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| Egypt |  Review on November 20, 2021: |
kara_
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My husband and I have been to the US Embassy in Cairo 3 times now. The first time was in mid-2019 to get the documents from the Citizen Services to get married here in Egypt. I was lucky I realized 3 or 4 months in advanced that we needed an appointment to go to the embassy, because the appointments were booked for at least 3 months from the date I checked. I was able to get one of the last appointments available a few days before our wedding. We arrived about an hour earlier than our appointment, waited a bit in the little cafe, and then walked to the entrance. We didn’t have to wait outside long, but once through security, and in the correct place, we waited for at least 4 hours total, even though we had an appointment. It was a total mess. Keep in mind that this department is for US citizens trying to get things done and the only place in Egypt to do it. The people were rude, and they didn’t care how long anyone had to wait. Overall, I was very unimpressed. From my previous understanding of embassies, they were supposed to be an easy place for their citizens to be at, but clearly this was not the case. After wasting the entire day on getting one form here, we were finally finished and left.
The second experience we had with this embassy is when my husband applied for a tourist visa to come visit me in the US. This was a few months after we had started the CR1 visa process and were waiting to hear from USCIS. After the lengthy process of just filling out the application for the visa, he gets his appointment for 3 months later. Fast forward to his interview in early 2020. He goes early. Waits a long time. He brought all the recommended items: letter of employment from the company he works for saying how long he has worked there and his salary, proof of how much money he has in the bank, and proof of ownership in Egypt. He goes in for the interview which lasted only a couple minutes. The interviewer was prejudiced and asked him only questions about me. She didn’t seem to believe I could be Muslim AND from the US. My husband was very nice and polite despite her attitude, and as you can expect, his tourist visa is denied because of the “intention to immigrate on a non-immigrant visa.†As if we would risk our current CR-1 visa…. We were obviously very upset. We knew the immigration process wasn’t short, so we planned to visit each other. How is it reasonable that while doing your visa the right way, you’re not allowed to visit your spouse in the US?
The third, and hopefully last, time we dealt with the embassy was this past September 2021. Now, some background information: I started the CR1 in early October 2019. USCIS accepted and sent to the NVC in April 2020. We got the paperwork and documents finished (during Covid so it took us a couple months to get everything) and the NVC marked us documentarily qualified in July 2020. Since March 2020 the embassy has been closed due to Covid. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support being careful during Covid. However, this embassy has been taking things to a whole new level. They gave us the hope they would *maybe* reopen in September 2020. But September rolled around and not a word from the embassy. They never update their website with information anymore, with exception of the diplomatic news they are promoting. Their facebook page constantly boasts of community events they’re holding at the embassy, while it’s still too dangerous to have visa interviews. I did find out in March 2021 that they did start slowly doing some visa interviews again based on the visa statistics the government posts each month. But according to their website they weren’t open at all.
In the middle of August we heard from the NVC telling us our interview had been scheduled for the following month. So we prepare and get all of our documents ready. Finally, the day comes and he goes for the interview. He goes about a half hour early. They made him wait outside for 2 hours. Once he was inside, he waited another 3 or so hours. Finally when the interview comes around, he goes to the interviewer and she asked a few simple questions like when did you meet your wife, etc…. She tells him that he needs to fill out these “Supplemental Questions†and email them back to the embassy. She gives him his passport back and he leaves. All that waiting for a 2 minute interview. We filled out the questions and emailed them back the very same day. Our CEAC application status said “Refused†for administrative processing. I knew that wasn’t denied, and I was certain this was just a technicality, but still it wasn’t nice to see. Through some other reviews people posted here and elsewhere, I found out that this is something they are doing for almost everyone now because your DS-260 is so old now. Funny though, my husband’s DS-260 is only that old because they made us wait 14 months just to get a the interview. We waited 6 and a half weeks before we heard back from them. We mailed in the passport and a little over a week later we were able to pick it up.
We are so relieved, but honestly I cannot begin to explain how pissed we are that it took this long. We have waited over 2 years to start our life together after being married, and a majority of that wait has been because this embassy is so incompetent. Keep in mind that before Covid even happened, the standard wait for an interview was 5 months for this embassy. That’s ridiculous. I know people in other countries who finish at the NVC and receive an interview for the next month. Something needs to be changed. It is not reasonable that people should have wait more than 2 years for their spouse to get a visa. Only upside to this situation: our CR1 is now an IR1.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #30424