MENA CR1/K3/K1 filers

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Good news everybody!

I called: 202-663-1225 for visa processing questions.

This is the options I had to go through to reach someone about our case.

1, 4, 2, 3, 3, 0.

They said:

Package 3 was sent out on April the 6th this year to his home address.

There is no interview scheduled at this time so we are still on hold! This is good news at least.

Habibi get cracking on that package!

Edited May 1, 2009 by Far2Long

[Y's_habibitk 2]

AWESOME Olivia!!!

I'm so glad you got some news.

Here's what I will say about the CR1 vs K3 route... Since your file isnt even at NVC yet, you are looking at at least another 60 days to get a case complete and then after that another possible 60 days(at least 30) to get an interview date. Also, It might take an act of congress just to get USCIS to release your 130 file to NVC AND you will have to ask NVC to extend it also, since it does expire after a year.

Maybe that will help your hubby come over to the K3 side

The k3 is more of a hassle compared to the CR1 once he comes, but you guys have been apart so GD long, I would just go with the K3 if I was you.

Anyway, Im babbling.... Im happy your case is alive and moving again

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thanks Lisa! I am happy to get some news. This process is so frustrating as it is. I think his friend just scared him about the K3 because he's hear right now during that adjustment period where he can't work and he has two small kids to support and a wife on disability. I am not sure Waleed put that in context. If Waleed gets the K3 and comes here then he'd be living with me during the Winter not wanting to go outside anyways and he can study for his USMLE. That is the most important thing above all things. I wish he'd really listen to me. I feel so frustrated lately because none of my family listens to me either. My Brother calls me a couple times this week trying to get out of helping me move and asks me if I am still graduating when I sent out a big email to all my close friends and family already and I realize he didn't read it. Neither did my Mom. I tell people things that are important to me and they are just not paying attention. Like when I tell Waleed PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hurry and get the packet 3 finished. It's on you now and I feel like he's not paying attention to me when he brings up this morning "Lets go the IR-1 route my friend whose on the K3 said never come on the K3" after I just emailed the embassy yesterday we're going the K3...and attached him to the email. Why does he listen to his friend instead of his wife? WTH is wrong with the people in my family they don't pay attention to me?

Edited May 1, 2009 by Far2Long

[Amoon 0]

Welcome Emily.

Happy Friday everyone!!!! May 1st already...can't believe it....dang that means I will be turning 29 next Friday!

[~Jackie~ 30]

bigger couch for da waitin crowd

jJ

amandagram...i'd take 29 ANY day of da week

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Thanks Lisa! I am happy to get some news. This process is so frustrating as it is. I think his friend just scared him about the K3 because he's hear right now during that adjustment period where he can't work and he has two small kids to support and a wife on disability. I am not sure Waleed put that in context. If Waleed gets the K3 and comes here then he'd be living with me during the Winter not wanting to go outside anyways and he can study for his USMLE. That is the most important thing above all things. I wish he'd really listen to me. I feel so frustrated lately because none of my family listens to me either. My Brother calls me a couple times this week trying to get out of helping me move and asks me if I am still graduating when I sent out a big email to all my close friends and family already and I realize he didn't read it. Neither did my Mom. I tell people things that are important to me and they are just not paying attention. Like when I tell Waleed PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hurry and get the packet 3 finished. It's on you now and I feel like he's not paying attention to me when he brings up this morning "Lets go the IR-1 route my friend whose on the K3 said never come on the K3" after I just emailed the embassy yesterday we're going the K3...and attached him to the email. Why does he listen to his friend instead of his wife? WTH is wrong with the people in my family they don't pay attention to me?

Its hurtful when you feel like your family isnt listening. Sometimes I will be telling my mom a story and then at the end she will ask me how____ is going(its the story i was JUST telling her!!) lol

I think the guys hear alot of horror stories about the K visas, adjustment of status, not working, the risk that the wife will be bitchy and hold AOS over his head.. oh the list goes on of things that guys have told Yazied too.

You're husband is probably just super nervous that this is really happening now and has "little birdies" in his ear everyday... I guess it would be easy to get confused.

Anyway, we'll listen to ya Olivia

Welcome Emily.

Happy Friday everyone!!!! May 1st already...can't believe it....dang that means I will be turning 29 next Friday!

Happy early birthday Amanda

I didnt feel old till I turned 30 last year

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thanks Lisa! I am happy to get some news. This process is so frustrating as it is. I think his friend just scared him about the K3 because he's hear right now during that adjustment period where he can't work and he has two small kids to support and a wife on disability. I am not sure Waleed put that in context. If Waleed gets the K3 and comes here then he'd be living with me during the Winter not wanting to go outside anyways and he can study for his USMLE. That is the most important thing above all things. I wish he'd really listen to me. I feel so frustrated lately because none of my family listens to me either. My Brother calls me a couple times this week trying to get out of helping me move and asks me if I am still graduating when I sent out a big email to all my close friends and family already and I realize he didn't read it. Neither did my Mom. I tell people things that are important to me and they are just not paying attention. Like when I tell Waleed PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hurry and get the packet 3 finished. It's on you now and I feel like he's not paying attention to me when he brings up this morning "Lets go the IR-1 route my friend whose on the K3 said never come on the K3" after I just emailed the embassy yesterday we're going the K3...and attached him to the email. Why does he listen to his friend instead of his wife? WTH is wrong with the people in my family they don't pay attention to me?

Its hurtful when you feel like your family isnt listening. Sometimes I will be telling my mom a story and then at the end she will ask me how____ is going(its the story i was JUST telling her!!) lol

I think the guys hear alot of horror stories about the K visas, adjustment of status, not working, the risk that the wife will be bitchy and hold AOS over his head.. oh the list goes on of things that guys have told Yazied too.

You're husband is probably just super nervous that this is really happening now and has "little birdies" in his ear everyday... I guess it would be easy to get confused.

Anyway, we'll listen to ya Olivia

Welcome Emily.

Happy Friday everyone!!!! May 1st already...can't believe it....dang that means I will be turning 29 next Friday!

Happy early birthday Amanda

I didnt feel old till I turned 30 last year

Happy early birthday Amanda. I turned 30 last year too!

Thanks Lisa for listening. I just spoke with Waleed and told him the good news. He's going to buy my cell phone right now. The one I will use over there. I told him he knows what he needs to do now and I don't want to talk about the visa anymore. It's up to him now to get it done. I am tried of screaming till I am blue about it. LOLZ! The gear Egypt runs in frustrates me to no extent. It's like a beaten down putter. Thank Gawd I don't live in New York because I can't imagine my big city busy new york minute attitude at this time right now. I have to start applying the patiences of a mountain again. Patience quiet peace.

[Amoon 0]

Thanks Olivia & Lisa! My aunt asked me the other day if I was turning the big 3-0 this year and that is when it hit me....I really don't feel 29...I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

[emilybug 0]

Thank you EVERYONE for welcoming me.............

I think it's going to help me tremendously to have a place to vent, where others know EXACTLY what I'm feeling. It's so easy for family and friends to sigh and say "oh well, he'll be here before you know it..." and things like that, but that is no comfort at all! I honestly feel that I cannot focus on ANYTHING other than this situation. Same for my husband. We talk twice a day on the phone, and we take turns being strong for one another. For the first few days after his interview, he barely got off his bed...his dad kept urging him "Yousif, you HAVE to get up, you can't stay like this..." so I was the strong one. Then it shifted and I fell apart, as the reality hit me that we are in a time frame now with no specific end. I have a serious lack of understanding how it's even POSSIBLE that AP can take longer than the wait for the initial approval from USCIS. The whole purpose of this visa is to REDUCE the time you are away from your spouse. I have contemplated moving to Cairo, but there are so many obstacles that make that not a wise choice for us.

I truly feel he is my soulmate, and I know you girls know exactly what I mean. You know that feeling.....the one where when something happens in your daily life, be it big or small, no matter what it is, HE is the person you want to tell first. And you think, Oh I can't WAIT to tell my husband, he'll love this! And then you remember that you are separated by 8 hours and he's probably in bed and you can't call him and wake him up to tell him the silly thing your co-worker did. (Sigh)

Jackie----I have been so intrigued by your posts on here.....I feel like I can sooooo relate to your hourly agonizing over the AP. I'm the same way. It eats me alive. I feel I don't care about anything other than WHEN I'M GOING TO GET TO BE WITH MY HUSBAND AGAIN.

Another girl here, (sorry I don't know everyone's names yet), whose AP lasted over a year......I feel SICK in my stomach when I see that. How did you ever survive it?

And another, 7 months of AP thru Cairo, where I see that your file sat on the CO's desk for 2 months post interview before they even sent the background checks to Washington to begin. It's heartbreaking.

The CO's don't care about us, we are just a number to them. They go home to their husbands and wives every night and don't think more about people like us. I realize that there are mandatory security checks that have to be done, but I was under the impression that those were done at the USCIS and NVC levela, prior to ever reaching consulates abroad.....?

And maybe I have run out of things to feel excited and to hope for. First it was NOA1, then it was the approval notice (I remember my husband and I were on the phone on a Sunday afternoon when I randomly checked the website and saw that we were approved), then it was the NVC notice that our case was sent, then it was packet 3, then it was the call about the interview..............now it's nothing. Endless waiting. My phone bills are eating me alive, but we have to talk to each other every day. We are like oxygen for one another.

Does anyone know anything about these security checks? Is it Condor, Mantis, and IBIS?

My kudos and sympathy and congratulations to all of you brave ladies on here (and men) who are trying to get through this mess of separation. It's the hardest thing emotionally I've ever done.

Emily

[childress_london 3]

To Amanda - trust me age is just a number. you are only as old as you think you are - it's all a state of mind.

AND THIRD TOUCH for this week HAPPENED today!!! What are they doing??? Maybe I get an approval soon? :-P

Sorry for any typos that may happen = using hubby's stupid laptop

[~Jackie~ 30]

AP is a very hard part of the process, as there is no real timeline for it to end. It could be 2 weeks, 5 months or a year. The 'not knowing' is so stressful.

The strain it puts on a marriage is great and it is a wonder we survived this separation. Near the end, I am being honest when I say this, we ran out of things to talk about. How many times can you say, 'how was your day? how is your family. i miss you, i love you.....' After a year apart, it didn't matter what he ate for dinner or what his plans were for the night. Keeping things alive and fresh became a challenge.

I felt like the last 5 months have been a black & white world, it was after I heard to send in the passport that things were in color again.

[emilybug 0]

Fortunately, we are able to keep things alive and I'm grateful for that. We each talk about our day, our families, the little things that happen. He and I share the same sense of humor, and that really helps alot. It's an odd day that he doesn't make me laugh, even when he doesn't mean to. He and I have decided to expect the worse, yet hope for the best in terms of AP. I don't feel very encouraged, and the reason is because I see more people saying that Cairo is notorious for slow processing. I've been there, I see that they don't get in a hurry for much of anything other than driving

I just wish I knew what they were doing that takes so long......

[Y's_habibitk 2]

Fortunately, we are able to keep things alive and I'm grateful for that. We each talk about our day, our families, the little things that happen. He and I share the same sense of humor, and that really helps alot. It's an odd day that he doesn't make me laugh, even when he doesn't mean to. He and I have decided to expect the worse, yet hope for the best in terms of AP. I don't feel very encouraged, and the reason is because I see more people saying that Cairo is notorious for slow processing. I've been there, I see that they don't get in a hurry for much of anything other than driving

I just wish I knew what they were doing that takes so long......

Emily, I was always grateful for that as well. We found that just talking to one another about things we would, say for example, over dinner kept us feeling very close during our 15 months apart. I would send long emails about my day or whatever was on my mind and then at the end apologize for my "boring" emails. LOL He would always insist that my emails were what he looked forward to and he loved hearing all of that daily stuff and same with me, I loved hearing about what this guy did at work or how this guy at the cafe was doing bla bla bla. It made us feel like we actually were together and sharing our daily lives.

The only experience that I have with "unknown" waiting was at the service center. Waiting and being patient is easy if you can plan. If someone would have said "VSC will keep your file for 8+ months" we could have prepared for that. But the watching, waiting and no idea was excruciating. So, in some ways I can relate to your situation of AP. We did get stuck in AP at NVC, but that was and still is very predictable. Amazingly, once i saw a consistency with that.. i wasnt really worried, stressed or anything. We just planned: ok, we will be out in 50 days or so. But not knowing leaves a dull void and room for hopelessness to creep in. Keeping faith and being able to take turns being strong and weak is SO very helpful.

It sounds like you guys have a great dynamic and I have no doubts that you will get through this together

Glad you found this thread, it has been instrumental to my sanity

CHildress... I think its a darn good sign!! I keep checking for your and Paris Heart's "approved!" post any time now

[~Jackie~ 30]

done dancing~~is it illegal to choke ones husband til he turns blue ?

Him changing plans is giving me whiplash. Him come here in June for 2 weeks, then leave til Dec. Him come in May for 2 weeks, then leave. Me fly to him in July and him come in ............ah just forget it I told him. Tell me when your gonna land and I'll pick ya up. He SWEARS his government won't let him leave til Dec..the k3 has to be activated by Nov........ If I have to call the KING himself I will get to the bottom of this. Can they really stop him from using a visa???grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ok, I'm gonna just crawl up on the couch and wait for him to buy a ticket.

jJ

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Sounds like a plan Jackie. Right now I'm just trying to stress the importance to Waleed to finish and turn in packet 3. He says it may take longer than when I arrive because he is still waiting on his formal release papers from the military which he says should come sometime after May 1st. Then he has to get his passport and ID which he can't renew until he gets those papers. Everything is connected. Bleh.