Some MENA specific questions

[Roosha 51]

I didn't even realize there were regional specific forums! YAY!

Anyway, I'm a USC, but I've been living here in Qatar with my husband for seven years. He is a Palestinian holding refugee documents from Lebanon. We are looking to move back to the states as soon as possible and I have a couple of concerns I was hoping you all could help me with!

I am trying to get an idea of how long this whole process will take but I'm having trouble getting the information. I'll be sending in the I-130 within the next week, filed from Qatar, but I will have to move back to the states by August at the latest for my son to start first grade there (US) since we won't be able to register him for school here (Qatar).

To further complicate matters I am pregnant and am due at the end of May meaning that the only times I would be able to go back to the states is in April or to wait until after the birth in July/August. However, I need to move back for the AOS stage since the only evidence I will be able to provide of intent to move back will be registering my son in school. We will be living with my parents and I won't be working for a while until the little one is older. So I think the best choice would be for me to go back first and establish domicile once our case is forwarded to NVC. So basically if the I-130 approval takes four months it would be fine as I would be able to move in April, but if it takes five or six months we'll be forced to delay until I give birth and am able to travel. Do you think I have any other options regarding domicile? Can you give me an idea about timelines?

Another concern is the fact that he is Palestinian, what is the probability that he will be subject to additional processing? Does anyone have experience here in Qatar with the embassy and their turnaround times?

Last but not least we applied for a fiance visa in 2003, for which he was approved, but we decided to live here in Qatar instead. I have included the NOAs from that visa and stated the situation in my cover letter thinking that it will help prove that this is a bona fide marriage since we were engaged before, and INS had approved our case. Or do you think this will be detrimental to our case and delay it?

Sorry for such a long post I have so many concerns and I'm just trying to get an idea of how the next year is going to look for us!

[zahrasalem 114]

Hi, I lived in Qatar with my husband, who is from Egypt,in 2009. He was working in Qatar when we met and we had his interview there as well.

I'm not sure about your situation of filing from Qatar, since I moved back to the US 3 months after we got married. I lived with him for 3 months in Qatar then I moved back here and filed his petition.

I can speak to Qatar's turnaround time, especially since both our husband's are originally from other MENA countries outside Qatar. It went really smooth for us, and only took 10 months from the time I filed the petition in May 2009....he got his visa in March 2010. He did have 12 weeks in AP, but that is totally normal for MENA applicants. Some people wait over a year, so 12 weeks is not bad at all. The AP is time they need to do the background checks for your husband's home country and in Qatar, so he has 2 countries, like my husband, that they need to verify him through.

I went to his interview with him, we both stood at the window and the CO was a nice American guy, he looked at all our stuff, asked us normal questions for our situation, and was a good interview overall.

Then a week later I came home to the US and the Qatar embassy called me and interviewed me again by phone, asking the same basic questions. They also asked me if I was sure I wanted to marry someone from a "high fraud" country. I told them I'm fully aware but it can happen to anyone from any country, not just MENA and that I'm very capable of deciding if someone is scamming me or not.

They also called my husband's boss and asked his boss if he knew we were married and of course, he did and said yes. They also called my husband again and did another quick interview by phone. They basically interviewed us separately by phone since I was at the interview in person with him at the window.

Then about 8 weeks or so later he embassy called my husband to drop off his passport and they gave it back to him with the visa inside the same day. He got a flight 2 days later and arrived here.

All in all, we don't have any complaints about the embassy in Qatar or the whole process.

What area do you live in? We lived in the Al Najma area across from Dasman market....I liked living there and miss it a little.

If you have any other questions about the Qatar embassy or the interview there, let me know, or maybe both our husbands can speak to each other online (skype or something).

Good luck! Zahra

Edited November 24, 2012 by zahrasalem

[Cathi 5,755]

I didn't even realize there were regional specific forums! YAY!

Anyway, I'm a USC, but I've been living here in Qatar with my husband for seven years. He is a Palestinian holding refugee documents from Lebanon. We are looking to move back to the states as soon as possible and I have a couple of concerns I was hoping you all could help me with!

I am trying to get an idea of how long this whole process will take but I'm having trouble getting the information. I'll be sending in the I-130 within the next week, filed from Qatar, but I will have to move back to the states by August at the latest for my son to start first grade there (US) since we won't be able to register him for school here (Qatar).

To further complicate matters I am pregnant and am due at the end of May meaning that the only times I would be able to go back to the states is in April or to wait until after the birth in July/August. However, I need to move back for the AOS stage since the only evidence I will be able to provide of intent to move back will be registering my son in school. We will be living with my parents and I won't be working for a while until the little one is older. So I think the best choice would be for me to go back first and establish domicile once our case is forwarded to NVC. So basically if the I-130 approval takes four months it would be fine as I would be able to move in April, but if it takes five or six months we'll be forced to delay until I give birth and am able to travel. Do you think I have any other options regarding domicile? Can you give me an idea about timelines?

Another concern is the fact that he is Palestinian, what is the probability that he will be subject to additional processing? Does anyone have experience here in Qatar with the embassy and their turnaround times?

Last but not least we applied for a fiance visa in 2003, for which he was approved, but we decided to live here in Qatar instead. I have included the NOAs from that visa and stated the situation in my cover letter thinking that it will help prove that this is a bona fide marriage since we were engaged before, and INS had approved our case. Or do you think this will be detrimental to our case and delay it?

Sorry for such a long post I have so many concerns and I'm just trying to get an idea of how the next year is going to look for us!

The possibility for AP or AR is very high for every male who is from the middle east, regardless of where they are living now.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Welcome to VJ MENA Roosha! I'm so glad you found us. We get what you're going through. I hope you stick around and let us know how your case goes. It's not often we get to see a case like yours. I have seen people petition for a MENA SO that is a refugee from one MENA country living in another country before. They were mostly Iraqi. We also have a couple Palestinian petitioners on here. We've also seen MENA SO's living in another country from their home country for work. These are usually in KSA and UAE.

I'm very glad to read that zaharasalem was able to provide you with a similar case and time line for Qatar.

To answer your question about including the prior K1 approval with a letter of explanation in your current petition I suspect this will be helpful with processing the case because they will see it anyways and want to know what happened. It seems when the K1 petition is denied or cancelled for bad reasons that the situation is scrutinized. I am wondering about the process of the K1 being approved but never used. Will you need to have the letter of explanation certified in order to officially cancel the prior K1 petition so you may formally start the IR-1/CR-1 petition? I've read that others have had to do this to clear up the prior petition first before applying for a second petition.

[Roosha 51]

...

He did have 12 weeks in AP, but that is totally normal for MENA applicants. Some people wait over a year, so 12 weeks is not bad at all. The AP is time they need to do the background checks for your husband's home country and in Qatar, so he has 2 countries, like my husband, that they need to verify him through.

I went to his interview with him, we both stood at the window and the CO was a nice American guy, he looked at all our stuff, asked us normal questions for our situation, and was a good interview overall.

...

What area do you live in? We lived in the Al Najma area across from Dasman market....I liked living there and miss it a little.

If you have any other questions about the Qatar embassy or the interview there, let me know, or maybe both our husbands can speak to each other online (skype or something).

Good luck! Zahra

About the AP, you're saying they need to check two countries, but my husband has never lived outside of Qatar, unless you count his first four years where he was in Lebanon. I don't think they'd need to do a background check on a four year old! lol So I'm thinking they'll only do for Qatar, right? Also, when do they do AP? Before or after the interview?

I doubt very much I'll be able to be at the interview since I'm planning on moving back to the states before him so that I can satisfy the domicile requirement. I won't have any other proof of intending to move back except registering our son for school since we'll be living with my parents at first and I won't be working in the beginning b/c I'm due May 2013 So as far as I can tell there really isn't any other way for me to satisfy the domicile requirement except to actually move there. I also don't think they'll have much doubt for the fraud aspect b/c we've already been married for 7 years and have one child and one on the way! lol

You used to live almost exactly where my in laws live! Dasman isn't there anymore, they demolished it and are building a new super market but anyways you shouldn't miss anything here habebti, I won't go into details but trust me, life here is getting more and more unbearable! I seriously can't wait to leave. Right now we're right behind the cinema traffic lights on C ring road if you remember the area...

Thanks so much for your response! I'm def keeping you in mind for when we reach the interview stage, and praying that it's going to be ASAP!

Will you need to have the letter of explanation certified in order to officially cancel the prior K1 petition so you may formally start the IR-1/CR-1 petition? I've read that others have had to do this to clear up the prior petition first before applying for a second petition.

I doubt very much I'll have to officially cancel the K1 visa since we didn't take it all the way to the end. He didn't actually get the visa stamped on his passport or anything. We reached the interview stage and he interviewed once and they requested more evidence of our relationship and so we were compiling that when a week later he got his job offer so we just kind of let the whole thing die. We never replied to the embassy or anything and I just assumed that the process was canceled. I really hope this doesn't affect his case now!

One last question for those living in countries with bad postal service, how did you deal with that regarding all the correspondence you're supposed to get from USCIS and NVC? I know at the NVC stage you're mostly getting emails but I'm just worried b/c I probably won't receive NOA1, NOA2 or (god forbid) and RFEs in the mail since I listed my address as our apt here in Qatar which means I most definitely will not get any mail. On my cover letter I stated that they should send any correspondence to my parents address in the states but will they actually do that? Is anyone else in this situation and what did you do?

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

About the AP, you're saying they need to check two countries, but my husband has never lived outside of Qatar, unless you count his first four years where he was in Lebanon. I don't think they'd need to do a background check on a four year old! lol So I'm thinking they'll only do for Qatar, right? Also, when do they do AP? Before or after the interview?

I doubt very much I'll be able to be at the interview since I'm planning on moving back to the states before him so that I can satisfy the domicile requirement. I won't have any other proof of intending to move back except registering our son for school since we'll be living with my parents at first and I won't be working in the beginning b/c I'm due May 2013 So as far as I can tell there really isn't any other way for me to satisfy the domicile requirement except to actually move there. I also don't think they'll have much doubt for the fraud aspect b/c we've already been married for 7 years and have one child and one on the way! lol

You used to live almost exactly where my in laws live! Dasman isn't there anymore, they demolished it and are building a new super market but anyways you shouldn't miss anything here habebti, I won't go into details but trust me, life here is getting more and more unbearable! I seriously can't wait to leave. Right now we're right behind the cinema traffic lights on C ring road if you remember the area...

Thanks so much for your response! I'm def keeping you in mind for when we reach the interview stage, and praying that it's going to be ASAP!

I doubt very much I'll have to officially cancel the K1 visa since we didn't take it all the way to the end. He didn't actually get the visa stamped on his passport or anything. We reached the interview stage and he interviewed once and they requested more evidence of our relationship and so we were compiling that when a week later he got his job offer so we just kind of let the whole thing die. We never replied to the embassy or anything and I just assumed that the process was canceled. I really hope this doesn't affect his case now!

One last question for those living in countries with bad postal service, how did you deal with that regarding all the correspondence you're supposed to get from USCIS and NVC? I know at the NVC stage you're mostly getting emails but I'm just worried b/c I probably won't receive NOA1, NOA2 or (god forbid) and RFEs in the mail since I listed my address as our apt here in Qatar which means I most definitely will not get any mail. On my cover letter I stated that they should send any correspondence to my parents address in the states but will they actually do that? Is anyone else in this situation and what did you do?

Hi Roosha and welcome to the MENA forum

If I remember correctly, the police report is only required for places the beneficiary has lived ("lived" meaning for more than 6 months) since age 16 - so I don't think you will need any police report from Lebanon.

However, the time it takes to do a background check can be affected by many different things, not just where your husband has lived. If he has a common name or there is a match against a name on an existing criminal/terrorist database, it can take longer to clear the check. Also travel to certain countries can trigger additional scrutiny. They may do some of the preliminary checks before the interview, but final security checks are often completed afterwards. Hopefully your AP will be completely quickly without any complications.

As far as the fraud aspect, I have seen some couples married for more than 5 years with kids hit some snags in their cases, sometimes taking years to resolve. It all depends on the individual case. Hopefully yours will go very smoothly.

The consulate will likely have the whole file from your earlier K-1 petition as the process your new case. You might want to front-load your petition with a letter addressing your previous petition, giving compelling reasons why you never followed through with providing the extra evidence after the interview. They might be suspicious about that, so better to just address it at the beginning. From what I understand, K-1 petitions will expire after a year, but it wouldn't hurt to give official notice that you are abandoning that petition as you are now married.

Also you can send in a change of address form - just update it with your parents' address listed for mailing address.

Nice to have you join us, and good luck to you and your husband for a swift and successful process !

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I doubt very much I'll have to officially cancel the K1 visa since we didn't take it all the way to the end. He didn't actually get the visa stamped on his passport or anything. We reached the interview stage and he interviewed once and they requested more evidence of our relationship and so we were compiling that when a week later he got his job offer so we just kind of let the whole thing die. We never replied to the embassy or anything and I just assumed that the process was canceled. I really hope this doesn't affect his case now!

One last question for those living in countries with bad postal service, how did you deal with that regarding all the correspondence you're supposed to get from USCIS and NVC? I know at the NVC stage you're mostly getting emails but I'm just worried b/c I probably won't receive NOA1, NOA2 or (god forbid) and RFEs in the mail since I listed my address as our apt here in Qatar which means I most definitely will not get any mail. On my cover letter I stated that they should send any correspondence to my parents address in the states but will they actually do that? Is anyone else in this situation and what did you do?

I agree with WoM that it doesn't hurt to certify the letter of explanation formally cancelling the K1 petition and explaining why you guys abandoned it when you go to apply for the new petition. I suspect if you send the letter certified I think it will resolve any back issues from the former K1.

It's also true that having children with someone doesn't prove an ongoing relationship. It's harsh but I've read interviews where the CO has said to the person being interviewed that even with a paternity test all it proves is that they can get pregnant or get others pregnant. It doesn't prove they have an ongoing relationship. In the guides here and elsewhere there are lists of evidence that they'll accept to prove ongoing relationships such as living together and showing both people on the lease or mortgage. Financial ties like owning a car together, having a joint bank account, ect. Evidence such as pictures together through the years with family members and friends. Wedding pictures from a ceremony with friends and family celebrating. Certified letters from friends and family with knowledge of your ongoing relationship, how they know about it, describing it and what they've seen, ect.

I recall at some point in the process you'll have to send in copies of each page of your passports. That should at least show that you've both resided in the same country for a period of time. When I lived in Egypt I had to get the residency stamp in my passport and the stamp that said in Arabic "Wife of an Egyptian". That allows me to stay for longer periods of time in the country with my husband. I don't know about Qatar but I imagine they do something similar to that for official purposes since I assume you're not a citizen of the country. I'm wondering how that works with your husband because he's a refugee living there. Anyways it's something to consider and maybe zaharasalem would know more about this or you know something.

As for the postal service question the most reliable that most all of us use in the MENA region is DHL. I'm unsure if they're in Qatar but I live in a big University town with a surprisingly large population of Arab students from Qatar. The University's student exchange programs and outreach locations in several Arab nations makes it one of the largest Arab exchange programs in the US. I didn't know that until I moved here and it's pretty amazing to see and learn about. I can always send my husband over to the Qatar student's place with a batch of cookies and have him ask about how it goes there for some of the general questions you have. He was mentioning it to me earlier anyways that it's time to make a visit to them since he hasn't visited them since I made a batch of Koshary for the guys and they had Iftar together for Ramadan. Let me know if you have a list of questions I can send with him to ask them for you. They had to do student visas so they're not entirely unfamiliar with how it goes.

One thing I should probably bring up is that there used to be a process called Direct Consular Filing (DCF) for petitioner's living in the same country for six months as the beneficiary. I assume since you have one child together and another on the way that you've been living together in Qatar longer than 6 months. DCF has been done away with a couple years ago. However they still take into consideration those petitioners in DCF situations. From what I gathered in your first post you're uncertain about when you would move back and are on the fence but inclined to go back to the States to further evidence by putting your son in school. You might not actually have to do this at all and can stay together for as long as possible if you can provide supporting evidence as described above including a certified letter from your family that will be hosting you in their home when you guys arrive. In your cover letter you should mention you're living in Qatar currently for however long with your spouse of however long. You have one (age of) son together and another due in May next year. That you're applying for the IR-1/CR-1 and wish to formally cancel any process left on the K1 since it no longer applies now that you're married, ect. Once they know you're living out of the country with your spouse for more than six months your process will be treated like DCF and from my understanding put on a quicker track. I can't guarantee that this is the case for Qatar but from my understanding from others living outside the country with their SOs for six + months that put this in the cover letter the process is treated like DCF. However, like others have mentioned on here AP/AR is very typical for the MENA region so all the checks will take an average of 6 months. Less is better and quicker of course and sometimes happens, and more than that is going outside the standard AP/AR but not unheard of with the instability currently happening in the region with protests, riots, breaching of Embassies, fluid security situations. Though I don't think this is the case for Qatar. It seems fairly calm and in fact I believe the 2022 FIFA (football) world cup is being hosted there from what the Qatar students tell us.

Another thing I should mention is that if you're comfortable doing this you can fill out, sign, and scan all your documents and email them to your family to print out and file for you from inside the States. That's what we did when we filed back in 2007 and my husband was in Egypt. Obviously as a student I couldn't afford to DHL the documents to him to sign and then have him DHL the documents back to me to file in the States. They accepted our documents as is. In fact most everything we submitted was a copy of originals. So as long as you keep a copy of the originals for yourselves, encase they ask for it again or they get lost in the mail, I think you'll be fine submitting copies of everything.

[Roosha 51]

...

As far as the fraud aspect, I have seen some couples married for more than 5 years with kids hit some snags in their cases, sometimes taking years to resolve. It all depends on the individual case. Hopefully yours will go very smoothly.

The consulate will likely have the whole file from your earlier K-1 petition as the process your new case. You might want to front-load your petition with a letter addressing your previous petition, giving compelling reasons why you never followed through with providing the extra evidence after the interview. They might be suspicious about that, so better to just address it at the beginning. From what I understand, K-1 petitions will expire after a year, but it wouldn't hurt to give official notice that you are abandoning that petition as you are now married.

Also you can send in a change of address form - just update it with your parents' address listed for mailing address.

Could you give me more details about these "snags"? It might give me an idea of how to avoid them!

Please see my cover letter that I've pasted below, I mention the old visa and why we decided not to take advantage of it. I just don't see why they would be suspicious, there's absolutely no reason to be. We applied for the visa, it was approved, we got to the interview stage, then he got a really good job offer and so we decided to live in Qatar, simple as that. At the interview he can prove when he got the offer and also has copies of his first contract that shows his start date at around the date of the interview.

I didn't think I could use a change of address form until later! At the NVC stage I'll put my parents address as the agent, my only worry is the NOAs and if I get any RFEs, basically any correspondence from USCIS.

In the guides here and elsewhere there are lists of evidence that they'll accept to prove ongoing relationships such as living together and showing both people on the lease or mortgage. Financial ties like owning a car together, having a joint bank account, ect. Evidence such as pictures together through the years with family members and friends. Wedding pictures from a ceremony with friends and family celebrating. Certified letters from friends and family with knowledge of your ongoing relationship, how they know about it, describing it and what they've seen, ect. Please see my cover letter below, it lists everything that I could come up with since our apt is from his company as well as elec/water bills. His car also.

When I lived in Egypt I had to get the residency stamp in my passport and the stamp that said in Arabic "Wife of an Egyptian". That allows me to stay for longer periods of time in the country with my husband. Yes, I have a residency permit that is renewed every year and he is my sponsor. Unfortunately, it doesn't say specifically that he's my husband, but the laws here do not allow a women to be sponsored by anyone except her husband, father or, very rarely, her employer. So the embassy would def see that as proof of the relationship, but I don't think they'd know anything about that in the US. He, in turn, is sponsored by his employer.

As for the postal service question the most reliable that most all of us use in the MENA region is DHL. I can always send my husband over to the Qatar student's place with a batch of cookies and have him ask about how it goes there for some of the general questions you have. Let me know if you have a list of questions I can send with him to ask them for you. They had to do student visas so they're not entirely unfamiliar with how it goes. Thanks, I'll def keep that in mind! My postal question wasn't really how to get the paperwork there, as we have DHL and fedex and everything, it was more a worry about receiving any correspondence from USCIS.

One thing I should probably bring up is that there used to be a process called Direct Consular Filing (DCF) for petitioner's living in the same country for six months as the beneficiary. Yes, I know, it's not available here anymore but that's why I'm putting my international address here and making sure they know that I'm filing from abroad, in the hopes of getting it expedited, even a little.

From what I gathered in your first post you're uncertain about when you would move back and are on the fence but inclined to go back to the States to further evidence by putting your son in school. The reason I'd go back to the states first would be to prove domicile, not anything to do with proving the relationship. In order for me to be able to sponsor him I have to have kept up a domicile in the states and/or be able to prove that I am going to re-establish domicile at the time he moves. This is all asked for when you submit the affidavit of support, not now with the I-130. So that's why I was thinking after getting approval for the I-130 I would actually move back to the states, therefore proving domicile. I won't be able to provide any other proof such as employment or renting an apt since I won't be doing any of that.

However, like others have mentioned on here AP/AR is very typical for the MENA region so all the checks will take an average of 6 months. Less is better and quicker of course and sometimes happens, and more than that is going outside the standard AP/AR but not unheard of with the instability currently happening in the region with protests, riots, breaching of Embassies, fluid security situations. Though I don't think this is the case for Qatar. It seems fairly calm and in fact I believe the 2022 FIFA (football) world cup is being hosted there from what the Qatar students tell us. Yes, as you said, Qatar is very stable, there have been no riots or anything. So at what stage do they usually conduct AP/AR? From what I've been able to understand it's after the interview in the embassy, right? Right at the end of the process, right before they hand back the passport with the visa?

Another thing I should mention is that if you're comfortable doing this you can fill out, sign, and scan all your documents and email them to your family to print out and file for you from inside the States. Yes, I'm going to send the whole I-130 package to my mom through fedex/dhl and she's going to add the check and send it on to USCIS since I don't have a way to provide check or money order drawn on a US bank.

This is the cover letter so far, let me know if you think I should add anything else!

I, RS, a US Citizen who resides abroad in Doha, Qatar, am submitting the documents contained in this package for the I-130 for my spouse, RA, a Palestinian holding refugee documents from Lebanon, who also resides in Doha, Qatar. I wish to return permanently to the United States by August 2013 for our sons’ education, and would like my husband to come with me.

My husband and I have been married for seven years and have been living in Doha, Qatar the entire time. In 2003 when we were still engaged we thought that it would be better for him to immigrate to the states and so I applied for a K-1 visa and it was approved. At the time he received a very good job offer and we decided that it would be better for us to live in Qatar. Now, seven years later, we have seen that there really is no future here for us and our child and we are looking forward to a brighter future in the United States.

Last but not least I would like to please request that you send any correspondence to

[PARENTS ADDRESS IN THE USA]

since the post here in Qatar is very unreliable and I would rather not deal with any delays that were a result of lost paperwork.

Enclosed you will find the documents listed below:

1. Check for $420

2. Form G-1145 (E-Notification of Application)

3. Form I-130

4. Copy of Certificate of Naturalization for RS

5. Copy of U.S. Passport Biological Information Page for RS

6. Copy of the Qatari marriage certificate and its English translation. Date of marriage is August 2, 2005.

7. Form G-325A completed by RS, including photograph.

8. Form G-325A completed by RA (non-US Citizen Spouse), including photograph.

9. Copy of Birth Certificate of RA (non-US Citizen Spouse) and its English translation

10. Evidence of a bona fide marriage:

a. Bank Statement detailing our joint savings account in Qatar International Bank

b. Letter from RA’s employer stating that since he is married he is entitled to round trip airline tickets for his wife (RS) and son (KA)

c. Copy of our son’s Consular Report of Birth Abroad stating RS as his mother and RA as his father.

d. 19 pictures from our wedding reception that took place one day after our marriage vows on August 3, 2005 and 26 pictures from various trips and outings during our marriage of seven years. You will find captions on the back of each picture detailing places, dates and the names of family and friends.

e. Copies of hotel receipts from our first two nights as a married couple in Doha and our honeymoon trip to Dubai.

f. Copies of visas from our passports showing the three trips taken together during our marriage.

i. Honeymoon in Dubai, Entry stamp August 7, 2005, Exit stamp 14 August 2005

ii. Short weekend in Dubai, Entry stamp June 25, 2008, Exit stamp June 28, 2008

iii. Vacation in Lebanon, Entry stamp July 8, 2011, Exit stamp for RA 15 July 2011, Exit stamp for RS July 21, 2011 as well as copies of air ticket confirmations for all three family members.

11. For your reference, I have also included copies of both Notice of Action letters that I received from the Vermont Service Center regarding our previous application for a K-1 visa in 2003.

Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Could you give me more details about these "snags"? It might give me an idea of how to avoid them!

Please see my cover letter that I've pasted below, I mention the old visa and why we decided not to take advantage of it. I just don't see why they would be suspicious, there's absolutely no reason to be. We applied for the visa, it was approved, we got to the interview stage, then he got a really good job offer and so we decided to live in Qatar, simple as that. At the interview he can prove when he got the offer and also has copies of his first contract that shows his start date at around the date of the interview.

I didn't think I could use a change of address form until later! At the NVC stage I'll put my parents address as the agent, my only worry is the NOAs and if I get any RFEs, basically any correspondence from USCIS.

This is the cover letter so far, let me know if you think I should add anything else!

I, RS, a US Citizen who resides abroad in Doha, Qatar, am submitting the documents contained in this package for the I-130 for my spouse, RA, a Palestinian holding refugee documents from Lebanon, who also resides in Doha, Qatar. I wish to return permanently to the United States by August 2013 for our sons' education, and would like my husband to come with me.

My husband and I have been married for seven years and have been living in Doha, Qatar the entire time. In 2003 when we were still engaged we thought that it would be better for him to immigrate to the states and so I applied for a K-1 visa and it was approved. At the time he received a very good job offer and we decided that it would be better for us to live in Qatar. Now, seven years later, we have seen that there really is no future here for us and our child and we are looking forward to a brighter future in the United States.

Last but not least I would like to please request that you send any correspondence to

[PARENTS ADDRESS IN THE USA]

since the post here in Qatar is very unreliable and I would rather not deal with any delays that were a result of lost paperwork.

Enclosed you will find the documents listed below:

1. Check for $420

2. Form G-1145 (E-Notification of Application)

3. Form I-130

4. Copy of Certificate of Naturalization for RS

5. Copy of U.S. Passport Biological Information Page for RS

6. Copy of the Qatari marriage certificate and its English translation. Date of marriage is August 2, 2005.

7. Form G-325A completed by RS, including photograph.

8. Form G-325A completed by RA (non-US Citizen Spouse), including photograph.

9. Copy of Birth Certificate of RA (non-US Citizen Spouse) and its English translation

10. Evidence of a bona fide marriage:

a. Bank Statement detailing our joint savings account in Qatar International Bank

b. Letter from RA's employer stating that since he is married he is entitled to round trip airline tickets for his wife (RS) and son (KA)

c. Copy of our son's Consular Report of Birth Abroad stating RS as his mother and RA as his father.

d. 19 pictures from our wedding reception that took place one day after our marriage vows on August 3, 2005 and 26 pictures from various trips and outings during our marriage of seven years. You will find captions on the back of each picture detailing places, dates and the names of family and friends.

e. Copies of hotel receipts from our first two nights as a married couple in Doha and our honeymoon trip to Dubai.

f. Copies of visas from our passports showing the three trips taken together during our marriage.

i. Honeymoon in Dubai, Entry stamp August 7, 2005, Exit stamp 14 August 2005

ii. Short weekend in Dubai, Entry stamp June 25, 2008, Exit stamp June 28, 2008

iii. Vacation in Lebanon, Entry stamp July 8, 2011, Exit stamp for RA 15 July 2011, Exit stamp for RS July 21, 2011 as well as copies of air ticket confirmations for all three family members.

11. For your reference, I have also included copies of both Notice of Action letters that I received from the Vermont Service Center regarding our previous application for a K-1 visa in 2003.

Copies of documents submitted are exact photocopies of unaltered documents and I understand that I may be required to submit original documents to an Immigration or Consular officer at a later date.

Your cover letter looks most excellent including the evidence. A few suggestions I might add are a copy of joint cell phone bills and if you have it a copy of the offer letter from his place of employment so they can see the corresponding explanation is legitimate for why you guys accepted the offer to Qatar and decided to marry instead of finishing the K1 process.

I know it seems like you don't think they have any reason to be suspicious or cautious of your relationship but the reason they require further evidence of ongoing relationship is to establish that it is authentic because the MENA region is considered a high fraud region for family based visas. It's nothing personal to you guys as a couple, they have to treat every case that way, because of the known circumstances and outcomes of marriages in MENA.

I see what you meant about the unreliable postal service. One thing we did while living in Egypt was request correspondence by email because of the unreliable mailing system. They emailed us packet 3 that way and other correspondence so you may also be able to request correspondence digitally from the Embassy level. I'm unsure they will be able to comply at the USCIS and NVC level. Perhaps another person in a similar case as you will provide those answers.

Administrative Processing and Administrative Review are typically post-interview at the Embassy level. However, I have read recently that AP/AR is being done at the NVC level in the case of some Embassies in the MENA region that are not able to operate under normal circumstance due to the ongoing unrest in the region. As we agreed Qatar doesn't appear to be one of these countries so I suspect their AP/AR is also post-interview.

I am wondering if a notified letter from your parents whom you will be living with will provide enough evidence of establishing domicile in the States. I say this only because I've seen many couples prior to this who did DCF and didn't have to move back to the States to establish domicile prior to the issue of the visa in hand, and some of them were also moving in with family Stateside after being abroad. It can be something as simple as they know of your relationship and they intend to welcome you and your family to live with them for however long to start building your lives in the States. If they are also co-sponsoring, or joint sponsoring in your case if you live with them in the same household, that would also provide further evidence of this.

[Roosha 51]

I am wondering if a notified letter from your parents whom you will be living with will provide enough evidence of establishing domicile in the States. I say this only because I've seen many couples prior to this who did DCF and didn't have to move back to the States to establish domicile prior to the issue of the visa in hand, and some of them were also moving in with family Stateside after being abroad. It can be something as simple as they know of your relationship and they intend to welcome you and your family to live with them for however long to start building your lives in the States. If they are also co-sponsoring, or joint sponsoring in your case if you live with them in the same household, that would also provide further evidence of this.

I think that would help my case but the thing is I don't have anything else Every person I've talked to who has successfully proved intent to re-establish domicile in the states have had concrete evidence. Things like employment offer, rental agreement, resigning from work overseas, closing accounts overseas etc etc. Letter from my family would certainly help, esp since my father will be joint sponsor, but I don't think those plus intending to register my son in school will be enough I don't even have credit cards or a bank account! blekh

Then again, if we get transferred to the NBC and get approved in the 2-3 months that it seems to be taking people who have been transferred there then I'd be able to go in April and have the baby with my mom next to me, which would be infinitely better than having the baby here! Otherwise we'll just wait until August, which is the latest I can go back to the states so I can be there in time for my son to start first grade. Point is, either way, I think I'll have to move back to the states first, I really doubt that I'll be able to establish domicile any other way.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I think that would help my case but the thing is I don't have anything else Every person I've talked to who has successfully proved intent to re-establish domicile in the states have had concrete evidence. Things like employment offer, rental agreement, resigning from work overseas, closing accounts overseas etc etc. Letter from my family would certainly help, esp since my father will be joint sponsor, but I don't think those plus intending to register my son in school will be enough I don't even have credit cards or a bank account! blekh

Then again, if we get transferred to the NBC and get approved in the 2-3 months that it seems to be taking people who have been transferred there then I'd be able to go in April and have the baby with my mom next to me, which would be infinitely better than having the baby here! Otherwise we'll just wait until August, which is the latest I can go back to the states so I can be there in time for my son to start first grade. Point is, either way, I think I'll have to move back to the states first, I really doubt that I'll be able to establish domicile any other way.

Concrete evidence like rental agreements can be accessed easily online. One of the things I used to have to do when I did administration work was type generic rental agreements for a property owner so she could lease houses to people. She gave me a do it yourself book that also had generic templates for rental agreements free that you can copy yourself or access online, make modifications to it yourself, then print it out. You our your parents can do something like this yourselves where you goggle a template for a rental agreement, print it out, fill in the blanks, sign it, certify it (aka have it notarized) and volia you've legally established domicile. You can make your rent for whatever amount you want, say $1 a month, and it's legal. They can even put that they're renting the basement to you month to month, and not the entire house, and include whatever amenities you're allowed to share in the house, starting on whatever day you both agree on.

I'm also wondering if you can pre-register your son for school from abroad for further evidence of domicile. I know when we moved from one State to another, as kids between parents houses, our parents registered us ahead of time before we even lived there. They said something like our kids are coming to live with us and I need to make sure I get them registered for school so they can start on time. Can your parents help with that? They could call and say our daughter is in Qatar and coming to live with us and we need to see about getting our Grandson registered for school and see what paperwork from Qatar you may need for your son. It may be easier to get these papers and things done while you're in Qatar. We also have some experience with this here in the States. My Arabic professor from the University is stuck in Egypt right now with her husband and three kids because of some issues with their visa renewal so we've been helping them from abroad running the errands for them and corresponding with the Egyptian Embassy in the States for them. They needed some paperwork from their kids schools in the States to be able to register their kids in school back in Egypt while they're waiting on all the members of their families visa renewals. I hope they get them before next semester starts since she already had to miss out on this semester but I guess we'll see. All their stuff is here and we had to take care of sub-leasing their apartment and advocate for them with their landlord to agree to this while they're back in Egypt for half the year waiting. I can't imagine what the next step will be if they don't get their visas renewed. I guess moving all their stuff into storage or asking them what they want done with it. Anyways that's another issue to deal with.

I can certainly understand you wanting to come back to the States and have kid number two here, and launch your new life while things in Qatar seem on the decline for you both.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Dr. A ♥ O