Visa issued, waiting on UPS

[Cindy and Oualid 0]

My husband had his visa interview on June 24. The visa was approved, and it's now listed as "Issued" on the CEAC website.

The consular officer told him that he would have it in 5 days. I'm assuming that this means 5 business days, but we're confused about what that means in Algeria. Is Sunday a business day there for UPS purposes? Is Friday? Usually, in Algeria, Fridays are not business days. Sundays usually are, for most businesses. On the receipt, there is a box for saturday delivery, but it's not checked, so I'm assuming Saturdays aren't counted in the 5 days.

The waybill/receipt that the consular officer gave him has ONLY his telephone number on it. He assumed that because I am familiar with UPS, I'd know what to expect, but I've never seen anything like that. He thinks they're going to call him and make him come pick it up somewhere.

So - if anyone out there has any ideas on when I should expect him to receive / and how, I'd love some insight. I'm just wondering how long to wait before he should contact UPS there.

Also, a lot of the flights that we have been looking at have huge layovers in Qatar or Jordan. I'm assuming his transit visa won't allow him to go to a hotel and sleep, even with a 15 hour layover. So, we're probably going to opt for a more direct flight. However, it's Ramadan, and he's going to be flying west with the sun, so it's going to be a loooooong day. Anyone else ever travel on Ramadan? Any advice on getting enough hydration to make a plane trip like that?

Thanks!

[Ryan H 3,812]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to MENA regional forum; topic is specific to Algeria.

[Faycel and Renee 30]

Hi Cindy and congrats on the approval.

When I was shopping for my ticket for Faycel, we saw so many flights that had long layovers to. Faycel had a long flight over. Faycel took the flight from Algiers to Doha (3 hr layover) then Doha to London (5 hr 5 min layover) then London to Los Angeles. Definitely keep checking the prices for various price reductions. This is the summer and they will be slightly higher.

As for the visa give it a few days more as I think it took about 10 days for us to get our visa. Faycel went and picked it up at the embassy.

Now that its Ramadan he can just let the flight attendant know and they may be able to accommodate him as many flying over are observing Ramadan as well. You may want to add a note in the processing of your flight that the food is to Halal and in observance of Ramadan.

It may be better to wait til Ramadan is over to fly him out. This way he gets to spend it with his family and gather his personal belongings as he is leaving his entire life there. I too was excited to get Faycel here and was selfish to ask him to be ready before the flight date. I didnt want any delays. But he made it yay!

I do hope that everything is worked out and your husband is home soon.

Good luck

[Cindy and Oualid 0]

Thanks for the tips about flying during Ramadan!

We haven't seen each other since December 25, 2012, so he's definitely not going to wait until after Ramadan to come over. Because he's flying into Pittsburgh, the flights out of Doha all have tremendously long layovers, and I think we're going to probably fly him over on Lufthansa via Frankfurt, with another layover in Toronto, and he'll enter customs through Pittsburgh where I will pick him up. I'm familiar with the Pittsburgh airport and I can tell him what to expect. I was trying to get him to go through Paris CDG, but he doesn't want to go there (Algerians!).

Oualid's already ready - the consulate told us that we were only going to wait 5 days for the passport, but they gave us that UPS tracking receipt with no address - only his phone number. I'm assuming they call him when he can pick it up? It's so confusing!

[lovelyluminosa 2]

My husband had his visa interview on June 24. The visa was approved, and it's now listed as "Issued" on the CEAC website.

The consular officer told him that he would have it in 5 days. I'm assuming that this means 5 business days, but we're confused about what that means in Algeria. Is Sunday a business day there for UPS purposes? Is Friday? Usually, in Algeria, Fridays are not business days. Sundays usually are, for most businesses. On the receipt, there is a box for saturday delivery, but it's not checked, so I'm assuming Saturdays aren't counted in the 5 days.

The waybill/receipt that the consular officer gave him has ONLY his telephone number on it. He assumed that because I am familiar with UPS, I'd know what to expect, but I've never seen anything like that. He thinks they're going to call him and make him come pick it up somewhere.

So - if anyone out there has any ideas on when I should expect him to receive / and how, I'd love some insight. I'm just wondering how long to wait before he should contact UPS there.

Also, a lot of the flights that we have been looking at have huge layovers in Qatar or Jordan. I'm assuming his transit visa won't allow him to go to a hotel and sleep, even with a 15 hour layover. So, we're probably going to opt for a more direct flight. However, it's Ramadan, and he's going to be flying west with the sun, so it's going to be a loooooong day. Anyone else ever travel on Ramadan? Any advice on getting enough hydration to make a plane trip like that?

Thanks!

Hi I just arrived from Portland on Jet Blue then Turkish Air. I got a one way ticket for $1100.00 It flew from PDX to Boston, where I had a 5 hour layover then to Istanbul, 6 hour layover, then 3 hours I believe to Algiers. So you would just go backwards. Good Luck!

[shahara2013 16]

What's the news here? Did Ouleed come?

Edited July 15, 2014 by shahara2013