As much as possible, I'll try to document my step by step journey to Hanoi, Vietnam.

This is my first time outside Nigeria and the excitement no be here. Lol

In 2014, I took my first and only IELTS, made a 7.5, even created a thread and was optimistic about getting a scholarship. Between 2014 and 2018, I applied for dozens of scholarship but was always given admission without scholarship or put on reserve list.

2019, I had had enough and decided to look into other ways of leaving Nigeria

.....

Sometime in 2019, I started nursing the idea of teaching English abroad.

I did a lot of research, lost a lot of sleep, penciled down and weighed my options. I was also lucky to meet a senior bro who towed the same line and is doing well. God bless him real good.

The first thing I found out was I was going to need an English certificate, preferably CELTA which was going to be a one month intensive course.

Only problem was....it would cost a fortune

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Hanoi I love that place. A land of a million okada and still doing so well.

Enjoyed my stay there

Following, am waiting for you

bro, we are waiting for you nah

That's not a safe destination for Africans.

Since I was determined, I started cutting down my expenses and saving more. I have always had a habit of saving so this wasn't an issue for me.

I started making further enquiries. First I contacted this CELTA center in Lagos., got their number online (Note that there are not even an official CELTA center). A fee and run down was given to me. I reported back to my "senior bro" who adviced me against running the CELTA course in Nigeria.

Let me digress a little.....

You see, Nigerians are considered NNES -Non Native English Speakers so getting the certificate here might not help coupled with our reputation . He said the best and closest country to run a CELTA is South Africa

Next, I started looking into the South Africa option.

It was during this search I found out the official CELTA centers. After my research and all, I picked a date, checked flights and all but was worried about two things....

What would happen to my job. CELTA is a one month intensive course. My annual leave was just 28 days including weekend. I wasn't ready to quit as I hadn't saved enough or even achieved 90% of my plans.

Second, I would have to come back to Nigeria after spending that money as there was no job market in SA. Kai!

I had to think fast!

Luckily, the xenophobic attacks started and discouraged me from going to SA.

Again, I went back to the drawing board to look for another country.

That's when I decided to go to Izmir, Turkey

Now Turkey was going to be a little bit more expensive but I couldn't go to SA.

I had set a timeline for myself to leave Nigeria in February 2020. I didn't want to be 30 here so I pushed.

I joined the Turkey visa group on nairaland and started familiarising myself with the visa process. By then, I had decided to apply for a study leave at work so that if in 3 months, I didn't get something, I would quietly return back to work.

Note that all this search and decision making took months. Trust me when I said I lost sleep. I did thorough research. The good thing was, I was saving up during this period.

Now in all my search, I always looked at the prospect of staying back after CELTA, the immigration laws and the job market.. It was going to be my first time outside Nigeria and I sure as hell didn't want no hiding or illegal stuff.

I found out that the job market in Turkey wasn't so much. I was discouraged but willing to give it a try.

Again, I had just one issue..... staying back after CELTA and how fast I can get a job

Continue we want to learn from ur story

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As I continued to make research about Turkey, I continued to be uneasy so I kept digging. Little did I know the sleepless nights were just about to begin.

I looked into Ecuador, Vietnam, Mexico, Dominican Republic etc. At a point, I got fed up but I didn't give up. Took a short break away from all the internet surfing on the matter to clear my head and think things through.


Then I began my search on Vietnam. I picked out a school, date, etc but then there was no not one tangible info about getting a visa to Vietnam. The only guy who had info here, one Iyke guy swore never to help anyone again after begging him. I sha lock up and continued searching.

IFrom what I gathered, Vietnam Visa COMES FROM VIETNAM.

The above statement is still true as at the time of writing this.

I started exchanging mails with the CELTA school asking if they aid with Visa application

Now here are some of the reasons I was comfortable with going to Vietnam

1) The visa policy. You can extend your stay before your visa expires
2) The cost of living is pretty low.
3) The job market is huge

My only issues were getting a trusted agent to run the package and it was pretty damn expensive!

The CELTA school said they don't aid with visa application but linked me up with an agent. Here began my journey of contacting nothing less than 50 persons/agents.


I had to be careful. Within the time it took me to start the visa process and get it, a friend was duped twice. So believe me when I say you have to be smart and careful in this journey. I spoke with looots of scammers. Nigerians there topped the list of scammers, a couple of Vietnamese people tried too. I wrote a lot mails, made lots of calls, chatted at midnight cos of time difference.

Finally, by God's grace, I was able to find one reliable person and so the journey began

FG

When I found a genuine agent and decided to start the process, I had just 14k in my account. Lol. I had ajo I was supposed to collect and also a kolo but all put together wouldn't even have been enough. I just told God to surprise me....and HE DID!

The very first thing I got was a police character report from Alagbon. Then I proceeded to get my medical and TEFL certificate.

With this 3 documents and my degree, I left for Abuja for authentication.

First stop was Ministry of Education and boy! a suprise was waiting for me there

Got there by 10am and immediately I stepped out of the elevator of the 8th floor, the crowd of youth I saw there threw me off. To make matters worse, upon enquiry, I learnt I had to come with my original waec result and I didnt travel with it.

Made calls immediately and it was sent through night bus. By 1pm, I received the original waec result and rushed back to MOE only for them to tell me I needed my original BSc result not statement of result.

At this point, I was angry and frustrated. It would take weeks to get the original certificate knowing the school I attended. It might also mean I had to leave Abuja and come back. I had only one week to be away from work so I started making calls.

Luckily, I got someone who could help process the certificate in 2 days for an extra fee. I paid immediately and in 2 days, I had my certificate sent to Abuja.

The next day, I left the house by 6am cos I didn't want stories thinking it would help.

I was the second person there and amongst the first set of people they attended to but by 6, they asked everyone to go and come back the next day. I stayed back and played some cards and by 7pm, walked out of there with a fake red teary eye and my authenticated documents

Guy, dey there, boys no dey smile.

samuel19222:
the struggle to leave naija no be here

Cousin9999:
That's not a safe destination for Africans.

why would you say that! Have you been there before?

Blacks are sometimes treated like celebrities in Hanoi. I remember one day a woman brought her child to me to snap a picture with me.

The next day, I proceeded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as early as 7am. Was lucky to get someone who did it via the express route at a subsidized rate.

Please be careful when using outsiders or fast tracker to authenticate your documents both at MOE and MFA. If your document is found to carry a fake signature, it would be seized and you'll part with nothing less than 50k with abeg.
Saw two guys it happened to.

Now that I was done with both ministries, I proceeded to the Vietnamese embassy for another round of authentication. I was supposed to go with dollars and I didn't so I had to go change the money and come back.

By 4pm, I was done with everything authentication.

Stage one had been completed

TheMan3:
why would you say that! Have you been there before?

Blacks are sometimes treated like celebrities in Hanoi. I remember one day a woman brought her child to me to snap a picture with me.

Bro don't waste your words. I don't even reply people like this. He's clearly never been to Hanoi.

Next thing he'll say is I have a friend there

WhyNa:


Bro don't waste your words. I don't even reply people like this. He's clearly never been to Hanoi.

Next thing he'll say is I have a friend there

yeah there are a lot of ignorant people in nairaland. And they are so confident with their false statements

WhyNa:


Bro don't waste your words. I don't even reply people like this. He's clearly never been to Hanoi.

Next thing he'll say is I have a friend there

forget them jare abeg continue the vibe us

From the Vietnamese embassy, I went straight to DHL to send the documents. Then I entered cold stone and had me some ice cream and pizza. The ball was now in the agent's court. I just had to pray

Now remember I earlier said the visa comes from Vietnam, it is also always visa on arrival except you specifically insist on getting the stamp in Abuja.

For the visa on arrival, an approval letter from immigration stating your details is given to you saying you are to pick up your visa at any or a specific airport (Depending on the type of visa you applied for). Now when you arrive at the airport, your passport will then be stamped. Details of this would come later.

If you're scared and want to pick up at the embassy in Abuja, be ready to part with hundred of dollars

Nice you are doing good for yourself, who no know Whyna, Demegyj and moneybag from 2014 to 2017 here.
Glad you finally pulled through. I believe you were on every thread as the above mentioned monikers because you were scared to put your eggs in a basket, fair enough and to enable you compare and contrast but dudes were always mocking you and those guys but guess who is smiling now. I must really commend your tenacity and doggedness. I'm aware moneybag made it to Finland. It's nice to read from you bro. All the best

Omojayejaye:
Nice you are doing good for yourself, who no know Whyna, Demegyj and moneybag from 2014 to 2017 here.
Glad you finally pulled through. I believe you were on every thread as the above mentioned monikers because you were scared to put your eggs in a basket, fair enough and to enable you compare and contrast but dudes were always mocking you and those guys but guess who is smiling now. I must really commend your tenacity and doggedness. I'm aware moneybag made it to Finland. It's nice to read from you bro. All the best

Bro! You remembered! Indeed I'm smiling now.

This is my only account ooo. True what you said, from Finland to Germany to Hungary to, New Zealand to the ones listed previously and the ones I can't even remember. .

God is faithful. Thank you for your kind words

I started this journey the first week of December and it was sort of a race against time. I had already spent more than one week in Abuja due to the little mistakes I made

1) I gave myself a deadline remember? February 2020
2) The Tet Holiday was coming and I needed to get the visa before then or risk not meeting up with my timeline.

Another reason though was that school resumes in February and the demand for teachers are high around that period.

By the time my documents arrived and the application process began, it was Christmas period and offices went on break. The Christmas and Tet break affected me though but there was one good side to it.

I was still gathering money.

By now, I had paid the first installment. The second was to be paid when the visa and work permit was out (This is the package I chose for good reasons too)


Late January, my work permit came out. One week later, my visa approval letter followed. See bah, my joy knew no bounds. I remember I was in the office when it came.

Upon cross checking, I found a minor mistake �

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