{"id":450965,"date":"2011-06-30T11:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T11:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/30\/apply-for-visa-one-year-before-travel-says-us-embassy\/"},"modified":"2011-06-30T11:00:37","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T11:00:37","slug":"apply-for-visa-one-year-before-travel-says-us-embassy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/30\/apply-for-visa-one-year-before-travel-says-us-embassy\/","title":{"rendered":"Apply for visa one year before travel, says US embassy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Abuja-Mr Stephen Frahm, Consular Chief of\u00a0 the U.S Embassy, Wednesday, in Abuja\u00a0 advised Nigerians wishing to travel to that country to apply\u00a0 for visas at least a year ahead\u00a0 of\u00a0 time.<\/p>\n

He said this at the\u00a0 embassy\u2019s monthly briefing\u00a0 which had consular operations\u00a0 as the focus.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Frahm said the number of\u00a0\u00a0 applicants\u00a0 outnumber those that can be accommodated daily, noting that\u00a0 this\u00a0 contributes to delays.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c In Nigeria,\u00a0 there are a greater number of\u00a0 applicants than we have the ability to process. The number of people that can be processed in a given day is finite and that\u2019s why it takes a long time in many instances to get an appointment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c Here in Abuja,\u00a0 we are able to schedule about 200; in Lagos they do about 350 to 400, so that\u2019s about 600 a day.<\/p>\n

\u201c We know that the demand is higher than that but we just don\u2019t have the logistics to do more than that right now, so that\u2019s why the delay.<\/p>\n

\u201c The visa process should not be that last decision you make before you travel. It should be the first decision in planning. This is critical to making it possible for us to provide that service to the applicant,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0 said applicants should make their visa applications online and ensure they visit\u00a0 the website for clarification if they had to.<\/p>\n

Frahm also advised\u00a0 applicants to fill out their applications correctly and give information in line with what they provided to make them qualify for the visa.<\/p>\n

\u201c Most people are bad liars.\u00a0 With the way our law is written, if you misrepresent the facts then you are not credible and we are forced to refuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may be a legitimate traveller, but because during the interview you did not present yourself correctly,\u00a0 then we have no alternative but to refuse,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Frahm urged\u00a0 those who wished to apply for visas to the U.S not to be deterred by the processes.<\/p>\n

The processes,\u00a0 he said, were to ensure that all visa applications complied with the Immigration Nationalities Act of the United States.<\/p>\n

He said the immigration activities were of\u00a0 important commercial value, noting\u00a0 that Nigeria has the highest number of applicants among the ECOWAS states with 60 per cent to 70 per cent of visa applications approved this year.<\/p>\n

Also speaking, Deborah Maclean, Information Officer in the U.S embassy,\u00a0 called on applicants to be truthful about their reasons\u00a0 for travelling\u00a0 in order to get a positive response from the embassy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be prepared and that includes planning in advance for your interview, having the information available for why you personally know you are going because each interview is a personal interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the consular officer would be asking you is based on what you present for information.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are truthful about why you are going, the outcome is most likely going to be a positive one,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read the original here:
\nApply for visa one year before travel, says US embassy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abuja-Mr Stephen Frahm, Consular Chief of\u00a0 the U.S Embassy, Wednesday, in Abuja\u00a0 advised Nigerians wishing to travel to that country to apply\u00a0 for visas at least a year ahead\u00a0 of\u00a0 time. He said this at the\u00a0 embassy\u2019s monthly briefing\u00a0 which had consular operations\u00a0 as the focus. \u00a0Frahm said the number of\u00a0\u00a0 applicants\u00a0 outnumber those that can be accommodated daily, noting that\u00a0 this\u00a0 contributes to delays. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":450966,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-450965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\nApply for visa one year before travel, says US embassy - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/30\/apply-for-visa-one-year-before-travel-says-us-embassy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Apply for visa one year before travel, says US embassy - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Abuja-Mr Stephen Frahm, Consular Chief of\u00a0 the U.S Embassy, Wednesday, in Abuja\u00a0 advised Nigerians wishing to travel to that country to apply\u00a0 for visas at least a year ahead\u00a0 of\u00a0 time. 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