Visa Denied: Country of Origin — Planet Earth

Panel shows a massive, gleaming US consulate booth labeled "RIGOROUS SCREENING" with an eagle logo clutching a magnifying glass in one talon and a shredder in the other. At the counter: a small group of cartoonishly shady “visa fraudsters” from Nigeria, openly selling fake documents from a stall marked "BUY ONE FAKE, RUIN IT FOR ALL". They’re happily raking in cash, tossing a few forged papers into a trash can labeled "EVIDENCE". Stretching back from the booth is a long, snaking line of ordinary Nigerian applicants: students clutching diplomas, nurses in scrubs, tech workers with laptops, grandparents with family photos. Above their line, a big overhead LED sign flashes in red: "INCREASED SCRUTINY DUE TO FRAUD — EXPECT DENIALS, DELAYS, & SUSPICION." Each time the fraudsters feed another fake document into the system, a giant mechanical lever behind the consular window ratchets down a meter labeled "VISA ACCESS FOR NIGERIANS" from green through yellow into deep red. Each click of the lever triggers heavier security artifacts: first simple binoculars, then CCTV cameras, then full-body scanners, then a paranoid, many‑eyed Hydra made of paperwork and background checks looming over the line. On the consular officer’s desk: a rubber stamp that reads "DENIED (FOR YOUR OWN GOOD)" sitting next to a pamphlet stand titled "HOW STRONGER COMPLIANCE PROTECTS YOUR FUTURE – TERMS & CONDITIONS MAY APPLY" with a microscopic fine-print bubble falling off the page saying, "…and everyone else’s future, too." In the background, a wall map of the world shows other countries with small pins and notes like "OVERSTAY HOTSPOT" and "STRICTER SCRUTINY IN EFFECT" — implying this is a planetary pattern, not a one-country problem. A tiny side poster from the US Mission reads: "See Something? Say Something. REPORT VISA FRAUD HERE" with a dotted arrow that, ironically, points straight back toward the long, exhausted line of legit applicants instead of the grinning fraud stall.

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