How Many Times Did you Meet Before Your Interview?

[Aymerlu 3]

If we are approved AT the interview...does that mean we are APPROVED pending the AP?

Interestingly enough, they told Ramy he was approved at the interview, but when I called DOS they said he was in AR and "nothing is approved till he has that visa in his hand ma'am"

(ok, whatever.)

I'll still say I think the time we were together affected how long we waited for the visa. Maybe even the fact that we didn't meet on the internet.

I spent time with my husband twice and then went with him for the interview. We were also told the day of the interview he was approved and it would take 6 weeks to process his visa. Yeah....WHATEVER!!!! There are also many that don't meet online and the AP still lasts forever. I do know that christian men have MUCH shorter AP than a muslim man. I really don't think anyone can or will ever know how long AP will last. Egypt is a very busy place and unless things have changed since Feb 2006....VERY unorganized. I felt like I was in a rat race the day I was there! And there were soooooo many people there from surrounding countries that were there for interviews too.

[MrsAmera 41]

My husband was interviewed and got his visa the next day (his interview didn't happen until like 3pm). I had been there 4 times - the first time when we met, a second time when we were engaged, a third time and stayed for 6 weeks and the 4th time was for his interview - this was in 1 year time. My son also came for the 6 week stint (he was a little over a year). I really believe that this added to our fast approval.

[amrssnowangel 0]

Well...sounds like we may be in for the LONG haul . But we STILL are waiting for our NOA2 which is making this even harder. We filed in mid-June and right now the projection looks like we may wait close to the 6th month mark. And thats for Vermont. Its sad how the american USC family unit is being put behind foreigners. I understand the EAD issue with the I485. But the secondary priority is for those wanting citizenship. What happened to family first????

Well, was grasping at straws to figure out how to make AP go faster or make the consulate think maybe we didn't NEED AP. Have MY mom and HIS mom both attend interview as critical EVIDENCE?? heheeheh...well...it was a thought.... :whistle: :whistle:

[polarbear 0]

If we are approved AT the interview...does that mean we are APPROVED pending the AP?

Interestingly enough, they told Ramy he was approved at the interview, but when I called DOS they said he was in AR and "nothing is approved till he has that visa in his hand ma'am"

(ok, whatever.)

I'll still say I think the time we were together affected how long we waited for the visa. Maybe even the fact that we didn't meet on the internet.

Kinda hope that's true considering the fact that my SO and I were together for quite awhile before moving to our respective countries and didn't meet online.

But again, we don't know yet - interview next month... will let you know in December

[Aymsgirl 0]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

What are what they call high risk education factors? My fiancee is an attorney, is this considered a factor?

[Becky&Sam 0]

We have been in AP for 8+ months now. I had visited two times before the interview. Sam's interview date was 02/05/07 and I arrived for a third visit on 02/25/07. He took confirmation papers for the upcoming visit to the interview to show to the CO.

[Becky&Sam 0]

If we are approved AT the interview...does that mean we are APPROVED pending the AP?

Interestingly enough, they told Ramy he was approved at the interview, but when I called DOS they said he was in AR and "nothing is approved till he has that visa in his hand ma'am"

(ok, whatever.)

I'll still say I think the time we were together affected how long we waited for the visa. Maybe even the fact that we didn't meet on the internet.

I spent time with my husband twice and then went with him for the interview. We were also told the day of the interview he was approved and it would take 6 weeks to process his visa. Yeah....WHATEVER!!!! There are also many that don't meet online and the AP still lasts forever. I do know that christian men have MUCH shorter AP than a muslim man. I really don't think anyone can or will ever know how long AP will last. Egypt is a very busy place and unless things have changed since Feb 2006....VERY unorganized. I felt like I was in a rat race the day I was there! And there were soooooo many people there from surrounding countries that were there for interviews too.

This is not necessarily true. Our AP is now at eight months and my husband is Christian.

[amrssnowangel 0]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

What are what they call high risk education factors? My fiancee is an attorney, is this considered a factor?

I think typically a high risk employment or military record is any that they feel could be a national security risk. Chemist, nuclear physisist (???), arms handler, someone maybe that flew or knows how to fly, certain engineers, anyone that could be trained for terroristic acts or commit crimes against the country with their knowledge. I seriously doubt a lawyer would fit into that.

We have been in AP for 8+ months now. I had visited two times before the interview. Sam's interview date was 02/05/07 and I arrived for a third visit on 02/25/07. He took confirmation papers for the upcoming visit to the interview to show to the CO.

You know Becky..I fullly thought you'd have your visa by now after ALL this time..especially after that home visit. I sort of thought that was the end of the wait for you. Is your case at DOS? Did it complete the security checks?

Did they do the home visit first THEN send for security checks??? Maybe it took a while first to get the home visit....THEN have it sent off. That would bite.

Edited October 23, 2007 by amrssnowangel

[♥JP♥ 5]

If we are approved AT the interview...does that mean we are APPROVED pending the AP?

Interestingly enough, they told Ramy he was approved at the interview, but when I called DOS they said he was in AR and "nothing is approved till he has that visa in his hand ma'am"

(ok, whatever.)

I'll still say I think the time we were together affected how long we waited for the visa. Maybe even the fact that we didn't meet on the internet.

I spent time with my husband twice and then went with him for the interview. We were also told the day of the interview he was approved and it would take 6 weeks to process his visa. Yeah....WHATEVER!!!! There are also many that don't meet online and the AP still lasts forever. I do know that christian men have MUCH shorter AP than a muslim man. I really don't think anyone can or will ever know how long AP will last. Egypt is a very busy place and unless things have changed since Feb 2006....VERY unorganized. I felt like I was in a rat race the day I was there! And there were soooooo many people there from surrounding countries that were there for interviews too.

My husband's AP was 5.5 months and we are both Christian, I don't think religion has anything to do wiht it.

[amrssnowangel 0]

If we are approved AT the interview...does that mean we are APPROVED pending the AP?

Interestingly enough, they told Ramy he was approved at the interview, but when I called DOS they said he was in AR and "nothing is approved till he has that visa in his hand ma'am"

(ok, whatever.)

I'll still say I think the time we were together affected how long we waited for the visa. Maybe even the fact that we didn't meet on the internet.

I spent time with my husband twice and then went with him for the interview. We were also told the day of the interview he was approved and it would take 6 weeks to process his visa. Yeah....WHATEVER!!!! There are also many that don't meet online and the AP still lasts forever. I do know that christian men have MUCH shorter AP than a muslim man. I really don't think anyone can or will ever know how long AP will last. Egypt is a very busy place and unless things have changed since Feb 2006....VERY unorganized. I felt like I was in a rat race the day I was there! And there were soooooo many people there from surrounding countries that were there for interviews too.

My husband's AP was 5.5 months and we are both Christian, I don't think religion has anything to do wiht it.

I dont think Religion does either. Its not asked on the petition or in the interview. My SO says its listed on the Birth Certificate..but that means nothing. A Christian is capable of converting..... I think its more to do with how the SO interviews, if the CO has ANY question concerning the relationship (especially where Cairo is concerned with their own investigations), the job, military records, name checks. Name Checks can take a long time if there is a match. I understand it can take up to 6 months to clear person from a name hit. Add Cairos slowness...and before you know it you have 4, 6, 8, 10 month waits. Not sure AP can be sped up...especially in Egypt. Not sure why it seems even slower than the rest of the Middle Eastern countries...but it is.

[sarah and hicham 3]

Aymerlu- How do you know that Christian men have shorter AP times?

[mybackpages 0]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

I dont know if this will put things into perspective with names, but my son cant get on an airplane without getting pulled aside for a secondary security check from the department of Homeland secuirty before beign issued the boarding pass EVERY time he flys. His name is a match for someone.

I think the difference in time after the interview is based on several factors- security checks being one- some just require more time. Using arabic letters, the translation of a name can take many forms- eg Muhammed, Mohammmed, Mohammad, Mohamed

all of the variations would need to be verified.

anotehr fctor in time might be any special conslate rules that they set for themselves. If there is a case that may been some special handling for X, it goes into one pile, for Y it goes into another. X may take less time to coplete than Y. etc

I do think in general success at the interview menas you are getting the visa, unless they uncover soething in the AP process that would allow them to deny it. I dont think I have ever heard of that happeneing in any consulate.

That reminds me of the skit from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour where the guy says, "Hi, my name is Ahmed Ahmed, and I can't fly."

Once Usama gets here, let's all chip in and buy him this t-shirt.

[yassmine2878 1]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

I dont know if this will put things into perspective with names, but my son cant get on an airplane without getting pulled aside for a secondary security check from the department of Homeland secuirty before beign issued the boarding pass EVERY time he flys. His name is a match for someone.

I think the difference in time after the interview is based on several factors- security checks being one- some just require more time. Using arabic letters, the translation of a name can take many forms- eg Muhammed, Mohammmed, Mohammad, Mohamed

all of the variations would need to be verified.

anotehr fctor in time might be any special conslate rules that they set for themselves. If there is a case that may been some special handling for X, it goes into one pile, for Y it goes into another. X may take less time to coplete than Y. etc

I do think in general success at the interview menas you are getting the visa, unless they uncover soething in the AP process that would allow them to deny it. I dont think I have ever heard of that happeneing in any consulate.

That reminds me of the skit from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour where the guy says, "Hi, my name is Ahmed Ahmed, and I can't fly."

Once Usama gets here, let's all chip in and buy him this t-shirt.

LMFAO! We need one, too!

[Becky&Sam 0]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

What are what they call high risk education factors? My fiancee is an attorney, is this considered a factor?

I think typically a high risk employment or military record is any that they feel could be a national security risk. Chemist, nuclear physisist (???), arms handler, someone maybe that flew or knows how to fly, certain engineers, anyone that could be trained for terroristic acts or commit crimes against the country with their knowledge. I seriously doubt a lawyer would fit into that.

We have been in AP for 8+ months now. I had visited two times before the interview. Sam's interview date was 02/05/07 and I arrived for a third visit on 02/25/07. He took confirmation papers for the upcoming visit to the interview to show to the CO.

You know Becky..I fullly thought you'd have your visa by now after ALL this time..especially after that home visit. I sort of thought that was the end of the wait for you. Is your case at DOS? Did it complete the security checks?

Did they do the home visit first THEN send for security checks??? Maybe it took a while first to get the home visit....THEN have it sent off. That would bite.

The security checks were completed after the home visit and have been finished definitely since the end of August. If you would have asked me six months ago if I thought Sam would be here by now, I would have said definitely....we should be finished with AP and he is here in US and working on AOS and EAD here in US, but here we are still in AP.

[doodlebug 3]

But they look at education, employment, ect???? My SO has a communications Engineering degree but currently hasn't been able to find work in Egypt.

we really thought this process wouldn't take so long so we decided for him to stop looking till he got here...but..now we are wondering about that. But he didn't have to do military time, doesn't have a high risk education factor, never traveled out of Egypt, and has no work history to raise a red flag over. So should his background check go faster? (As far as the name check/background check) Not sure how "common" his name is though. Seems all names are common but the order in which they use them differs. with a last name like Abd El Magid is that likely to be very common???

I dont know if this will put things into perspective with names, but my son cant get on an airplane without getting pulled aside for a secondary security check from the department of Homeland secuirty before beign issued the boarding pass EVERY time he flys. His name is a match for someone.

I think the difference in time after the interview is based on several factors- security checks being one- some just require more time. Using arabic letters, the translation of a name can take many forms- eg Muhammed, Mohammmed, Mohammad, Mohamed

all of the variations would need to be verified.

anotehr fctor in time might be any special conslate rules that they set for themselves. If there is a case that may been some special handling for X, it goes into one pile, for Y it goes into another. X may take less time to coplete than Y. etc

I do think in general success at the interview menas you are getting the visa, unless they uncover soething in the AP process that would allow them to deny it. I dont think I have ever heard of that happeneing in any consulate.

That reminds me of the skit from the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour where the guy says, "Hi, my name is Ahmed Ahmed, and I can't fly."

Once Usama gets here, let's all chip in and buy him this t-shirt.

Already have it! Thought it would be a hoot for him to wear it at Thanksgiving dinner when he would first meet the fam but looks like he probably won't be here by then.