Relocating temporarily to Bahrain to wait for visa with my hubby

[cleo_pat 0]

Helloooo all

My husband is Saudi and we have been waiting since December 2007 for an approval from USCIS. First, of all we got a RFE in June to supply paperwork that he entered "legally on all occasions." The thing is we went to Mexico for our honeymoon and on the way back in he was held up at secondary inspection for many hours! There was some mix-up and eventually the authorities figured out that he was enrolled at UCSD and did have a valid visa. However,this must have come up on the background check and it is taking much too long for ANY response.

So, we have decided that I will relocate to Bahrain to be with him as we wait for a reply. I have taken a Leave of Absence from my job and plan to be away about 4 months.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for me?

thanks - everyone here is always so helpful!

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi - I just checked on you and found out you didn't get approved yet - sorry to hear that! But I think you have a great opportunity to go and be with your husband, especially since you can come back to your job. If I hadn't taken a 3-month leave of absence just two years ago, that might have been an option for me.

I found a post I replied to a few months ago (it comes up on the bottom of your thread) about another member wanting to go to her husband's country:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=118468

Here's what I can add since then: the NVC initiated the online payment system exactly when we were approved, so we were one of the guinea pigs. It worked perfectly from abroad. We could have gotten through NVC even faster if we had bothered to get all the documents together quickly. The only slight problem was calling NVC from here, but the time difference is such that mid-afternoon here is right when they start taking calls, so I always got through on the first try.

My friend in the U.S. scanned and e-mailed me any NVC correspondence that came to my address, but it wasn't even necessary, as the cover sheet with bar code is generated online, and we eventually received all the hard copies addressed to my husband in Bulgaria anyway. I suppose if you got another RFE you would need that document, but that would be ridiculous if they wouldn't accept a print out the scan as long as it had all the information ...

I sent our DS-230 package by Fed Ex to my mother in the U.S., and she then mailed it through the USPS (registered or certified). That was so I could track the envelope to the U.S. - NO WAY would that be possible through Bulgarian mail. You might be able to use FedEx directly to NVC, I just didn't look into that option.

If anything, it helped our case at the interview that I had been here and had really integrated into his life. (I would imagine that no sham marriage participant is going to come to live here for months. haha)

Get your I-864 and DS-230 paperwork together ASAP - I think the only one that is time-sensitive is the police certificate and it should be good for a few months. That USCIS approval that has taken forever will suddenly sneak up on you.

So have fun in Bahrain, and with your hubby, and best wishes for his interview to be scheduled while you are still there!

/bb

Helloooo all

My husband is Saudi and we have been waiting since December 2007 for an approval from USCIS. First, of all we got a RFE in June to supply paperwork that he entered "legally on all occasions." The thing is we went to Mexico for our honeymoon and on the way back in he was held up at secondary inspection for many hours! There was some mix-up and eventually the authorities figured out that he was enrolled at UCSD and did have a valid visa. However,this must have come up on the background check and it is taking much too long for ANY response.

So, we have decided that I will relocate to Bahrain to be with him as we wait for a reply. I have taken a Leave of Absence from my job and plan to be away about 4 months.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for me?

thanks - everyone here is always so helpful!