We were prepared! How we got approved!

[Lena&Islam 9]

I will write a review in the Consulate Office in Tunisia section but here's a summary of what happened at my fiancé interview yesterday morning. My fiancé saw that the CO was nice to the other beneficiary who were there for their interview, chatting and smiling. When his turn came up the CO completely shifted his attitude towards him when calling his name. My fiancé's name is ISLAM, which is also of his faith. He was interrogated and grilled! Why do you want marry her? You know that she is older than you? What does her son do, his he living at home with her? You speak 3 languages, why do you want to marry an American? Why not Arabic or French? Why American? You are too fluent in English, why is that? Write me a something in English? He did, he wrote a whole page in English for the CO. I've not heard of that being asked at an interview there in Tunisia...what is this? An English writing test? The CO got more and more upset as my fiancé kept his cool and answer everything honestly and gave him more information than he needed. Like all of my families name and where they lived, where my mother is living and with which sibling, my family history and background, my work and what I do, my state where I live and how cold it is here in the winter time. The CO was surprised by that, my fiancé knew so much about my state which is going to be his state too. He was being tested to see if he would crack under pressure or our relationship wasn't real but he passed every single question because he knows me and we do have a real relationship! All of our document and paperwork were completed, the CO looked at the I-134 affidavit of support which I met the requirement to support him on my own. He didn't even bother to look at any chat histories or pictures, or any other evidences. At the end of being grilled, when the CO couldn't shake my fiancé's confidence he just said come back tomorrow to get your passport, the visa may or may not be in there? He didn't tell him, you've been approved or denied, no 221G was given out. Just come back tomorrow between 1-2pm to get your passport. Yes, they kept his passport.

My fiancé left there feeling unsure if he passed or not? But for some reason I wasn't worried because they kept his passport and he stood his ground and he answered the CO, not because he knew all the right answers but because he said it convincingly that he IS in a real relationship with me and when I think you are in a real relationship you aren't scared to stand your ground in answering everything truthfully because you know that other person intimately. I think the CO can see that, no matter how hard he was trying to see if my fiancé would fail, he didn't. We also practiced what we think the CO may ask him at the interview, like the worse case scenario, which I think really prepared him for the interview that wasn't with the "nice" CO. He went in there well prepared even though we have heard that the Consulate Officers there were "nice" people and pretty much they will approve anyone, at least that's what we heard that. That wasn't our case and we were worried about his name sake and the slight age differences between us although you cannot tell at all between us, if you didn't look our birthdates. Sometimes when you have a feeling there may be things stacked against you, like a name to give people a bad perception of you, or being different in faith practices, being aged discriminated against, you have to know your audience and know what they are looking for. We made sure our case was a strong case. We studied and did our homework and I think that is why we got approved!

Today he went back to the consulate office and the man at the window said to him, come back on Tuesday your visa is not ready today. OMG! We are APPROVED! Was that so hard for them to let us know that?! My fiancé doesn't believe it until he gets that visa in his hands but for now...today...I need some sleep so I can dream about the rest of my life with him. I hope this will help some other couples from the harder countries to get visa approval from of our experiences. Good luck and best wishes to everyone who is still needing to get to their interview.

[Al422 221]

Preparation pays well, as you can see here. We were prepared too and got our approval easy and fast as well.

[NikLR 13,227]

Well done! Congrats!

[winger 2]

congratulation!good job ..thx for sharing your interview experience!keep us updated plz

[Lena&Islam 9]

Thank you to all the VJ community members. We would not have gotten this far without you and learning from you all. There was a time when I felt that I was losing it and then one of you would send me a message or a welcoming virtual hug and that would keep me going for one more day, then the next, then the next. I'm glad to know that I was never alone in this visa journey because you all knew what I was going through cause you were going through it too. Most people in my life think I'm just nuts going through this! Can't you find a nice man close to home? Does he have to be half a world away from you? Sometimes we don't choose who we fall in love with, it just happens when we least expected it to. But we know when we met that one person that we can't live without, we'd cross any ocean for them, climb any mountain, suffer through any government agencies and paperwork to be with them! It's an exhausting journey in more ways than one. I'm just getting over the shock of thinking its finally going to be over! He is finally going to be coming!

I will miss some of you that I have met through this journey, from the April Fliers to the NVC...wherever your journey is now..thank you so much! I wish you all a speedy journey so that you may be with your loved ones soon.

Thank you to the people who started and have kept VJ going. I am so thankful for your website it has made an impact in many people's lives. Thank you seems not enough to say what is in my heart for such a website like this.

[Lena&Islam 9]

I will write a review in the Consulate Office in Tunisia section but here's a summary of what happened at my fiancé interview yesterday morning. My fiancé saw that the CO was nice to the other beneficiary who were there for their interview, chatting and smiling. When his turn came up the CO completely shifted his attitude towards him when calling his name. My fiancé's name is ISLAM, which is also of his faith. He was interrogated and grilled! Why do you want marry her? You know that she is older than you? What does her son do, his he living at home with her? You speak 3 languages, why do you want to marry an American? Why not Arabic or French? Why American? You are too fluent in English, why is that? Write me a something in English? He did, he wrote a whole page in English for the CO. I've not heard of that being asked at an interview there in Tunisia...what is this? An English writing test? The CO got more and more upset as my fiancé kept his cool and answer everything honestly and gave him more information than he needed. Like all of my families name and where they lived, where my mother is living and with which sibling, my family history and background, my work and what I do, my state where I live and how cold it is here in the winter time. The CO was surprised by that, my fiancé knew so much about my state which is going to be his state too. He was being tested to see if he would crack under pressure or our relationship wasn't real but he passed every single question because he knows me and we do have a real relationship! All of our document and paperwork were completed, the CO looked at the I-134 affidavit of support which I met the requirement to support him on my own. He didn't even bother to look at any chat histories or pictures, or any other evidences. At the end of being grilled, when the CO couldn't shake my fiancé's confidence he just said come back tomorrow to get your passport, the visa may or may not be in there? He didn't tell him, you've been approved or denied, no 221G was given out. Just come back tomorrow between 1-2pm to get your passport. Yes, they kept his passport.

My fiancé left there feeling unsure if he passed or not? But for some reason I wasn't worried because they kept his passport and he stood his ground and he answered the CO, not because he knew all the right answers but because he said it convincingly that he IS in a real relationship with me and when I think you are in a real relationship you aren't scared to stand your ground in answering everything truthfully because you know that other person intimately. I think the CO can see that, no matter how hard he was trying to see if my fiancé would fail, he didn't. We also practiced what we think the CO may ask him at the interview, like the worse case scenario, which I think really prepared him for the interview that wasn't with the "nice" CO. He went in there well prepared even though we have heard that the Consulate Officers there were "nice" people and pretty much they will approve anyone, at least that's what we heard that. That wasn't our case and we were worried about his name sake and the slight age differences between us although you cannot tell at all between us, if you didn't look our birthdates. Sometimes when you have a feeling there may be things stacked against you, like a name to give people a bad perception of you, or being different in faith practices, being aged discriminated against, you have to know your audience and know what they are looking for. We made sure our case was a strong case. We studied and did our homework and I think that is why we got approved!

Today he went back to the consulate office and the man at the window said to him, come back on Tuesday your visa is not ready today. OMG! We are APPROVED! Was that so hard for them to let us know that?! My fiancé doesn't believe it until he gets that visa in his hands but for now...today...I need some sleep so I can dream about the rest of my life with him. I hope this will help some other couples from the harder countries to get visa approval from of our experiences. Good luck and best wishes to everyone who is still needing to get to their interview.

YEY! Finally! VIsa in his hands this morning! Now we're finally on our way to a real life!

[KASH2011 382]

YEY! Finally! VIsa in his hands this morning! Now we're finally on our way to a real life!

Nothing beats preparedness! Congrats to you both!

[Ebunoluwa 6,136]

Congratulations So happy for you both !