Do I attend the interview or not?

[noraliz73 243]

My fiancé lives in Egypt, which is both a MENA country and considered "high fraud."  We are lucky in the fact that he has a unique name and that our case is very straightforward.  There should be no red-flags and we definitely have a bona-fide relationship.  As a matter of fact, one of the places we went together this May was the very Embassy where the interview will take place and we both signed in.  That is pretty good proof of meeting.  He has lots and lots of letters, e-mails, and we talk for hours a day.  I have been wanting to attend the interview as further proof of an ongoing relationship hoping to expedite approval.  We'd like to have a child together, but at age 44, we don't have a lot of time left for this.  The issue with attending the interview is that it will take up a week of vacation time to travel to Egypt and back.  Of course, I want to visit my fiancé, but since I only get three weeks of vacation time a year, I keep thinking about how it would be great to spend that week when he gets here doing things with my family and maybe taking a short trip to Florida.  I'm sure I will need plenty of time off to help him get accustomed to life here.  We have only had the one visit for three weeks in 2017, but when we were in high school we were very good friends who hung out together frequently.  He is someone I have known for 29 years but not been in-touch with the whole time.  I don't know what to do.  I'm afraid we will get denied if I don't go to the interview (there is no reason to even fear this) but I really want to be able to have all of my vacation time saved to allow us to do things with my family and for me to be able to take him to see as many places as I can.  Does anyone have any advice?  Since I am an August filer, I have time to think about it. 

[moonprince1701 30]

Noraliz, I am sorry I don't have an answer to your question but I do want to wish you luck.  

[TNJ17 1,329]

Check with the Egypt embassy if you’re even allowed in. Most countries don’t allow petitioners in the interview. Others do. Check your country specific reviews of the embassy he’s interviewing at and see what others have said about having or not having their fiancés present. Some countries don’t allow fiancés at the interview but VJ users have reported having their fiancés present and taking their passport inside with them and said it helped. 

[C-ma'am 684]

**Post moved from K1 to MENA forum. Question is embassy specific. Not all embassies allow the Petitioners to be present during the interview and it's better to receive info from those who have gone through the embassy.

[noraliz73 243]

Yes, they allow it.

[Love_Bug 95]

It's the same as Morocco. Usually they don't allow the petitioner to be in the building let alone around the premises. However, there are times that they will bend this rule. If the beneficiary shows that you are here (i.e having your passport) then they might do 2 things: acknowledge that you are here for supporting your partner and clearly the relationship is committed/serious and bonafide, or 2 (best case scenario) they let you in to question the both of you together! I would contact the embassy and see what they say. But in any event, i would try my best to be there in person. It's stressful enough going thru the interview by yourself, but knowing that your partner is there with you (even if they are not allowed in the same building) could drastically change things for the better  even if it is just moral support. It boosts the ego and shows the embassy your there in the flesh and ready to solidify your case if need be.

[Beth & Achraf 328]

1 hour ago, noraliz73 said:

Yes, they allow it.

IF they don't allow you in, then make sure your fiance' tells them your here, outside of embassy if they ask, or where you are at waiting for him.

If I recall, there is a small "cafe" from embassy when I had to go there about my passport when I was touring Egypt.