Egypt K-1 Visa

[GHJourney 48]

Hi everyone

 

I have submitted a K-1 application for my fiancé in Egypt. We had a small church engagement in Egypt but never signed official engagement papers. I am wondering if those papers are required to show proof of a bonafide relationship? I am from the US and we are not used to having this done. 

 

Thank you

[geowrian 22,337]

It is not required. The US requirement is just a mutual agreement that you will marry. The signed letters of intent (1 from each of you) is sufficient for USCIS.

 

I'll defer to others who know more about Egypt if it is something the CO there usually wants to see.

[visaqueries 111]

All we submitted was two letters (one from each) with a statement of intent to marry.  We probably wrote more than we should, but the letter let them know we were going to get married.  In fact, I think I received my ring well after we submitted the initial paperwork.

 

That being said we did front load our application, so they could see we had a real relationship...Facebook messages, pictures with his friends and family, information about our mutual trips including hotel receipts, boarding passes of my visits.  The underlined ones were probably the most important.  

[GHJourney 48]

Thank you for your reply. Yes we did the same thing and I’m glad to see we stressed what you underlined as well. 

 

My question applies more for the interview portion in Egypt. Did either of you have experience during the interview in Egypt if they asked for signed engagement papers?

[sunshinelove 52]

All you need is a simple letter stating that you are willing and free to marry your significant other. Also, I would recommend front-loading your application as well. Include evidence of your relationship now via chat logs, phone logs, pictures, any receipts, boarding passes, anything along that nature. It's better to have a too much and be able to bring even more proof to your interview than to not have enough. 

[GHJourney 48]

28 minutes ago, sunshinelove said:

All you need is a simple letter stating that you are willing and free to marry your significant other. Also, I would recommend front-loading your application as well. Include evidence of your relationship now via chat logs, phone logs, pictures, any receipts, boarding passes, anything along that nature. It's better to have a too much and be able to bring even more proof to your interview than to not have enough. 

Thank you all very much. Agreed, we definitely front loaded the app. Anxiously awaiting NOA2 approval. 😊

[visaqueries 111]

3 hours ago, mriad3971 said:

Thank you for your reply. Yes we did the same thing and I’m glad to see we stressed what you underlined as well. 

 

My question applies more for the interview portion in Egypt. Did either of you have experience during the interview in Egypt if they asked for signed engagement papers?

No, they did not ask my husband (then fiance) for engagement papers.  In fact, the officer would not approve on the spot because they thought we might already be married.  We then sent in hotel receipts for two rooms, for as you know Egyptians can't stay with someone of the opposite gender in Egypt unless they are actually married.  We weren't, so we had to reserve two rooms for our vacations.  Also, they were able to check to see if we had any paperwork in Cairo stating we were married.  I don't remember what that place was called, but my husband went there after the interview to verify there was nothing that would cause any problems. 

 

His interview was a few years ago, but this is the synopsis:

 

My fianc� had a very tough interview. He said that while he was interviewing, the interviewer beside his interiewer finished interviewing two people with a third getting ready to interview. 

The interviewer had really read all the information I submitted in the first packet. He did not seem to have reviewed any of the packet my fianc� sent in before the interview. However, there was enough information to create quite a lively exchange of information.

I'll provide red flags, so it might help: 11+ years difference, different religions, and he'd been married before to a citizen of another western country. My fianc� said our interviewer asked every question he could think of related to his previous marriage, our friendship turned relationship, family...

I think that sometimes when the interviewer senses red flags, they question hard to see if there is a chink in the armor. That's what happened with us. Thankfully my fianc� speaks English well. I say that because there was no confusion as to what was being asked, and my fianc� didn't have to really concentrate on the language part; he could just talk. 

Types of questions included: Why when you tried for a visitor visa did you say that she was just a friend, but you were beginning the relationship before that time? My fianc� explained that when we applied for his visitor visa we hadn't seen each other in three years. He knew we were meeting to determine the extent of our feelings. My fianc� said, "How could I have even written she was my girlfriend when I hadn't seen her? I can't call someone my girlfriend when I've not even seen them. After we saw each other, yes, I could say that. Not before." Incidentally, his visitor visa was denied, and I ended up travelling there. 

My fianc� talked about our traveling together, and the interviewer questioned how such traditional families would be okay with us traveling together. My fianc� explained that though our families are very aware of our engagement, they don't question us about the extent of our relationship. Without them discussing their feelings with us, we don't know what they think. The interviewer then stated he felt our European trip was actually our honeymoon and we are probably already married.

Concerning his previous wife, he asked about how it could be that he was friends with me and married to someone else. My fianc� explained that both of us knew about the other (my relationship was not romantic at that point), and I was providing input regarding their business plan. Additionally, we only communicated until the business issues were resolved. Then communication ceased and resumed once his marriage was dissolved (her decision). The former wife had planned to move to Egypt then decided she didn't want to move or be married, so the interviewer wanted to know why all of a sudden he wanted to move to America. My fianc� explained that we haven't fully decided that we will spend our lives in the US, but the best decision for us now is for him to move here. Our plans might change, but we are determined to start our lives together here. 

There were more questions, but because the interviewer was truly convinced our relationship was authentic, they were specific to our lives. In the end, he stated that the only lacking component was he still felt we were married. He told my fianc� he'd be going to the Department of Justice to determine if his divorce was recorded, and if he had no marriage on file. If that turned out to be the case they would, "go forward with our visa". It would be a few weeks before we would know. My fianc� tried to hand him the original divorce decree, but the interviewer told him he can't trust it as those can be bought anywhere in the city. 

As a side note: one thing my fianc� forgot to do was to highlight some paperwork that would determine our "not married" status. We traveled last year and this year to places in Egypt. By law, an Egyptian man is not allowed to stay in the same room with a woman to whom he is not married. We had receipts for our hotel stay with two rooms last year 2012 and reservations for our two rooms this year as well (I was arriving three days after his interview and we then took the trip). We know it only proves that we had purchased two separate rooms, but we felt it would help with the case. We debated what to do about that, and in the end we sent the receipts via DHL the day he interviewed. The good outweighed the bad when we debated if we should send them. In our cover letter we stated that they already had a copy of the receipt from 2012 (so they wouldn't think we just generated a fake receipt).

At any rate, we determined the name of our interviewer (written at the bottom of the paid receipt), and we now smile and ask ourselves "What would D do?" Interviewer told fianc� after fianc� called me a girl that he was actually marrying a woman. So, when we talk about each other my fianc� says, "Now woman, according to DP, I think we should go to the Mall of Arabia." I am sure an interviewer has never been referred to as much as we affectionately refer to him. He was tough. We are grateful for him working diligently to do his job, and we just hope through his diligence he determines we do indeed qualify for a visa.

[GHJourney 48]

20 hours ago, visaqueries said:

No, they did not ask my husband (then fiance) for engagement papers.  In fact, the officer would not approve on the spot because they thought we might already be married.  We then sent in hotel receipts for two rooms, for as you know Egyptians can't stay with someone of the opposite gender in Egypt unless they are actually married.  We weren't, so we had to reserve two rooms for our vacations.  Also, they were able to check to see if we had any paperwork in Cairo stating we were married.  I don't remember what that place was called, but my husband went there after the interview to verify there was nothing that would cause any problems. 

 

His interview was a few years ago, but this is the synopsis:

 

My fianc� had a very tough interview. He said that while he was interviewing, the interviewer beside his interiewer finished interviewing two people with a third getting ready to interview. 

The interviewer had really read all the information I submitted in the first packet. He did not seem to have reviewed any of the packet my fianc� sent in before the interview. However, there was enough information to create quite a lively exchange of information.

I'll provide red flags, so it might help: 11+ years difference, different religions, and he'd been married before to a citizen of another western country. My fianc� said our interviewer asked every question he could think of related to his previous marriage, our friendship turned relationship, family...

I think that sometimes when the interviewer senses red flags, they question hard to see if there is a chink in the armor. That's what happened with us. Thankfully my fianc� speaks English well. I say that because there was no confusion as to what was being asked, and my fianc� didn't have to really concentrate on the language part; he could just talk. 

Types of questions included: Why when you tried for a visitor visa did you say that she was just a friend, but you were beginning the relationship before that time? My fianc� explained that when we applied for his visitor visa we hadn't seen each other in three years. He knew we were meeting to determine the extent of our feelings. My fianc� said, "How could I have even written she was my girlfriend when I hadn't seen her? I can't call someone my girlfriend when I've not even seen them. After we saw each other, yes, I could say that. Not before." Incidentally, his visitor visa was denied, and I ended up travelling there. 

My fianc� talked about our traveling together, and the interviewer questioned how such traditional families would be okay with us traveling together. My fianc� explained that though our families are very aware of our engagement, they don't question us about the extent of our relationship. Without them discussing their feelings with us, we don't know what they think. The interviewer then stated he felt our European trip was actually our honeymoon and we are probably already married.

Concerning his previous wife, he asked about how it could be that he was friends with me and married to someone else. My fianc� explained that both of us knew about the other (my relationship was not romantic at that point), and I was providing input regarding their business plan. Additionally, we only communicated until the business issues were resolved. Then communication ceased and resumed once his marriage was dissolved (her decision). The former wife had planned to move to Egypt then decided she didn't want to move or be married, so the interviewer wanted to know why all of a sudden he wanted to move to America. My fianc� explained that we haven't fully decided that we will spend our lives in the US, but the best decision for us now is for him to move here. Our plans might change, but we are determined to start our lives together here. 

There were more questions, but because the interviewer was truly convinced our relationship was authentic, they were specific to our lives. In the end, he stated that the only lacking component was he still felt we were married. He told my fianc� he'd be going to the Department of Justice to determine if his divorce was recorded, and if he had no marriage on file. If that turned out to be the case they would, "go forward with our visa". It would be a few weeks before we would know. My fianc� tried to hand him the original divorce decree, but the interviewer told him he can't trust it as those can be bought anywhere in the city. 

As a side note: one thing my fianc� forgot to do was to highlight some paperwork that would determine our "not married" status. We traveled last year and this year to places in Egypt. By law, an Egyptian man is not allowed to stay in the same room with a woman to whom he is not married. We had receipts for our hotel stay with two rooms last year 2012 and reservations for our two rooms this year as well (I was arriving three days after his interview and we then took the trip). We know it only proves that we had purchased two separate rooms, but we felt it would help with the case. We debated what to do about that, and in the end we sent the receipts via DHL the day he interviewed. The good outweighed the bad when we debated if we should send them. In our cover letter we stated that they already had a copy of the receipt from 2012 (so they wouldn't think we just generated a fake receipt).

At any rate, we determined the name of our interviewer (written at the bottom of the paid receipt), and we now smile and ask ourselves "What would D do?" Interviewer told fianc� after fianc� called me a girl that he was actually marrying a woman. So, when we talk about each other my fianc� says, "Now woman, according to DP, I think we should go to the Mall of Arabia." I am sure an interviewer has never been referred to as much as we affectionately refer to him. He was tough. We are grateful for him working diligently to do his job, and we just hope through his diligence he determines we do indeed qualify for a visa.

Thank you for your information. This was helpful.