Chukwuka earliest return - January
- Thread starter King Of All Message Boards
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No surprise about Chukwuka--that has been the rumor for a long time.
A little strange about George. Odd that a student from Nigeria on a student visa not be able to get back into the U.S. However, there is a state department advisory recommending US Citizens "reconsider" any plans to travel to Nigeria due to terrorism and other violent crime in that country. I suppose it makes reverse direction travel difficult for Nigerians.
A little strange about George. Odd that a student from Nigeria on a student visa not be able to get back into the U.S. However, there is a state department advisory recommending US Citizens "reconsider" any plans to travel to Nigeria due to terrorism and other violent crime in that country. I suppose it makes reverse direction travel difficult for Nigerians.
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That is really strange about George. Nigeria is not part of the travel ban. Not sure how the student Visa works. Can he get an American passport? Does he have a Nigerian passport. I had a classmate from Zimbabwe at Pitt and I remember he didn't go home for Christmas. He got special permission to stay in the Towers. I just figured he couldn't afford the Round trip flight.
Sometimes it can be a visa thing. I lived overseas too and sometimes I couldn't leave, unless I updated my visa while I was gone.
If neither of these guys are on the roster next year, it won't be a bad thing. Nothing personal against them...
agree, I see Capel taking at least 4 this cycle.
This may be the class that defines Capel at Pitt.
He can't get a U.S. passport if he's not a citizen.
It's not that weird that he's not going. My guesses:
1) He didn't apply for a Schengen visa early enough. I have employees from India that require a ton of paperwork to travel to the EU. They also have to sit through personal interviews and wait weeks for visa processing. Sometimes we cancel these trips outright because the employee tried to get the visa in under a month and the consulate just wouldn't process it fast enough.
2) His documentation is out of date or changed. If you change your major or degree level, for example, you have to get a new I-20 with a new signature. Maybe he changed his major but never updated his I-20 and the academic person responsible for signing is out of the office on vacation or just couldn't do it on short notice.
Capel said it was "on him" which leads me to believe that George just didn't complete some required bureaucratic thing rather than an issue with the U.S. Department of State.
I watched the video of the interview. Capel said that George isn’t going because “he’s afraid he wouldn’t be able to get back into the country” and that “it’s something we have to deal with” (or it could have been “something he has to deal with,” the recording wasn’t too clear) with a bit of a look and a shrug. Honestly, I read between the lines as Capel being a little bit annoyed at the visa process and the things going on nationally that would make George afraid that he wouldn’t get back into the country more than he was annoyed with anything George did or didn’t do. Capel seemed to indicate that George’s concern was more personal in nature - but I’m not going to put words in his mouth.
With George being married and having a wife here in the country, I can’t say I can really blame him if he wants to avoid taking any risk of being not allowed back in the US, regardless of what his visa situation is. Those wheels turn slower than they did in the past, and George’s family situation here is different than the other international guys on the roster. Coulibaly and Kene are both making the trip.
Maybe I misunderstood then. I only heard one very short quote and I thought it was "it's on him" which is why I just assumed that he didn't realize the paperwork requirements and couldn't get it fixed in time. That stuff happens to people every day.
But if that's the entire quote from Capel, I do agree with you that he could be concerned of not being allowed reentry. USCIS has taken a hard line toward all immigrants, including legal immigrants, since January 2017. I see it every day at my work. We have to fight longer and harder to support our immigrant employees (both white immigrants and non-white immigrants) who are trying to stay here than we ever have had to. It is not a good time to work in America and not be an American citizen.
Here’s the video. Relevant part starts at 11:00 or so. The body language is what’s telling, but the whole video is a good watch, and Capel’s always a good interview.
“Everybody’s coming?”
“Everyone but Samson.”
“Is he still part of the team?”
“Yeah, he’ll be part of the team...he’s just not going on the trip. Afraid he can’t get back in the country. So...unfortunately we have to deal with that.”
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Kene should RS get healthy then get a free year of grad school next year at either Pitt or RMU. I went to grad school at RMU so you know it has pedigree.
Yea I’m sure if we could get this out to the general public apps for Bobby Mo grad school would spike - the likes of which we’ve never seen.
No he shouldn’t.
He’s roster filler.
He tries hard- a good practice guy.
But extending his eligibility is not something we should do
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