Is religion of importance?

[Heather_Romani 0]

How does religion factor in with the visa, and does it have an impact on time or anything? My fiance is Christian from that area...I am not sure if it is easier or still as difficult as if he were Muslim.

[Visa4habibi! 0]

Welcome to VJ! About your question - I'm not sure what to tell you. Hopefully somebody who knows more will asnwer you.

[ELW 5]

I do not think that religion factors at all regarding a visa petition! Our beliefs are not asked anywhere. Perhaps the question only may be asked at the interview stage - but not before then. Anyone out there been questioned about religion at the interview?

[payxibka 10,045]

It would be contrary to our freedom of religion and therefore "out of bounds" to use it as criteria for a decision.

[Alex+R 0]

I'm not MENA but isn't the common thought that it's usually easier for a Christian or a woman to get the visa in the MENA area?

[~*Dorothy*~ 2]

Welcome to VJ!

As for religion - it can become an issue during the interview but if both parties share same faith I think it is seen as a positive factor. I personally feel that religion is just a small part of a very complex decision making process on the part of the immigration officer...

Edited January 16, 2007 by Lost in NY

[mybackpages 0]

Religion can play an indirect role when getting throught the security checks after the interview in ME/NA. I suspect an egyptian with a christain name will have much less of false name hits than one with a muslim name.

[UmmSqueakster 54]

While it is certainly the commonly held assumption that christians get through quicker, it's not always the case - JP's fiance has been on AP (review after the interview) for several weeks now, and both are Jordanian christians.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Despite U.S. laws about "freedom of religion," the subject is certainly NOT "out of bounds" for the ME/NA consulates. They absolutely DO ask about religion and they DO consider it as part of the overall "picture" when the petitioner and beneficiary are of different religions. Many of the "mixed religion" couples here were questioned -- often intensely -- about this matter.

If you and your fiance are both Christian, this will not be an issue. As MBP said, your security processing "may" be shorter if his name is not one of the common Muslim names, but as Rahma mentioned, it's no guarantee.

Wishing you the best of luck !

-MK

[Private 1]

I will say that from my interview they did not believe that I was muslim. They told him something to the extent that how can they tell I wear hijib and that the photos did not matter because I could have worn it just to hook him up with a visa. So I have to prove that I am muslim too. I would suggest that if you do not have a muslim name or muslim orgin you should address this in the orginal petition #18 and to incldue the certificate of Shahada, etc. along with photos with hijib. I have to say that there is never a straight answer they do not follow a certain pattern if they want to give it to you then you get it and if they do not you do not. I heard of them given 5 questions like what is her name what is your name, where does she live and how did you meet and that is it. Then my fiance was the extreme of being questioned for about 45 minutes. I heard that they even asked this guy to write down his fiance mother name (hint she had a strange Eastern European name).

I mean when I filed my petition I was careful in my selection and I was told to not provide to much information. Well now I think after seeing how it went that I should have provided too much. I mean the person that gave me the advice flew through the process however, it did not work for me. I called the State Department and I was told that the consulate officers follow trends, so they classify individuals and group you before you even hit the door. Therefore, I suggest that if you think you fall in to a group (and you can tell the trend by looking on here) then I would cover that before it goes to the consulate. The Consulates Officer is not suppose to return a petition for a reason that the USCIS was aware of so remember this. A quick mention of that we discussed this and that about our relationship and we feel like it will not hinder our future because our beliefs are so simliar etc. Will give you a leg up. (I think.) TAKE ADVANTAGE OF #18.

[jordanianprincess 0]

It was definitly a name hit we got, although we are both Christians, my fiance has a name that is considered to be muslim. Also the meaning of his name is revolution, along with the fact that he is from Zarka. Sooooo I'm guessing that is what landed us in there.

By theory I guess some would supposed that Christian's have an easier time. However everyone that I know has not had an easy time at all, including myself. It's also not so easy to distinuguish between Christian and Muslim names anymore especially at the consular level.