Today is January 31st. Today I should be getting on a plane for Nigeria. Sadly, the Nigeria Embassy is running on Nigeria time.
To explain more thoroughly, in order to apply for a Nigerian visa, an applicant must send in an official letter from a Nigerian business (or, in the case of tourists, a hotel reservation) inviting them to come to Nigeria. In addition to this "official" letter, an applicant must fill out a 4 page on-line form, pay $150, print out the on-line form, print out the on-line proof of payment, and Fed-Ex it all in addition to your passport, two new passport photos, and a return Fed-Ex envelope into the Nigerian consulate in Washington DC. What the Nigerian Visa website neglects to mention is that this must all be accompanied by an addition money order for $20 which is another "processing fee." In any case, the website claims that visa applications take 6 business days to process. Considering they are not open on Fridays, this essentially means processing a visa takes a little over a week.
So, having received my "official invitation letter" on January 14th, I was able to send of all the printed forms Jan 18th. To be safe, I overnighted them. Of course, I sent them UPS which, despite the claims of the Nigerian Embassy website, is not the preferred carrier of visa applications as far as the Nigerian Embassy is concerned. I also didn't include a money order for $20 as this particular requirement is hidden on the website. Finally, and this I admit was my own fault, I forgot to include my American passport.
A week later, having not heard anything from the Embassy (and having been informed by one of my classmates that I should have sent my passport in), I phoned them to check on my application. The lady who answered the phone was very jovial and seemed highly amused that I had neglected to include my passport. I think its worth mentioning that, in most African countries, you don't have to apply for a visa ahead of your trip. In Tanzania for example, you simply walk through a "visa line" right after you have your passport stamped, you pay $70 right then and there, and then you're done. In any case, I asked her if the rest of my application had been received and processed.
She asked me if I had paid the "$85 expediting fee."
I said no because I had submitted it with plenty of time to spare.
She put me on hold for no more than 30 seconds only to come back on the line and say they could not find it. I would have to re-submit everything. Including a $20 processing fee and the $85 expediting fee. ... And don't forget your passport this time. And use FedEx, not UPS.
And that's when I realized that the Nigerian Embassy is a little Nigerian Island in Washington DC clearly not bound by American Standards of transparency or business ethics.
Still, I rushed to gather all the materials, and sent everything, including the $85 expediting fee, by rush FedEx mail. I got a tracking number so I could see when it was delivered. Kudos to FedEx, my new visa application arrived, as promised, by 10:00am the next day... Which, in our bigger timeline, was Tuesday, Jan 25th. I called to see if they had received it, as my tracking record indicated. This time, the operator informed me the Visa Department was too "busy" to take my phone call. I left my name and number and asked her politely to have someone call me to let me know if they had started processing my visa request as I was intending to leave the country on Monday, January 31st. I waited 2 hours, no one returned my phone call. I called back. This time the operator put me on hold for 30 seconds only to come back on the line to say that the visa department was still "busy" and that they didn't know where my application was.
Trying not to panic, I explained again that I was due to depart on Monday the 31st, that I had paid an expediting fee, and that my passport was in my newest application so if they could please, at the very least, locate it, I would be very grateful. The operator said they would call me. Just to be safe, I called my Nigerian "boss" and asked him if he would mind calling the Embassy as well, on my behalf. Maybe they're more willing to help a native Nigerian. Sadly, no luck.
The next day, Wednesday, I called again, right at 10:00am EST (7 am "my time") which is when the Nigerian Embassy website claims is the best time to call. No answer. I called every half an hour until 2:00pm EST (11:00am "my time") which is when the Nigerian Embassy website claims they stop taking calls from the general public. At this point, panic sets in.
The next day, Thursday, I do some investigating on the Nigerian Embassy website and find several different numbers to call within the Nigerian Embassy. I start calling at 9:30am EST (6:30 am "my time") because now I am really worried. No answer. I try all the numbers I have found on the Nigerian website. No answer... but, this time there's an answering machine so I leave messages. On every answering machine. This time, I call back every 5 minutes. By 10:30am EST (7:30 am "my time") I haven't gotten a hold of a single human being and I begin to check the news and, simultaneously, my facebook feed. As it turns out, there was a snow storm in Washington DC and several businesses and government offices are having a "late start" day.
Seriously. In an American city, in the middle of the winter months, snow is apparently a reason to show up to work late. Apparently though, for the Nigerian Embassy staff, snow is a reason not to show up to work at all. Which of course I then realize means that the Embassy will be closed Thursday and Friday and, as a result, I will not be getting my visa in time to leave on Monday.
So I call Orbitz to see how much it will cost to change my flight. $353... if I re-book to leave by Thursday, Feb 9th because, apparently after that, the cost of airfare to Nigeria skyrockets and I have to pay $1,000. I call British Airways to see if maybe they can help since my ticket is actually with them. However, as I didn't book my ticket directly through them, they are "unable" to help me.
I try the Embassy again. Over and over again. No luck. I email my Nigerian boss to fill him in and to simultaneously ask, in his experienced opinion, how long I should delay my departure.
No less than 10 days, he says. In fact, better make it 3 weeks, just to be safe.
I decide to wait until Friday afternoon to see if, maybe, just maybe, miracles do happen.
Friday afternoon rolls around. No visa. No passport. And, just to be sure, I call the Nigerian Embassy again... No answer.
I put off re-booking my flight until Saturday because, you know, maybe my visa is just lost in the mail somewhere. On Saturday morning, I bite the bullet, call Orbitz, and spend a half an hour on the phone re-booking my flight for Wednesday, February 9th. This gives me 7 whole business days to call the Embassy... which I'm hoping is enough to annoy them into sending me my visa. Its well short of the recommended 3 weeks but I simply cant afford to wait longer.
I email my Nigerian boss and the rest of "Team Nigeria" to let them know what's going on. I get an email back from two of my teammates saying that neither of them has received their visa yet either. Its worth noting that one of my teammates sent her visa application in, with all the necessary materials, Jan 18th. The other one paid an expediting service to literally walk her passport into the Embassy and stand there until someone stamped the passport with a visa (which is, apparently, all it takes to get a Nigerian Visa).
Today, Monday, January 31st, one of my teammates visits the Nigerian Embassy in DC to see where her visa might be. They inform her they're working on it. Then she asks about my visa. Apparently a look of acknowledgement crosses their face.
"Oh yes. This one. My colleague is working on it."
I'm sure this is a response to my endless attempts to track down my visa application and now my passport but I'm hoping this is a good sign (no word though on how long it will actually take them to stamp my passport and send it back to me).
I'm hoping its a sign that I'll have my visa by the end of the week so I can spend my last few days in America actually enjoying myself and not romancing the operator at the Nigerian Embassy. I also have a feeling its a sign of the "adventures" awaiting me in Nigeria - in both a positive and negative sense.
More than all that though, this whole process has been a sign that one does not necessarily have to be on African soil to experience something truly "African." Indeed, there is a little Nigerian Island even in Washington DC.
Fingers crossed for good news.....
UPDATE:
Finally spoke to a Visa Processing Agent at the Nigerian Embassy! .....He was, coincidentally, an American and knew who I was immediately after I spelled "L-O-C-K.." and said my file was right in front of him. He said he would process my visa and send it back to me in the "next few days." Hooray for progress! Here's to hoping "next few days" means "by the end of the week."
To explain more thoroughly, in order to apply for a Nigerian visa, an applicant must send in an official letter from a Nigerian business (or, in the case of tourists, a hotel reservation) inviting them to come to Nigeria. In addition to this "official" letter, an applicant must fill out a 4 page on-line form, pay $150, print out the on-line form, print out the on-line proof of payment, and Fed-Ex it all in addition to your passport, two new passport photos, and a return Fed-Ex envelope into the Nigerian consulate in Washington DC. What the Nigerian Visa website neglects to mention is that this must all be accompanied by an addition money order for $20 which is another "processing fee." In any case, the website claims that visa applications take 6 business days to process. Considering they are not open on Fridays, this essentially means processing a visa takes a little over a week.
So, having received my "official invitation letter" on January 14th, I was able to send of all the printed forms Jan 18th. To be safe, I overnighted them. Of course, I sent them UPS which, despite the claims of the Nigerian Embassy website, is not the preferred carrier of visa applications as far as the Nigerian Embassy is concerned. I also didn't include a money order for $20 as this particular requirement is hidden on the website. Finally, and this I admit was my own fault, I forgot to include my American passport.
A week later, having not heard anything from the Embassy (and having been informed by one of my classmates that I should have sent my passport in), I phoned them to check on my application. The lady who answered the phone was very jovial and seemed highly amused that I had neglected to include my passport. I think its worth mentioning that, in most African countries, you don't have to apply for a visa ahead of your trip. In Tanzania for example, you simply walk through a "visa line" right after you have your passport stamped, you pay $70 right then and there, and then you're done. In any case, I asked her if the rest of my application had been received and processed.
She asked me if I had paid the "$85 expediting fee."
I said no because I had submitted it with plenty of time to spare.
She put me on hold for no more than 30 seconds only to come back on the line and say they could not find it. I would have to re-submit everything. Including a $20 processing fee and the $85 expediting fee. ... And don't forget your passport this time. And use FedEx, not UPS.
And that's when I realized that the Nigerian Embassy is a little Nigerian Island in Washington DC clearly not bound by American Standards of transparency or business ethics.
Still, I rushed to gather all the materials, and sent everything, including the $85 expediting fee, by rush FedEx mail. I got a tracking number so I could see when it was delivered. Kudos to FedEx, my new visa application arrived, as promised, by 10:00am the next day... Which, in our bigger timeline, was Tuesday, Jan 25th. I called to see if they had received it, as my tracking record indicated. This time, the operator informed me the Visa Department was too "busy" to take my phone call. I left my name and number and asked her politely to have someone call me to let me know if they had started processing my visa request as I was intending to leave the country on Monday, January 31st. I waited 2 hours, no one returned my phone call. I called back. This time the operator put me on hold for 30 seconds only to come back on the line to say that the visa department was still "busy" and that they didn't know where my application was.
Trying not to panic, I explained again that I was due to depart on Monday the 31st, that I had paid an expediting fee, and that my passport was in my newest application so if they could please, at the very least, locate it, I would be very grateful. The operator said they would call me. Just to be safe, I called my Nigerian "boss" and asked him if he would mind calling the Embassy as well, on my behalf. Maybe they're more willing to help a native Nigerian. Sadly, no luck.
The next day, Wednesday, I called again, right at 10:00am EST (7 am "my time") which is when the Nigerian Embassy website claims is the best time to call. No answer. I called every half an hour until 2:00pm EST (11:00am "my time") which is when the Nigerian Embassy website claims they stop taking calls from the general public. At this point, panic sets in.
The next day, Thursday, I do some investigating on the Nigerian Embassy website and find several different numbers to call within the Nigerian Embassy. I start calling at 9:30am EST (6:30 am "my time") because now I am really worried. No answer. I try all the numbers I have found on the Nigerian website. No answer... but, this time there's an answering machine so I leave messages. On every answering machine. This time, I call back every 5 minutes. By 10:30am EST (7:30 am "my time") I haven't gotten a hold of a single human being and I begin to check the news and, simultaneously, my facebook feed. As it turns out, there was a snow storm in Washington DC and several businesses and government offices are having a "late start" day.
Seriously. In an American city, in the middle of the winter months, snow is apparently a reason to show up to work late. Apparently though, for the Nigerian Embassy staff, snow is a reason not to show up to work at all. Which of course I then realize means that the Embassy will be closed Thursday and Friday and, as a result, I will not be getting my visa in time to leave on Monday.
So I call Orbitz to see how much it will cost to change my flight. $353... if I re-book to leave by Thursday, Feb 9th because, apparently after that, the cost of airfare to Nigeria skyrockets and I have to pay $1,000. I call British Airways to see if maybe they can help since my ticket is actually with them. However, as I didn't book my ticket directly through them, they are "unable" to help me.
I try the Embassy again. Over and over again. No luck. I email my Nigerian boss to fill him in and to simultaneously ask, in his experienced opinion, how long I should delay my departure.
No less than 10 days, he says. In fact, better make it 3 weeks, just to be safe.
I decide to wait until Friday afternoon to see if, maybe, just maybe, miracles do happen.
Friday afternoon rolls around. No visa. No passport. And, just to be sure, I call the Nigerian Embassy again... No answer.
I put off re-booking my flight until Saturday because, you know, maybe my visa is just lost in the mail somewhere. On Saturday morning, I bite the bullet, call Orbitz, and spend a half an hour on the phone re-booking my flight for Wednesday, February 9th. This gives me 7 whole business days to call the Embassy... which I'm hoping is enough to annoy them into sending me my visa. Its well short of the recommended 3 weeks but I simply cant afford to wait longer.
I email my Nigerian boss and the rest of "Team Nigeria" to let them know what's going on. I get an email back from two of my teammates saying that neither of them has received their visa yet either. Its worth noting that one of my teammates sent her visa application in, with all the necessary materials, Jan 18th. The other one paid an expediting service to literally walk her passport into the Embassy and stand there until someone stamped the passport with a visa (which is, apparently, all it takes to get a Nigerian Visa).
Today, Monday, January 31st, one of my teammates visits the Nigerian Embassy in DC to see where her visa might be. They inform her they're working on it. Then she asks about my visa. Apparently a look of acknowledgement crosses their face.
"Oh yes. This one. My colleague is working on it."
I'm sure this is a response to my endless attempts to track down my visa application and now my passport but I'm hoping this is a good sign (no word though on how long it will actually take them to stamp my passport and send it back to me).
I'm hoping its a sign that I'll have my visa by the end of the week so I can spend my last few days in America actually enjoying myself and not romancing the operator at the Nigerian Embassy. I also have a feeling its a sign of the "adventures" awaiting me in Nigeria - in both a positive and negative sense.
More than all that though, this whole process has been a sign that one does not necessarily have to be on African soil to experience something truly "African." Indeed, there is a little Nigerian Island even in Washington DC.
Fingers crossed for good news.....
UPDATE:
Finally spoke to a Visa Processing Agent at the Nigerian Embassy! .....He was, coincidentally, an American and knew who I was immediately after I spelled "L-O-C-K.." and said my file was right in front of him. He said he would process my visa and send it back to me in the "next few days." Hooray for progress! Here's to hoping "next few days" means "by the end of the week."
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