Kaleydd2000:
Thanks for your response prof. As per cost, I don't know exactly but I know for tickets and visa fees, it should cost us like 1million, not sure though.
Yes, u told me about pension b4, but I think dat should be part of ties to Nigeria. However, like how much do u suggest we have in our accounts? Your guidance / suggestions will be appreciated.
Can you list the cost of this trip for a family of 3? Maybe that will give you an idea about what I'm talking about.

Pension fund is a future investment and not something you can withdraw immediately for family need.

Costing this trip will give you an idea how much you should have, you need research the cost of ticket, cost of hotel in the UK, feeding and transport etc.

Yes pension serves as tie to Nigeria but we are talking about cost of the trip here

wxyz1:
just no reasons, just like, advice from a novice. that is why i had to bring it up here for a professional advice. If i should, how?

There is not much we can do to be honest, calling or emailing them is purely trying your luck. Just pray that it will not be picked out

realshifu:



Thank you @galazito for your response. I should clarify somethings.

1. I was not out of job when I applied, I am currently employed as corper doctor, now, and as at the day of my application - Feb 26th. I was only out of a job between when I finished Housemanship and getting a call-up for NYSC (July - November). I had to explained that in my cover letter coz it meant as at Feb 26 when I applied, I had no immediate pass 6-months salary account to show - I resumed at my PPA in December. I submitted my posting letter to the Hospital, and an introduction letter from the Hospital confirming my position and salary. And it's a Federal institution.

2. I had thought my fund was available, and demonstrably so. I deliberately liquidated a little of that my savings with ARM (took just 2 days), and showed my email correspondence with ARM, and noted on my account statement to show the ECO (I had read on this thread that the ECOs a lot of times consider fixed deposits as not available fund. But the ARM fund is not fixed). I also tried to avoid committing money lodging so I liquidated just a little.

3. Yes, I am single. I guessed that worked a lot against me, but I can't fix that yet. But as I noted earlier, I am in the job I should be in my career as a Nigerian-trained doctor.

4. I don't think I understand this last point.

Thanks a lot for your comments. Hopefully, @justwise and @epotek will review my situation too.

Hi sorry for the refusal. Is it possible to share the cover letter you wrote. Sometimes we shot ourselves in the foot, with our cover letter. The ECO would have being more convinced if you have gotten a letter of suppport from ARM to show that the investment fund was liquidable within 2 days of request. Better still liquidate the investment and support the lump payment with an official letter from ARM not email correspondences. Secondly the ECO did not see any evidences that the investment fund belong to you despite the fact your name was on it. Lessons learnt, get a detail letter from ARM showing when you started the investment fund, how deposit is received by ARM and yield rate. This is if you wish to reapply. Being single is not barrier, as your qualification as a doctor is highly rated.

Anione:
Hi, please I need an answer to my concern. My wife has a British stay but was brought back to Nigeria by her aunt few years ago, without informing anyone that it will be invalid if she stays longer than 2 years outside the UK. Please I care to know if there's something that can be done with the stay document to get her back to UK? She recently found the photocopy of the stay document, is there a way forward for her. Thank you for your good work.

What does the stay document says?

wxyz1:
Please i need reponse

Relax the ECO will only consider your travel history if you are a frequent visitor to A grade countries like USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and Ireland. Definitely not ETHIOPIA.

@realshifu @justwise @ekpotek and the house, please I need guidelines in submitting my application.

When I fill the form online and submit, please what do I do next? When/ where will I be told to pay for my visa? And will I have to provide two international passport photographs, and where/ when to submit my documents? Please I need step by step information in layman's understand, and yes I'm that dumb, lol. please waiting your response. Thanks

mamateniola1:
Yes. Same

hi mamateniola1 it's been a long time since you comment. just curious to know how the visa application goes. do you have the visa now?

ekpotek:


Hi sorry for the refusal. Is it possible to share the cover letter you wrote. Sometimes we shot ourselves in the foot, with our cover letter. The ECO would have being more convinced if you have gotten a letter of suppport from ARM to show that the investment fund was liquidable within 2 days of request. Better still liquidate the investment and support the lump payment with an official letter from ARM not email correspondences. Secondly the ECO did not see any evidences that the investment fund belong to you despite the fact your name was on it. Lessons learnt, get a detail letter from ARM showing when you started the investment fund, how deposit is received by ARM and yield rate. This is if you wish to reapply. Being single is not barrier, as your qualification as a doctor is highly rated.

The Entry Clearance Officer
The British High Commission
11, Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island
Lagos.

Dear Ma/Sir,

STANDARD VISITOR VISA
I am [Redacted]: a medical doctor, cancer researcher and a youth leader and advocate. I hereby apply for a UK Standard Visitor Visa (valid up to 6 months) to enable me attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF), at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), April 16-18, at the QE II Center London. I am currently undergoing my compulsory 1-year national youth service in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. My place of primary assignment (PPA) is the [Redacted].

I will be funding this trip myself with a budget of 380,000 NGN. During the CYF, and my 5 nights in London, i will be staying at the Pride of Paddington; 1-3 Craven Road, Paddington, Westminster Borough, London, +442074022156, at a total cost of 49,294 NGN (breakfast inclusive). My bus fares between the hostel and the QE II Center will be covered by a 20 GBP (approx. 10,100 NGN) Oyster Card. I budget 25 GBP (approx. 12,650 NGN) for dinners with a return ticket to London costing me between 280,000 – 300,000 NGN. To properly clarify my ability to fund this trip and my current social standing, I find it neccessary to provide the following additional information.

1. Every graduated nigerian dentist/doctor that is going to practice in Nigeria, is required to do a 1-year housemanship, followed by the mandatory 1-year national youth service. For me, i graduated April 2016, and did my housejob at the [Redacted] 18/07/16 – 17/07/17. I was called-up for youth service in November 2017 (first an orientation camp), and i resumed my PPA on 11/12/17. This means i was without any tangible full-time employment for a period of approx. 4.5 months (mid-July to mid-December), I could only do few locums -where I was mostly paid in cash and individual fund transfers - while waiting to be called-up for service.

2. Therefore, to prove my ability to fund this trip, I submitted a letter confirming my long-standing mutual fund investment with ARM – rather than the regular past 6-months bank account statement. This is part of my savings from my salary from Housemanship where I earned 158,000 NGN monthly (see attached [Redacted] payslips and 6-month salary period account statement from GTB). The other part of my savings was invested in 2 cassava farms with Farmcrowdy as explained on the application form (see attached email correspondence with Farmcrowdy and farm sponsor portal printout). I was able to save so much during my housejob because of my strong savings culture and work ethics; I worked numerous locums that effectively put my total monthly income at approx. 210,000NGN allowing me to save as much as 150, 000 NGN monthly overall.

3. My Farmcrowdy investment will mature on April 15, 2018, so I currently don't have access to the fund, however all my savings in ARM is readily available to me. Request to liquidation of fund takes a maximum of 3 working days. To purposefully demonstrate it's availability, I did a partial redemption and I attached my email correspondence (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2018) with ARM and an account statement that reflects the credit from ARM (Mon. February 12, 2018). The 2280 GBP I filled is a very conservative estimate of my total savings (ARM balance plus the remaining money in my GTB and Access Bank accounts, excluding my soon to mature Farmcrowdy investment).

4. At a monthly allowance set at 19,800 NGN by the federal government, youth corp members are not paid much. However, due to my profession, I earn an additional 98,000 NGN from my PPA, taking my monthly earnings as a Corper to a total of 117,800 NGN. My first allowance was paid in cash at the end of the new corp members orientation camp in december, while my January allowance was paid into my Access Bank account on 30/1/18. Though, I am yet to be paid my first salary at my PPA, as it is not unusual among federal hospitals to start paying new workers 2-3 months after assumption due to red tapes; the earlier months are paid as arrears (See my first pay slip from Housejob October 2016 for example). However, my salary is confirmed in the attached letter from my PPA.

5. I attached three statements of accounts. Two from my account with GTB – Oct. 2016 to Mar. 2017 (ST1); proving my source of the savings with ARM and Nov. 2017 to Feb. 2018 (ST2); to demonstrate that the ARM fund is available for my use. Then one from my account with Access Bank simply to show my Jan. Allowance from FG.
For ST1, majority of the credits, apart from Housejob salary were my salaries for locum work (especially from “[redacted]” and cheque clearances from “[redacted]”).
For ST2, a credit of 142,500 NGN on 10/11/17, was my salary payment for the locum I did for the [redacted] (one of the locums I referred to earlier between my housemanship and youth service call-up). A debit of 76,000 NGN on 13/11/17 represents a loan to my fiance that was repaid partially on 15/01/18. 40,000 NGN cash deposit on 27/11/17 represents another locum payment with another 16,000 NGN from [redacted] on 7/12/17. On 2/1/18 I received a sum of 86,692 NGN which was my final salary from Housejob ([redacted] doesn't pay house officers their last month's salary, until some clearance and documentations are completed, and this can take anywhere between 6 months to 1 year after the housemanship).

Kindly find attached all relevant supporting documents for this application. I hope you will find everything in order and be rest assured of my returning to complete my work and national youth service immediately after the CYF. For further questions, clarification, and interview, please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime.

Thank you, for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Redacted]

So i probably shot myself in the foot for being too explanatory. But i was at pain to point out in the letter that i am not funding the trip from my salary (I wasn't even yet paid by then (mentioned that), just got paid this March), yet the ECO kept going on and on about my salary. Maybe a long-standing investment savings is not useful for visa purposes. But since i am not ready to pull out from ARM mutual funds, as it pays much better than bank's fixed deposits, your advice for how i can go about this in the future will still be very much needed. I am not reapplying for the visa

@epotek see letter to embassy from ARM

chloe00:
Realshifu if you’ll permit me to add o, cost of your travel is like your four months salary without the investment of which they know you’ll likely want to stay beyond 5 days.
Secondly I don’t think your being single worked against you because I got my Uk visa as a single lady although it’s every man to his own case; I don’t think they look at single or married to issue visa, I personally believe the funds issue is what worked against you , so maybe you should save up a bit more and have more money in tour savings account e.g if your proposing to spend £1k, have £2.5k in your savings as proof of funds that you have saved over time because they always like to see that you can conveniently afford your travel without being a burden to anyone. Thank God Uk isn’t like USA where they won’t even tell you what is working against you. I believe if you can right the wrongs the ECO stated then you’ll get the Visa . Cheers

Sorry, didnt see this earlier. Thanks for your comment and the encouragement. Will be useful for future purposes.

realshifu:


The Entry Clearance Officer
The British High Commission
11, Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island
Lagos.

Dear Ma/Sir,

STANDARD VISITOR VISA
I am [Redacted]: a medical doctor, cancer researcher and a youth leader and advocate. I hereby apply for a UK Standard Visitor Visa (valid up to 6 months) to enable me attend the Commonwealth Youth Forum (CYF), at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), April 16-18, at the QE II Center London. I am currently undergoing my compulsory 1-year national youth service in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. My place of primary assignment (PPA) is the [Redacted].

I will be funding this trip myself with a budget of 380,000 NGN. During the CYF, and my 5 nights in London, i will be staying at the Pride of Paddington; 1-3 Craven Road, Paddington, Westminster Borough, London, +442074022156, at a total cost of 49,294 NGN (breakfast inclusive). My bus fares between the hostel and the QE II Center will be covered by a 20 GBP (approx. 10,100 NGN) Oyster Card. I budget 25 GBP (approx. 12,650 NGN) for dinners with a return ticket to London costing me between 280,000 – 300,000 NGN. To properly clarify my ability to fund this trip and my current social standing, I find it neccessary to provide the following additional information.

1. Every graduated nigerian dentist/doctor that is going to practice in Nigeria, is required to do a 1-year housemanship, followed by the mandatory 1-year national youth service. For me, i graduated April 2016, and did my housejob at the [Redacted] 18/07/16 – 17/07/17. I was called-up for youth service in November 2017 (first an orientation camp), and i resumed my PPA on 11/12/17. This means i was without any tangible full-time employment for a period of approx. 4.5 months (mid-July to mid-December), I could only do few locums -where I was mostly paid in cash and individual fund transfers - while waiting to be called-up for service.

2. Therefore, to prove my ability to fund this trip, I submitted a letter confirming my long-standing mutual fund investment with ARM – rather than the regular past 6-months bank account statement. This is part of my savings from my salary from Housemanship where I earned 158,000 NGN monthly (see attached [Redacted] payslips and 6-month salary period account statement from GTB). The other part of my savings was invested in 2 cassava farms with Farmcrowdy as explained on the application form (see attached email correspondence with Farmcrowdy and farm sponsor portal printout). I was able to save so much during my housejob because of my strong savings culture and work ethics; I worked numerous locums that effectively put my total monthly income at approx. 210,000NGN allowing me to save as much as 150, 000 NGN monthly overall.

3. My Farmcrowdy investment will mature on April 15, 2018, so I currently don't have access to the fund, however all my savings in ARM is readily available to me. Request to liquidation of fund takes a maximum of 3 working days. To purposefully demonstrate it's availability, I did a partial redemption and I attached my email correspondence (Thurs. Feb. 8, 2018) with ARM and an account statement that reflects the credit from ARM (Mon. February 12, 2018). The 2280 GBP I filled is a very conservative estimate of my total savings (ARM balance plus the remaining money in my GTB and Access Bank accounts, excluding my soon to mature Farmcrowdy investment).

4. At a monthly allowance set at 19,800 NGN by the federal government, youth corp members are not paid much. However, due to my profession, I earn an additional 98,000 NGN from my PPA, taking my monthly earnings as a Corper to a total of 117,800 NGN. My first allowance was paid in cash at the end of the new corp members orientation camp in december, while my January allowance was paid into my Access Bank account on 30/1/18. Though, I am yet to be paid my first salary at my PPA, as it is not unusual among federal hospitals to start paying new workers 2-3 months after assumption due to red tapes; the earlier months are paid as arrears (See my first pay slip from Housejob October 2016 for example). However, my salary is confirmed in the attached letter from my PPA.

5. I attached three statements of accounts. Two from my account with GTB – Oct. 2016 to Mar. 2017 (ST1); proving my source of the savings with ARM and Nov. 2017 to Feb. 2018 (ST2); to demonstrate that the ARM fund is available for my use. Then one from my account with Access Bank simply to show my Jan. Allowance from FG.
For ST1, majority of the credits, apart from Housejob salary were my salaries for locum work (especially from “[redacted]” and cheque clearances from “[redacted]”).
For ST2, a credit of 142,500 NGN on 10/11/17, was my salary payment for the locum I did for the [redacted] (one of the locums I referred to earlier between my housemanship and youth service call-up). A debit of 76,000 NGN on 13/11/17 represents a loan to my fiance that was repaid partially on 15/01/18. 40,000 NGN cash deposit on 27/11/17 represents another locum payment with another 16,000 NGN from [redacted] on 7/12/17. On 2/1/18 I received a sum of 86,692 NGN which was my final salary from Housejob ([redacted] doesn't pay house officers their last month's salary, until some clearance and documentations are completed, and this can take anywhere between 6 months to 1 year after the housemanship).

Kindly find attached all relevant supporting documents for this application. I hope you will find everything in order and be rest assured of my returning to complete my work and national youth service immediately after the CYF. For further questions, clarification, and interview, please do not hesitate to contact me at anytime.

Thank you, for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Redacted]

So i probably shot myself in the foot for being too explanatory. But i was at pain to point out in the letter that i am not funding the trip from my salary (I wasn't even yet paid by then (mentioned that), just got paid this March), yet the ECO kept going on and on about my salary. Maybe a long-standing investment savings is not useful for visa purposes. But since i am not ready to pull out from ARM mutual funds, as it pays much better than bank's fixed deposits, your advice for how i can go about this in the future will still be very much needed. I am not reapplying for the visa

Reading through your cover letter, shows that you readily gave the ECO perfect reasons for refusal. Your cover letter, came out as someone scraping funds here and there to meet up his proposed trip. A cover letter is meant to provide additional information on your strength of eligibility for UK visit visa and not to give a life history story. Next time, submit a bank statement that has the required fund. If there is any lump payment, explain the source with documentation. The ECO is quite right to just focus on your salary, since it’s your primary source of income which you declared. Probably you failed to declare the ARM investment fund as savings in the online application form. That is why the ECO did not considered it. The ECO is right to be suspicious of ARM funds, if you did not declare it in your application form as additional sources of income. Anyway Good luck in your next application in future.

Thanks for your response Prof. Can u help with d costing for a family of three please? D person who is inviting us will take care of our feeding and accommodation.

justwise:


Costing this trip will give you an idea how much you should have, you need research the cost of ticket, cost of hotel in the UK, feeding and transport etc.

Yes pension serves as tie to Nigeria but we are talking about cost of the trip here

realshifu:
@epotek see letter to embassy from ARM

Did you declare this fund in the online application form as savings/investment?

ekpotek:


Did you declare this fund in the online application form as savings/investment?

Yes, I did. Under savings/investment/additional income section.

Dear house, a friend transfered the amount of 850k to my account February 2018, this was a payback of money he owed me, I stated this in my cover letter. Though I transfered practically all the money out to cover family bills, will that be seen by the ECO as money lodging?? Because I didn't just leave the money there, I made use of it? Please house your response is needed. Thanks

Dear ekpotek and justwise, please your thoughts,

The Entry Clearance Officer
The Deputy British High Commission
11, Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island
Lagos.

Dear Sir,

GENERAL VISITORS’ VISA:
I hereby apply for a UK general visitor’s visa (valid up to 6 months) to enable me spend a time of vacation with my girlfriend (xxxxx) in the United Kingdom. I am currently employed as a full time staff of Limited Lagos.

During my stay in the United Kingdom for three weeks, I will be staying with my girlfriend at her house located at , United Kingdom. We plan to visit her family, friends and some tourist sites during my stay. The vacation will definitely provide a good means of introduction between me and her family and most important spend some time with her.
We both met through a mutual friend sometime in April 2017, we struck up a conversation that had us chatting for hours, it was till the month of June 2017 that we began having video calls via WhatsApp which enabled us get to know each other on a more deeper and personal level.

We kept in touch via chat and video calls through the WhatsApp application, it was till August 2017 she decided to come visit me in Nigeria on October 24th to 28th 2017 (please see evidence through our pictures, WhatsApp interactions and)( - link to our video at the beach in Nigeria)
When she arrived, I introduced her to my family and my life and we generally had a good time. So we decided that I would come to the United Kingdom to introduce myself to her family and friends and experience her life. We also plan to visit few tourist sites since during my stay like museums and zoos.

I find it necessary to provide the following additional information:

1. My immediate family/ all based in Nigeria (my father, my mother, my three sisters and a brother while I am the youngest)
2. This is my first passport, my birth place is Venezuela (Caracas) which is backed up with my birth certificate (original and translated).
3. My salary has not been identical from the month of November to January because my bonus (which amount flauntutes depending on your work excellence) gets paid along with my salary, we get our bonus a month after a quarter or sometimes latter than that.
For the month of November I was paid N143, 266. 44 on the 25th of November 2017 (this included my bonus for the previous quarter).
For the month of December I was paid on the 18th of December 2017 at the amount of N127, 832. 40 (including Christmas bonus), this came early because of the Christmas holidays for those that want to travel to their home towns. (My salary comes in on the 25th /26th of each month).
For the month of January I was paid N103, 624. 50 on the 26th of January 2018, this was without my bonus (bonus was moved to February for collection).
For the month of February I got a better job offer and switched jobs, from Nigeria (which was ) to x Lagos. Which you will find evidence of my resignation from x and proof of compensation benefits credited at the amount of N132, 299. 83 on the 3rd of April 2018. I had a sum of money transferred to my account on the 1st of February 2018 (N825, 000. 00)from a friend of mine (x) which he owed me, and on the 26th of February I was paid from my new company (x) with the sum of N200, 000. 00 because I started a week late so this reduced my pay for the first month. (My salary is N300, 000. 00 monthly)
For the month of march I was paid N300, 000. 00 on the 26th of march 2018 and the same goes,
For the month of April I was paid N300, 000. 00 on the 25th of April 2018.
I also included the last six months bank statement (August to January 2017/ 2018) of my pension payments for the last six months when I was still a staff in x which I was paid exactly N19,737.80 for each of the month, my pension for the month of February was deducted (N8, 816.80) from my last compensation and benefit check from which I received on the 3rd of April 2018 but is yet to reflex on my pension account, My recent employer (x) are yet to start my pension plan.
Please find information on other payments credited/ debited to/ from my account below,
On the 2nd and 3rd of November 2017 I withdrew N10,000.00 and on the 5th of November 2017 I withdrew N5,000.00, also on the 14th and 15th of November 2017 withdrew N5,000.00 for some bill payments, on the 14th of November 2017 I received an amount of N10, 000. 00 from my brother (l) to help pay for some items on his behalf, I withdrew the amount of N10,000,00 on the 25th of November 2017 for my house upkeep, also on the 28th of November 2017
I transferred the amount of N25,000.00 to my mother (V) for her upkeep and transferred the amount of N15,000.00 to my sister (N) on the 27th of November 2017. I received the amount of N25, 000. 00 from my brother to purchase our household items.
On the 28th of november 2017 i made multiple transaction which debited me N15,000.00/ N3,000.00/ N39,800.00 respectively.
On the 4th of December i2017, i transferred N10,000.00 to j for my house maintenance, and on the 13th of December 2017 i transferred N9,000.00 to a friend(O).
On the 7th of January 2017 I withdrew several times, with a total amount of N20, 000. 00 for parts replacement for my vehicle and servicing. Also on the 12th of January 2018 I withdrew N8, 000. 00 to fill up my fuel tank in my vehicle And on the 17th of January 2017 I received the amount of N18, 100. 00 from my cousin (O) for money he owed me. On the 17th of January 2017 I withdrew money multiple time which added to the sum of N18, 000, 00 to pay for my gym membership.
On the 21st of January 2018, I withdrew the sum of N5, 000. 00 to purchase some groceries for my house and on the 26th of January 2018 I transferred the amount of N100, 000. 00 to my brother (l) and N50, 000. 00 on the 27th of January 2018 for my share of the rent payment.
On the 2nd of February 2018 I transferred the amount of N18, 000. 00 to my personal trainer and friend (L) for my supplements and training fee, also on the 21st of February 2018 the amount of N21, 000. 00 was transferred to my personal trainer and friend(l).
On the 4th of February 2018 I transferred N50, 000. 00 to my brother (l) to aid him buy a new engine for his vehicle and should receive the money back when it is convenient for him, on the 6th of February I transferred the amount of N100, 000. 00 to my brother for my parents upkeep (refilling of drugs and health supplements) on the 6th of February 2018 I withdrew the amount of N5, 000. 00 For food items.
On the 7th of February 2018, I lent out an amount of N95, 000. 00 to my cousin (O) which he paid back on the 6th of march 2018 amount of N92, 000. 00, I pardoned the balance of N3, 000.00 and on the 9th of February 2018 I withdrew the amount of N5, 000. 00 for groceries.
On the 13th of February I transferred he amount of N100, 000. 00 to my sister (N) and on the 14th of February I transferred the amount of N300, 000. 00 to my same sister mentioned above while I will receive back at her convenience. Also on the 28th of March 2018 I transferred the amount of N50,000.00 to my sister (N) as a contribution for my parents upkeep.
On the 19th of March 2018 I transferred the amount of N10, 000. 00 to my cousin (O) to aid in his upkeep.
On the 28th of March 2018 I received the amount of N19,000.00 from a friend (C) for the purchase of my used video game.


Kindly find enclosed all relevant documents for this application.

I trust that you will find that everything is in order and I assure you that I will return back to my work and family at the end of my two weeks visit. For questions, clarification and interview, please feel free to contact me anytime.

hello guys
pls I need guidance on how to apply for my mum's family visit in UK. she was given 6months visa last year but she spent only 3 months, now she wants to apply for 2 years.
the guy that did it last year charged so much and it was done at Abuja now I will be doing that through Lagos but I don't know how to go about it.

Aquaman84:
Dear ekpotek and justwise, please your thoughts,

The Entry Clearance Officer
The Deputy British High Commission
11, Walter Carrington Crescent
Victoria Island
Lagos.

Dear Sir,

GENERAL VISITORS’ VISA:
I hereby apply for a UK general visitor’s visa (valid up to 6 months) to enable me spend a time of vacation with my girlfriend (xxxxx) in the United Kingdom. I am currently employed as a full time staff of Limited Lagos.

During my stay in the United Kingdom for three weeks, I will be staying with my girlfriend at her house located at , United Kingdom. We plan to visit her family, friends and some tourist sites during my stay. The vacation will definitely provide a good means of introduction between me and her family and most important spend some time with her.
We both met through a mutual friend sometime in April 2017, we struck up a conversation that had us chatting for hours, it was till the month of June 2017 that we began having video calls via WhatsApp which enabled us get to know each other on a more deeper and personal level.

We kept in touch via chat and video calls through the WhatsApp application, it was till August 2017 she decided to come visit me in Nigeria on October 24th to 28th 2017 (please see evidence through our pictures, WhatsApp interactions and)( - link to our video at the beach in Nigeria)
When she arrived, I introduced her to my family and my life and we generally had a good time. So we decided that I would come to the United Kingdom to introduce myself to her family and friends and experience her life. We also plan to visit few tourist sites since during my stay like museums and zoos.

I find it necessary to provide the following additional information:

1. My immediate family/ all based in Nigeria (my father, my mother, my three sisters and a brother while I am the youngest)
2. This is my first passport, my birth place is Venezuela (Caracas) which is backed up with my birth certificate (original and translated).
3. My salary has not been identical from the month of November to January because my bonus (which amount flauntutes depending on your work excellence) gets paid along with my salary, we get our bonus a month after a quarter or sometimes latter than that.
For the month of November I was paid N143, 266. 44 on the 25th of November 2017 (this included my bonus for the previous quarter).
For the month of December I was paid on the 18th of December 2017 at the amount of N127, 832. 40 (including Christmas bonus), this came early because of the Christmas holidays for those that want to travel to their home towns. (My salary comes in on the 25th /26th of each month).
For the month of January I was paid N103, 624. 50 on the 26th of January 2018, this was without my bonus (bonus was moved to February for collection).
For the month of February I got a better job offer and switched jobs, from Nigeria (which was ) to x Lagos. Which you will find evidence of my resignation from x and proof of compensation benefits credited at the amount of N132, 299. 83 on the 3rd of April 2018. I had a sum of money transferred to my account on the 1st of February 2018 (N825, 000. 00)from a friend of mine (x) which he owed me, and on the 26th of February I was paid from my new company (x) with the sum of N200, 000. 00 because I started a week late so this reduced my pay for the first month. (My salary is N300, 000. 00 monthly)
For the month of march I was paid N300, 000. 00 on the 26th of march 2018 and the same goes,
For the month of April I was paid N300, 000. 00 on the 25th of April 2018.
I also included the last six months bank statement (August to January 2017/ 2018) of my pension payments for the last six months when I was still a staff in x which I was paid exactly N19,737.80 for each of the month, my pension for the month of February was deducted (N8, 816.80) from my last compensation and benefit check from which I received on the 3rd of April 2018 but is yet to reflex on my pension account, My recent employer (x) are yet to start my pension plan.
Please find information on other payments credited/ debited to/ from my account below,
On the 2nd and 3rd of November 2017 I withdrew N10,000.00 and on the 5th of November 2017 I withdrew N5,000.00, also on the 14th and 15th of November 2017 withdrew N5,000.00 for some bill payments, on the 14th of November 2017 I received an amount of N10, 000. 00 from my brother (l) to help pay for some items on his behalf, I withdrew the amount of N10,000,00 on the 25th of November 2017 for my house upkeep, also on the 28th of November 2017
I transferred the amount of N25,000.00 to my mother (V) for her upkeep and transferred the amount of N15,000.00 to my sister (N) on the 27th of November 2017. I received the amount of N25, 000. 00 from my brother to purchase our household items.
On the 28th of november 2017 i made multiple transaction which debited me N15,000.00/ N3,000.00/ N39,800.00 respectively.
On the 4th of December i2017, i transferred N10,000.00 to j for my house maintenance, and on the 13th of December 2017 i transferred N9,000.00 to a friend(O).
On the 7th of January 2017 I withdrew several times, with a total amount of N20, 000. 00 for parts replacement for my vehicle and servicing. Also on the 12th of January 2018 I withdrew N8, 000. 00 to fill up my fuel tank in my vehicle And on the 17th of January 2017 I received the amount of N18, 100. 00 from my cousin (O) for money he owed me. On the 17th of January 2017 I withdrew money multiple time which added to the sum of N18, 000, 00 to pay for my gym membership.
On the 21st of January 2018, I withdrew the sum of N5, 000. 00 to purchase some groceries for my house and on the 26th of January 2018 I transferred the amount of N100, 000. 00 to my brother (l) and N50, 000. 00 on the 27th of January 2018 for my share of the rent payment.
On the 2nd of February 2018 I transferred the amount of N18, 000. 00 to my personal trainer and friend (L) for my supplements and training fee, also on the 21st of February 2018 the amount of N21, 000. 00 was transferred to my personal trainer and friend(l).
On the 4th of February 2018 I transferred N50, 000. 00 to my brother (l) to aid him buy a new engine for his vehicle and should receive the money back when it is convenient for him, on the 6th of February I transferred the amount of N100, 000. 00 to my brother for my parents upkeep (refilling of drugs and health supplements) on the 6th of February 2018 I withdrew the amount of N5, 000. 00 For food items.
On the 7th of February 2018, I lent out an amount of N95, 000. 00 to my cousin (O) which he paid back on the 6th of march 2018 amount of N92, 000. 00, I pardoned the balance of N3, 000.00 and on the 9th of February 2018 I withdrew the amount of N5, 000. 00 for groceries.
On the 13th of February I transferred he amount of N100, 000. 00 to my sister (N) and on the 14th of February I transferred the amount of N300, 000. 00 to my same sister mentioned above while I will receive back at her convenience. Also on the 28th of March 2018 I transferred the amount of N50,000.00 to my sister (N) as a contribution for my parents upkeep.
On the 19th of March 2018 I transferred the amount of N10, 000. 00 to my cousin (O) to aid in his upkeep.
On the 28th of March 2018 I received the amount of N19,000.00 from a friend (C) for the purchase of my used video game.


Kindly find enclosed all relevant documents for this application.

I trust that you will find that everything is in order and I assure you that I will return back to my work and family at the end of my two weeks visit. For questions, clarification and interview, please feel free to contact me anytime.

This cover letter is entirely unesessary from my own point of view. You are travelling to visit your girlfriend. The ECO will be more interested in your ties to Nigeria that will make you return and not over stay. I did not see this in your letter. The ECO will also be interested in durability of your relationship. If I were you, I focus more on establishing the relationship with supporting documents. If indeed your girlfriend had visited you, how many times? Do you have proofs of these visits, such as airline ticket, boarding passes, photo together in Nigeria etc. What information do have about her. eg age, place of birth, her family members, schoolings, place of work, is she on any benefit? What Home ties do you have that will encourage your return back to Nigeria. ECO often consider visit to girlfriend/boyfriend as potential immigration intent. The onus is on you to convince the ECO that you will return back to Nigeria. Here you travel history will count. As this is your first passport with no travel history. Only God can sway the ECO to grant you a visa. Good luck.

@Ekpotek @Ekpotek @Ekpotek @Ekpotek

Please can i connect with you.

I need to ask you some personal questions before submitting my application.

Thanks

@ekpotek thanks for the response, I will include these - name, age, place of birth, her family members, schoolings, place of work, and she's not on any benefit, she has lost her ticket invoice but she will scan the Nigerian visa on her passport which shows her visit here to and fro and I will include printed mails of the hotel I booked for the two of us and our activities when she came, concerning family ties, my job, my pension and my frequent transfer of money to my siblings and cousin show family ties?? Please assist

@justwise your response too, is highly appreciated. Thanks sir
@ekpotek once I include what you told me too, the cover letter is ok right? I tort it'd be good explaining my funds

Hello Guys,

Please kindly help me with the closet public airport to Oxford Univeristy from Nigeria. Is Gatwick Airport the only option I have?

Thanks for your reply.

obaxlove:
Hello Guys,

Please kindly help me with the closet public airport to Oxford Univeristy from Nigeria. Is Gatwick Airport the only option I have?

Thanks for your reply.

London Heathrow. From there take the underground train to Victoria Station. Change train for Oxford at Victoria Station.

Aquaman84:
@ekpotek thanks for the response, I will include these - name, age, place of birth, her family members, schoolings, place of work, and she's not on any benefit, she has lost her ticket invoice but she will scan the Nigerian visa on her passport which shows her visit here to and fro and I will include printed mails of the hotel I booked for the two of us and our activities when she came, [b]concerning family ties, my job, my pension and my frequent transfer of money to my siblings and cousin show family ties?? [/b]Please assist

In my opinion your strong ties would be your job, position and salary level. How many years have you been working with your present employer. The fact that you have dependent siblings is not a strong ties. Like I said getting the visa will hinge more on your Job and earnings. The information you have on girlfriend is okay. However, know that the ECO is more likely to call your girlfriend for an interview. So your girlfriend should be expecting it and be ready to answer questions about you and the relationship.

Aquaman84:
@justwise your response too, is highly appreciated. Thanks sir
@ekpotek once I include what you told me too, the cover letter is ok right? I tort it'd be good explaining my funds

Yes, but delete those account transactions unless there is an unexplain large sum coming into your account beside your salary.

Hello All,

Please i need some clarification in case there's anyone who has had similar experience in the past. I applied for a uk visa and did my biometrics about 3 weeks ago. I got a mail from SHEFO about a week later saying my application had been received. Today, i got another email stating the following in one of the paragraphs: [b]'Unfortunately, the processing of your application has not been straightforward and we will be unable to decide your application within our customer service targets. We are continuing to work on your application and aim to make a decision as soon as possible'
[/b]
Is there anyone familiar with this phrase and what it may mean? I hope this does not mean that my passport will be held on to till God knows when as i need to make another application for a very important training.

Your views and comments will be appreciated.

Kaleydd2000:
Thanks for your response Prof. Can u help with d costing for a family of three please? D person who is inviting us will take care of our feeding and accommodation.

I answered this question in my last post, there is nothing like amount to have in account that will get you a visa.

You need to draw a budget of the trip and attach that to your visa application or write it out in your application form using the blank space.

Since your host will be taking care of accommodation and feeding you need to get tenancy agreement or mortgage papers from him to support your application and also an invitation letter.

ekpotek:


London Heathrow. From there take the underground train to Victoria Station. Change train for Oxford at Victoria Station.

Thanks for the prompt reply. Please may I know the cost implications so that I can include this in my apps.

Neme20:
hello guys
pls I need guidance on how to apply for my mum's family visit in UK. she was given 6months visa last year but she spent only 3 months, now she wants to apply for 2 years.
the guy that did it last year charged so much and it was done at Abuja now I will be doing that through Lagos but I don't know how to go about it.

pls I need response on this

@ekpotek been working there 3months after April and as a supervisor at the company. My confirmation letter stated I was granted 3momths probation concerning my 5years experience in the field from my previous employer and how soon i had to resume with them.
Current salary is 300k and my budget is 400k since my girl is covering feeding and accommodation. My total account would read about 1m when I print out bank statement.

Any thoughts??

oluwa234:
Hello All,

Please i need some clarification in case there's anyone who has had similar experience in the past. I applied for a uk visa and did my biometrics about 3 weeks ago. I got a mail from SHEFO about a week later saying my application had been received. Today, i got another email stating the following in one of the paragraphs: [b]'Unfortunately, the processing of your application has not been straightforward and we will be unable to decide your application within our customer service targets. We are continuing to work on your application and aim to make a decision as soon as possible'
[/b]
Is there anyone familiar with this phrase and what it may mean? I hope this does not mean that my passport will be held on to till God knows when as i need to make another application for a very important training.

Your views and comments will be appreciated.

This is common email you receive from British embassy if they were unable to finish the processing of your application within the allocated time, it doesn't mean that your application will be refused or issued

ekpotek:


London Heathrow. From there take the underground train to Victoria Station. Change train for Oxford at Victoria Station.

Nope, not Victoria. Oxford trains leave from either Paddington or Marylebone.

@obaxlove take the Heathrow Express to Paddington then join an Oxford train. Here are costings: