Calling everyone going thru Islamabad Embassy, version 2.0

[dhobee 1]

Browneyedgirl,

Both my husband and I are Muslims, of a Pakistani origin and got married in Pakistan. None of my friends wear the hijab and keep their clothing to the bare minimum. Although all of them KNOW what how one is expected to dress up when inside the mosque, I knew they wouldn't. It has become a norm in our part of the world to have the nikkah done at the bride's place. I insisted I wanted my nikkah performed at a masjid. The ceremony was short and simple, it included my immediate family and his immediate family, and the imam of course. We had a reception at a banquet hall a couple of hours later where everyone else showed up. Although it is ideal to have the entire ceremony done at the mosque but it is very common now to have the nikkah performed at the masjid and a reception elsewhere later on. Your day is not far inshAllah

[KandD 1]

Browneyedgirl,

Both my husband and I are Muslims, of a Pakistani origin and got married in Pakistan. None of my friends wear the hijab and keep their clothing to the bare minimum. Although all of them KNOW what how one is expected to dress up when inside the mosque, I knew they wouldn't. It has become a norm in our part of the world to have the nikkah done at the bride's place. I insisted I wanted my nikkah performed at a masjid. The ceremony was short and simple, it included my immediate family and his immediate family, and the imam of course. We had a reception at a banquet hall a couple of hours later where everyone else showed up. Although it is ideal to have the entire ceremony done at the mosque but it is very common now to have the nikkah performed at the masjid and a reception elsewhere later on. Your day is not far inshAllah

Thank you dhobee. Like you said, me being from a Christian background, I have no problem wearing hijab inside the mosque to marry the man i love but i know my friends would not feel comfortable. Actually im pretty excited about wearing the traditional pakistani wedding dress (they are more beautiful than the usual plain white dress) and having an islamic ceromony. I will be something different and unique from the traditional American wedding.

[dhobee 1]

My cousin married a non-desi woman (I guess we've familiarized you with this jargon now!) when I was eight or nine years old. I didn't understand English much back then but I remember when she came out wearing her pink-purple wedding outfit, she said "I always just knew I wouldn't wear white at my wedding!" She looked awesome - a little unreal because of the overdone make-up - but well...

She has two kids now, lives in the US and is very happy, MashAllah.

[Zayd 0]

Ok Guys and Girls I need your opinion:

As you all know , once my fiance receives his visa we will be getting married in the US. Im "non-desi" USC and he is pakistani. Of course, he wants the Iman to marry us here at the mosque. I have no problem getting married in the mosque and wearing traditional pakistani wedding dress. I have alot of friends from here of different religions that would like to come to the wedding, but i dont want to impose on them about having to cover in the mosque. We are both open minded and want everyone to feel comfortable.....so my thoughts were, get married somewhere other than the mosque and have an Iman conduct the ceremony at neutral place where everyone will be comfortable, or we could have a private ceremony at the mosque alone and then have a reception to invite everyone. Tell me what your thought are

I am not Pakistani but my wife is. I am Arab. The recommendation for having a marriage in a mosque is conditional that no reprehensible acts go on. Your willingness and keenness to wear the hijab during the ceremony is something great.

While some may not have the courage to say so here, I will tell you the honest truth because Allaah is not shy about the truth. If women go to the ceremony in the mosque without maintaining the etiquette, then having the marriage ceremony there is forbidden. Examples of acts that would make it forbidden to have the marriage ceremony in the mosque include displays of beauty by women (e.g. not wearing the hijab, wearing too much jewelry or makeup, wearing perfume), mixing between unmarried men and women, not being ritualistically pure with wudhu (translation: ablution), not praying the two units of prayer for greeting the mosque, etc. This is not a complete list but only what I could think of. Also to have a marriage according to Islamic law, you would need to be represented by a male Muslim guardian. Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Any woman who gets married without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. " This hadith is authentic from many chains of narrations.

I think your other ideas for arranging the ceremony are safer and probably lessen the chances something could go wrong.

[Morning Sunshine 0]

Ok Guys and Girls I need your opinion:

As you all know , once my fiance receives his visa we will be getting married in the US. Im "non-desi" USC and he is pakistani. Of course, he wants the Iman to marry us here at the mosque. I have no problem getting married in the mosque and wearing traditional pakistani wedding dress. I have alot of friends from here of different religions that would like to come to the wedding, but i dont want to impose on them about having to cover in the mosque. We are both open minded and want everyone to feel comfortable.....so my thoughts were, get married somewhere other than the mosque and have an Iman conduct the ceremony at neutral place where everyone will be comfortable, or we could have a private ceremony at the mosque alone and then have a reception to invite everyone. Tell me what your thought are

I am not Pakistani but my wife is. I am Arab. The recommendation for having a marriage in a mosque is conditional that no reprehensible acts go on. Your willingness and keenness to wear the hijab during the ceremony is something great.

While some may not have the courage to say so here, I will tell you the honest truth because Allaah is not shy about the truth. If women go to the ceremony in the mosque without maintaining the etiquette, then having the marriage ceremony there is forbidden. Examples of acts that would make it forbidden to have the marriage ceremony in the mosque include displays of beauty by women (e.g. not wearing the hijab, wearing too much jewelry or makeup, wearing perfume), mixing between unmarried men and women, not being ritualistically pure with wudhu (translation: ablution), not praying the two units of prayer for greeting the mosque, etc. This is not a complete list but only what I could think of. Also to have a marriage according to Islamic law, you would need to be represented by a male Muslim guardian. Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Any woman who gets married without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. " This hadith is authentic from many chains of narrations.

I think your other ideas for arranging the ceremony are safer and probably lessen the chances something could go wrong.

Browneyedgirl,

Hello there!To make a long answer short, I will advise you to have your marriage at the masjid as a private ceremony. I agree with Zayd that is would be unappropriate to have the other ladies come to the masjid wearing improper dress. I believe it is important to marry insight of God/Allah therefore you should marry at the masjid. (Are you going to be marrying at the Louisville masjid btw?) At any rate, do have your marriage at the masjid with people who you know will cover properly and then follow it with a reception or walima to invite everyone else. That way even though some of them are not able to attend the wedding function, they will still be able to participate in your celebration of your new lives together.

Also, definitely wear the traditional Pakistani dress so that you can feel like a princess! I just loved my wedding days! We had the tradition Pakistani wedding with the mehndi, nikah and walima....it was so wonderful. I'm missing those days and wish I could go back to those moments. When he gets here we will have a dinner ceremony to introduce my husband to everyone. It will be a tea party, how about you try something like that? If you want to talk sometime let me know, I misplaced your # though so just msg me with it! Try not to get depressed and take care of yourself. You two will be together soon, just have faith in God/Allah!

Mahitab

P.S.: I am also "non-desi"!

Edited January 12, 2009 by ~Dream Love~

[KandD 1]

Thank all of you for your opinions. Zayd I agree with you too. I think we will have a private ceremony and then have a reception to invite everyone. I think this would be best for everyone.

Deam Love most likely yes in Louisville , PM me.

I would elaborate more but i got to get ready for work. Again, thank all you!

[shakira 0]

guys.. i got a call from AMEX this moning.. i went and picked up my passport

am leaving soon

hope u all get ur visas sooon!!!!

[legospaceman 0]

guys.. i got a call from AMEX this moning.. i went and picked up my passport

am leaving soon

hope u all get ur visas sooon!!!!

Man, reading some of these posts is discouraging.

I just got my I-130 NOA1 and I'm wondering if I should file for the K-3 at all or just stick with the CR-1.

I was under the impression that all this takes about 6-9 months but even in my naivete I suspected that it would be a royal pain in the ### on the Pakistan-end of the process and may take a lot longer... for those of you under "AP," is that all at the embassy in Pakistan? And is it the norm that it takes several months in AP before the immigration/visa is granted?

Wondering whether to file an I-129 and whether it'll make a difference...

[Waheed and Kris 0]

C O N G R A T S shakira

Have a good trip shakira and wish for you much happiness.

peace

~kris

[legospaceman 0]

One other question, guys. My wife mostly calls me, as it's so much cheaper (and you get better sound quality) if you call from Pakistan, and even if I do call her I use calling cards. We also email, but pretty much strictly in farsi. Given all that, how would I go about eventually showing that there's an on-going relationship if the interviewer can't understand our emails, and I have no call records?

[Waheed and Kris 0]

Hi legospaceman and Welcome

We are all at the Embassy in Islamabad. As for the K3 visa being any faster... from my experience ... it is not any faster, as you can see from our timeline.

Any male from Pakistan can expect to be on AP after interview. The length of the AP can be anywhere from a couple of months to over a year in some cases. They say the average is about six months.

peace

~kris

[legospaceman 0]

...

Hi, thanks.

So does that mean that if I am bringing my WIFE from Pakistan, we might not experience the same AP delays?

I'm a Pakistani male as well but I've also been a citizen for a decade, and my name is dissimilar from both general Pakistani names and the kind of stereotypical "oh he must be a terrorist" names the US may filter for.

[Waheed and Kris 0]

Over the last several months, I have seen many women from Pakistan being placed on AP as well. However, it is a lot less than the men. Actually, it is good that you are both pakistani, they tend to scrutinize mixed couples more . The name check will be done on your wife since she is the beneficiary. You are already a US citizen.

There are many people on this thread that can give you a good deal of information.

peace

~kris

[MaryandMian 1]

Browneyedgirl, I agree with the others on your wedding in the masjid and then a reception elsewhere.

Shakira, Congratulations and have a safe trip home.

Legospaceman, Ladies do have AP but in most cases it does not take as long as the men. Also, the length of time coming from CR-1/IR-1 or K3 have been running around the same amount of time.

[Sibtain 1]

Marry!

I sent the required documents to USEM islamabad on 23rd Dec as i told u before.They told(Jan 2nd) me to contact them after 2 weeks becoz they r reviewing the documents.

So normally how many days they take to review the local documents?

Thanx..