Administrative Proceedings :-( Help plz

[SH&k 4]

I attended my K1 Visa Interview today at Cairo Egypt Consulate.

I met my fiancée twice in the past year alone. All my papers were in order and I proved our relationship with photographs, viber, Facebook, skybe. While i proposed last year during my visit to Egypt , we had a formal Christian engagement party. The CO was convinced the photos represented a wedding (which is not true at all.

unfortunally I was given a white Section 221(g) form which stated Administrative Proceedings and that they would contact me. No request for ANY further documents or evidence was mentioned. They gave me back my passport, however kept all my original documents except photograph. The CO said it'll take a couple weeks.

What are my chances of getting the visa?

Any idea how long it'll take?

Is it advisable to actually get married in Egypt and apply as a spouse CR1 visa? if they reject the visa:-(

As in most cases we are fed up of waiting and would like to opt for the quickest way to be together.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. The CO saying it would only take a couple of weeks is actually a good sign- many applicants from countries like yours get many weeks or months of AP for security checks. Likely they will do some of those, and some of their own record checking to make sure you are not married.

[SH&k 4]

Sorry to hear about your trouble. The CO saying it would only take a couple of weeks is actually a good sign- many applicants from countries like yours get many weeks or months of AP for security checks. Likely they will do some of those, and some of their own record checking to make sure you are not married.

Thanks Penguin

[glazierguy 20]

its better usually when they keep your passport

[kyrachos 11]

I assume if you had a big party, you also had the ring exchange/blessing from the priest (maybe pictures of this is what convinced the CO that you were married?). Do you have an engagement contract signed by the priest(s)? If you have the contract and you showed it to the CO, then I'm at a loss (other than the officer doing his own investigation to learn about the engagement customs in the Church)...but the contract shows the date of the formal engagement, so if you didn't present it at the interview, it might be useful in case they ask you for more evidence. It could also help for you to gather information about the custom (I assume you are Coptic) in case they request it from you: http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/thecopticchurch/sacraments/6_matrimony.html This page describes the whole ceremony (including ring exchange for both the engagement and the wedding ceremonies). Perhaps you could also get a signed declaration that you are both single from St. Mark's Church (in Cairo). There is a marriage office there and before my husband and I married, we had to go there to get some kind of paper saying we were single before my husband could get permission to marry me (this was to satisfy the church/diocese where we married). An affidavit from your priest(s) might help, too, but I know it's considered "weak" evidence. This is all assuming you are Coptic; I'm not sure how it would work in other denominations in Egypt. The embassy might not ask for any additional evidence, but it's good to be prepared. So sorry you have to go through this.

I don't recommend marrying in Egypt and applying for a CR1 visa unless you're totally sure that the K1 is denied. It took us an entire month to gather all of the required paperwork to marry at the ministry of justice (mostly because of church bureaucracy--we kept getting told we needed xyz forms signed and stamped by random offices from Cairo to Ismailia so that my husband could have permission from his local church to marry me and the MOJ wouldn't accept anything other than the church form permitting him to marry) and then another two weeks to have the church ceremony (add working around fasting periods on top of those troubles) and almost 16 months from I-130 submission to CR1 visa in hand. Don't give up on your K1 until you are absolutely positive they have denied it.

[TBoneTX 45,291]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the Waivers/AP forum -- OP is in AP. ***