F1 Visa Approved ✅ 27th April 2025 Fourth Attempt (F1) Program: Full-Time MBA COA: $61,500 Deficit $11,550 (Personal Fund) Abidgan, Ivory Coast Embassy Slim white lady. She was the only VO attending to everyone Ivory Coast is a French speaking country, so the VO is bilingual. Most Ivorians going to the embassy apply for visiting visa (I guess since they don’t speak English, so they can’t go to study in the US), and she approved almost all of them. I also couldn’t understand the questions she asked. She spoke French to them. However, notably, there was a Nigerian guy (not sure, but English speaking). Before me, he was refused. His interview seemed to be going okay until she asked about how he would pay back the MPower loan, and he couldn’t answer properly. It was at that point that I started panicking. I had come too far just to be refused. But the Grace of God saw me through. **Interview Proper VO: English or French? (While staring at her computer, she could already see my profile and 3 refusals. I could see her screen slightly) Me: English, good morning. VO: Pass me your documents. Why MBA? (She went straight to the point, even before receiving my documents. She was still staring at her computer) Me: I am going for an MBA to strengthen my leadership and managerial skills and also equip myself with skillsets in business expansion and strategy operations. I currently work as a consultant in xxxx, where I provide tax structures for over 30 HNI’s and family businesses worth over $ 2 billion. I have recently been nominated for a managerial role, and an MBA is a prerequisite. My Company is expanding into other West African countries – Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana, and I will be joining the team in the expansionism upon my return as a manager VO: Why Scheller? Me: I chose Scheller for 3 specific reasons. 1st is the curriculum (I explained that), and second is its alumni presence in Africa (I explained that I plan to leverage these alumni connections when I return to my place of work. I also mentioned that I have started building relationships with these alumni’s and they strongly recommend Scheller). Third is its class size (I explained that, too) VO: I see you have a Graduate Assistantship (GA) position. What will you be doing in this position? Will you be assisting in research or lecturing? Me: Yes, I have been awarded a GA role that covers my full tuition, and for this role, Scheller hasn’t specifically assigned me to a department. However, I have shown interest in the IT unit of the MBA school as I’m hoping to gain real-time experiences that I will leverage upon my return to my current organization as a manager VO: Do you have any FAMILY or FRIENDS in the US. (Emphasis on friends while staring at me closely, looking directly into my eyes. All this while, she had been staring at her computer and was just allowing me to tell my story) Me: No, I do not have any RELATIVES (I didn’t use her term because I thought it might be unbelievable that I don’t have friends. I also looked straight into her eyes, confidently) in the US. My mum works as a nurse in xxx hospital in Nigeria, and my dad owns xxx business in Nigeria. Both of my siblings also reside in Nigeria, my brother, who also has an MPH in xxxx university in London, works as a specialist in a Nigerian hospital. My sister, who works in finance, oversees my dad’s business. VO: she nods – Hmm, I see. A loud silence went on for about 1 minute while she stared closely on her laptop looking for God knows what. I could see her screen slightly; she was reading through my 3 previous refusals. Me: *breaks the silence* Do you want me to tell you about my study plan? VO: No, that would not be necessary She then brought out a GREEN paper, wrote all my details on it, and scribbled some other things. Put in mind, approval is white paper, and refusal is Orange paper. Why is my own green? I was so confused. She held on to the paper for over 5 minutes while seriously searching for something on her computer. I guess she found nothing. VO: Take this paper, I will be placing you on administrative processing. I need to do some background checks, and you will hear from us. It shouldn’t take more than 24 hours but if you don’t hear from us in a week, you may send an email to [email protected] (she wrote the email in a small paper and gave to me). Also, I would like to keep your passport and i20 so we can issue the visa immediately a decision is made. Me: Of course, you can hold on to the passport. Could you please confirm if the background check is with the school so I can nudge them for a quick response? VO: You don’t have to worry about that you will hear back from us. I left. The next day, I had a random urge to mail my school to inform them of my visa status and also prompt them to respond if they get any mail from the embassy. That was the only thing I did aside from praying fervently to God. Less than 2 hours after I did that, the status was updated to APPROVED.