Wife abused in UAE and not able to return to Ethiopia

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

I don't know if the process has changed but we never received anything by mail. As her agent any documents you need will either be mailed or more likely emailed to you. You can also look for information on the embassy website which will have locations where she can do her medical.

Have you been able to change her consulate yet? Did you make arrangements for the birth certificate to be sent to you?

Sorry for the delay between replies, as we are now waiting because of her passport's wrong birthdate written on passport.

I called the NVC about that problem today, and they told me that if she not able to change it, then she should write a letter attachment to explain the problem.

She plans this week to go the embassy to tell them her situation and ask what she should do.

I will reply as soon as I learn what the embassy tells her.

About the changing of consulates, I emailed the Abu Dhabi Immigraiton Visa Unit, their reply today was that ehy have requested my case, and if I not hear from them within 3 months to call them. I think that is just standard copy and paste reply, because both the NVC and the people in this forum say the NVC still has it.

But this week our challenge is everyone's response to her wrong birthday written in her passport.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Freedom 4 Married

[beejay 125]

If your case is at NVC and they said they will be forwarding your case to Abu Dhabi then no need to contact the embassy at this point. It will end up at Abu Dhabi without any further action on your part.

Is your wife going to the Ethiopian embassy to see what is needed to correct her passport?

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

If your case is at NVC and they said they will be forwarding your case to Abu Dhabi then no need to contact the embassy at this point. It will end up at Abu Dhabi without any further action on your part.

Is your wife going to the Ethiopian embassy to see what is needed to correct her passport?

She has appointment this week at American embassy, to explain her situation (biggest problem being wrong birthdate on passport). Today I called her and told her that the NVC said to try get corrrected, but no problem if not (just make letter explaining why not correct). But today she told me she already scheduled appointment with American embassy, so we will hear what their answer is. Hopefully, it is same as NVC, and most importantly she hears it from them, not just me.

This stage of the process is difficult for her, because I am mostly doing the paperwork for it, so she not feel confident speaking/writing english. And because of the long wait between short time face-to-face and reuniting together in America is a very long time, so it still not feel real to her. She still feels like it was just a dream/famtasy that we were together. I know that it will feel very real again when she gets her medical exam and interview.

The waiting itself not just what attacks her faith in our marriage, but also the fact that she is still doing the same thing in UAE that she has been doing since she was 14 years old, 10 years ago...Working 16 hours a day, and sending almost all her money to her family back in Ethiopia. The only different day-to-day life is that her Ethiopian family demands that she give all her money to them now, because she is married to a white American. They even said that I had to pay them 8,000 dollars every month if I wanted her to do the process in Ethiopia...That is the main reason she left 6 months ago.

She is alone in UAE, and her Ethiopian family (mother, older brothers, older sisters) are always demanding for money. I not know too much about her childhood, but I do understand why she is afraid of saying no to them. We have equal amount of reasons to worry what her family would do to her, as what the company or corrupt officials would do to her.

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

Besides telling my wife how her family are demanding and threatening me, is there any way I can get her medical exam and interview faster because of the family abuse in Ethiopia? Especially from her mother and older brother.

I am truly worried for the safety of my wife.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Freedom 4 Married

[beejay 125]

Your time will come. It's normal to start getting nervous and panicky about the process the closer you get to being done. Just reassure your wife that this is something the two of you can accomplish and you will be together soon.

As far as going to the US embassy, I see it as a bit unnecessary at this point because they don't have your case yet. No matter what they say it's in your best interest to follow NVC's instructions. Your wife could ask if she will need a corrected passport for the interview or if the letter will suffice but I'm not sure how much information they will give her or how helpful they will be at this point. They also may just tell her yes, she needs to get it fixed no matter what. However, if it will make her feel better then perhaps that can be its purpose - you could just ask her to wait until they have your case.

Just to check, does your case number start with ABD?

Personally, because NVC said they would accept a letter, I would write and send that letter explaining the discrepancy in order to get your case closed there. Is that all they need from you to finish? If so, then once you send that NVC can send your case to the embassy and you can start preparing for your interview. I would then start trying to figure out what you would need to do to amend the passport in case you are asked to fix it at the interview. Did NVC say the letter was ok now but that you would need to fix it for the interview?

I am not an expedite expert but she could not use the situation in Ethiopia as a reason for expedite while she is residing in Abu Dhabi. The situation with her family also does not sound like a reason to expedite - not only are they not in UAE but, and I don't the situation, if they are harassing her about money in UAE, they will probably still harass her for money when she is in the US and therefore an expedite wouldn't change that situation.

You're reaching the home stretch, your wife is in UAE and her working situation seems tolerable for now and appears to be a much better situation than if she was in Ethiopia. I know it's hard but make sure your focusing your energy in the right place so that you can get through this as fast as possible. You're doing all the right things so far, you can do it

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

Just to check, does your case number start with ABD?

Is that all they need from you to finish?

Did NVC say the letter was ok now but that you would need to fix it for the interview?

I know it's hard but make sure your focusing your energy in the right place so that you can get through this as fast as possible. You're doing all the right things so far, you can do it

Thank you, greatly, for your continuing support. I am sure you understand how very important it is during this extremely testing process.

Today, my wife talked with US Embassy. They told her that she needed to correct her passport before interview. So she will this week go to Ethiopian Embassy in UAE, for the correction of her birthdate in passport and getting police certificate and birth certificate.

After she gets those, she will mail to me and then I will send the entire IV Packet to the NVC.

Our case number starts with A B B, for Addis Ababa. As soon as her passport is corrected, I will request change of consulate. Only change after passport finished, because maybe not able to correct birthdate outside Ethiopia.

The NVC told us that they only use biographical data from passport when scheduling interview. If data not correct, I would need to attach letter with IV Packet, explaining we tried everything but unsuccessfully to correct problem. The operator said that NVC not know what the consulate would do about uncorrected data. Operator said letter is okay with NVC, they would send the IV Packet with letter to the consulate, but operator said letter only maybe okay with consulate, not knowing how consulate would respond.

Sunday I will know what Ethiopian Embassy did. And I will definitely post it, so it helps other families.

What are Abu Dhabi Consulate officials and processing like with nonArabs/nonUAE citizens (example: Asians, Europeans, Africans)? And how are their interviews different with nonArabs/nonUAE Citizens (example: Asians, Europeans, Africans)?

Edited September 7, 2012 by Freedom 4 Married

[beejay 125]

You can find embassy reviews from users of vj here http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=United+Arab+Emirates&cty=&dfilter=5

It was a few years ago but we had no problems at the embassy and found all people we interacted with to be fair and respectful. As you can guess there were people of all nationalities there and from my recollection most were approved. There was an American man who was there with his wife from Africa and she didn't appear to speak much English. The husband said she was just shy and nervous and did speak English. The IOs took their time with that couple but they were eventually approved. There was a family who did not bring an interpreter (Iranian or Turkish maybe) and the IO let someone in the waiting room interpret for them. However, there was an Arab man who was applying for a business visa who was denied because he did not have proper documentation of his credentials or his job offer, I can't remember which. (He got quite agitated about being denied so the whole waiting room could hear him but the IO remained calm and explained the problem to him). The was also a British couple who seemed to be required to provide some court documents for an arrest and had to come back. They were quite vocal about being unhappy about the requirement but did come back later in the day - I don't think they had a decision on their case by the time they left the second time. (It's a small waiting room and you can be there all day so you do get familiar with the people around you)

It seems the only people that might encounter problems there are other Arab nationals and people with Muslim names who are put on AP mostly likely due to name checks. For all other nationalities (and I am generalizing here based on our experience and others I have read) it is a pretty straight forward process.

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

You can find embassy reviews from users of vj here http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=United+Arab+Emirates&cty=&dfilter=5

It seems the only people that might encounter problems there are other Arab nationals and people with Muslim names who are put on AP mostly likely due to name checks. For all other nationalities (and I am generalizing here based on our experience and others I have read) it is a pretty straight forward process.

Today, my wife went to the Ethiopian Embassy, and asked for the changing of her Passport's age/birthday, and Police Report and Birth Certificate. They told her that they can do that (maybe not the Police Report), it will take only 2 days then they will mail it to her. But, before, she will need to return to the Ethiopian Embassy with her original Birth Certificate.

However, it is still in Ethiopia. So she will ask her family to mail it.

She sounded very confident, and feeling like the most difficult part of the process is almost finished. We know now that everything can be done in UAE, the challenge just mailing it to UAE from Ethiopia.

So, now we just need to wait for her family to send it to her in UAE. After that, clear skies until the next storm of challenges, yet, hopefully, that will just be the interview.

I find most people have interviews together, but do you think or know of experiences that the interview will be different in some ways because she will be the only one there?

Edited September 9, 2012 by Freedom 4 Married

[beejay 125]

Great News that amending the passport will be so easy!! Glad things are starting to feel more manageable for you and your wife

From my experience there were a lot of beneficiaries at the Abu Dhabi embassy without their petitioners. Having the petitioner there seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. We were both living in UAE at the time which is why we were both there. I have no reason based on my experience to think she would be treated any different if you weren't there and unless you have some causes for concern I would say you don't need to be there. But you should do what works best and makes the most sense for your situation.

It sounds like you have everything under control. Best Wishes moving forward!

[Freedom 4 Married 0]

Hello, and thanks, everyone, for their continuing help. There are long delays between updates, as we all understand these long waits for reuniting families.

2 days ago, I received this letter. No email, just letter. I not read others that have received this letter, but because I am still waiting for my wife to finish her passport's corrections, I am waiting until then to call the NVC.

I read that they have given us a new case number. But I am confused, because it says "file is now being sent to"...Does that mean my wife should call Abu Dhabi, so to ask when her interview date is?

September 21, 2012

NVC Case Number: ...

Dear "Beneficiary":

The National Visa Center (NVC) changed the U.S. Embassy/Consulate General processing "Beneficiary"'s petition to the Embassy/Consulate General in ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES.

This file is now being transferred from the NVC to the US Embassy or Consulate General where the beneficiary's interview will take place. Please be advised that further forms and/or fees may still be requested by the US Embassy/Consulate to complete the processing of this case. Any further inquires should be directed to the assigned US Embassy or Consulate General.

NVC Case Number: ...

Petitioner's Name: ...

Principal Applicant's Name: ...

Visa Category: CR1 - CONDITIONAL SPOUSE OF U.S. CITIZEN

Priority Date: ...

Foreign State Chargeability: ETHIOPIA

U.S. Embassy orConsulate: ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, IMMIGRANT VISA UNIT, U.S. EMBASSY

P.O. BOX 4009

ABU DHABI

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

I read that they have given us a new case number. But I am confused, because it says "file is now being transferred to"...Does that mean my wife should call Abu Dhabi, so to ask when her interview date is?

Edited September 27, 2012 by Freedom 4 Married