CR-1 Egypt Consulate Review (couldn't post in reviews due to bug in new site)

[MMteam 72]

We arrived at the US Embassy in Cairo at 6:00AM and waited out in the cold across the street from the entrance until 7:30am.

 

Our recommendations for arrival, comfort, and preparedness:

 

1. Dress warmly in layers because the weather has been quite cold in the early mornings!

2. Be prepared to walk quickly to secure a first place in the line at the entrance. You want to be the first face the consul sees that morning, inshallah.

3. Have your Aramex, two photographs, interview letter ready to be checked when you line up.

4. Leave your electronics at home except your mobile which you can leave with security.

 

We finally got into the immigration and non-immigration waiting area with our number 600. We waited for our number to be called for about 30 minutes. We handed our birth certificate, copiy of it, marriage certificate, police certificate and copy of it, passport, two photographs to the Egyptian lady in the window. She asked us some basic questions: When did you get married? How long have you been married? Do you (US citizen petitioner) have a job in the US? How long have you been in Egypt? She had the US citizen petitioner (me, the wife) write a statement saying why I am not working. I stated that I have a residency permit here in Egypt that does not allow me to work and that I am a graduate student.

 

This lady gave us back nearly everything we sent in. It was a huge packet. She said the consular officer may want to see some it, but they did not want it.

 

Finally, about an hour and a half later, we were called to the consular officer interview in Window 15 which is a private room at the end of the hallway behind a door.

 

Our consular office was pleasant and around our age (thirties). He swore in my husband and asked us:

 

- How did you meet?

- When did you decide to get married?

- DId your family attend the wedding? (asked to US citizen)

- How long were you in the United States? (asked to my husband, a former Fulbright scholar, who studied in the USA for 17 months)

- How long have you been in Egypt? (asked to me about my length of stay here in Egypt with my husband)

- When were you last in the United States (asked to me to check my domicile)

- Do you have a home in the US? (asked to me to check my domicile)

We then produced evidence of my US domicile consisting of voter registration and voting record, financial statements, investment accounts, graduate studies enrollment verfication certificate and transcripts from my American college, our pet's passport showing my US address, letter from my parents inviting us to stay with them at their home upon arrival)

 

He typed quite a while on the computer and then congratulated us, said our visa was approved and would take up to two weeks to process. He kept my husband's passport and handed us a paper with the green card fee $165 to be paid online upon receipt of the passport from Aramex.

 

Our advice to others is to arrive well-rested, organized, each file easily accessible, dress smartly, and don't worry yourself into a frenzy. And be sure to keep your answers short and to the point with pleasant tone of voice. Remember to breathe and smile. Best of luck to everyone. Take care : )

[Hq1987 5]

Alf alf mabrook

[Ahmed Elshereef 11]

Congratulations guys.

I hope a happy life to you.

 

Edited January 10, 2017 by AHMED & LUNA

[Duncan21 202]

Congratulations, and thank you for the review - very helpful

[MMteam 72]

switched now from Ready to AP ??!! hope its normal one

[kareelina 42]

Congratulations , I really love window 15 , people there are more friendly than other windows . The GC fees not $165 anymore we paid $220 , or may be we were overcharged.

[Ahmed Elshereef 11]

5 hours ago, theossmanfamily said:

switched now from Ready to AP ??!! hope its normal one

ENSHA'LLAH it will be normal, soon it will be issued ENSHA'LLAH. 

[Alexistara 7]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

Today is two weeks, since our interview. No news on Abdo's visa. Still shows that it hasn't been processed.  We were told two to three weeks.  You were told two weeks, hopefully that means they are catching up and we should hear any day.

 

Congrats again...my heart exploded when I read you were approved.

[Ahmed & Amy 291]

On 1/10/2017 at 5:40 PM, theossmanfamily said:

We arrived at the US Embassy in Cairo at 6:00AM and waited out in the cold across the street from the entrance until 7:30am.

 

Our recommendations for arrival, comfort, and preparedness:

 

1. Dress warmly in layers because the weather has been quite cold in the early mornings!

2. Be prepared to walk quickly to secure a first place in the line at the entrance. You want to be the first face the consul sees that morning, inshallah.

3. Have your Aramex, two photographs, interview letter ready to be checked when you line up.

4. Leave your electronics at home except your mobile which you can leave with security.

 

We finally got into the immigration and non-immigration waiting area with our number 600. We waited for our number to be called for about 30 minutes. We handed our birth certificate, copiy of it, marriage certificate, police certificate and copy of it, passport, two photographs to the Egyptian lady in the window. She asked us some basic questions: When did you get married? How long have you been married? Do you (US citizen petitioner) have a job in the US? How long have you been in Egypt? She had the US citizen petitioner (me, the wife) write a statement saying why I am not working. I stated that I have a residency permit here in Egypt that does not allow me to work and that I am a graduate student.

 

This lady gave us back nearly everything we sent in. It was a huge packet. She said the consular officer may want to see some it, but they did not want it.

 

Finally, about an hour and a half later, we were called to the consular officer interview in Window 15 which is a private room at the end of the hallway behind a door.

 

Our consular office was pleasant and around our age (thirties). He swore in my husband and asked us:

 

- How did you meet?

- When did you decide to get married?

- DId your family attend the wedding? (asked to US citizen)

- How long were you in the United States? (asked to my husband, a former Fulbright scholar, who studied in the USA for 17 months)

- How long have you been in Egypt? (asked to me about my length of stay here in Egypt with my husband)

- When were you last in the United States (asked to me to check my domicile)

- Do you have a home in the US? (asked to me to check my domicile)

We then produced evidence of my US domicile consisting of voter registration and voting record, financial statements, investment accounts, graduate studies enrollment verfication certificate and transcripts from my American college, our pet's passport showing my US address, letter from my parents inviting us to stay with them at their home upon arrival)

 

He typed quite a while on the computer and then congratulated us, said our visa was approved and would take up to two weeks to process. He kept my husband's passport and handed us a paper with the green card fee $165 to be paid online upon receipt of the passport from Aramex.

 

Our advice to others is to arrive well-rested, organized, each file easily accessible, dress smartly, and don't worry yourself into a frenzy. And be sure to keep your answers short and to the point with pleasant tone of voice. Remember to breathe and smile. Best of luck to everyone. Take care : )

Congratulations!! So happy for you both. 

[kareelina 42]

1 hour ago, Alexistara said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

Today is two weeks, since our interview. No news on Abdo's visa. Still shows that it hasn't been processed.  We were told two to three weeks.  You were told two weeks, hopefully that means they are catching up and we should hear any day.

 

Congrats again...my heart exploded when I read you were approved.

The passports take 3 weeks to reach Aramix , if they already took your passports . BTW the ceac.state.gov  doesn't regularly update the website , we already got the visa in our passports and my younger son's status still in AP  

Edited January 11, 2017 by kareelina

[MMteam 72]

15 hours ago, AHMED & LUNA said:

ENSHA'LLAH it will be normal, soon it will be issued ENSHA'LLAH. 

 

12 hours ago, Alexistara said:

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

Today is two weeks, since our interview. No news on Abdo's visa. Still shows that it hasn't been processed.  We were told two to three weeks.  You were told two weeks, hopefully that means they are catching up and we should hear any day.

 

Congrats again...my heart exploded when I read you were approved.

 

11 hours ago, Ahmed & Amy said:

Congratulations!! So happy for you both. 

Thank you all for the great wishes, we hope we get it soon inshallah, and we wish you all easy and fast interviews and good luck to the ones are traveling soon.