A quick question about AP and Iranian citizens.

[spectheintro 18]

So, I've been reading up on AP, and how basically anyone from a T-country is subjected to some form of it. I got married last month in Iran, and submit my I-130 immediately afterwards. I figured the AP would add around a month to the processing time to get my wife over here, but after reading some of the horror stories (tammy and miamiwife, my heart goes out to you) I am now thoroughly terrified that this process may keep my wife and I separate for much, much longer than I originally anticipated.

I recall reading somewhere that women generally have an easier time with AP than men do. I'm a natural-born USC, and my wife has only left Iran once, and it was only for a week. She's never held a job (she just finished her degree in English Translation) so I think most of her record is going to be transparent. Now I am (heartbreakingly) aware that there is no rhyme or reason to the AP system, but I can't help but wonder what my chances are of getting hosed by the system. The separation has already been heart-wrenching for her; I have no idea how to tell her that we have a very good chance of being put through AP for an indefinite amount of time.

Are there any USC husbands with Iranian wives that can offer some insight into the process? Does anyone know if a particular embassy (Ankara or Abu Dhabi) is better than the other when it comes to AP? The Abu Dhabi website makes no mention of AP, but the Ankara website says it typically completes "within six months or more."

I'm not even through USCIS yet but as I was looking through the next steps I stumbled onto some of these AP stories, and now I have no idea what my timeline may be.

[tenderheartusa79 14]

So, I've been reading up on AP, and how basically anyone from a T-country is subjected to some form of it. I got married last month in Iran, and submit my I-130 immediately afterwards. I figured the AP would add around a month to the processing time to get my wife over here, but after reading some of the horror stories (tammy and miamiwife, my heart goes out to you) I am now thoroughly terrified that this process may keep my wife and I separate for much, much longer than I originally anticipated.

I recall reading somewhere that women generally have an easier time with AP than men do. I'm a natural-born USC, and my wife has only left Iran once, and it was only for a week. She's never held a job (she just finished her degree in English Translation) so I think most of her record is going to be transparent. Now I am (heartbreakingly) aware that there is no rhyme or reason to the AP system, but I can't help but wonder what my chances are of getting hosed by the system. The separation has already been heart-wrenching for her; I have no idea how to tell her that we have a very good chance of being put through AP for an indefinite amount of time.

Are there any USC husbands with Iranian wives that can offer some insight into the process? Does anyone know if a particular embassy (Ankara or Abu Dhabi) is better than the other when it comes to AP? The Abu Dhabi website makes no mention of AP, but the Ankara website says it typically completes "within six months or more."

I'm not even through USCIS yet but as I was looking through the next steps I stumbled onto some of these AP stories, and now I have no idea what my timeline may be.

First off Congratulations on the wedding .

Well in fact you can not tell how much the AP will take .cause every case is different .

sometimes it take 1 month sometimes 2,4,6,9 months or even a year .

but when it comes to a woman i think its kinda rare to put her under AP and if they will i guess it wont take so long .

Good luck and my best wishes for you .

Mohamed

[Elham 1]

Calm down! The beneficiary is an Iranian woman! I bet your case won't go to AP at all! study some recent Iranian cases. (eg. M n M) As far as I know they had great interviews. Actually none of the Iranian cases I know here have been to AP!

Edited July 31, 2009 by Elham

[M_n_M 1]

Do not worry ONE bit. First off, AP usually happens with super common names... Mohammad, Ali, etc that might raise a flag... second off, my husband had his interview this past May and he was approved right then. They didn't put him on AP and gave him his visa the next day. There was also a girl there that got her visa that same day (also a marriage interview). Although a police certificate is not REQUIRED for an Iranian, we provided his soo-e-pishine anyway when we submitted materials to the USCIS and we also got a new one for the interview (but they never asked for it)--I thought that helped a bit. I also felt like being with my husband at his interview helped a lot when it came to the approval. Take lots of pics to the interview, pics of the two of you, pics of you guys with her family, your family... etc. These really helped... you can see the details about our interview under my time line. But I wouldn't worry, while my heart does go out to those whose spouses were put under AP, worrying about that now is not going to help. Start the process as soon as you can and I would advise asking for an interview at Abu Dhabi, they were very nice. Just answer questions truthfully and make sure to show that you guys are in an true relationship. You still have so many steps before the interview and before the POSSIBILITY of AP--the sooner you start, the sooner you'll have your wife with you--either way!

I'd be happy to help with anything else.

[spectheintro 18]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I sent off a great deal of pictures with the USCIS application, and will be sure to have many more for the interview. I'll also make sure to come in person for it myself. I would love to be able to request the Abu Dhabi embassy, but on the I-130 there was no area available to do so.

Just a quick question, M and M--I see in your timeline that it was about two months between your approval at the NVC and your interview. Is this standard? I can't seem to find a timeline for the average gap between approval and interviews anywhere. Thanks!

Edited July 31, 2009 by spectheintro

[augustapplicant 0]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I sent off a great deal of pictures with the USCIS application, and will be sure to have many more for the interview. I'll also make sure to come in person for it myself. I would love to be able to request the Abu Dhabi embassy, but on the I-130 there was no area available to do so.

Just a quick question, M and M--I see in your timeline that it was about two months between your approval at the NVC and your interview. Is this standard? I can't seem to find a timeline for the average gap between approval and interviews anywhere. Thanks!

I am also iranian, my fiance (she) is on AP for one year now. we applied for K1 visa for more than 2 years now. So basically you never know what to expect. but i am sure you will be fine cause most iranians cases are ok.

i am in the state of losing my fiance now and its like a nightmare. dont worry choose abu dhabi embassy, they are better than ankara.

[augustapplicant 0]

Calm down! The beneficiary is an Iranian woman! I bet your case won't go to AP at all! study some recent Iranian cases. (eg. M n M) As far as I know they had great interviews. Actually none of the Iranian cases I know here have been to AP!

dont bet on it cause u loose, my fiancee (she) is on AP for one year now. i sent some postings before.

[spectheintro 18]

I am also iranian, my fiance (she) is on AP for one year now. we applied for K1 visa for more than 2 years now. So basically you never know what to expect. but i am sure you will be fine cause most iranians cases are ok.

i am in the state of losing my fiance now and its like a nightmare. dont worry choose abu dhabi embassy, they are better than ankara.

i am so sorry to hear that, augustapplicant. thank you for your kind words; i pray that your AP mess gets sorted out soon. one thing i've never understood is why this entire process--the immigration episode from start to finish--has to be so opaque. i am certain that if the departments in question were more transparent, the applicants would bend over backwards to do anything they could to help expedite the process. instead we're just told to wait, and given no guidance whatsoever.

i really, really hope obama is serious about fixing immigration. i've no doubt that the bureaucracy in the system tries their hardest to make it work, but it's clear that the system isn't equipped for today's needs.

anyway, i'm just going to keep praying that my wife's application makes it through all the hurdles all right. i just want her to come to the US safe and sound.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I am also iranian, my fiance (she) is on AP for one year now. we applied for K1 visa for more than 2 years now. So basically you never know what to expect. but i am sure you will be fine cause most iranians cases are ok.

i am in the state of losing my fiance now and its like a nightmare. dont worry choose abu dhabi embassy, they are better than ankara.

i am so sorry to hear that, augustapplicant. thank you for your kind words; i pray that your AP mess gets sorted out soon. one thing i've never understood is why this entire process--the immigration episode from start to finish--has to be so opaque. i am certain that if the departments in question were more transparent, the applicants would bend over backwards to do anything they could to help expedite the process. instead we're just told to wait, and given no guidance whatsoever.

i really, really hope obama is serious about fixing immigration. i've no doubt that the bureaucracy in the system tries their hardest to make it work, but it's clear that the system isn't equipped for today's needs.

anyway, i'm just going to keep praying that my wife's application makes it through all the hurdles all right. i just want her to come to the US safe and sound.

The system is opaque because it needs to be. If it were transparent then those who would manipulate the system for immigration benefits (or worse) would know exactly what they needed to do in order to be successful. This is why forums like this are so important. By sharing our experiences with each other we can see what is common in the cases that succeed and fail, and gain a little insight into what is expected at a particular consulate.

Obama IS serious about fixing immigration. He's going to introduce another amnesty "lite" program for illegals to appease the liberals who want Hispanic votes, and then he's going to clamp down on legal immigration to appease the conservatives who want closed borders. In fact, one of the things in Obama's proposal is to impose quotas on fiancee and spousal visas with US citizen sponsors like they currently have on family preference visas with LPR sponsors, and the limits are going to be HALF what the current limits are on the family preference visas. Immigration 'reform' is going to be great, if you're an illegal Mexican in the US. It's going to suck for those of us with foreign fiancees and spouses. Obama's immigration 'reforms' are not about making immigration easier - they're about getting more legal Hispanic voters.

[M_n_M 1]

Thank you all so much for your responses. I sent off a great deal of pictures with the USCIS application, and will be sure to have many more for the interview. I'll also make sure to come in person for it myself. I would love to be able to request the Abu Dhabi embassy, but on the I-130 there was no area available to do so.

Just a quick question, M and M--I see in your timeline that it was about two months between your approval at the NVC and your interview. Is this standard? I can't seem to find a timeline for the average gap between approval and interviews anywhere. Thanks!

Because there is no time line. It depends on how fast you send the material in (as requested). So for example, if you go through the guides they have for the NVC on this site... it clearly says what you will need to have ready. You can get that all done ahead of time so that when they request say the DS230, you have it (and all the materials it needs) ready to send. And since you can do a lot of the payments and stuff online once they give you a code, it'll be easy to know when they want everything. My two months probably could have been done a lot faster, but since I was in Iran with my hubby at the time, and I had to get documents to my parents in the states (via travelers that we knew), it was hard to do it any faster. Once your case is deemed complete at the NVC, you'll be scheduled for an interview sometime in the second week of that month (or the month after). There is a place on the I130 to request where to have an interview. #22--the second set of lines that say "city" and "country" Write Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This doesn't GUARANTEE that they'll give you a spot there, but if you request it, they usually listen to what you say.

Hope that helps!

[augustapplicant 0]

I am also iranian, my fiance (she) is on AP for one year now. we applied for K1 visa for more than 2 years now. So basically you never know what to expect. but i am sure you will be fine cause most iranians cases are ok.

i am in the state of losing my fiance now and its like a nightmare. dont worry choose abu dhabi embassy, they are better than ankara.

i am so sorry to hear that, augustapplicant. thank you for your kind words; i pray that your AP mess gets sorted out soon. one thing i've never understood is why this entire process--the immigration episode from start to finish--has to be so opaque. i am certain that if the departments in question were more transparent, the applicants would bend over backwards to do anything they could to help expedite the process. instead we're just told to wait, and given no guidance whatsoever.

i really, really hope obama is serious about fixing immigration. i've no doubt that the bureaucracy in the system tries their hardest to make it work, but it's clear that the system isn't equipped for today's needs.

anyway, i'm just going to keep praying that my wife's application makes it through all the hurdles all right. i just want her to come to the US safe and sound.

one more thing, some iranians go on AP just for the fact that they have goverment jobs in iran. Embassy will always check on that. so if your wife has a government job i am quite sure it will be some delays. otherwise you r ok.

[spectheintro 18]

There is a place on the I130 to request where to have an interview. #22--the second set of lines that say "city" and "country" Write Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This doesn't GUARANTEE that they'll give you a spot there, but if you request it, they usually listen to what you say.

Hope that helps!

Wow, I can't believe I missed that part! For some reason I thought #22 was only filled out for people adjusting status in the US... argh. How can I let them to know that I prefer Abu Dhabi? Should I send in another I-130 as a revision, or should I just call them and see if they can put the request in for me?

Gah, I feel so stupid!

[M_n_M 1]

There is a place on the I130 to request where to have an interview. #22--the second set of lines that say "city" and "country" Write Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This doesn't GUARANTEE that they'll give you a spot there, but if you request it, they usually listen to what you say.

Hope that helps!

Wow, I can't believe I missed that part! For some reason I thought #22 was only filled out for people adjusting status in the US... argh. How can I let them to know that I prefer Abu Dhabi? Should I send in another I-130 as a revision, or should I just call them and see if they can put the request in for me?

Gah, I feel so stupid!

call them and see if you can get through... another idea would be to send them a letter-- email them... try any and every way possible. I didn't know you'd already sent the I130. Good luck, let me know how it goes.

and don't feel stupid, i almost missed it too!