know you're trying to help me and I welcome it, you know? The clearer the picture, the better for me. And you summed my dilemma up nicely. I'm basically caught between fulfilling the K1 and not violating the B2, in terms of misrepresentation. I want to be able to go through both processes with a clear conscience. I would hate for any of this to fail, just because someone in the process feels I lied, you know?

I hope you didn't take my above post the wrong way. I am just offering the perspective of what will the CO think and what are they looking for. I by no means tried to insinuate you are not engaged, am just throwing things out there.

We felt we were engaged before we met also but what goes on paper and why is a grey area with not having met but saying you are engaged.

I still don't know the correct answer to that. That is why my lawyer said you can say no, which gives you a better chance for B2 approval. But is that 100 % correct ? I am not sure. Will the K1 CO question that and say you misrepresented your no fiance statement on the B2 forms ? I don't know.

Kind of in between a rock and a hard place.

What if the K1 CO sees emails about you both discussing being engaged ? You see what I mean ? What if he asks when did you propose and how ?

If you say she is your fiance on the B2 form you would most likely be denied because they will think you will marry here and try to adjust status. If you say she is not your fiance, they may hassle you at the K1 interview later and slap you with misrep on the B2 form.

It may be wise to consult an attorney with that question. Ours said, no fiance was fine, because you had not met at that time, how can you be engaged online ? How can you not ?

Gray area

No, I'm not taking it the wrong way at all. I know you're trying to help me and I welcome it, you know? The clearer the picture, the better for me. And you summed my dilemma up nicely. I'm basically caught between fulfilling the K1 and not violating the B2, in terms of misrepresentation. I want to be able to go through both processes with a clear conscience. I would hate for any of this to fail, just because someone in the process feels I lied, you know?

I hope you didn't take my above post the wrong way. I am just offering the perspective of what will the CO think and what are they looking for. I by no means tried to insinuate you are not engaged, am just throwing things out there.

We felt we were engaged before we met also but what goes on paper and why is a grey area with not having met but saying you are engaged.

I still don't know the correct answer to that. That is why my lawyer said you can say no, which gives you a better chance for B2 approval. But is that 100 % correct ? I am not sure. Will the K1 CO question that and say you misrepresented your no fiance statement on the B2 forms ? I don't know.

Kind of in between a rock and a hard place.

What if the K1 CO sees emails about you both discussing being engaged ? You see what I mean ? What if he asks when did you propose and how ?

If you say she is your fiance on the B2 form you would most likely be denied because they will think you will marry here and try to adjust status. If you say she is not your fiance, they may hassle you at the K1 interview later and slap you with misrep on the B2 form.

It may be wise to consult an attorney with that question. Ours said, no fiance was fine, because you had not met at that time, how can you be engaged online ? How can you not ?

Gray area

No, I'm not taking it the wrong way at all. I know you're trying to help me and I welcome it, you know? The clearer the picture, the better for me. And you summed my dilemma up nicely. I'm basically caught between fulfilling the K1 and not violating the B2, in terms of misrepresentation. I want to be able to go through both processes with a clear conscience. I would hate for any of this to fail, just because someone in the process feels I lied, you know?

I hope you didn't take my above post the wrong way. I am just offering the perspective of what will the CO think and what are they looking for. I by no means tried to insinuate you are not engaged, am just throwing things out there.

We felt we were engaged before we met also but what goes on paper and why is a grey area with not having met but saying you are engaged.

I still don't know the correct answer to that. That is why my lawyer said you can say no, which gives you a better chance for B2 approval. But is that 100 % correct ? I am not sure. Will the K1 CO question that and say you misrepresented your no fiance statement on the B2 forms ? I don't know.

Kind of in between a rock and a hard place.

What if the K1 CO sees emails about you both discussing being engaged ? You see what I mean ? What if he asks when did you propose and how ?

If you say she is your fiance on the B2 form you would most likely be denied because they will think you will marry here and try to adjust status. If you say she is not your fiance, they may hassle you at the K1 interview later and slap you with misrep on the B2 form.

It may be wise to consult an attorney with that question. Ours said, no fiance was fine, because you had not met at that time, how can you be engaged online ? How can you not ?

Gray area

No, I'm not taking it the wrong way at all. I know you're trying to help me and I welcome it, you know? The clearer the picture, the better for me. And you summed my dilemma up nicely. I'm basically caught between fulfilling the K1 and not violating the B2, in terms of misrepresentation. I want to be able to go through both processes with a clear conscience. I would hate for any of this to fail, just because someone in the process feels I lied, you know?

The job I hold now is great to me, anyway. But I understand what you mean. It's not a dollar-paying job in a foreign oil company, that's for sure. I'm IT Manager at a university here in Abuja, and I earn =N= 110,000 per month. I got this job in June, I neither pay rent, nor pay much for food, because I stay on campus. I've never been married and I don't have any kids. I don't really know how I'm going to prove ties. I got my mom down in Lagos, and I'm sending her =N= 25K each month to support her. She's retired.

I don't think I could get a visa to the UK or Canada even. If I'm not mistaking, then it's pretty much the same story with Western visas, regarding accessibility, right? Like I said, I'm looking for as much advice and help as I can get, so keep it coming

Ok, so I was looking through the online non-immigrant visa form on the website of the U.S. Consulate here in Abuja.

Question 37:

37. Are Any of The Following Persons in The U.S., or Do They Have U.S. Legal Permanent Residence or U.S. Citizenship?

Mark YES or NO and indicate that person's status in the U.S. (i.e., U.S. legal permanent resident, U.S. citizen, visiting, studying, working, etc.).

- Husband/Wife

- Fiance/Fiancee

- Father/Mother

- Son/Daughter

- Brother/Sister

In my case, I would need to indicate that my fiancee is in the U.S. and a U.S. citizen. How does this information affect the tourist visa process AND the K1? I'm going to say she's my fiancee and that I'm going over to visit her. Of course, I'm going to be truthful about everything, so if they ask whether we've met, I'll say no. What is the purpose of my visit? To fulfill a K1 requirement.

Right? I don't want to be dishonest to the consulate by saying I'm just visiting a pal. And I certainly don't want to be disrespectful to my fiancee by saying she's just a pal, even if she would be ok with it for the sake of the visa.

What are your thoughts on this?

My now fiance entered NO to the fiance in the B2 form ( Q. 37 ). We had not met at that time.

We had no problem from the CO ( during the K1 ) with that answer. My lawyer also agreed that how can you be engaged and consider yourself fiances if you both never met in person. If you say she is your fiance then your chances are 0 in my opinion to obtain the B2.

So, the question is are you truly engaged and promised to marry or are you exploring your relationship at this point ?

Just my thoughts, it is a grey area.

I see what you mean. The thing is we are not just exploring. We want to get married. I know it probably sounds crazy to you guys, but that's how we feel about each other. When it comes to that, I don't care what people think. But on the subject of the different options we got at making this happen, I really need all the input I can get, folks. And thank you for what you've contributed so far.

The job I hold now is great to me, anyway. But I understand what you mean. It's not a dollar-paying job in a foreign oil company, that's for sure. I'm IT Manager at a university here in Abuja, and I earn =N= 110,000 per month. I got this job in June, I neither pay rent, nor pay much for food, because I stay on campus. I've never been married and I don't have any kids. I don't really know how I'm going to prove ties. I got my mom down in Lagos, and I'm sending her =N= 25K each month to support her. She's retired.

I don't think I could get a visa to the UK or Canada even. If I'm not mistaking, then it's pretty much the same story with Western visas, regarding accessibility, right? Like I said, I'm looking for as much advice and help as I can get, so keep it coming

Ok, so I was looking through the online non-immigrant visa form on the website of the U.S. Consulate here in Abuja.

Question 37:

37. Are Any of The Following Persons in The U.S., or Do They Have U.S. Legal Permanent Residence or U.S. Citizenship?

Mark YES or NO and indicate that person's status in the U.S. (i.e., U.S. legal permanent resident, U.S. citizen, visiting, studying, working, etc.).

- Husband/Wife

- Fiance/Fiancee

- Father/Mother

- Son/Daughter

- Brother/Sister

In my case, I would need to indicate that my fiancee is in the U.S. and a U.S. citizen. How does this information affect the tourist visa process AND the K1? I'm going to say she's my fiancee and that I'm going over to visit her. Of course, I'm going to be truthful about everything, so if they ask whether we've met, I'll say no. What is the purpose of my visit? To fulfill a K1 requirement.

Right? I don't want to be dishonest to the consulate by saying I'm just visiting a pal. And I certainly don't want to be disrespectful to my fiancee by saying she's just a pal, even if she would be ok with it for the sake of the visa.

What are your thoughts on this?

My now fiance entered NO to the fiance in the B2 form ( Q. 37 ). We had not met at that time.

We had no problem from the CO ( during the K1 ) with that answer. My lawyer also agreed that how can you be engaged and consider yourself fiances if you both never met in person. If you say she is your fiance then your chances are 0 in my opinion to obtain the B2.

So, the question is are you truly engaged and promised to marry or are you exploring your relationship at this point ?

Just my thoughts, it is a grey area.

I see what you mean. The thing is we are not just exploring. We want to get married. I know it probably sounds crazy to you guys, but that's how we feel about each other. When it comes to that, I don't care what people think. But on the subject of the different options we got at making this happen, I really need all the input I can get, folks. And thank you for what you've contributed so far.

Ok, so I was looking through the online non-immigrant visa form on the website of the U.S. Consulate here in Abuja.

Question 37:

37. Are Any of The Following Persons in The U.S., or Do They Have U.S. Legal Permanent Residence or U.S. Citizenship?

Mark YES or NO and indicate that person's status in the U.S. (i.e., U.S. legal permanent resident, U.S. citizen, visiting, studying, working, etc.).

- Husband/Wife

- Fiance/Fiancee

- Father/Mother

- Son/Daughter

- Brother/Sister

In my case, I would need to indicate that my fiancee is in the U.S. and a U.S. citizen. How does this information affect the tourist visa process AND the K1? I'm going to say she's my fiancee and that I'm going over to visit her. Of course, I'm going to be truthful about everything, so if they ask whether we've met, I'll say no. What is the purpose of my visit? To fulfill a K1 requirement.

Right? I don't want to be dishonest to the consulate by saying I'm just visiting a pal. And I certainly don't want to be disrespectful to my fiancee by saying she's just a pal, even if she would be ok with it for the sake of the visa.

What are your thoughts on this?

Ok, we're back to this option. In my other thread, I talked about how my fiancee wants to come to Nigeria, so we can cover the "meet at least once within 2 years" requirement for the K1. The idea was she'd bring her son and they'd spend a few months here with me. That's off the table again, because it's hard for her to just quit her job, without knowing whether she'd find another one, when she gets back, you know?

So now I'm trying to find out what the requirements are for obtaining a tourist visa in Nigeria? Specifically, I need to know if there is anything else she needs to do, other than sending me an invitation letter stating I'll be staying with her for the duration of my visit. Is there anything else she must/can do?

What about me? Are there any Nigerians here who've successfully been through the tourist visa process? What are the things I need to put in place? Documents, procedures, tips, advice etc. Thank you

Thank you, guys. I really appreciate the help and advice.

Musa,

A month to two month stay would be a great foundation to your relationship, however, keep in mind that she must return to the US to start the filing process for the K-1 Visa. So the longer she stays, the longer it takes to start the process. As far as her getting a part-time job.....here in the US, one from another country could not get a job unless they have working papers. However, my husband (from Lagos) said that you do not need such a thing in Nigeria. If she is only coming for a month or two, I don't know if you should be looking for an apartment becuase don't most landlords there require a year or two payment in advance?? I think they do. There are villas for rent that you can rent by the week or month. Check out the site: MakeItNigeria.com. They have some apartment style places to rent by the week or month and some are very affordable. As for the lawyer question you had posed in an early post......I know many who have used lawyers, paid a lot of money, and the lawyers were useless. This site gives you all the information you need to file for the K-1 Visa. I did it from beginning to end without any advise from a lawyer. The only thing that concerns me about your case is that you have applied previously for other types of Visa's. I've read others stories where that has come up as an issue, but I can't speak personally about it, hopefully someone else can. Hope any of this has helped. Good Luck.

Thanks for your response, Stacy. I do know that landlords here require at least a year down, before they let you move in. Which is why that link you posted is a great tip. I'll find out if they have anything for us in Abuja. As for my previous visas, I've never applied for a U.S. visa before. I was denied UK student visas in '93, '95, '96 and 2004. In '96 I was granted a German student visa and held a German residence permit till 2004. Do you think any of these would have a negative impact on our K1? I hope not.

Here are the links to my previous posts regarding our K1 process, to give you insight on our perspective.

Looking for K1 lawyer>>

Me travelling to the U.S. to meet her?>>

My dual citizenship>>

Me travelling to the U.S. to meet her? (Part 2) >>

So, where my fiancee and I are now is, we've been talking on and off about her coming over to Nigeria and staying for a month or two, bringing her son with her. But it's only today, that we've really treated this option as the primary one. Some of our concerns are: how will a one to two month stay in Nigeria affect our K1 process? We haven't started it yet, because we haven't met face to face, yet. One thought we've had in the past was, spending a weekend in the Carribean to fulfill the requirement, and more importantly, to see if we actually want each other. Again, I'm looking for all the advise I can get on this, and any help would certainly be deeply appreciated.

We're also looking at getting her a part-time job, while she's here. Any input on this from my fellow Nigerians, or people who know Nigeria? And then there is also the question of schooling for her 6 (soon to be 7) year old son.

From what my fiancee and I can see, our options are:

- meeting in the Carribean

- meeting in Baltimore (I come to the U.S.)

- meeting in Abuja (she comes to Nigeria with our boy)

Of these three, which do you think is most suitable for us, regarding K1? I've got a job as an IT Manager at a university here in Abuja, and right now I live on campus in a room. So, now I want to start looking for an apartment to accomodate us three. This would be another aspect I'll be needing help with. I grew up in Lagos, and have only been in Abuja since mid-June. The nature of my job means I spend long hours at work. I barely get out, so I haven't seen much of Abuja. I'll also be asking my colleagues about affordable housing in Abuja. A 2-bedroom should do.

So, yeah. I hope some of you can give us some valuable insight on some of the things I've outlined here.

Hi, people. I am trying to find out the full details of the process of obtaining a tourist visa for the U.S. My fiancee and I are trying to meet the requirements for the K-1 Visa. As you know, for the K-1 we need to have met at least once in the past two years. I'm Nigerian and I have once successfully gone through the visa process for Germany (student visa), and also several unsuccessful attempts for a student visa to the UK. This was all years ago, but I do know that when it comes to this whole bureaucratic process, I will need all the help I can get.

So, I'm looking for advice, pointers, shared experiences etc.

good point about the police certs. i hadn't considered those. so far i need one from nigeria and one from germany (lived there for 7 years).

another thing i was wondering about is my impending dual citizenship. my mom is rwandan, and in addition to my nigerian citizenship, we are currently in the process of applying for rwandan citizenship. does anyone know how dual citizenship would affect the k1 process? i know it's difficult to get a tourist visa or any visa at that, with a nigerian passport. so, i'm wondering if perhaps it might all be a bit easier with the rwandan one? anyone who's had similar experiences? should i start the process in nigeria, or would i be better of moving to my maternal side of the family in rwanda and k1ing in kigali?

my fiance and i are planning for me to come to baltimore. we've never met in person. what we have in mind is for me to come to baltimore on a tourist visa, then we'll file for the k1 and see if they'll let me stay for the duration of the process. has anybody ever tried this or heard about anything relating to this? can u please give me some advice on this?

thank u all for your quick answers. i really appreciate it

hi, there. my fiancee lives in baltimore and i'm in lagos (nigeria). she's been trying to find a good k-1 lawyer, and they all seem to offer free phone conferencing but they never return her calls. does anyone know of any k-1 lawyers in maryland, specifically baltimore, that they can recommend to us? we haven't started the process yet, and we want to do this thru a lawyer, u know?

thank u