MENA K1 "Vent"

[True Love at Last 15]

Salamu Alaikum....Peace Be Upon You All,

So we are going on one year from the date we mailed our K1 package and yesterday I received an email from the Embassy saying that they are serving "first come first serve". Currently working on those who returned package 4 in AUGUST 2013. We are a unlucky OCTOBER returner.

I know many have been waiting longer but we all have the right to vent a little. I have been so patient as we all are trying to be. I'm also proactive by emailing the embassy for updates and checking the website for interview schedules. I'm just wondering if all the new "clashes" in Egyptwill delay us even more. It seems now Egyp's Embassy is focusing on Sudan Visas.

Anyone else in the same situation? Also, after the interview we may or may not have to wait for either a long or short AP. Now they require higher visa feesand updated Police Reports, Medicals and TB tests. It just seems they are trying to drag things out. I have been waiting two (2) years now to get the love of my life here. Its really sad that we have to go through hoop after hoop and jump whenever they decide to change the process.

Im contacting my Congresswoman but what help are they really? I can't return to Eypt because I know the clashes will continue and I can't bring my 6 year old daughter into that mess. I just feel stuck. Anyway, had to vent. Not that it helps but it gives me something to do and a way to et my feelins out before I explode.

Salam.......

[visaqueries 111]

My fiance and I started the process in August 2012. We sent packet 3 to the Embassy on August 3, 2013 . His interview was December 18. Another woman whose fiance sent his packet 3 to the embassy in June had an interview one week before ours. The interview was really tough for my fiance (about 25 minutes of intensity) and in the end the main concern of the interviewer was that he believed we were actually married. He told my fiance they would check with the Department of Justice to make sure there was no marriage on file. If it all checked out they would "go forward with our visa". He then said it would be a few weeks before we would know. As of now we are still in AP. It is frustrating to wait for sure. We are trying to be patient, but I still check our status everyday.

If you sent in packet 3 in October it shouldn't be that much longer now. I do know that it feels like a lifetime away sometimes. Best wishes for the two of you.

[True Love at Last 15]

My fiance and I started the process in August 2012. We sent packet 3 to the Embassy on August 3, 2013 . His interview was December 18. Another woman whose fiance sent his packet 3 to the embassy in June had an interview one week before ours. The interview was really tough for my fiance (about 25 minutes of intensity) and in the end the main concern of the interviewer was that he believed we were actually married. He told my fiance they would check with the Department of Justice to make sure there was no marriage on file. If it all checked out they would "go forward with our visa". He then said it would be a few weeks before we would know. As of now we are still in AP. It is frustrating to wait for sure. We are trying to be patient, but I still check our status everyday.

If you sent in packet 3 in October it shouldn't be that much longer now. I do know that it feels like a lifetime away sometimes. Best wishes for the two of you.

Thanks for the reply. I know we were in for a longer wait but this is too much. I pray that you get your visa soon. If you dont mind me asking, what gave them the impression you were already married?

We really are at the mercy of the embassy. It's sad to see all the DV Lottery Visas going to interviews while we wait. They have only scheduled two Fiance Visa interviews for January!

My prayers are with you and your fiance too.

[visaqueries 111]

Both of us come from very traditional families, and us traveling together in foreign countries didn't seem to coincide with the idea of our families having traditional values. He asked how my family would even allow it?

It's funny sometimes that you think what you are doing will prove one thing, but it ends up providing doubts in other areas. As a teacher, I have been able to take trips twice a year to see him, and this past summer I went for the entire time. We felt that having seen each other often would help lend itself to the idea that we really do have a real relationship. Little did we expect that having had so much time would give the impression that we were married.

To be very specific, I come from a long line of ministers. He lives in a really traditional family. The fact that we stayed in the same place and traveled together made the interviewer think the only way we would be in the same place is if we were married. Eventually the interviewer conceded that it is possible for two people who come from traditional families to make unpopular personal decisions. He even talked about how there were some decisions he made in life that did not get his own mother's stamp of approval.

[Heather&Ramy 22]

Its good to hear from others who are in the same boat... we sent in the packet 3 in August, so I guess we should be soon, but we were disappointed to see nothing in January! I can't believe they filled the whole month with only one kind of visa, that doesn't seem fair. I don't know exactly how the lottery visa works, but it's not a process with people behind it for months, right? Isn't it just some lucky draw and then you go for an interview? Hello, we sent in paperwork and a large sum of money more than a year ago now for our governement to perform a service for us and yet we're still waiting...

I don't even believe they are going in order of first come first serve because we did ours in early August and now we know we don't have an interview until after January at the earliest, but this other poster was August and had an interview in December... it doesn't seem right.

[visaqueries 111]

I think you're right...the whole process is frustrating. Sometimes you feel like you get ahead and other times you just feel like you are spinning your wheels. In August of 2012, I thought we'd be having our interview in time for my fiancé to join me for the summer of 2013. Unfortunately, our NOA2 didn't arrive until late April 2013. Somehow, after we turned in our paperwork for packet 3, I expected to be interviewed in February 2014. I was tracking interviews of others, and it seemed to fit my expectations. My fiancé and I were totally shocked when we saw our case number on the website in December. Really, I thought it was wrong.

If we get approved (AP is the worst part of the process IMO), it will be almost two years since we began the petition when he finally arrives. I had consulted a lawyer before we began the process, and she told me a year was average. Back then, I thought that was forever and a day. Oh, to be just a year would be lovely!

I hope you'll get your interviews at the beginning of February, and things will be speedy and quick for you. It's so tough to wait for this process.

[LizzieBee 25]

If we get approved (AP is the worst part of the process IMO), it will be almost two years since we began the petition when he finally arrives. I had consulted a lawyer before we began the process, and she told me a year was average. Back then, I thought that was forever and a day. Oh, to be just a year would be lovely!

I hope you'll get your interviews at the beginning of February, and things will be speedy and quick for you. It's so tough to wait for this process.

Just out of curiosity, why did it take three months for you to return your package three? Is there a delay in scheduling medical exams and getting copies of the police records? I'm so nervous about all the unknowns!

[visaqueries 111]

We took a little longer because our best time for him to come is in the summer, and we thought if he applied in the summer he could have interviewed and been accepted earlier than we wanted/needed. Then when I was in Egypt this past summer I read on VJ that interviews were taking 5-6 months to occur, so we decided to put our application in as I was leaving. We'd have just asked for an extension if necessary (I heard that was possible).

He scheduled the medical and was in within days and that took a week for him to get back. The police record took a day or two, so it was easy too. So, to answer your question, the reason it took three months was entirely our decision. Yes, we want to be together ASAP, but we also know that for our particular circumstance May is best for his arrival.

[LizzieBee 25]

Cool! Good to know. I was hoping it was deliberate!

[Heather&Ramy 22]

I have an update.... We got notice of our interview being scheduled yesterday (the 16th)! It is on the 21st of January.

We are so excited, but I think its very interesting to note that our interview is NOT on the online schedule. Another sign that the Cairo embassy is screwed up, but also perhaps hopeful news that even if you are not on the schedule, you may indeed be scheduled? I was kind of suspicious of the online schedule anyways since they have a record of not updating it often... hope there will be surprises like this for others too.

I was taken aback by how short the notice is though! Ramy is scrambling to get time off his work to make the trip to Cairo, and I'm scrambling to get everything ready for the interview... they only gave us 5 days notice!

[True Love at Last 15]

So just to update you all...I contacted my senator for a status request. The reply was immediate. Egypt is currently working on scheduling those who returned package 3 in September. I assume this means they will start scheduling us (my fiance and I) and October returners in March, we hope and pray. The senators office was told that there is a back log and they are going in chronological order of returned packages not by initial filing date.

We just hope this information is correct but again we will take it with a grain of salt and simply continue being patient.

Good luck to us all, inshaAllah.

[Heather&Ramy 22]

That's great to have some concrete information about where they are in the process. Hope they keep up the pace and you can get in there soon!

[Newsha 10]

We applied for K1 back in 2011 and 3 days ago my status finally said Issued

There wasn't any problem with our case but it took for ever

Just consider the amount of MENA folks running down to the US for varies reasons, I never said WHY they're taking much time or why am I put in AP for 6 months, I'm a Felestini living in Pakistan happened to fall for someone in the US I expected at least a year in AP alone

They're just doing what they gotta do, it's safe to say all the waiting time is fair

[LizzieBee 25]

I applied for an expedite because I'm on the verge of losing my home over a technicality and having my fiance here would make it possible for me to keep it. It's the home where my kids have security and continuity after a difficult divorce, and it's my source of income because it contains a legal income property in the basement. I have two special needs kids and a three-year-old. The other of my four kids has been talking about suicide. Just found out today that our expedite request was rejected. So now I either have to lose my house and income, or go get a job and put my autistic son, young daughter, and suicidal son in daycare. FML.

I can't stop crying. This means he won't get his interview until probably June and doesn't want to travel right before Ramadan because that would make our first month together so strange and it would be so hard for his family to have him gone right then. So I won't see him until August at the earliest now. I just can't think. I need him here. I have absolutely no other security net and now I just have to somehow get stronger and do the impossible. I can't even think, I'm so disappointed and upset.

Lots of four-letter words running through my brain. Sorry for the "vent" but isn't that what this thread is for? (And please, be kind in your replies. I just need a little compassion right now.)

[sandinista! 1,816]

That's terrible, awful news, and I hope you find a way to help your children and hang on to your house. This is a difficult enough process to crumble under without all the other problems landing on you right now, I hope you can catch some kind of break with all of this. And very, very soon.