visa on hold because of my religion

[simps 2]

we went to the interview in mumbai india and they basically harrassed my wife until noon about her religion and then they said that they need proof that i am no longer christian and that i converted to islam. they said without it that they cannot issue a visa to my wife. we are having our imam from my city write a letter stating that he knows me to be a muslim. the way my wife described it to me is that they wanted some kind of document from the government that i changed my religion and noone i know seems to think there even is such a thing in america. has anyone heard of this kind of document existing in america? thank you all for your advice.

[Old Dominion 26]

Must be a misunderstanding. The U.S. govt is not allowed by law to inquire about one's religious beliefs.

[simps 2]

they said that it is indias rule. we dont know what to do now other then get what they asked for. is there anything else we can do? i dont know if they will even accept the letter from my imam or not. as far as i know noone ever has to do this kind of documentation when they change their religion in america.

[Terca 6]

what? based on religion?

Now that's scary.

[illnevergetthis 5]

Did you get married in India? If so, in India do you have a marriage contract or your marriage license that is filed in with the government? I would think that your religion should be listed on these documents...official government docs. I hope you have this in India and it helps.

[simps 2]

Did you get married in India? If so, in India do you have a marriage contract or your marriage license that is filed in with the government? I would think that your religion should be listed on these documents...official government docs. I hope you have this in India and it helps.

yeah we got married in india and we got the GOv certificate of marriage and they didnt care what religion my husband follow. they just care if we got married or not. this is so painful i hate this process. i dont know whats next now. May god help us ameen.

[Lars-N-Yenia 8]

Must be a misunderstanding. The U.S. govt is not allowed by law to inquire about one's religious beliefs.

[pushbrk 12,975]

we went to the interview in mumbai india and they basically harrassed my wife until noon about her religion and then they said that they need proof that i am no longer christian and that i converted to islam. they said without it that they cannot issue a visa to my wife. we are having our imam from my city write a letter stating that he knows me to be a muslim. the way my wife described it to me is that they wanted some kind of document from the government that i changed my religion and noone i know seems to think there even is such a thing in america. has anyone heard of this kind of document existing in america? thank you all for your advice.

This would be a matter related to the bona fides of the relationship. I'm no expert on Indian culture or laws but it appears the Consular Officer wishes to verify that cultural norms were followed. It's the same kind of thing as questioning bona fides in Viet Nam when there's no formal engagement ceremony. It's related to religious practices and cultural norms as they relate to whether the relationship is bona fide.

As with any overcome situation, you do the best you can to comply with the specific request. Consular officers know there would be no US government document declaring your religion or conversion, so it would be some other documentation. For instance, if you were declaring you were a Catholic, there would be a (not government but church) record of same, like a baptizm certificate, etc. Is there something similar in Islam?

[simps 2]

we went to the interview in mumbai india and they basically harrassed my wife until noon about her religion and then they said that they need proof that i am no longer christian and that i converted to islam. they said without it that they cannot issue a visa to my wife. we are having our imam from my city write a letter stating that he knows me to be a muslim. the way my wife described it to me is that they wanted some kind of document from the government that i changed my religion and noone i know seems to think there even is such a thing in america. has anyone heard of this kind of document existing in america? thank you all for your advice.

This would be a matter related to the bona fides of the relationship. I'm no expert on Indian culture or laws but it appears the Consular Officer wishes to verify that cultural norms were followed. It's the same kind of thing as questioning bona fides in Viet Nam when there's no formal engagement ceremony. It's related to religious practices and cultural norms as they relate to whether the relationship is bona fide.

As with any overcome situation, you do the best you can to comply with the specific request. Consular officers know there would be no US government document declaring your religion or conversion, so it would be some other documentation. For instance, if you were declaring you were a Catholic, there would be a (not government but church) record of same, like a baptizm certificate, etc. Is there something similar in Islam?

there is not such thing of documnetation in islam. one can accept it by heart they do not need any certificate but just one witness that u accepted. thats why we were so confused. we are tryng to talk to the person who was tere with my husband while he accepted islam. if he can make us then it would be from some mosque not from gov. hopefully they willl accept this. I was so amazed while theye were keep asking about his religion instead of asking about my relationship with him. this ppl are really paranoid. i was so confidant and i was stright looking in to his eyes and answering, i thougt i m gonna get the visa but end up with some big dificulties.. i really hate this Visa process. one cant be with thier love onse. my life is on hold now and cant even think anything furture then that. so disgusting..

[zahrasalem 114]

Sorry this happened to you, religion is personal..........but the only thing I can think of why they want proof your husband is now also Muslim like you, is because they know that in Islam, it is haram and not normally accepted in Muslim cultures that a Muslim woman will marry a non-Muslim man.

Hope you get the visa fast

MaSalama

[meowmeowmeow 1]

that is really sad and strange to hear....

hope things work out for the best...

[Starlight95 1]

we went to the interview in mumbai india and they basically harrassed my wife until noon about her religion and then they said that they need proof that i am no longer christian and that i converted to islam. they said without it that they cannot issue a visa to my wife. we are having our imam from my city write a letter stating that he knows me to be a muslim. the way my wife described it to me is that they wanted some kind of document from the government that i changed my religion and noone i know seems to think there even is such a thing in america. has anyone heard of this kind of document existing in america? thank you all for your advice.

This is ridiculous. I thought the Mumbai consulate was fairly fair and easy. I am completely getting freaked out about them now. Religion should not have no relevance in the visa process.

[Starlight95 1]

they said that it is indias rule. we dont know what to do now other then get what they asked for. is there anything else we can do? i dont know if they will even accept the letter from my imam or not. as far as i know noone ever has to do this kind of documentation when they change their religion in america.

when you had your nikkah you would have gotten a certificate from the Imam. Do you have this?

Star

[illnevergetthis 5]

Did you get married in India? If so, in India do you have a marriage contract or your marriage license that is filed in with the government? I would think that your religion should be listed on these documents...official government docs. I hope you have this in India and it helps.

yeah we got married in india and we got the GOv certificate of marriage and they didnt care what religion my husband follow. they just care if we got married or not. this is so painful i hate this process. i dont know whats next now. May god help us ameen.

email the embassy and ask them exactly what document they are looking for. If India doesn't document the religion of the couples, then they must be looking for a religious document. The nikah from the imam should do it. Please have your husband email the embassy. I hope you are able to easily clear this up and are reunited quickly.

[pushbrk 12,975]

Did you get married in India? If so, in India do you have a marriage contract or your marriage license that is filed in with the government? I would think that your religion should be listed on these documents...official government docs. I hope you have this in India and it helps.

yeah we got married in india and we got the GOv certificate of marriage and they didnt care what religion my husband follow. they just care if we got married or not. this is so painful i hate this process. i dont know whats next now. May god help us ameen.

email the embassy and ask them exactly what document they are looking for. If India doesn't document the religion of the couples, then they must be looking for a religious document. The nikah from the imam should do it. Please have your husband email the embassy. I hope you are able to easily clear this up and are reunited quickly.

Again, this is an issue about relationship bona fides and/or ruling out misrepresentation. It's the validity of your relationship they are questioning. They have the right to seek any available documentation to back up representations made on paper or verbally. If the relationship is genuine and you've told the truth, then documentation is most likely available in one form or another.