Looking for people to talk to about denials in MENA

[DarwishAE 19]

While I'm searching for an attorney me and my husband can actually afford, I'm trying to find someone I can talk to about what they did after a denial in Cairo or other MENA countries. The denial has been emotionally devastating for me and my husband and not being able to find out the reason has just added to our stress. We are fairly certain it will be for a non bonifide marriage, as the CO seemed to think that and requested more evidence which we apparently didn't respond to adequately. I honestly wish I had consulted a lawyer when that happened and we may not be in this awful mess now. So far all I know is USCIS got our case for review yesterday.

[Deagle 508]

may i ask what the CO asked for extta evidences ? and why couldn't provide

[DarwishAE 19]

may i ask what the CO asked for extta evidences ? and why couldn't provide

He requested more chat logs since we commonly talk on Facebook with our schedules. We provided 50 pages which I realize now wasn't enough by a long shot.

[Deagle 508]

what is the time frame of the 50 pages you provided? are they around weeks, months? did you not provide viber call logs or skype ?

[DarwishAE 19]

what is the time frame of the 50 pages you provided? are they around weeks, months? did you not provide viber call logs or skype ?

The evidence we sent initially was just Skype screenshots, some chat logs, and photos of us together and with family. We added more photos since I went on two more trips over the time everything was being processed.

The 50 pages did span our two year relationship. I just went through and tried to pick out ones that showed more than just day to day conversation.

I realize now the evidence we sent was not sufficient. We should have gathered more.

[Deagle 508]

The evidence we sent initially was just Skype screenshots, some chat logs, and photos of us together and with family. We added more photos since I went on two more trips over the time everything was being processed.

The 50 pages did span our two year relationship. I just went through and tried to pick out ones that showed more than just day to day conversation.

I realize now the evidence we sent was not sufficient. We should have gathered more.

I honestly do not think the denial was because the evidences were not enough, they are really enough, i mean what else evidences they need? you had photos together,family, call logs and screenshots. there must be something else.

[nomadnoor 29]

I personally would say 50 pages is a lot of chat evidence.

My husband had his interview at the Casablanca Consulate on 10/10 and they gave him a 221g - because they wanted W2's, an i864A for my mothers spouse - as my mother is the co sponsor not her spouse and not the 1040s or IRS Tax Transcripts simply because they were to lazy to sit down and throughly go through the income information provided IMO and to then interview me the next week regardless that I was sitting outside the consulate and could have been easily called in the same day.

Before we even went to the interview I tried both via phone and email to call and clarify with the consulate immigrant visa section why they wanted this specific evidence with regards to the W2's and the i864A - which I had made the corrects to my mothers I864A per NVC instructions. No one responded to my emails except to finally email me to confirm my husband's interview date - so he could see the panel doctor.

So did you get a 221g or an out right denial just to clarify?

Did you or your spouse have any other evidence such as physical letters, photos, emails, receipts from trips etc that could back up your two year relationship that you took to the interview? Did the CO even ask to look at the items??

I personally find MANY denials are just based on the personal opinion of the consular officer rather than the evidence being lacking on the part of the couple going through the visa process. One such example is my friend who's husband was denied because when he was interviewed - he requested a translator because he felt shy and unconfident using his English with a stranger and wanted to make sure he understood what was being asked or said to him.

The CO who denied my friends husband did so because he couldn't convince the CO that he communicated with his wife in fluent English. If the CO wanted proof of the language skills of the person being interviewed - they should have asked for the results from a TOEFL exam - instead of believing my friends husband - they denied them and they had to reapply and wait another year and then got approved.

InshaAllah you soon get through this process and its a good first step to get legal immigration advice from a lawyer.

Ally & Omar

[DarwishAE 19]

I personally would say 50 pages is a lot of chat evidence.

My husband had his interview at the Casablanca Consulate on 10/10 and they gave him a 221g - because they wanted W2's, an i864A for my mothers spouse - as my mother is the co sponsor not her spouse and not the 1040s or IRS Tax Transcripts simply because they were to lazy to sit down and throughly go through the income information provided IMO and to then interview me the next week regardless that I was sitting outside the consulate and could have been easily called in the same day.

Before we even went to the interview I tried both via phone and email to call and clarify with the consulate immigrant visa section why they wanted this specific evidence with regards to the W2's and the i864A - which I had made the corrects to my mothers I864A per NVC instructions. No one responded to my emails except to finally email me to confirm my husband's interview date - so he could see the panel doctor.

So did you get a 221g or an out right denial just to clarify?

Did you or your spouse have any other evidence such as physical letters, photos, emails, receipts from trips etc that could back up your two year relationship that you took to the interview? Did the CO even ask to look at the items??

I personally find MANY denials are just based on the personal opinion of the consular officer rather than the evidence being lacking on the part of the couple going through the visa process. One such example is my friend who's husband was denied because when he was interviewed - he requested a translator because he felt shy and unconfident using his English with a stranger and wanted to make sure he understood what was being asked or said to him.

The CO who denied my friends husband did so because he couldn't convince the CO that he communicated with his wife in fluent English. If the CO wanted proof of the language skills of the person being interviewed - they should have asked for the results from a TOEFL exam - instead of believing my friends husband - they denied them and they had to reapply and wait another year and then got approved.

InshaAllah you soon get through this process and its a good first step to get legal immigration advice from a lawyer.

Ally & Omar

Thanks for your detail! I appreciate it.

Well we first recieved after the interview what I assume was a 221g although the paper didn't specify. It was asking for us to provide chat logs because the CO didn't believe my husband could speak to me due to his English abilities. So, similar to your friend. So the CO specifically asked for chat logs to prove it since my husband told him we commonly chat on Facebook because I have a crazy work schedule. The letter we got later just said it was being sent back to USCIS for review. No reason as to why which has been extremely frustrating.

My husband really wanted a translator but we practiced a lot before the interview and he did it in English. But the CO told him his English sucked pretty much which did not help my hubby's confidence at all.

I truly believe the CO made a personal decision and ignored the evidence he had. When my husband tried to show him other evidence he refused to look at it. But, the CO had photos from three trips to Egypt and boarding passes to show I was indeed there and receipts from the two times we went to sharm which had both of our info and were signed by the hotel manager. He also had Skype screenshots and cards we gave each other from our birthdays and anniversary. I truly thought going in that this was all enough. When I got the email they were sending it back we was absolutely blindsided. It has been a very rough 6 weeks. Right now we are trying to decide if we should wait and apply again or have me move to Egypt in the next year or so and live there for a year before applying again. We don't have the financial means for me to move for a while, as most people, the plan was to have him here which is what I had been preparing for for over a year. It's amazing how all that can be shattered by a two sentence email.

[Deagle 508]

Thanks for your detail! I appreciate it.

Well we first recieved after the interview what I assume was a 221g although the paper didn't specify. It was asking for us to provide chat logs because the CO didn't believe my husband could speak to me due to his English abilities. So, similar to your friend. So the CO specifically asked for chat logs to prove it since my husband told him we commonly chat on Facebook because I have a crazy work schedule. The letter we got later just said it was being sent back to USCIS for review. No reason as to why which has been extremely frustrating.

My husband really wanted a translator but we practiced a lot before the interview and he did it in English. But the CO told him his English sucked pretty much which did not help my hubby's confidence at all.

I truly believe the CO made a personal decision and ignored the evidence he had. When my husband tried to show him other evidence he refused to look at it. But, the CO had photos from three trips to Egypt and boarding passes to show I was indeed there and receipts from the two times we went to sharm which had both of our info and were signed by the hotel manager. He also had Skype screenshots and cards we gave each other from our birthdays and anniversary. I truly thought going in that this was all enough. When I got the email they were sending it back we was absolutely blindsided. It has been a very rough 6 weeks. Right now we are trying to decide if we should wait and apply again or have me move to Egypt in the next year or so and live there for a year before applying again. We don't have the financial means for me to move for a while, as most people, the plan was to have him here which is what I had been preparing for for over a year. It's amazing how all that can be shattered by a two sentence email.

the reason is not that there is no enough evidences, i believe that the reason is your spouse did not do well in the interview with the CO, like language thing made the CO doubtful about how do you both communicate with such language, add to that, if you filled in the DS-260 that he speaks english and then ask for translator or do not speak english good enough, that will rise some red flags

I believe the evidences you have are more than enough, you really have strong evidences

[DarwishAE 19]

the reason is not that there is no enough evidences, i believe that the reason is your spouse did not do well in the interview with the CO, like language thing made the CO doubtful about how do you both communicate with such language, add to that, if you filled in the DS-260 that he speaks english and then ask for translator or do not speak english good enough, that will rise some red flags

I believe the evidences you have are more than enough, you really have strong evidences

That could definitely be it too. My goal for Monday is to get USCIS to tell me why it was denied. They got our case yesterday.

[Deagle 508]

That could definitely be it too. My goal for Monday is to get USCIS to tell me why it was denied. They got our case yesterday.

good luck, let us know what the reason is, i am interested to know

[sandinista! 1,816]

What was contained in the chat logs submitted didn't overcome the rest of the red flags. If I'm remembering right, yours went beyond lacking English fluency on the part of your husband...you got married very, very quickly after meeting, and there are friends/family issues in the marriage that must have yelled not legit to the consulate. He didn't successfully overcome those red flags. Maybe he might have been able to, had his fluency been better, maybe not. It's most likely that very little of this has much to do with chat logs, however much significance they seem to be getting here.

[DarwishAE 19]

What was contained in the chat logs submitted didn't overcome the rest of the red flags. If I'm remembering right, yours went beyond lacking English fluency on the part of your husband...you got married very, very quickly after meeting, and there are friends/family issues in the marriage that must have yelled not legit to the consulate. He didn't successfully overcome those red flags. Maybe he might have been able to, had his fluency been better, maybe not. It's most likely that very little of this has much to do with chat logs, however much significance they seem to be getting here.

Yes we did get married quickly, however, I'm not the first. There are no family or friend issues in our marriage. We have full support on both sides. Yes, sure, we had red flags and many other people get approved with similar or worse red flags. It's quite obvious he didn't overcome the red flags or we wouldn't be in this situation. It's too late to change all that now, so we are moving forward and figuring out what the best course of action is for the future.

[sandinista! 1,816]

People are not denied based on personal opinions or whims of consulars or any such nonsense. Not understanding the process, or having very little actual knowledge of the process seems to often fuel that absurd conclusion, but that doesn't make it true. People's real red flags are often embarrassing though, and personal, and it's a whole lot easier to pin blame on consulars than aspects of one's own personal life, or the lives of friends and family. If anything, throughout MENA, even though a couple consulates are some of the most difficult in the world, overall they seem to err on the side of giving a visa in the most absurd of circumstances, rather than denying them. They're far more generous, forgiving, and understanding than they're given credit for here.

[DarwishAE 19]

People are not denied based on personal opinions or whims of consulars or any such nonsense. Not understanding the process, or having very little actual knowledge of the process seems to often fuel that absurd conclusion, but that doesn't make it true. People's real red flags are often embarrassing though, and personal, and it's a whole lot easier to pin blame on consulars than aspects of one's own personal life, or the lives of friends and family. If anything, throughout MENA, even though a couple consulates are some of the most difficult in the world, overall they seem to err on the side of giving a visa in the most absurd of circumstances, rather than denying them. They're far more generous, forgiving, and understanding than they're given credit for here.

Well to be quite honest, that's why I was blindsided by the denial. I was geared for a long AP process, not this. Regardless of red flags and whatever, this whole thing is awful for anyone going through it.