Who in the heck is bullying anyone off anywhere Whoa, now I'm a 'terrorist'...wow that's great.

It's so disappointing to not be able to have a conversation where two parties disagree without someone taking offense. VJ Sheesh.

Does your 'we should care about each other' extend to me as well? Or because I'm a 'visitor' here, it's ok to call me a TERRORIST? Hrm.

Oh, W...I think an apology for calling me a terrorist is the right thing to do. And show me where I bashed her. Money where your mouth is time. You can spew these hateful pejoratives my way...but prove them. How is my opinion concerning this article transferred to AMNA? How is my opinion considered to run anyone anywhere. Here's a clue for you...you'd (GENERAL YOU HERE) have to matter for me to feel so strongly one way or another...and I simply do not care who stays or goes. So how *I* got the blame for the whole 'this is my last post but really it's not' drama is quite frankly, ridiculous.

Its ok Lisa...but no where does the article even hint that we can't "live without our SO". Wendy is moving after a DENIAL. Thats enough to rattle anyones cage...read my previous post. I dont think the reporter made us look the way you think. Its about our site here...VJ...its about how we are pulled here to find our support..friendships and information.

I never said you dont care about your fiancee. If I did please point out where...if I made you feel taht way I apologize. Lisa, we ALL want our SO here. We ALL miss them terrible. We ALL roll over in bed at night wishing they were there, turn to share something then realize they aren't there, call out from another room and realize they aren't there...we ALL go through it.

If u can cut and paste the part of the article that makes it look like we are desperate or obsessed maybe i can understand better. But the part you are refering to isn't about our SO...its about VJ and how we all are pulled here.

Im open to comments...and difference of opinion..but NOT sarcasm or put downs...it got out of hand. Lets make up and continue...

Don't leave! I mean it looks like you're sticking around now but pleaseeeeee stay.

Can I function without Ramy here? Sure. But I'll tell you when I first came back from Egypt and started this process that it was damn near impossible to function for a lot more reasons than the fact Ramy wasn't here--mostly I hated my job at the time with a passion so who the hell wants to drag themselves in when they know they could have stayed in Cairo and the damn job would not have been an issue?

So I got 2 new jobs and worked myself to death and as the months passed I realized eastern CT isn't so terrible after all...but it really did take getting a new job to get me to realize I can function without him here. There were some rough patches like when my grandmother was in the hospital for a month right at the time he got his visa and I wanted him here NOW...but she got better and I got better.

But it's not easy, I wouldn't say it's easy for anyone.

she didn't call you a terrorist.

I've already explained why *I* inferred that from the article. We look v needy. Words like 'fixated, consumed, et al' and the general tone of the article spoke TO ME of codependent neediness.

And I'm not the only one who felt that way. Now I personally don't care whether anyone agrees with me or not, but I mention it to illustrate the fact that if you think it's just me who 'got it wrong', you're mistaken.

MrsAngel...I have never made one attack on you, so please....if you're thinking of leaving VJ, do it separate from our discussion...because nowhere in ANY of my posts to you does it warrant you laying that at *my* doorstep. Do it or not, it doesn't matter to me...but own the choice yourself, please.

Oh heck..Im not going anywhere..who am i kidding??? You guys are my support. I know what you mean. Its not that we can't function...we all miss them in different ways at different times. Im glad your jobs worked out and I think when we go through hard times..its at THAT moment we REALLY want them here. We want THEM to be our support physically..not from 6000 miles away. So I understand that. Yeah...I've thought lots about wanting to stay in Egypt..but thats not an option for me. No one else will take my parents to care for them and I personally dont want them in nursing home. Unfortunately I dont have the option to go change my parents in for healthy ones...so this issue will continue. Both will forget who I am, and not be able to feed, bath, change themselves if Allah doesn't take them first. Im grateful for my time with them, and consider it my honor to do this for them. But its an undaunting task and there are days im exhausted. (I work 7 NIGHTS a week to be sure Im home at day for them and doctors)

But written words can be misinterpreted soo easily...main thing is we are here..stick together..and give that support to each other. We each have issues in our lives...each has an interest in getting their SO here and each one interprets things differently...

I just hope we can remember to have respect..and in the future I'll be sure to ASK the meaning of words instead of ASSUMING what was meant.

We're not going down pedantic lane right now, are we C?

I apologize Lisa...lets drop it and move on...

Lets all drop it...we are entitled to our opinions...lets just continue to share and support...

TYVM!

You are welcome...

Your SO is from United Kingdom??? England? Ireland part?? I"ve always wanted to visit there..never have. What areas would you recommend?

sounds good.

Ok guys...this thread is for those on AP....thats a tough process in MENA...we all know this...where are we in the process...any new visas issued recently?

Doodlebug what was the last you heard?

Cheryl/Medo??

Cairobound??

Sam and Becky????

Anyone?????

last night i terrorized a pizza. i don't think that makes me a terrorist

micky_sabry (Egypt, K-1 but should have been CR-1) Reapplied for CR-1 and at NVC right now.

AshkiA (Egypt, CR-1) Interviewed 8/17/06 Awaiting AR

gotmeahunk (Egypt, K-3/CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 11/19/06 Awaiting AR

CairoBound (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 11/21/06 Awaiting AR

Becky&Sam (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 2/5/07 Awaiting AR

Cheryl & Medo (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 2/7/07 Awaiting AR

aj1 (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 3/12/07 Awaiting AR - did not go to DOS yet

just waiting for my habebe (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 4/2/07 Awaiting AR

ayesha4akram (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 4/4/07 Awaiting AR

Ahmed & Sue (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 4/18/07 Awaiting AR

water is wide (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 05/03/07 Awaiting AR

m&n (Egypt, CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 5/6/07 Awaiting AR

TamaraLovesAdam (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 5/9/07 Awaiting AR

xfilesman1 (Egypt, CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 5/14/07 Awaiting AP

Wael253 (Egypt, CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 5/23/07 Awaiting AR - VISA IN HAND (11/1/07)

Monnik (Egypt, CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 6/14/07 Awaiting AP - did not go to DOS

Doodle (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 7/22/2007 Awaiting AP

SandynJack (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 8/30/2007 Awaiting AP

The Sparrow (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 9/12/2007 - VISA IN HAND


Congratulations to Wael!!!

The last I heard from Cairo was a couple of weeks ago. Same canned response of still in Admin Processing. Since then have had a meeting with the woman who handles immigration at my congressman's office and she is waiting for me to send her my medical hardship letter from my Rheumatologist. I should be getting that in the mail today inshallah and will send it promptly to her. I highly doubt it's going to make a big difference but at least I'll know I've done everything I possibly can once that is submitted.

aj1 still hasn't gone to DOS since March?? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???? Any idea?? Whats up with that.

Lots of k1's hitting the 5/6 month mark...I'd hope they'd get visas soon.

Do K3's seem to take longer in AP/AR??? Or is that my imagination??







WAELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS...WOW...GREAT...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!


Whats the difference between AR and AP? Is one for DOS and the other for Cairo review??

Medo and I are stll in AP. The lady who takes care of imagration at the senators office sent Cairo a email and is waiting to hear back from them. I emailed Cairo telling them I will be there and would like to talk to a officer. Dead End!!!! but atlease they know I will be there. And I will go to the embacy when im there. It took Medo 5 mo just to get that interview and now we have been on AP for 9 mo's. I read the artical in the Washington Post and thought it was great. Im happy people hear about how the uscis handles things. And yes there was some bad comments. But its not like we haven't heard them befor. I have heard them from my own family and friends. I can handle that. What I cant handle is this 9 mo's of AP and them not giving me a bit of info on our case.

Welll Im not stopping with just one article. This isn't right to put peoples lives on hold for sooo long. This is the AMERICAN EMBASSY IN Cairo. Its OWNED by the good old USA. ALL embassy's should fall in the same regulations and have the SAME proceedures. When we go into that embassy WE are on USA soil. (So they SAY) Therefore when WE call, or go there WE are entitled to the SAME rights as here at home. We pay them for this service. Its not just the wait on the NOA2 that gets me...its the entire process. Some countries aren't so bad...but even Britain has its "terrorists". We (MENA) are being discriminated against on our OWN soil. If they were on AMERICAN soil HERE.....civil rights activists would be ALL OVER this. But the truth is they ARE standing on US Soil..when they enter that embassy. And should be treated with the same respect as if they were HERE. I dont care if the Embassy employees Egyptians, Brazilians, British or Turkish...its STILL American Soil and should be conducted under those rules of conduct. WE should insist on it. Not just asking for help with our petition s but help in changing the laws/rules that got us here.

Sorry...Im just rambling...Im just very passionate about the flaws in the system....

RIGHT ON WOMAN KEEP ON RAMBLING And I will be useing some of them words when I get there and go to the embassy! I will be insisting on getting in there and seeing a officer. If they dont let me in at lease they will know Im there.

Thats right girl..you ROCK. We get better treatment at the EGYPTIAN CAIRO AIRPORT as US Citizens than at that Embassy. I just feel the whole SYSTEM is broken. From start to finish. We Filed in JUNE. (19th) VSC used to be the fastest now they haven't even started June petitions yet. They are approving VJ memebers the last 2-3 months at 15 petitions a month..at this rate I'll be LUCKY to have my noa2 in January....7 months after filing THEN to wait in a super long AP/AR??? I figure why "signal" out MENA....most countries get their visas that day or within 2 weeks...If we have to do it...ALL should do it...if they dont have to...WE shouldn't have to. It should be FAIR and EQUAL. The process should be the SAME no matter what consulate you use. It should be seamless with USCIS and DOS. There should be ONE service center to call for questions...and every move made on our petitions should go into the computer that is linked to one central server..so CS reps can update our status...why Yes Mrs Medo...your petition has finished the name checks and is currently being reviewed by your consular officer. There should be set time limits for this work. Every office if it works the same as the others should have enough resources so when they are over staffed those employees can be sent to understaffed offices to help "catch up". English language should be required in all offfices so this can be done. SEAMLESS. Efficient...fast..informative. This is ONE process so why is it being handled as 2-3 "processes". first noa2..then nvc..then embassy..then DOS. And why isn't DOS and name checks done BEFORE going to embassy???????

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Yes, because tears work at the airport but not USCIS or DOS. The Cairo airport is so nice if you're bawling your eyes out! At least when it comes to a carryon bag being 7 kilos overweight....

Tears on the phone...nope. They're all cold-hearted parrot DRONES! "You mean...he might not be here for over a year? -sniffle- That SUCKS!" "Yes Ma'am, it does suck." And yes, one of the people at VSC really did say that to me.

And then NVC entered my name wrong in their system...first of all, their freaking internal computers should be seamlessly integrated. Large corporations have integrated programs where they can pass info from an accounting program to a customer management system to whatever etc etc etc. And if we're paying so damn much, maybe they should eliminate a couple steps and integrate their systems or -gasp- even use the same one! What purpose does it serve to enter my name twice in the system? They're acting like their computers pre-Windows 95 and we all know that's probably not true. I'm amazed by how inefficient this government agency is especially for the amount of importance it carries.

I'm babbling, carry on!

BABBLE ON GIRL BABBLE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!


If Cheryl and Medo, Doodlebug, CairoBound and AJ1 don't have their visa's by my next trip in January....IM GOING TO THE EMBASSY AND ISSUING THEM MYSELF!!! Umm...can you guys get the bail money ready????

They won't let you in to see a consular officer. (If they do, make sure to let us know, cause I will be in line right after you! ) If you don't have an appointment for an interview, they won't let you into the Visa side, and if you go to the American Services side, they will tell you that they don't handle any visa questions.

Tears don't work in person, either.

They give you robot answers in person, too!!!

Don't let my experience stop you from trying, though. Maybe you could be more creative or come up with another way to get through to them. Good luck everyone!

Come on, you all are grown women, save the tears and keep your dignity.

hmmm fake tears work so well on the male population in Egypt though...heheheeheh Or yelling loudly..either will work...dignity? AFter waiting alll those months...i'd give up dignity for a visa anyday...but you are right.....it probably wont work.

Wow. That's unfortunate.

I agree reform is needed across the board. How manyof you are for increasing taxes or cutting other expenses to fund the consulates properly? How many Americans do you think are willing to do this for a system that they see no benefit for themselves?

Do you really want consulates acting the same across the board? Most americans like a decentralized political system?

There are just a lot of factors involved here that need to be addressed and only then will we see the much reform happen.

This is a good point. Suppose you get all the exposure: what specific things do you want to have happen? What do you say when Oprah's security expert says that they're not delaying, but it does take that long to sort out Usama ibn Labib from Osama bin Laden? (And points to couples that get through quickly as evidence that they're not biased, and then horror stories to show why they're doing their job.)

You'll look more reasonable if you can say 'we need X amount of funding, and the benefit isn't just to my husband, but to [blah blah blah security blah blah] so the average American can be sure that their borders are protected.'

Ummm maybe i should have used a wink??? I wasn't being serious....




This is exactly what is needed..people like yourselves that have great ideas...look at it from other perspectives....Im not saying AP/AR should cut corners if needed....but I am saying the Process should follow the same flow. Anyhow you raised great questions...you'd be perfect in helping to address reform.

Those are very good points.

I just don't see who this is going to appeal to other than those waiting for their fiance's/husbands to get here who are going through Consulates. I can't imagine the funding needed for that especially since we're not just talking about one Consulate, but every Consulate that processes fiance and spousal visas throughout the world. On top of that, this process is temporary. Once you get through the Consulate you're done with them forever. I personally would not be willing to pay taxes in order to fund efficiency in Consulates abroad to bring over other people's spouses.

I think that the visa fees should vary by consulate. (do they already? ) Just jack those up to whatever level necessary to get things done more efficiently. One of the reasons stated for sending petitions back in Casablanca so often is lack of funding to do proper "investigation". If that's true, I think people would be willing to shell out a bit more when paying the visa fee at the interview if that meant that fewer petitions would be sent back.

I wonder if the mods could perhaps make a new thread with the posts that aren't regarding the list that I update? This thing is getting huge.

It's $100 worldwide, as far as I know. One would wonder, though, if it would be possible to change it, and if tying it to country of origin might not be ethically tricky. The other worry is where is the delay? The department of state? USCIS? FBI? What does AP/AR specifically entail?

I would be willing to pay crazy fees just to not have to deal with this.. Someone made a really good point in another thread ( I cannot remember who) about the difference between Morocco and Egypt.. there seems to be all kinds of ar and ap in Egypt where Morocco just shoves stuff out the door and bye bye... Seems to me that I would much rather deal with AP AR than a denial and no chance of appealing.. But then again.. I AM STILL NOT EVEN OUT OF USCIS.. so what do I know?

That's the problem- we have no idea exactly which entity is causing delays.

And we should. It's total BS that those who are still in AR/AP are still in the dark with no end in sight and DOS is no help whatsoever.

I mean...come on. At your job, you're expected to have something to show for the time you spend at your desk. For those on AP the end result most of the time is the same--you get the visa. If you're not going to get the visa you know that up front at the interview (right? Someone correct me if I'm wrong). Was there anyone on VJ who has sat in AR/AP for months only to be denied in the end? I don't think so. So why were they left waiting 2 months to a year? And why don't some wait at all? (BTW, when I called DOS during time we were in post processing, they told us we were in AR...so I think the two terms definitely are interchangeable.)

Note that what I said above does not apply to those who actually got the paper with the 221G checked. It only applies to those who had the interview, were told something and not given a paper at all like many in Cairo who were told they would be contacted in x weeks/months and hear nothing.

Most customer service reps at real companies would be fired if they treated us the way DOS phone operators do--I had one woman answer the phone with her mouth full who just started interrupting me and not listening and all the rest. Give me a break, what the hell are we paying such high fees for for such poor service?

A group formed about a year+ ago to try to address some of these issues through lobbying. It has calmed down since immigration has been put on the back burner in Congress for a while. But, it is gearing up for more. Its lobbying goals have largely been shaped by its members so I am not sure if AP/AR is one of the target areas at the moment, but if enough of you speak up I am sure it could be. Anyone who is interested: www.americanfamiliesunited.org

Right and I suspect it varies from consulate to consulate.

Not that I want to defend USCIS, but I hardly think the problem is that people in Cairo could be working faster but they're sitting around playing tiddlywinks. They have other things to do besides 'process' AP/AR, like all the extra countries' visas who go through Cairo these days. At a consulate like Montreal, where there is practically no risk of fraud, it is taking six months to *schedule* an interview just out of sheer volume. When people go in to interview, there are many people there. It's not like they're just sitting around.

So add to that a need to wait on a namecheck (which might 'hold' the process until that information comes back), the extra processing required, home visits (surely they have to visit, write a up a report, evaluate it), plus whatever time the package spends in transit, and you could have people working 12 hour days and it still taking that long.

PM them doodle..ask them to split the thread AP list and AP discussion

I agree! I can't keep up with anything now

I think for many of us the delay is the name check - mostly handled by the FBI, I think I read. But the DOS line refers to them as "agencies" who are clearing the name.

There is a huge list of criminal names, mostly men, worldwide and if your SO has a same/similar name, it seems to take forever to clear.


Talking about different consulates, don't get me started about Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Waited 18 months for an interview. Now 6+ mths of name clearance.

I was required to be at his interview. The questioned us and told us they do not doubt our relationship (which if they did the AP/AR process would be different and/or longer) but needed to clear his name. Ugh!!!

I'm making holiday plans without mi amor and I'm sad.

Take Care Everyone.....

Not to mention the DOS is not connected to the FBI. There hasbeen somereform put inplace to improve communication bettwne agencies and departments since 2001 but bureaucratic old habits (and turf wars) are hard to break.

Anita- I am soooo glad you stopped by and posted. It's important to remember this is a situation manyof us go through and some have it worse than others. I was shocked the first time I heard the DR needed 18 months just to schedule an interview. how INSANE is that!!!

Wishing you a speedy reunion!

It's not the name checks in terms of the Cairo delay. Those are done for a few of us and we're still waiting. It's Cairo and whatever they have going on for administrative processing. I think once the name checks are done they look to see what else needs to be done and if the case is flagged for an investigation in Cairo then it sits in a pile and waits for it's turn. I'm sure it's a big pile and per my congressman they're very understaffed. I just don't know why they don't charge more if they're understaffed? I'd like to know where the embassies get their funding from for their payroll. Is it from USCIS? If so shouldn't the new rate hikes help with understaffing problems?

I did ask the mods to split this off beginning with the oprah discussion. Hopefully it's not that difficult to do.

USCIS is part of the Departmentof Homeland Security and the consulate/embassy is part of the Department of State. State provides funding and regulations for operation. MAYBE USCIS flags some funds to this part of the process, but I doubt it.

Sorry! Take Care and good luck

Well let's see. The last email my husband received from the Embassy was approximately 2 weeks ago and it's the same answer "Still in AP and he'll be contacted once it's done". The embassy doesn't respond to my emails any longer. Guess I made them mad some how. I wrote Oprah and received an email back from her folks indicating that they received thousands of emails a day and may not hear anything soon. Wrote the senator and they put an inquiry into the Embassy and they received the same information as we receive in our emails. Wrote Condeleeza Rice and haven't heard anything back from her.

So I've got a couple of questions that maybe someone will know the answers to. Since we originally filed our papers in April of 2006, isn't the medical, etc. only good for so long? I've heard that the I30 and I129F don't expire since they are "in the works". But the finger prints from the police station, medical, etc - are they the same and don't expire as long as they are in process?

It's coming up on ONE YEAR now that we've been on AP. I just don't get it. I thought for sure the embassy would have some kind of a heart and approve just prior to one year, but I guess I'm wrong. I've heard the longest from Egypt that's been on AP is 1 year and 3 months. Any bets that ours will go longer?