How is that possible?

[coolman673 0]

Hello everyone. I had a question that I'm curious about. My friend who did the spousal visa had his interview last week at the Egyptian US consulate. During his interview, they asked him to bring proof that he is married to her. My question is, doesn't the US consulate in Egypt have access to government files so they can see if that person was married or not?

[Gorkhali 214]

Didn't they took marriage certificate ... Photos and other supporting document for interview

strange question asked at embassy ... May be they were not sure about bonafied marriage ... May be some experienced member can reply u in details

[coolman673 0]

Didn't they took marriage certificate ... Photos and other supporting document for interview

strange question asked at embassy ... May be they were not sure about bonafied marriage ... May be some experienced member can reply u in details

from what I was told is they took photos and everything but on his government ID it stated that he was single because he never changed it. But my question is why would they need to provide such information. Doesn't the US consulate have access to all this information ?

[CheeAndPaul 9]

No, they do not typically have access.

Could certain parts of the US government figure it out, sure, but it is easier and much, much less expensive to ask the immigrant to provide the proof themselves.

Governments in general do not communicate well between their bureaucracies. This is especially true at the international level and exists through all levels of any government itself. (A great example is filling out the I-130 for the USCIS, and then filling out the DS-260 for US DOS, the info is very similar, yet we have to enter it twice.)

Even the individual states in the US do not communicate between each other. This has a lot to do with who will pay for such communication. Notice the multiple fees you pay instead of just a one time fixed fee.

Hello everyone. I had a question that I'm curious about. My friend who did the spousal visa had his interview last week at the Egyptian US consulate. During his interview, they asked him to bring proof that he is married to her. My question is, doesn't the US consulate in Egypt have access to government files so they can see if that person was married or not?

[coolman673 0]

Why pay when you can have someone else in need for the visa pay for it, right? I think you are right though, Consulates wouldn't have access to such information because i don't think it's within their jurisdictions.

[CheeAndPaul 9]

You are making assumptions.

1) Yes the US government most likely does not care if you immigrate or not. Others certainly want to immigrate, but in general, it is indifferent towards who comes over. This is a good thing.

2) You are the one seeking a benefit from the US government. The ability to immigrate. Therefore the onus is upon you to provide the evidence of who you are and your relationship to your spouse.

3) The US government does not need, nor want the expense of maintaining records on every human of this fine world. They don't even need the expense of maintaining records of just US citizens.

4) Foreign Governments do not typically share info on their citizens with other foreign governments. There is no compelling reason for that to happen, with the exception of a few cases (Interpol is one)

5) Typically local governments maintain the records that are needed to immigrate. The US could ask the local government for the info, but the local government would want compensation for the burden that the US has put on it. It is easier for a foreign citizen to approach their own government and ask for their own records. Generally this service is provided free or at very low cost to their citizens.

To sum up, you are seeking a benefit therefore the cost of that benefit is yours. Do not expect other people to pay for your benefit.

This process sucks, I get that, but providing proof of marriage is trivial.