Embassy in Jerusalem..

[Anas 0]

My wife's interview was 8/26/2010, we have been waiting over a year for this day and it finally arrived. The interview was over and they requested an affidavit of support from the petitioner's (me) father and mother..

So I prepared the AOS from both my dad and mom, and sent it USPS express.

Get this..

The package was held and said "attempted delivery" several times. I contacted the israeli post office (very rude) and they told me someone had to pick it up. I emailed the embassy a couple of times explaining my situation, they never replied.

2 weeks later, I sent a second package via aramex, which arrives hopefully tomorrow at the embassy, 9/28/10.

Here's the funny part: i checked on my original package and miraculously it was delivered 9/26/10. So now they will have 2 AOS from me.

Here's my punch line, Should I email them and let them know about the double AOS shipments? or should i wait a week and ask for an inquiry?

I really wish it was easier to check on your application with the embassy, maybe its just the embassy in Jerusalem, but it's a pain in the BUTT!!

Thanks to all in advanced, any help/suggestions will be appreciated..

[Ban Hammer 12,875]

moved from Latin America, Mexico & the Caribbean regional to mena regional.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

My wife's interview was 8/26/2010, we have been waiting over a year for this day and it finally arrived. The interview was over and they requested an affidavit of support from the petitioner's (me) father and mother..

So I prepared the AOS from both my dad and mom, and sent it USPS express.

Get this..

The package was held and said "attempted delivery" several times. I contacted the israeli post office (very rude) and they told me someone had to pick it up. I emailed the embassy a couple of times explaining my situation, they never replied.

2 weeks later, I sent a second package via aramex, which arrives hopefully tomorrow at the embassy, 9/28/10.

Here's the funny part: i checked on my original package and miraculously it was delivered 9/26/10. So now they will have 2 AOS from me.

Here's my punch line, Should I email them and let them know about the double AOS shipments? or should i wait a week and ask for an inquiry?

I really wish it was easier to check on your application with the embassy, maybe its just the embassy in Jerusalem, but it's a pain in the BUTT!!

Thanks to all in advanced, any help/suggestions will be appreciated..

Remember that September 2010 was a very heavy holiday season for the Israelis - they celebrated Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. So the post office was closed a lot during this time (so was the consulate, which also closed for the Eid.) Even when offices are open, just about everything proceeds at a snail's pace during holiday seasons. I feel your pain - our case also landed at the consulate during the holidays.

About the mail - we had much more reliable results with Aramex than USPS Express Mail - about half the stuff we sent by USPS just disappeared (it would show on the tracker as "arriving in Israel," then...nothing.) I would recommend using Aramex for anything important.

You could send the consulate an email about the double delivery (although it may or may not be read/acknowledged by someone who actually pays attention to the content.) But if both sets of papers are exactly the same, I wouldn't worry about it.

Anyway, now that your documents have finally been delivered, hopefully your case will be completed very soon and you will have visa in hand before too much longer. Good luck!

[Anas 0]

Wow, I totally spaced the jewish holidays..not to count muslim holiday of eid and american holiday of labor day, so that counts as what..5 holidays within 30 days of eachother?

thank you so much for the reply and bringing that to my attention and good luck to u and your husband, i hope we'll find closure when this fiasco is over insha'Allah.

=)

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Wow, I totally spaced the jewish holidays..not to count muslim holiday of eid and american holiday of labor day, so that counts as what..5 holidays within 30 days of eachother?

thank you so much for the reply and bringing that to my attention and good luck to u and your husband, i hope we'll find closure when this fiasco is over insha'Allah.

=)

Yes, you hit the consulate closure jackpot! We had the same situation in 2005 with the 3 Jewish holidays, plus Eid (our "bonus" federal holiday was Columbus Day.)

It took just under 7 weeks from his interview until my husband had visa in hand (5 weeks of that was just waiting for Israeli police certificate to arrive and be processed.) Once the consulate has everything, they will print the visa and deliver it to your wife via Aramex. It took ours about 4 days from case completion until the visa was printed, and then another 5 days to travel the 15 miles from Jerusalem to Ramallah.

Insha'allah they will finish your case soon and you can finally be reunited. Best of luck to you and your wife.

[hopenfaith 0]

Yes, you hit the consulate closure jackpot! We had the same situation in 2005 with the 3 Jewish holidays, plus Eid (our "bonus" federal holiday was Columbus Day.)

It took just under 7 weeks from his interview until my husband had visa in hand (5 weeks of that was just waiting for Israeli police certificate to arrive and be processed.) Once the consulate has everything, they will print the visa and deliver it to your wife via Aramex. It took ours about 4 days from case completion until the visa was printed, and then another 5 days to travel the 15 miles from Jerusalem to Ramallah.

Insha'allah they will finish your case soon and you can finally be reunited. Best of luck to you and your wife.

Hello, I was reading your post and I have a question if you don't mind helping me with.

My husbands interview date was this April. He was approved, but they requested an original affidavit of support. We sent in the new affidavid of support September 8th, 2 days before Eid. I guess what you mentioned about all the holidays, is why we got the call from the consulate a month after! We got a call from the consulate October 12th. The lady told my husband to send in his passport through Aramex to get his visa stamped on it. And she told him he has 5 months to leave to America.

Now my question is, is it possible he will be put in AP after being told he was approved of the visa? And how long does it take to get the visa back from the consulate with the visa on it?? Im asking this bc i read that some people are asked to send in the passport, and then they are put under AP! Inshallah that wont be the case with us!

Thanks for your help!

[Anas 0]

I personally don't what AP means..and you clearly got a response before me...but hopefully someone else can help you cuz I'm still a step behind you..please update me on what happens..even after the several emails I send to the consulate..they always reply with minimal amount of information..and they never called my wife about anything..Inshallah things speed up for the both of us!!

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Hello, I was reading your post and I have a question if you don't mind helping me with.

My husbands interview date was this April. He was approved, but they requested an original affidavit of support. We sent in the new affidavid of support September 8th, 2 days before Eid. I guess what you mentioned about all the holidays, is why we got the call from the consulate a month after! We got a call from the consulate October 12th. The lady told my husband to send in his passport through Aramex to get his visa stamped on it. And she told him he has 5 months to leave to America.

Now my question is, is it possible he will be put in AP after being told he was approved of the visa? And how long does it take to get the visa back from the consulate with the visa on it?? Im asking this bc i read that some people are asked to send in the passport, and then they are put under AP! Inshallah that wont be the case with us!

Thanks for your help!

Well...anything's "possible" - there is a chance that he could be put in AP. But since they asked for the passport, most likely they are done with your case.

Depending on where the visa is being delivered to your husband in the West Bank, it might take a few days up to a week or even two. Ours took 5 days to go just from Jerusalem to Ramallah (this was back in 2005.)

Congrats on your approval and good luck for visa in hand very soon!

[Anas 0]

What does AP mean?? Now I'm gettin worried that nothing has happened with my application for a reason..i received an email that they have my AOS on file but they're waiting for the consul to make a decision..ya rab..

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I personally don't what AP means..and you clearly got a response before me...but hopefully someone else can help you cuz I'm still a step behind you..please update me on what happens..even after the several emails I send to the consulate..they always reply with minimal amount of information..and they never called my wife about anything..Inshallah things speed up for the both of us!!

AP in this context means "Administrative Processing" - it's a kind of catch-all term the consulates use to describe what they're doing with your case when they are not ready to issue a visa. AP (sometimes called "AR" or "Administrative Review") can include anything from waiting for you to submit additional documents, to waiting for routine name/security checks to be completed, to scrutinizing your paperwork/evidence, even to doing home visits to the beneficiary (or even the petitioner, in rare cases.) Or it could mean they're just letting your case sit on someone's desk gathering dust while everybody's out enjoying their holidays.....

Hope your wife receives her visa very soon!

[Anas 0]

Thank you for the clarification!! Inshallah in due time i guess!!

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Thank you for the clarification!! Inshallah in due time i guess!!

It takes nerves of steel to make it through this process! Insha'allah your case will be finished shortly. Best of luck for visa in hand VERY SOON!

[hopenfaith 0]

Wow, thankyou guys for the replies. Well, my situation was a bit like yours. I sent in the new affidavid of support back September 8th, maybe thats why I got a response before you. You said you sent in your documents after I did. And the consular sent me the same email, telling me that they have the papers asked for and they will contact us once the consular makes a decision. It took almost 3 weeks untill they did!

Now I heard that the consulate has been move to a different location. Maybe thats also why they are a little busy. Im still waiting for my husbands passport to arrive through Aramex. I wont be 100% out of worrying until I see it in my hands!

Good luck and be patient.. trust me.. I've worried so much about this. Now only left to get the passport and will be OVERJOYED! Good Luck! :Inshallah get visa soon in mail:

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Wow, thankyou guys for the replies. Well, my situation was a bit like yours. I sent in the new affidavid of support back September 8th, maybe thats why I got a response before you. You said you sent in your documents after I did. And the consular sent me the same email, telling me that they have the papers asked for and they will contact us once the consular makes a decision. It took almost 3 weeks untill they did!

Now I heard that the consulate has been move to a different location. Maybe thats also why they are a little busy. Im still waiting for my husbands passport to arrive through Aramex. I wont be 100% out of worrying until I see it in my hands!

Good luck and be patient.. trust me.. I've worried so much about this. Now only left to get the passport and will be OVERJOYED! Good Luck! :Inshallah get visa soon in mail:

Yes, they just opened a new consulate facility in West Jerusalem (on Agron Rd.) and are reportedly moving a lot of services over there. (In fact they have offered some services in another building on Agron Rd. since at least 2002.)

And yes, I think the old consulate was closed for a day or two last week for moving.

However, they are saying that the East Jerusalem consulate (the old one on Nablus Rd.) will remain open for some services. It's not clear yet how they are going to process West Bank Palestinians in the future - either at the old facility, or at the new one. Will be interesting to watch...

[Anas 0]

You're right hope..inshallah everything gets resolved asap..it's kinda ridiculous that it takes so long to get out of that land..I thought that was their objective, to get the Palestinians out..I guess they're gonna do so with a little torture first!!..