Anyone from Middle East/Western Asia/ North. Africa?

[Debbie and Abdol 0]

Hi Everyone...

Just wondering who else is from/has a partner from the Middle East, Western Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan) or Northern Africa. I'd love to hear from you/share experiences. Or maybe you could post your story. It seems like this group (esp. those of us from the "Axis of Evil") is really scrutinized...I sometimes think we're supposed to feel like criminals just because we're from these areas!

I'll start: here is my story.

I'm from Salem, Massachusetts and my husband is from ShareKord in Iran. He came to Germany as a refugee in 1985 and (after 20 years of waiting!!) finally became a citizen of Germany in 2005. We met when I was an exchange student at the University of Hamburg in 1996. He was the friendliest and most popular guy in our dorm--everybody knew and loved him. I returned to the States to finish college and grad school but returned 2x/year for months at a time to be with him. Finally, in July 2001, I decided to move to Germany to be with him. We had considered doing Green Card and/or getting a K1 so we could be in the States, but it seemed so complicated and besides, I wanted to live abroad. We thought we'd do it later.

MISTAKE!! Because then came 9/11 and it became even MORE complicated.

We ended up marrying in Denmark in 2002 because the K1 seemed impossible and Iran would NEVER give me a visa to go there. In Germany, we we live, foreigners need a lot of paperwork and money to get married. It's very bureaucratic. So...thank God for the DANES!!

Abdol has been to the States once, in 2000. At that time he applied for a B1 and got it within 10 days from the consulate in Berlin, no interviews, no nothing. This was all done with an Iranian passport (he got it back in 1995). It DID take him forever to get through customs in Boston(they fingerprinted him) but it was fine. In 2003 he applied for another B1. We had to go for an interview and produce MOUNTAINS of paperwork. I thought 3 months would be enough time but wrong--they suspended processing because our travel dates came and went before the security checks were finished. This happened between April-September.

So, here are some questions for you:

Has your partner ever been to the States? What was it like? On what kind of visa?

Do you have a lawyer? Has this been helpful/non-helpful?

Any unusual exeriences to relate? Any AP/AR in your case?

What was your timeline?

Any third country people out there? Or dual citizens?

All the best to you alll.....

Debbie

[Dixie_Peach 1]

Hello Debbie... and welcome to VJ.

My name is Lynne, and my SO is from Morocco. He has not been to the United States... so I don't have anything that I could add there... but I do want to encourage you to continue with your visa (K3). I do not have the experience with that because we hired an attorney to do the k1 visa. It was just easier for me with my work schedule. Wishing you all the best! Blessings!

[Omid 0]

Hi Debbie,

My fiance and I are Afghan... I've lived here most of my life, he was born and raised there... he's never been to the US but has been to several countries in Europe and the ME... we think that's what's delaying our AP a bit now... didn't hire an attorney - did it myself, fairly smooth process meaning no RFEs or mistakes on our part... the Islamabad embassy is slow (Afghans have to go through the embassy in Pakistan)... we lost a month of time when they sent forms to the wrong address in Afghanistan, then we had to wait a little over two months for the interview and it's been almost two months since the interview now and still no visa... we're going through admin processing... no one really tells you anything so you just have to play the waiting game... it's a bit frustrating since you see other people from different parts of the world begin and end their process and you're still waiting b/c of this "guilty until proven innocent" type post 9/11 processing of males from that part of the world...

best of luck ... expect long delays... hope for a smooth short ride

[MaryandMian 1]

Hello Debbie,

I am Mary and posted to each other on one of your other threads. I am from Alabama and my husband is from Pakistan.

1. My husband has not been out of Pakistan on any travels.

2. I did everything myself and no RFEs. lol

3. AP right now. Our case went to Islamabad embassy in July of 2005. We did not get packet three and found out they had wrong address on it. We contacted the courier and they still had it so Ishteaq picked it up. We returned it to the embassy and it sat forever. No updates or interview date. Finally I called DOS one day and found out the embassy put notes in our case that they wanted a co sponsor. They never contacted my husband or I. I got my brother to co sponsor us and mailed it back to the embassy. Still nothing.

I contacted my congressman since the embassy was not replying. His office said if some months pass and he did not get interview to call back. I contacted the senator and he inquired this was first of October. On Halloween day we got letter for interview set of December 12th. He went and they did not really look at all evidence. Said the case was fine and just needed some more administrative processing. We got a 221g.

I kept asking for updates and nothing. Then on Jan 17th he was at work and officer came to house and we had field investigation. He talked to husband and family for one hour. Then went to his sisters and called and talked to some of the persons at our wedding. Asked him if he took our proof to the embassy and Ishteaq said yes but they did not really look at it. Told him the case was fine.

Officer has stack of files and travels for one week and then back to embassy with results. He told us he hoped they would call us with good news soon. He could not tell us anything but he was sent out to do field investigation and good luck.

4. Timeline is listed on my page. Just click on my name and it will take you to my page or click on my timeline off to side as well.

Good luck to you as well.

Mary

PS as of today I had contacted the senator's office and they emailed the embassy on 17th and still no reply and DOS only has notes that I emailed them and all of our case is at embassy level and never came to USA for checks.

Edited February 24, 2006 by mianishqsrose

[jennieh 0]

My husband has never been to the US ever but has applied for a travel visa two times. First time almost approved but had to cancel due to family emergency. Second time denied in less then a five minute long interview! We have known eachother for about 6 1/2 years but were friends for 3yrs before we began to like eachother. I think this might be the best thing about our relationship they cant say its not real cause we can prove them wrong! Were doing the CR-1 visa and did it ourselfs but for one paper that a lawyer totally ruined for us. We did have two RFE's one thanks to the lawyer and other one me not fully reading all the instructions. Right now were waiting for a interview date and were not getting anything besides Department of State and NVC telling us we should have one but we dont we qualified for one last month is what were told. So I contacted a congressman and he is really trying to help alot which suprised me.

[ohiobuck 0]

My heart goes out to you, it is harder to marry an arab man in the eyes of the US Immigration process it seems. To give you some information my husband is from Morocco and he wasn't in the USA before his K3 Visa.

I did hire a lawyer, though the lawyer wasn't the export I had hoped for, but I am so grateful I paid the money for a lawyer. I could've saved the money and done most by myself but the lawyer knows things you can't know . And there is a very good reason they say you are a fool to be your own lawyer because you could mess it up and it could cause unnessary delays or problems. Pluse they can contact the agencies and Consulate on phone numbers you don't have. If you want to take that chance just to save money then I think you are a fool because I would not have traded one more minute apart from my husband during this long immigration process to save some money. And I am not rich and could've used that money elsewhere. But I also recommend you use this site to find a lawyer others highly recommend.

What was unusual about our case was we had to cancel our 1st interview and have a second interview rescheduled at the US Consulate because the Moroccan Government caused my husband problems getting one of the required forms in time to attend his first interview. We didn't want to get denied so we took the delay to avoid a worse problem. In short it took us 11 months for the K3 and the I130 package had come, but we decided it wouldn't save us time, and there is extra expense to process the I130 at the consulate vs. in the USA, plus it is easier to get the greencard once you are in the USA our lawyer advised.

I notice a lot of Moroccan cases online complain if their case are denied and sent back to the US. They over look some very key issues and blame the CO when their cases had holes in it. You have to make sure you filled out all the paperwork correctly, provided all the proof required and met all the requirements. Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C. 1182] gives a lot of reasons each Consulate can refuse cases and from what I have seen over the last year they do and I don't blame them and I agree in those cases.

I know I might ruffle some feathers but there are rules for a reason and the processes must be followed for everyone equally and this is to protect the USA and it's citizens even if we don't agree with that.

For example alot of these woman that complain about being denied might be denied in Section 212 because of an age difference of 10 years. It's in the rules and perfectly legal for the CO to use it to not prove the relationship and that is just one example. In short if you meet all these requirements and I recommend you do your homework you will be fine. But people shouldn't ignore that they did not meet the requirements to get the Visa and then blame the CO of wrongfully denying their visa. Lets be mature and look in the mirror and look at our own cases honestly.

I wish you luck and from the little I have heard from you I don't think you should have problems.

Hi Everyone...

Just wondering who else is from/has a partner from the Middle East, Western Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan) or Northern Africa. I'd love to hear from you/share experiences. Or maybe you could post your story. It seems like this group (esp. those of us from the "Axis of Evil") is really scrutinized...I sometimes think we're supposed to feel like criminals just because we're from these areas!

I'll start: here is my story.

I'm from Salem, Massachusetts and my husband is from ShareKord in Iran. He came to Germany as a refugee in 1985 and (after 20 years of waiting!!) finally became a citizen of Germany in 2005. We met when I was an exchange student at the University of Hamburg in 1996. He was the friendliest and most popular guy in our dorm--everybody knew and loved him. I returned to the States to finish college and grad school but returned 2x/year for months at a time to be with him. Finally, in July 2001, I decided to move to Germany to be with him. We had considered doing Green Card and/or getting a K1 so we could be in the States, but it seemed so complicated and besides, I wanted to live abroad. We thought we'd do it later.

MISTAKE!! Because then came 9/11 and it became even MORE complicated.

We ended up marrying in Denmark in 2002 because the K1 seemed impossible and Iran would NEVER give me a visa to go there. In Germany, we we live, foreigners need a lot of paperwork and money to get married. It's very bureaucratic. So...thank God for the DANES!!

Abdol has been to the States once, in 2000. At that time he applied for a B1 and got it within 10 days from the consulate in Berlin, no interviews, no nothing. This was all done with an Iranian passport (he got it back in 1995). It DID take him forever to get through customs in Boston(they fingerprinted him) but it was fine. In 2003 he applied for another B1. We had to go for an interview and produce MOUNTAINS of paperwork. I thought 3 months would be enough time but wrong--they suspended processing because our travel dates came and went before the security checks were finished. This happened between April-September.

So, here are some questions for you:

Has your partner ever been to the States? What was it like? On what kind of visa?

Do you have a lawyer? Has this been helpful/non-helpful?

Any unusual exeriences to relate? Any AP/AR in your case?

What was your timeline?

Any third country people out there? Or dual citizens?

All the best to you alll.....

Debbie

[scy 0]

Wow you just insulted a bunch of people by implying that they put their money above unification with their loved ones. I don't think anyone on this site would put money above happiness. I'm sure you feel happy that your money was well spent on an attorney. But please don't insult people just because they choose not to have an attorney.

You also mentioned that section 212 of the INA says a 10 years difference is a reason for denial. If you could kindly point out where in INA 212 does it state that.

My heart goes out to you, it is harder to marry an arab man in the eyes of the US Immigration process it seems. To give you some information my husband is from Morocco and he wasn't in the USA before his K3 Visa.

I did hire a lawyer, though the lawyer wasn't the export I had hoped for, but I am so grateful I paid the money for a lawyer. I could've saved the money and done most by myself but the lawyer knows things you can't know . And there is a very good reason they say you are a fool to be your own lawyer because you could mess it up and it could cause unnessary delays or problems. Pluse they can contact the agencies and Consulate on phone numbers you don't have. If you want to take that chance just to save money then I think you are a fool because I would not have traded one more minute apart from my husband during this long immigration process to save some money. And I am not rich and could've used that money elsewhere. But I also recommend you use this site to find a lawyer others highly recommend.

What was unusual about our case was we had to cancel our 1st interview and have a second interview rescheduled at the US Consulate because the Moroccan Government caused my husband problems getting one of the required forms in time to attend his first interview. We didn't want to get denied so we took the delay to avoid a worse problem. In short it took us 11 months for the K3 and the I130 package had come, but we decided it wouldn't save us time, and there is extra expense to process the I130 at the consulate vs. in the USA, plus it is easier to get the greencard once you are in the USA our lawyer advised.

I notice a lot of Moroccan cases online complain if their case are denied and sent back to the US. They over look some very key issues and blame the CO when their cases had holes in it. You have to make sure you filled out all the paperwork correctly, provided all the proof required and met all the requirements. Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C. 1182] gives a lot of reasons each Consulate can refuse cases and from what I have seen over the last year they do and I don't blame them and I agree in those cases.

I know I might ruffle some feathers but there are rules for a reason and the processes must be followed for everyone equally and this is to protect the USA and it's citizens even if we don't agree with that.

For example alot of these woman that complain about being denied might be denied in Section 212 because of an age difference of 10 years. It's in the rules and perfectly legal for the CO to use it to not prove the relationship and that is just one example. In short if you meet all these requirements and I recommend you do your homework you will be fine. But people shouldn't ignore that they did not meet the requirements to get the Visa and then blame the CO of wrongfully denying their visa. Lets be mature and look in the mirror and look at our own cases honestly.

I wish you luck and from the little I have heard from you I don't think you should have problems.

[Debbie and Abdol 0]

Hi,

My lawyer also thinks it is better to do Adjustment of Status in the States, even though it will take longer an be more expensive. At least you have the chance to appeal should something be denied and she would be there to personally handle it.

Good luck and all the best

Debbie

My heart goes out to you, it is harder to marry an arab man in the eyes of the US Immigration process it seems. To give you some information my husband is from Morocco and he wasn't in the USA before his K3 Visa.

I did hire a lawyer, though the lawyer wasn't the export I had hoped for, but I am so grateful I paid the money for a lawyer. I could've saved the money and done most by myself but the lawyer knows things you can't know . And there is a very good reason they say you are a fool to be your own lawyer because you could mess it up and it could cause unnessary delays or problems. Pluse they can contact the agencies and Consulate on phone numbers you don't have. If you want to take that chance just to save money then I think you are a fool because I would not have traded one more minute apart from my husband during this long immigration process to save some money. And I am not rich and could've used that money elsewhere. But I also recommend you use this site to find a lawyer others highly recommend.

What was unusual about our case was we had to cancel our 1st interview and have a second interview rescheduled at the US Consulate because the Moroccan Government caused my husband problems getting one of the required forms in time to attend his first interview. We didn't want to get denied so we took the delay to avoid a worse problem. In short it took us 11 months for the K3 and the I130 package had come, but we decided it wouldn't save us time, and there is extra expense to process the I130 at the consulate vs. in the USA, plus it is easier to get the greencard once you are in the USA our lawyer advised.

I notice a lot of Moroccan cases online complain if their case are denied and sent back to the US. They over look some very key issues and blame the CO when their cases had holes in it. You have to make sure you filled out all the paperwork correctly, provided all the proof required and met all the requirements. Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C. 1182] gives a lot of reasons each Consulate can refuse cases and from what I have seen over the last year they do and I don't blame them and I agree in those cases.

I know I might ruffle some feathers but there are rules for a reason and the processes must be followed for everyone equally and this is to protect the USA and it's citizens even if we don't agree with that.

For example alot of these woman that complain about being denied might be denied in Section 212 because of an age difference of 10 years. It's in the rules and perfectly legal for the CO to use it to not prove the relationship and that is just one example. In short if you meet all these requirements and I recommend you do your homework you will be fine. But people shouldn't ignore that they did not meet the requirements to get the Visa and then blame the CO of wrongfully denying their visa. Lets be mature and look in the mirror and look at our own cases honestly.

I wish you luck and from the little I have heard from you I don't think you should have problems.

Hi Everyone...

Just wondering who else is from/has a partner from the Middle East, Western Asia (Pakistan, Afghanistan) or Northern Africa. I'd love to hear from you/share experiences. Or maybe you could post your story. It seems like this group (esp. those of us from the "Axis of Evil") is really scrutinized...I sometimes think we're supposed to feel like criminals just because we're from these areas!

I'll start: here is my story.

I'm from Salem, Massachusetts and my husband is from ShareKord in Iran. He came to Germany as a refugee in 1985 and (after 20 years of waiting!!) finally became a citizen of Germany in 2005. We met when I was an exchange student at the University of Hamburg in 1996. He was the friendliest and most popular guy in our dorm--everybody knew and loved him. I returned to the States to finish college and grad school but returned 2x/year for months at a time to be with him. Finally, in July 2001, I decided to move to Germany to be with him. We had considered doing Green Card and/or getting a K1 so we could be in the States, but it seemed so complicated and besides, I wanted to live abroad. We thought we'd do it later.

MISTAKE!! Because then came 9/11 and it became even MORE complicated.

We ended up marrying in Denmark in 2002 because the K1 seemed impossible and Iran would NEVER give me a visa to go there. In Germany, we we live, foreigners need a lot of paperwork and money to get married. It's very bureaucratic. So...thank God for the DANES!!

Abdol has been to the States once, in 2000. At that time he applied for a B1 and got it within 10 days from the consulate in Berlin, no interviews, no nothing. This was all done with an Iranian passport (he got it back in 1995). It DID take him forever to get through customs in Boston(they fingerprinted him) but it was fine. In 2003 he applied for another B1. We had to go for an interview and produce MOUNTAINS of paperwork. I thought 3 months would be enough time but wrong--they suspended processing because our travel dates came and went before the security checks were finished. This happened between April-September.

So, here are some questions for you:

Has your partner ever been to the States? What was it like? On what kind of visa?

Do you have a lawyer? Has this been helpful/non-helpful?

Any unusual exeriences to relate? Any AP/AR in your case?

What was your timeline?

Any third country people out there? Or dual citizens?

All the best to you alll.....

Debbie

[ohiobuck 0]

Sorry, I did not mean to insult anyone. I was just stating my feelings that have only grown stronger everytime I hear and see so many cases from people that did their own papers come to find themselves in situations that could've been avoided if they knew what they didn't understand. Yes people can do it themselves and save money and if they do it right it will not be any faster than a lawyer. But I know from my own experience I seem to learn more after it is too late to fix something and a knowlegble immigration lawyer is just one way to help me from making dumb mistakes. I am no dummy and do my own taxes and a lot more complicative issues than that. Plus even though I am paying for a lawyer I research everything as if I was filling out the paperwork to make sure everything is done correctly by the lawyer and that is how I have learned the resources for information for do it yourself immigration is very lacking and I have bought a lot of books and alot of other research. But I am not an immigration export and almost everything in this ordeal is not either. And it is hard to find out all the information you need to make the right decision. It isn't like you can easily find out all the questions from an export for free to make sure you do everything correctly if you are doing it yourself. Yes it is true if you have a simple case you have a better chance of doing it yourself but anyone married to an arab spouse, especially if they are male needs to pay more attention to all these rules to insure they are reunited. Arab men go to the Consulate quilty until proven innocent. I will pray that we are all together with our spouses but we still all have to do all of this properly because we are still dealing with the requirements of the US immigration policies.

You can check out the following to start to find out about the section 212.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3535

There is a lot of information out there and we shouldn't walk around arrogent we know everything, when we could be in college for years trying to be exports on immigration law.

If you are insulted by my statements you are not seeing how important this issue is to me and I just want to spare someone from being apart from their spouses any longer than necessary.

I wish you the best of luck Debbie with your case.

-------------------------------

Wow you just insulted a bunch of people by implying that they put their money above unification with their loved ones. I don't think anyone on this site would put money above happiness. I'm sure you feel happy that your money was well spent on an attorney. But please don't insult people just because they choose not to have an attorney.

You also mentioned that section 212 of the INA says a 10 years difference is a reason for denial. If you could kindly point out where in INA 212 does it state that.

My heart goes out to you, it is harder to marry an arab man in the eyes of the US Immigration process it seems. To give you some information my husband is from Morocco and he wasn't in the USA before his K3 Visa.

I did hire a lawyer, though the lawyer wasn't the export I had hoped for, but I am so grateful I paid the money for a lawyer. I could've saved the money and done most by myself but the lawyer knows things you can't know . And there is a very good reason they say you are a fool to be your own lawyer because you could mess it up and it could cause unnessary delays or problems. Pluse they can contact the agencies and Consulate on phone numbers you don't have. If you want to take that chance just to save money then I think you are a fool because I would not have traded one more minute apart from my husband during this long immigration process to save some money. And I am not rich and could've used that money elsewhere. But I also recommend you use this site to find a lawyer others highly recommend.

What was unusual about our case was we had to cancel our 1st interview and have a second interview rescheduled at the US Consulate because the Moroccan Government caused my husband problems getting one of the required forms in time to attend his first interview. We didn't want to get denied so we took the delay to avoid a worse problem. In short it took us 11 months for the K3 and the I130 package had come, but we decided it wouldn't save us time, and there is extra expense to process the I130 at the consulate vs. in the USA, plus it is easier to get

the greencard once you are in the USA our lawyer advised.

I notice a lot of Moroccan cases online complain if their case are denied and sent back to the US. They over look some very key issues and blame the CO when their cases had holes in it. You have to make sure you filled out all the paperwork correctly, provided all the proof required and met all the requirements. Sec. 212. [8 U.S.C. 1182] gives a lot of reasons each Consulate can refuse cases and from what I have seen over the last year they do and I don't blame them and I agree in those cases.

I know I might ruffle some feathers but there are rules for a reason and the processes must be followed for everyone equally and this is to protect the USA and it's citizens even if we don't agree with that.

For example alot of these woman that complain about being denied might be denied in Section 212 because of an age difference of 10 years. It's in the rules and perfectly legal for the CO to use it to not prove the relationship and that is just one example. In short if you meet all these requirements and I recommend you do your homework you will be fine. But people shouldn't ignore that they did not meet the requirements to get the Visa and then blame the CO of wrongfully denying their visa. Lets be mature and look in the mirror and look at our own cases honestly.

I wish you luck and from the little I have heard from you I don't think you should have problems.