US Immigration from United Arab Emirates

Hi All,

Does the translated Nikkah nama from Pakistan need to be signed by witnesses? I would imagine that consulate just needs to see the translation since all the other information such as signatures of witnesses etc can be found on original Nikkah Nama in Urdu and on Nadra marriage certificate? Couple of the original witnesses reside in other countries and it will be difficult to get them to sign in a timely fashion. Can someone please advise.

Thanks

Our paperwork has been sitting at NVC since August because my husband is being transferred to Germany for his job. However, because of where he is from, it has taken months and months and still no work visa, now the pandemic and everything is closed. The German embassy keeps telling him he has not been turned down for the visa, just that it takes time. There are a few others in the same boat. He was originally scheduled to interview in Abu Dhabi because he was living and working in Dubai. However, he went back to Pakistan to wait for his German work visa, which he still does not have. Since time is passing (our year to respond will come in early August, 2020), we decided to just go ahead and have him interview in Abu Dhabi because of all this mess in the world. Well, when filling out the forms, we were going to file online. We did the Affidavit of Support with no problem. However, when it came time to complete his DS-260 online, a glitch in the program kept knocking us out of the form for hours and hours. It would not accept the part that asks if he has ever lived in another country (he has). So, not wanting to leave anything out and them think we were hiding something, we printed it out, wrote a note about where he had lived and that the online form would not work, and sent it in. Well, here's the thing. We have NOT submitted his pictures, passport, etc., yet. We assumed there would be a place to attach them, so I didn't send them with the printed out forms. Now I'm afraid we have totally messed up, as I went back again and it says to only send in one envelope, which we have already done. I don't see anywhere to send the pics without them being attached to another document, which did not happen when we submitted his DS-260. When I go to CEAC to try to check our case, a small box comes up and blocks going forward. It tells us what we need to do generically , so I can't even check if they received our papers, either online or our packet since when I close this box, the program goes right back to make you sign in again. I realize they are probably closed, but it would be helpful to be able to go forward on that site. Would it be better to email the documents or send them to the Lockbox in a second envelope? It seems this will never end. We have now been together over 9 years. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for reading through this long post.

Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and have been doing my research on the US Immigration process, hoping to understand whether the K1 or the CR-1 (I-130) is a better option for us. All of this is separate to the COVID-19 situation and the recent Immigration Ban.

Some background:

1. Boyfriend: US citizen by birth; lives and works in Los Angeles, CA
2. Myself (Female): naturalized Canadian Citizen (2011) (original citizenship: Pakistani - no longer valid). Born, lives and works in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

• We have been dating for about a year now (we met in LA while I was on vacation) and we are planning on getting married ASAP to live in LA.
• We see each other once a month either in the US or in other parts of the world (minus during the COVID-19 period). We were last together in Feb 2020 in LA.
• We aren't picky on where in the world we get married, as long as we are able to live together in LA as soon as possible, with the possibility of me working in the US sooner rather than later.
• I have a steady job in Dubai, and would not like to quit and move just to 'wait around' for the right to work, hence, the need to be able to work is crucial.
• If we were to categorize, priorities are as follows:
  • 1) working in the US sooner rather than later
  • 2) being together full-time
  • 3) funds.
  • i.e. OK to proceed with a process that allows me to work sooner than later, but which could take longer to enable me living there full-time (as long as we can continue our once a month visits globally - separate to COVID) vs. something that allows me to move quicker, but idle in terms of work.

I have seen the below advice floating around on other topics within this forum.

1. Is a lawyer recommended for either of these processes, or are these manageable on our own?
2. It seems that the CR-1 option is better for us, however, once I apply, am I allowed in the US as a visitor just to meet him? Or do I need to wait until approval of this process?
3. How long does the CR-1 usually take? Does my living/citizenship arrangement make it more complicated?
4. If we decide on the K-1 route, how soon can I receive the EAD to work?
5. (I know the below has timing guidelines, but we all know these aren't always the reality!)

  Quote

"I think a review of K-1 vs CR-1 is in order here:

Every couple has their own priorities, and each couple must decide which visa is better for their situation.

K-1
Slightly faster arrival in the US
More expensive than CR-1
Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)
Spouse can not leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 5-6 months)
Spouse can not work until she/he receives EAD (approx 5-6 months)
Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period
Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.

CR-1
Slightly slower arrival in the US

Less expensive than K-1
No Adjustment of Status(I-485, I-131, I-765) required.
Spouse can immediately travel outside the US
Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.
Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US
Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.

Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US."

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Thank you so much! I know this post is lengthy/detailed, but makes it easier to have the facts laid out to navigate the process!

What is the procedure to move / Transfer case from UAE to Pakistan and how long it will take or it cause delay in my case.

My Petition I-130 approved and sent to NVC also received E-mail from NVC to upload the documents, still i did not send any documents or reply to NVC .

Now due to Covid-19 i am planning to move my home Country Pakistan from UAE. Kindly guide and advise with proper information.

Hello and trust everyone is staying home and maintaining physical social distancing to help combat the current pandemic faced by the world.

I would like to know if anyone has started the K-1 visa process from UAE this year (2020) and willing to share any experience along the way, currently my stats is that we lodged the application and mailed to Dallas facility on March 26,2020 and got the first notification via email which I believe is called NOA1 on April 7, 2020. It was from USCIS California office acknowledging the receipt of our application.

Can anyone share what would be the timeline or time frame for the next step ? While doing some research it varies from 4 months to almost 20 months in some cases within UAE itself. I d be glad if anyone started very recently like in 2019/2020 willing to share their experiences and timeframe for the process.

Major concern- I also read that the immigration to US is halted due to virus, will it affect the existing application or does it mean no new cases will be handled after April20,2020 after declaring the news?.

Any thoughts and info regarding this matter will also be helpful.

Thanks in advance and stay safe !