@ nanonye, egbe and donwin4real,
First, I will like to state that the inner workings of the Accra Visa Office, as we know it, are mainly speculations and at best, best guesses and deductive reasonings.....We do not have a code of conduct or administrative instructions as to what their practices are. We can only guess....
That said, I can only talk about my own experience, and how the process worked in my own case, based on the
FACTS that I have in my own case.
I had painstakingly and thoroughly prepared my application (I didn't intend to use a representative at any point in the process
) and I was definitely not leaving anything to chance. For example, when I went for my bank statement, I asked the lady at the customer service desk to seal the envelope and put the bank seal on the envelope. She looked at me curiously and asked why I would want to do that to a personal document, and I had to explain to her that I didn't want them to feel that I had tampered with the statement. She laughed, called me a 'control freak' jokingly and went to look for the stamp. Another example: My Head of Department at that time didn't have a complementary card. You know a lot of doctors in Public Hospitals don't have.....
. It was with doggedness and tenacity of purpose that I persuaded him to print a batch, just so that I had one for my application. I didn't want to send that application without his business card....
After doing all that to make sure my application was complete, I did not want to leave anything to chance. I knew all my credentials were genuine and could be verified, with that, I had no qualms. All the money in my bank statement were savings from my monthly salary, and it was quite obvious to anyone reading the statement, moreover, it would be breach of confidentiality for the bank to disclose my information to a third party without me giving consent, so I knew there were no problems on that either. The only problem I had was with verification of my work experience and my accommodation.
I decided to ask my Head of Department ever so frequently if he had been called concerning my application for which I made him print a complementary card. And each time, the answer was a very emphatic 'no'. Infact, it got to a point, when he would see me on the corridor and preempt me with a 'no'.....that went on for a long time.....and at a point, it was the only evidence I had, that I had submitted an application for permanent residency with all the delay and waiting.
When I left my working place at the expiration of my residency training, I got a letter from the hospital that indicated why I left the hospital. In all, Accra visa office did not call him once to verify I worked there.
I am not sure if this is the state of things in general from Accra visa office, but I can say for a fact in my own case, that they didn't call my work place to know. And if they had visited, too, I'm sure I would have known.....
I think they do most of their checks based on the documents you submit. I'm not sure about Police clearance certificates, that, i don't know anything about.
The important thing is to make sure your application is complete. Be as truthful as possible, infact, be very truthful. Do not hide anything that will make your application look suspicious.
When you fill in your application, read and re-read it to make sure there are not mistakes or gaps in your forms.
I was asked to re-fill and return my Schedule A form from Accra because there was a gap (which was a typographical error) in the question on where i have lived. It could have been avoided if I had looked over it and found the error before sending in the application.
On notifying them of any changes to your status, I think it is wise to exercise some caution as to what and when to send. Major changes to your application like marriages, births, deaths, divorces, child custody battles and impending court cases on criminal or civil charges are important life events that should be reported to Accra VO. These will significantly affect your application, and a report must be made to forestall delays in your application.
Notification of change of house address is not important
IN MY OWN VIEW, IF IT IS NOT YOUR PRIMARY ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE IN THE IMMIGRATION PROCESS. I changed my own accommodation during the process, and I did not inform the visa office. My correspondence address was a Post Office box which I still use till now, and that didn't change.
Notification of change of job is also not important
IN MY OWN VIEW, SINCE A DECISION ON YOUR APPLICATION IS BASED ON YOUR PAST JOB EXPERIENCE. I changed my job during the wait period, and I didn't notify the visa office. My own reason for not notifying was because I was temporarily unemployed between jobs, and I didn't want to start writing a letter explaining the Residency program and how it works...
Most people are asked to resubmit a freshly filled Schedule A form with the medical request.
These two changes to my status were eventually reflected in the new Schedule A form that I was asked to fill and submit along with my medicals. I didn't even include supporting documents with the new Schedule A form (as an oversight, I ordinarily would have included them), and I was a bit worried that they might return it and ask for me to resend them, but they didn't. The next correspondence was PPR.
Like I said earlier, this is my own experience with the process. That said, I am yet to read on this forum that a Naija based applicant had his/her house address or workplace visited for verification.
Pls, seniors in the house should express their opinions on this.
