Top 8 common reasons behind visa denials. A must read

Top 8 common reasons behind visa denials you should avoid when applying for a visa in Nigeria. It is unfortunate that a simple mistake could be the reason behind visa denials for many applicants in Nigeria. But this is the reality. Travelers make some of these mistakes very often and deprive themselves from fulfilling their travel dreams. A common reason behind visa denial is submitting an invalid international (travel) passport. An international passport is invalid if it expires less than three months after the return date on your application. Also, always submit a passport that has more than three blank pages for an application. Discover more reasons for visa denials for Nigerian applicants by reading through this blog post. It gives you an insight into the minds of the consular officers when handling applicants' documents. You can now understand the visa rejection reason for Canada or any other country.   What consular officers want to see before issuing visas. Before diving into popular reasons for denial, first, let's consider the things that a visa officer needs to see in an application. This knowledge will help you prevent the reasons behind visa denials for your own application. First, the consular officer wants to see proof of eligibility for the visa that you desire. And you can only prove that you are eligible by submitting complete and quality documents. Secondly, the consular officer wants to know that you have a good intention for visiting their country. You have to show evidence that you genuinely plan to visit and return to Nigeria. Also, you prove this with documentation and the way you take your visa interview. These two things are the most important in your application. Whenever a consular office is not satisfied with your eligibility or intentions, they deny your application. Now, let's consider the common reasons behind visa denials in Nigeria.

Common reasons behind visa denials in Nigeria

1. Providing incomplete/incorrect information on the application form: This is a popular reason for U.K visa rejection. It leads to the rejection of other visas in Nigeria as well, including Canada and Schengen visas. Some countries' visa application forms are more technical. And they require your undivided attention and a superior level of expertise to fill out. For example, there is a part where the U.K application form asks for how much you plan to spend on a trip. Many people make the mistake of filling out a fictional amount, which always leads to a bad outcome. But the correct answer requires that you add up the costs of the trip, accommodation, and daily expenses. Failure to do so will make you appear as if you do not have the genuine intention to travel and return home. Otherwise, you would have been mindful of your budget for the trip.

2. Submitting bank statements with insufficient funds: Many visa applicants in Nigeria fail to submit good bank statements for their visa application. And this is a common reason for visa denials. A good bank statement for an employee should show the monthly salary from the company. Then the closing balance must be enough to cater for travel expenses and living costs for the trip. Also, an appropriate bank statement covers the correct number of months that an embassy needs to see. Countries like the U.K and the U.S ask for six months of bank statements. Canada demands for four months. While most Schengen countries (Germany and France, for example) ask for three months bank statement.

3. Submitting a cancelled hotel reservation for a visa: Your accommodation plans for your trip concern the consular office a lot. The training of a consular officer prepares them to deny applicants with weak accommodation plans. So, it is vital that you have a valid hotel reservation throughout the period of your application. Visa application takes about one-month processing duration. Unless you have a host abroad, you should submit a verifiable hotel booking to avoid a common reason for visa denial. Thankfully, you can get a valid hotel booking for your visa application at affordable rates. You do not have to pay nightly rates in foreign currencies. Instead, speak to Flyibat.

4. Failure to provide enough evidence to show that you plan to return to Nigeria. Again, the consular office has keen senses to spot applicants whose plan is to overstay abroad. Already, the statistics are not in favour of any Nigerian applicant since Nigeria is popular for committing immigration crimes. So, be ready to submit documents showing that you have a family, a good job, or assets in Nigeria that you cannot abandon. Consider the following documents that can help do this:

• Employment letter. Click here for samples

• Company registration documents, showing that you own a company (if applicable)

• An introduction letter from a company, showing the date of leave and resumption at work

• Introduction letter from the head of the school faculty (if applicable)

• Marriage certificate (if applicable)

• Children's birth certificate (if applicable)

• Landed properties, investment certificates, or other property documents

The choice of the document depends on your status and profile. It pays that you speak to an expert to help analyze your profile and suggest the documents that will help you. Contact Flyibat visa experts for this.

5. Failure to answer visa interview questions correctly: Too many applicants lose their chance to travel abroad because they mess up their visa interviews. The consular office, during an interview, wants to know if your travel intention is genuine. Or you only wish to travel and become an illegal immigrant. There are questions that visa officers ask to expose fraudulent intentions. They include, how long do you plan to say in our country. The ideal duration of the trip is between five days and two weeks. Since this makes sense in terms of the cost of the trip (the longer you stay, the more you spend). And the permissible duration to stay away from work in Nigeria. What company allows a key member of their establishment to stay away from work for six months? The other common questions include:

• What date do you plan to arrive in XYZ country?

• What places would you like to visit in XYZ country?

• What is the name of the airport you plan to arrive in XYZ country?

• What airline will take you from Nigeria, and which one will you land with?

• Who do you plan to see in XYZ country?

These are technical questions that can determine if you get your visa or you do not.

6. Lying about previous visa denial: Embassies deny visa applications because applicants refused to mention their previous visa denial where it matters. You can actually get away with hiding a previous visa denial when applying for a visa to certain countries. But this does not work every time. A very good example is applying for a Canadian visa and failing to mention a previous U.S visa refusal. You will never get away with this. Sadly, many people do not have good visa advisors, and they fail to provide such information where it matters.

7. Submitting fake documents for a visa application: Embassies now take extra measures to verify applicants' documents. So, the days of submitting fake bank statements and land surveys are long over. Visa officers go as far as sending emails to banks for bank statement confirmation. The failure of this document to check out is a common reason behind visa denial in Nigeria.

8. Applying for the visa too late: While a country like the U.K has expedited services for the timely processing of an application, many other countries do not. The usual time it takes to process a visa application is one month. So, if you apply for a visa too close to your travel date, you may not get it.

Consider this: what use is your visa if your travel date is November 5th and your passport is still at the embassy on November 15th? Except on a few occasions, the consular officer will think that your use for a visa is no longer necessary. And this is a common reason behind visa denial.

Final words on the common reasons behind visa denials. We can sum it up to say that the common reason behind visa denial is a lack of access to good information. If most applicants talk to visa experts before an application, they would not make cheap mistakes. Flyibat provides visa consultation to help you avoid making the common mistakes that affect visa applications. Speak to us today about these and all that has to do with local and international travel. To contact us, click