Renowned Nigerian actress and comedian Helen Paul recently opened up about her experience securing a visa to move to the United States after facing rejection earlier.
During a conversation with media personality Daddy Freeze, Helen Paul got into the specifics of her relocation to America, shedding light on the challenges she encountered along the way.
She stated that her initial intention was solely to obtain a visiting visa to accompany her husband to see her godfather in Chicago. To her surprise, her visa application was rejected on the same day as her graduation from the University of Lagos.
“”I didn’t know that I was going to relocate, I had only applied for my visiting visa but I got rejected. For what reason? I wasn’t sure, and it was the same day as my PHD graduation from the University of Lagos. My husband wanted us to visit my Godfather in Chicago to celebrate, so when I got the rejection I was surprised and then we spoke to my father who said to get me a lawyer to re-appeal” she recounted.
Upon further investigation, Helen Paul discovered that her previous visa denial was due to her engagement in work during a prior visit to the US.
“When he got us a lawyer the lawyer said ‘I’m going to call you back’ and when she called back she said, ‘I see that you’ve been doing some jobs, you have an account and you haven’t been paying tax.‘” she admitted.
Reflecting on the situation, Helen Paul admitted to her lack of awareness regarding the implications of her work activities while in the US.
“As entertainers, we often lack information on the technicalities of taxes and work permits. Sometimes, we accept gigs abroad without considering the legal consequences, only to face repercussions later on,” she explained.
Ultimately, after revisiting her options with the assistance of her lawyer, Helen Paul was presented with an opportunity for an entertainer visa, which allowed her to stay in the US for one to two years. Encouraged by her godfather’s support, she decided to go ahead with the application.
“I was like ‘Is that it?’ because most times as entertainers we don’t have the information. We come abroad with a visiting visa and we put it on Facebook or Instagram and then we have people calling you to say ‘Come to our bar, party or birthday,’ But when they are paying you, some of them are innocently wicked or they don’t know, they would put your name and account on their tax as a record that they’ve given you a job.
“So we were told to do the visa for entertainers called the J1 visa, it’s a one or two years green card. And then the lawyer called me back saying ‘Congratulations, from your resume you have a PhD from one of the best universities in Nigeria,’ and I said yes. When she got everything from me and we started exchanging emails and my godfather told me to try for it and I did” she concluded.
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