This is a “Japa” season, many Nigerians have been doing all they can to relocate to other counties in search of greener pastures but some people have been having ill-luck with getting visas to the countries of their choice.
When a foreigner applies for a visa which could either be a work visa, student visa, tourist visa, or diplomatic visa, the country that is being applied to has the discretion to either approve the visa request or deny the visa based on some peculiar reasons. Some country consulate offices state the reasons for their denial while some don’t.
But when you get a refusal or your visa application was not granted, that should not kill your “Japa” dream as there are other things you could do to get approval on a visa that was previously denied and this is called “visa appeal”. It is what visa applicants should rather do instead of considering spending money and extra time applying for another visa. Visa appeal is quite cheaper and less stressful.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
In some visa denial letters, the consulate office always advises the applicants that if they feel that visa denial was improper they should consult an immigration lawyer who would go on appeal for them. Visa applicants whose visa applications were denied can appeal for the visa refusal stating why the visa denial was not proper thereby requesting that the visa denial should be overturned. This is to say that if you think that your visa application was done properly, correctly and everything checks out and you submitted every document required of you and you feel the decision on its refusal was a mistake or that you ought to in every due diligence be granted the visa, you should take the step to appeal the visa denial.
In fact, it is a rule applicable in most countries of the world that those who have been refused a visa shall have the right to appeal within a time frame if they feel they were wrongly denied the visa.
A visa appeal is expected to be in writing, written by the visa applicant through an immigration lawyer disputing the visa rejection. The letter shall be written on valid grounds, which point out why the rejection is incorrect, you are also to point out relevant laws applicable to that country that supports your visa application. You are to provide more supporting documents, you are expected to make some corrections if need be; if this is done properly your visa which was previously denied can be granted.
On this note, whenever you apply for a visa and you get a refusal, that is not the end of the road and you shouldn’t give up or start making arrangements to apply for another visa; you can appeal the visa decision or request for administrative review on the visa refusal and if done properly your visa will be granted.
As a caveat, appealing against the visa denial is not a guarantee that it will have the decision overturned automatically and a visa granted to you but there’s a high chance of it happening “if done properly and done right”, I have handled numerous visa appeals that the visa was initially denied but after the appeal, the visa was granted for the applicants.