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| Egypt |  Review on June 22, 2016: |
lukamari
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
So, here's my review of my husband's interview. I, the petitioner, attended with him as I have been living in Egypt with him since February 1, 2015.
We arrived at the embassy on June 20 at approximately 6:50 am. Tons of people were already there, waiting across the street from the embassy. Around 7:10, they let us move to outside the embassy, in two lines, one for non-immigrant visas and immigrant visas. I read a tip in one of the reviews to RUN across the street to the lines. I would strongly suggest this. However, even if you are first in line like we were (I told my husband to dash and I'd catch up, lol), be prepared to wait a long time. They went through all of the non-immigrant visa line before us and then even selected a few people from our line to check their information first, even though they were behind us in line.
Like I said, they check your papers to make sure you have everything you need, like visa pictures, the paper of where you want passport delivered, appointment letter, and passports. Once we had documents checked, we were allowed to proceed inside. DO NOT TAKE ELECTRONICS. I forgot I had a selfie stick inside my purse at the bottom. Some jerk at a store charged my husband 20 LE to hold it for us. Unbelievable! The damn thing cost 20 LE!
I think we finally got in around 8:30 am or so. We sat down and waited about a half hour and were called to present originals and receive back stuff they didn't need. This lady was very rude. My husband asked her to speak English because I wanted to understand. She was like, "don't you know your papers?"... He said of course, but I wanted to understand. Then she said something about the interview being for him, and he reiterated that I wanted to understand. She begrudgingly agreed. We were asked for new visa pictures, original military certificate, original birth certificate, original marriage certificate, original translation of the military certificate, and 2015 tax transcripts for myself and our co-sponsor and their household member. I think that was it. She gave us back so much stuff we sent. Oh, she took his fingerprints, too.
***NOTE*** - I took the advice of a couple reviewers below and had my husband obtain the family certificate or whatever showing I'm his only wife. We were NOT asked for this. I do not recommend people obtain this ahead of time as it's wasted money and time and it's not needed for everyone, clearly, or it would be made a requirement.
We sat down again for about 45 minutes and were called. The consular officer was a woman, probably mid 30s. She was SO nice! Honestly, after reading these reviews, my husband and I were nervous. Not because we have anything to hide but because, well, we've read how hard and rude some of the consular officers are. She barely asked us a thing! This may be because 1) we've been married over two years and 2) I've been living with him here for over 16 months. She gave us back originals but kept the original translation of his military certificate. We were asked how/where we met, what made us start talking, when we met in person the first time and who paid for the plane tickets, when we became engaged, if I converted to Islam and was his family ok with me not converting, how long I'd been in Egypt, if I maintained a USA residence, and why we didn't have the medical results yet. She asked us to send proof of my USA domicile (from what I read, filing taxes is proof, but I guess it wasn't enough for her), his medical results, and his passport. I told her I already submitted with my AOS package extensive proof that I have maintained my USA domicile but that the first lady gave me a ton of that back. She asked for the documents and kept them. Said that should suffice and marked off the documents she wanted about my domicile from the paper she gave my husband with the request for medical results/passport. I even offered her a newer letter from my previous employer stating she was holding my position but she didn't ask for it. She didn't ask for any proof of relationship nor did she look at any photos, which I must admit, was disappointing. We went with so many documents and pictures. We went over all sorts of questions... And were barely asked a thing. We're thankful, don't get me wrong, but we put so much stress on ourselves to know every little thing and bring every piece of paper from the beginning, and we didn't need any of it really. I'm guessing it went easy for us, again, because of how long we've been married and that we've been living together over 16 months. I asked her if everything was fine, she said yes. I asked if we needed an AP check. She asked if I meant administrative processing. I said yes. Her reply was something like they tell applicants at the time of interview if they need administrative processing. I'm assuming she meant that because she didn't specifically say my husband would have to undergo administrative processing, that we wouldn't need it. I also asked her if he'd be granted an IR1 visa vs a CR1 since we've been married over two years. She said yes and it even says IR1 on the document request paperwork she gave him.
That was it! We bought cappuccinos from the cafe inside the waiting area and left the embassy around 10 am.
I would give the experience a 5 star rating if it wasn't for that first lady we met with.
(updated on June 22, 2016)
(updated on June 22, 2016)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #19797