On the website of the United States Consulate for Nigeria, there is a section for American citizens who have been victims of 419 fraud to get help.
What you don’t see on the site is how to get help if you’re a Nigerian citizen that has been defrauded by the US Consulate in the process of trying to get a non immigrant visa for tourism or business travel purposes.
419 is the section in the criminal code that refers to Advance Fee Fraud.
Advance Fee Fraud is where the victim pays money upfront for a purpose that the collector of the money never intends to fulfill.
The American Embassy in Nigeria made about $35 million (N7 billion) from the 220,000 people that applied for Visas between September 2013 and September 2014.
Many of these applicants were denied visas due to the subjective nature of the Visa issuance process which allows a Consular Officer to deny you a Visa for no reason whatsoever. Their decision to deny you a visa is also not appealable, or reviewable. This is due to a US Supreme Court decision that established a doctrine that a consular officer’s say is final and not subject to judicial review.
Basically this means even President Barack Obama if he was your uncle cannot ask for your Visa application to be reviewed.
This is because, according to a recent federal district court decision, a court “does not have jurisdiction to review a consular official’s decision, even if its foundation was erroneous, arbitrary, or contrary to agency regulations.”
The first thing you notice at the Consulate on Walter Carrington crescent in Victoria Island, Lagos is the massive crowd of people who are seeking visas. Each working day that crowd could number up to 600 people. After paying the Visa application fee of $160 each, they are sandwiched into a queue and compelled to wait outside the embassy as the line moves like an assembly line for sardines.
The wait outside could be anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, before you finally enter into the Visa section of the consulate there are several security checks that involve having to give up your phones and other personal effects. One lady had to throw away her makeup including eye pencil before security would admit her into the consulate. Recording devices are not allowed into the Consulate because it would be a shame and national embarrassment to see the ordeal Nigerians seeking to travel to the USA undergo.
You get to the Visa section and then you are given a number and fingerprinted, after that you have to wait until your number is called. Several Nigerians are seen praying and some have even confessed to fasting for three days prior to their interview just so they may get a visa (even after the hunger strike/spiritual exercise, many still don’t get it). What happens next is a testimony as to why there is a perceived need for such spiritual armaments like divine favour before one comes face to face with a visa officer.
Despite the billions of Naira spent annually by Nigerian applicants seeking non-immigrant Visas to the United States of America, the US Consulate in Lagos basically tells Nigerian applicants that it is not obligated to give them American visas even if they qualify for a tourist visa. So if for instance the consular officer is having a bad day or is going through menopause and having hot flashes and is in no good mood to attend to Nigerians who want to travel out for tourism or whatever purpose, then you can kiss your $160 application fee goodbye.
When your number is called, the Consular Officer will ask you (over a mega phone) basic questions like, “Where are you going to within the States?”
“What do you do for a living?”
“How much do you earn?”
Now even if you are gainfully employed in Nigeria and have an income of over $100,000 a year, the consular officer can decide to reject your application, even without looking at your supporting documents such as bank statements. He or she will then state that you are not qualified for the visa and give you a white sheet of paper explaining why. The letter will read:
At the time of the interview, you were unable to present credible evidence of sufficient socioeconomic ties to Nigeria that would compel you to return to Nigeria after a short stay in the United States. The interviewing officer determined that you did not overcome the statutory presumption of intending immigration and was therefore refused under section 214(b) of the Immigration and Nationality act.
Please note that applicants for US non-immigrant visas are required to overcome the assumption that they are intending immigrants. In order to do so, they must prove sufficiently strong ties to their home country.
Individual refusals under Section 214(b) cannot be appealed or overturned, but they are not permanent. You must wait at least ninety days to reapply, however, we strongly recommend that applicants only reapply if they believe that their circumstances have changed or they are able to present additional, compelling evidence of their socioeconomic ties to Nigeria or their reason for travel to the United States. Our practice is to have a different Consular Officer handle subsequent interviews whenever possible. Please note that Consular Officers are not required to review all documentation you present, and that as the applicant, you alone have the responsibility to establish your eligibility for the visa.
We hope this information is useful to you.
Now the Consular Officer can conclude that you are not socio economically fit to travel to the USA, even though the same consular officer may have refused to look at your documents such as official bank statements or the deed to your home that show you are not an illegal immigrant risk. And why would someone who earns $100,000 a year in Nigeria be a potential migrant risk?
The US Consulate empowers its officers not to even have to look at your documents before they take a decision. So if the consular officer is having a bad day, does not like your face or you rub them the wrong way, they can deny you a visa. It’s all very subjective and arbitrary. There is no reason or system.
One lady who has an American Visa tells the story of a colleague who was given a visa because her birthday was the same as the Consular Officer’s mom. The CO told her this whilst approving her visa.
Here is a portion of a list of FAQs from the US Embassy in Nigeria concerning Visa applications
Q: What documents are needed to “prove socioeconomic ties to Nigeria?”
A: All non-immigrant visa applicants must demonstrate to a Consular Officer at the time of the visa interview that they have sufficient social, economic, family or other ties to Nigeria that would compel them to return to Nigeria at the end of a temporary stay in the United States. As every visa applicant is different, there is no specific or required way to demonstrate such ties. Applicants are not required to have a specific set of documents.
Applicants should be prepared to discuss their purpose of travel and demonstrate their ties to Nigeria in front of the Consular officer. Applicants may present any supporting evidence of such ties that they wish. Please note that presentation of particular documents is never a guarantee of visa issuance, nor are Consular Officers required to review every document that the applicant brings to the interview.
There is no advantage to presenting false or fraudulent documents in support of a visa application. Engaging in fraud for visa purposes can make an applicant permanently ineligible for a U.S. visa.
Note that the U.S. Consulate General, Lagos does not and cannot receive documents on behalf of visa applicants.
Q: Do I need an invitation letter?
A: No. An invitation letter is not required in order to obtain a non-immigrant visa, and the presentation of an invitation letter is not a guarantee of visa issuance. We understand the desire of American citizens, companies and organizations to invite foreign individuals to the United States, and they are welcome to do so, but it is the applicant, and the applicant alone, who must qualify for a visa.
One Visa applicant who is a Nigerian citizen but was born in Great Britain narrates his experience:
“My whole family lives in the USA and are all citizens, I was born in the UK in 1983 so I don’t have the same privileges. I could get my family to file for a green card for me. It costs about $450. But I am not interested in migrating to the USA. I have a successful business here and I employ 4 people, 3 of them are university graduates. I was also given a house recently, so I have a house, a car and other major assets in Nigeria. I went to the consulate with my supporting documents and the officer interviewing me did not bother to look at a single one. It appears they are in a big hurry to get people in and out of the embassy, so they can attend to the teeming crowd. Customers [Applicants] that are not entitled to basic customer service. From the looks on some of the faces of the COs, I think they see it more like a chore than a service. It’s really saddening that I cannot visit my family because someone did not care to take the time establish that I have a legitimate reason to travel to the USA.”
“Why should I be denied the right to see my family because a consular officer is having a bad day or looks at the crowd of people and is trying her best to get me out asap. It’s easier and quicker to just deny me than to look at my supporting documents.”
“The whole process is best described as a sham and a violation of human dignity. They interview you over a Public Address system where everyone can hear the personal questions which relate to your earnings and other personal data.”
“It’s a Human Rights issue that needs to be addressed by our leadership (Foreign Affairs Ministry) and by the leadership of the American Consulate. Individuals with strong family ties abroad and strong socio economic ties to Nigeria should not be denied visas under any circumstances especially since there is no indication that such an individual is a flight risk.
“Until this is done, the best solution is for Nigerians to stop funding the American Consulate in Lagos and Abuja with our Visa application fees that run into billions of Naira.
“Unless you are 100% sure you are going to get a Visa, do not bother going to the American embassy that will not bother to look at your documents and will not give you the right to appeal their arbitrary decisions. No one Consualr Officer should have all that power, especially if there are some of them who abuse the power and act with impunity.”
It seems the only way to avoid being a part of this scam is to deny the US Consulate your visa application fees by refusing to apply or re-apply for a Visa (if same was initially denied).
Instead of taking a trip to Sea World in Florida or Disneyland in California, just take a trip to Dubai, France, United Kingdom. At least in those countries, it is virtually impossible to be denied or to be denied without reason and without the ability to appeal. And those are all really nice places to visit.
We must demand fairness and equity from this biased system by refusing to fund their Consulate with our Visa application fees.
Say no to 419 today!