hi,
please read this piece I copied from the nigerian US embassy document section.
Birth and Death Certificates
Generally available, particularly for events occurring after 1970. Registration of births and deaths is compulsory in Lagos. The National Population Commission issues birth certificates for births after 1992.
For Lagos records, certified copies of records for dates ending with 1979 can be obtained at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Old Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos. For records after 1979, contact the local government that issued the original certificate directly. Most births and deaths outside of Lagos are also registered at the time of the event. Applicants can obtain certified true copies of certificates directly from the local government. Alternatively, acceptable identity/parentage documents are infant baptismal certificates and hospital or maternity clinic records of birth. Home births are rare in Nigeria and medical records are available in most cases. Affidavits may be acceptable as substitutes for documents for those born outside Lagos prior to 1960 or born in the eastern part of Nigeria in the 1960’s at the time of the Biafran War, when presented in combination with convincing secondary evidence of relationship.
I will appreciate if people who have had interview in Nigeria contribute also.
thanks, 4real4u
Samko, this is not a matter of experience or not. I have been at the US embassy three times and to me all they think of is denying you visa at any slightest mistake. Let me tell you my own experience with them for 6years now, though not DV.
In 2002, i got a scholarship to study in US with all docs from the school in US and my school in Nigeria, i did GRE and TOEFL with very high scores. I also went to the extent of getting to read the requirements on their website. On the interview day i answered every questions very correctly and the last thing the lady asked me was my Primary school leaving certificate, which i actually have but not with me that very day. On that basis i was denied the visa despite having all other docs correctly.
After that i decided to check UK which i got eventually for my MSc. In 2005, i went back to the US embassy in London for a visa to attend OTC (Offshore Technology Conference). You won’t believe the unnecessary docs they were asking from me but since i’ve been there b4 i over prepared for them. He was asking me one doc after the other and i was bringing everything out after the other, so i was given 6months visa. I went to the US and came back and went back for another one with my wife in 2005 they didn’t even consider the fact that i was there earlier for just 2weeks and came back they started asking for different stupid docs again, i was prepared also and gave them all they asked for, so i got 2years visa which i used for 4times with my wife and expired last year.
That same last year i went there again and they repeated same thing asking for stupid docs that normally you might not consider taking for an interview, but i gave them all, so we got another 2years which will expire end of 2009.
What am i saying ‘’To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail’’, try prepare for the worst condition and if it comes out ok then you’ll know you have prepared but if it gets tough on the day you have all the docs to prove your points or show them.
NPC certificate is only about 5000NGN (£20)at most and it doesn’t take time to get it, just get it and stop worrying yourself if it is required or not ‘cos you never can assume based on another person’s DV interview in the past just prepare for yours using others as a guide.
Good Luck to everyone.
