I'm so upset I just want to sit in a corner and cry. Sorry, this is going to be a long post. I just need to vent and cry to people who understand how unbelievably frustrating this all is.
We finally got our interview in Armenia on Nov 7th. I flew into the Republic of Georgia where I have an apartment with my fiancé. (He's Iranian, been living in Georgia since January) We finally got a chance to do some sightseeing, visited friends, and got the apartment cleaned up and secured since we'll be gone for at least a few months.
--For those that might not have seen my previous posts, my fiancé left Iran in Nov 2021. We traveled together through Turkiye and Georgia, eventually buying an apartment in Georgia for him to live in while we waited for our appointment. Iranians can only stay in Georgia for 45 days. So we got a lawyer and have been able to get his visa extended to work on the apartment. Since the apartment was unfinished we were able to get multiple extensions. The apartment was supposed to be finished by mid-June. When I flew back at the end of June, I spent the entire time there working on the apartment. This led to a few fights since he was supposed to have the apartment ready before I got there as I'd never been able to really see any of the country, visit the historic sights and whatnot. --
Now I had wanted to change the interview to Georgia since we have a place there and Armenia is expensive, but he was adamant that we stick with Armenia because any change might cause a delay in our case. He also said that the embassy in Georgia doesn't do K1 interviews for Iranians. ( I had wanted to send in the change of venue well before we got our NVC2, so I doubt it really would have been an issue) So we did our tourist thing, then packed up and headed to Armenia on 10/31. At the border there's an issue because his current visa extension was not approved, meaning that he's in the country illegally. He did not tell me that his visa had expired. So, of course, I am upset. He said it's being worked on by the lawyer and not to worry about it. Of course I'm worried, this could cause major problems! I'm also upset because he hid this from me. I already have major trust issues, so I'm not happy at this point.
I hadn't been feeling well for a few days, and I ended up coming down with either an extremely nasty cold, or RSV. It was not covid, but it was pretty awful. I spent most of my time in Armenia in the hotel room bed. We went through his paperwork and checklist as soon as we got to the hotel. I read through the checklist and double checked that he had everything listed. I noticed that while he had a police report from Iran, he did not have one from Georgia. I asked him about it, and he said that he's asked but was told that without a Georgian ID card, they didn't issue them. I thought that was strange and that he needed to go to the Georgian embassy in Armenia to see if they could give him one. He also said he was going to go by the Iranian embassy to see if he could get an updated one as his was now a year old.
So off he goes to his medical appointment on Thursday. He gets back and tells me that his medical paperwork will be ready on Friday afternoon and that the Iranian embassy said it would take a week for a new police report. Since our appointment is on Monday, that's not going to work. I ask about Georgia and he just brushes is off- they don't need it, it's only for people with ID cards, it's not important. Now I don't know where he's getting this information, but again, I'm extremely sick and not really super aware of anything. I'm just trying to breath and sleep. The next day he goes to get his medical report, and I ask him to at least call the Georgian embassy to double check that they don't do police reports. When he gets back from the doctor's office I ask him how everything went, and he says everything is good. Monday morning rolls around and we head off to the interview. I waited while he went from window to window. Fingerprints, checking paperwork, etc. I did hear one lady ask about the Georgian police report. He tells them that Georgia doesn't give police reports to people who aren't residents with Georgian ID numbers. They write a few things down and tell him to wait to be called up for his interview.
He goes to the last window, is there for maybe 15 minutes. I can hear a tiny bit of what is being said. Things about how we met, where we've traveled, etc. Finally he comes back and says the interviewer would like to speak to me. I go up to the window and the man was very nice. He said I'm telling you what I told him. "He needs the Georgian police report before we can issue him a visa". So basically he's denied until we get that report. I tell the gentleman that we've been having problems with getting the report because he doesn't have a Georgian ID card. He smiles and says "just go to the Georgian embassy and they'll give you one". So now I'm extremely angry with my fiancé. Like why didn't you get this done? Did you actually call the embassy? Did you really try to get the report, or are you listening to other people and taking their stupid advice as facts? (This has been an issue before)
He promises to go to the Georgian embassy after dropping me off at the hotel (still super sick, being out of bed and moving for so long has just worn me out) On the way to the hotel he's on the phone speaking Farsi. We get to the hotel and he tells me he's talked to our lawyer in Georgia and she's going to get the police report. I'm still upset. I ask him why he didn't do this while we were in Georgia. He has loads of excuses. "The report is only valid for a month, it would have been expired before we got to the interview" I wanted to go to the main government building in Tbilisi, but you were ready to go home to Batumi" "I wanted to make sure you got a chance to see all the waterfalls and caves this trip, I didn't have time to get the police report and go see these places"
I went off on him. How dare he try to pin this on me. He had ample time before I got to Georgia to get this document. We also had plenty of time to go get it while I was there. I didn't know that he needed this paperwork, or I would have gotten it done first thing! Had I not been sick in Armenia, I would have gone to the embassy and asked. I could not believe he was using me as an excuse to not get this document.
I had to fly home on the 9th to get back to work. I fly home, he gets the pdf of the police report the next morning. He goes to the embassy and, of course, they need the original. I had told him they would need an original, but he keeps saying, "no, a printout is ok."
Have I mentioned Armenia is expensive? There aren't a lot of hotels and hostels with vacancies right now. So he stays an additional night in the $80 a nice hotel before finding a hostel for $30 a night. I've left him with all the cash I could as well as a visa card from my Georgian bank account for emergencies. It takes 3 days for the original police report to be mailed to him in Armenia. He goes back to the US embassy on Monday and turns it in. I'm looking at flights and after this Wednesday 11/16, the prices start to shoot up for the holidays. On 11/16 I can get a one way to the US for $700. By Thursday they're $900 and each day after that they go up and up an up...
We get an email today that the Police report is from the wrong agency. He needs another one... I give up...
There's no way he'll be here for Thanksgiving.. probably won't be here for Christmas. I don't know if he can get back into Georgia because of the overstaying his visa thing.. I just can't.
I'm ready to tell him he's on his own now. Go back to Iran or find a way to support yourself. I just can't keep doing this. I don't know if he truly believed he didn't need this document even though it clearly states on the paperwork that it's needed. I don't know if he wants to just stay living overseas on my dime? I've been killing myself pulling as much overtime as I can, sleeping in my truck to save on expenses when I travel for work, just doing anything to save for this trip over there. I don't know if he just doesn't understand how much this is costing me. Does he just not care? I just don't know anymore. I have an empty apartment in Georgia and I'm paying for hotels in Armenia for an indefinite period of time. I just give up. Over 18 months of waiting and it's over because he didn't tell me he didn't have that damn police report. Maybe I could have done something while I was there if I'd known earlier. This was the only thing he had to do and he completely dropped the ball. I just quit. Clearly the universe doesn't want this to happen. I'm having a very difficult time respecting him and trusting him when he just blew this whole thing off like it wasn't an important thing to get.. I just don't understand..
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I'm going to be really upset for the next few days.