egyptian and american marriage

[Cali&Cairo 0]

please i need assistance to how start exactly the CR-1 visa with my fiance who is coming on november

what DOCUMENTS does he need to bring exactly from the US? how we start the procedure in egypt exactly?

does he need to bring the single status affidavit certification from the US OR FROM THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN EGYPT?

plus : he only has ten vacation days?is that ok can we finish marriage in egypt in ten days and he goes back?

please i need information from someone has similar case and got married in egypt \...

thanks and best luck to u all..

[Mithra 1,185]

Please check out this site. It tells you everything you need in order to get married in Egypt. No single affidavit needed. Please read the guides on this site for info regarding filing CR1. They are located at the top of the page. 10 days is enough time to get married in Egypt. Just be sure to make sure the consulate is open before you go. They have short operating hours so be sure to get there early. That info is also on the site below.

http://cairo.usembassy.gov/consular/acs12.htm

[disconnection 4]

Please check out this site. It tells you everything you need in order to get married in Egypt. No single affidavit needed. Please read the guides on this site for info regarding filing CR1. They are located at the top of the page. 10 days is enough time to get married in Egypt. Just be sure to make sure the consulate is open before you go. They have short operating hours so be sure to get there early. That info is also on the site below.

http://cairo.usembassy.gov/consular/acs12.htm

yes 10 days are enough to get married in Egypt for sure. First of all you both will go to the american embassy (The American Cetizens Services) and he will tell them he wants to marry in Rgypt and need an Affadavit of Marriage. Then you both need to go to Mogama3 el Ta7rer and stamp his passport the triangle stamp (residency stamp) . then to masla7et gawaz el aganeb fe medan lazoughly. and you should have your ID and he should have his Passport, and the Afidavit of marriage from the embassy, also take 5 personal pics for each one of you. hmmmmmm i think that's it.

and after you get married there they will give you a receipt and if you will go on a honeymoon or something then i think you should ask the guy there to write the name of both of you as a bride and groom and stamp it so in any hotels they would let you stay together.

Now you are married and enjoy your time together . And after he goes back to the U.S you will have to deal with the rest of the papers and looooooooooooooong journey with the embassy but that comes later so don't ask about it now

Good luck

[Nile_Romance 5]

Please check out this site. It tells you everything you need in order to get married in Egypt. No single affidavit needed. Please read the guides on this site for info regarding filing CR1. They are located at the top of the page. 10 days is enough time to get married in Egypt. Just be sure to make sure the consulate is open before you go. They have short operating hours so be sure to get there early. That info is also on the site below.

http://cairo.usembassy.gov/consular/acs12.htm

Dear Messy,

I am an American Citizen and my husband is an Egyptian Citizen. We recently married in Egypt and, based on our experience, the link posted (by "je veux ton amour") is the ONLY process "approved" by the USCIS (US Customs/Immigration) and the American Embassy in Egypt to qualify you to apply for either a CR-1 or K-3 visa. If you marry in a religious ceremony, I beleive you still have to go through this process (for US immigration purposes).

Where do you plan to live in the future? If you plan to live in the US and your circumstances allow, I would recommend getting married in the US instead of Egypt. You can still have your religious ceremony in Egypt but your husband can file an I-129F in the US which is a petition to have you come to the US and marry "here" within 90 days. In my opinion, this is the quickest way for you to be together permanently.

If that doesn't work for you and you must ("officially") marry in Egypt, you must use the process in the link above. We completed Steps 1-3 in one day and those were the only steps that required both of us to be there. The remaining process needs to be completed in Cairo but can be done by you alone.

After the marriage contract is completed (day 1) we had to wait approx 2 wks before the contract was available to us. They fill in some parts of the form after you leave on day one. As someone else mentioned, make sure that you get some sort of documentation if you plan to travel in Egypt because you cannot stay in hotels/resorts without a valid marriage cert. I'm guessing that your religious contract would work for the travel part also.

After those first 2 weeks, you must return to Cairo to get the finalized Arabic contract and take it to the "Egyptian Ministry of Justice Translation Office". This does not require both people but MUST be done in person by one of you. The Translation office then takes another 2 weeks to complete the translation which, again, must be picked up by one of you.

Once you have received the translated copy, there are a couple more steps (see instructions) to finalize. The instructions say that you "don't need to have it authenticated at the American Embassy to use for immigration in the United States" but you do want to do this step in order to officially register your marriage in the US for other purposes.

You must have the Arabic and English copy of the marriage certificate before you can apply for the I-130 (petition prior to the CR-1). You must apply for an I-130 before you can apply for a K-3. Although you can't file the I-130 prior to the marriage, I encourage you to get the instructions and start gathering the "other required documents" as soon as possible. As such, you will be ready to file it as soon as you get the official translated marriage contract.

Please note - I have received recent notices from the US Embassy in Cairo stating that an appt is required for all services. This should be done in advance (https://evisaforms.state.gov/acs/default.asp?postcode=CRO&appcode=1). I recommend making you appointment early in the day. Even though you schedule a time, they still serve people in the order in which they arrive. Once we got there, we have sometimes waited two hours for service. If you schedule early, there is not as many people in front of you to create a long wait time.

Other items to note: Take many pictures of the two of you together. Take many pictures of the two of you with your friends and family. If you are having a religious ceremony, take many pictures there. If you stay in a hotel/resort, make the reservations in BOTH of your names. If you travel together by plane or train, keep copies of the tickets and boarding passes. These are all good items to use as evidence of a "bona-fide relationship" and will be needed when filing the I-130.

CR-1 vs. K-3 - As noted above you must file the I-130 (petition for CR-1) before you file the petition for the KR-3. I have heard many different stories about this. Some say that they both take the same time to process so forget about the K-3 and just go for the CR-1. Others said the K-3 did help them get to the US faster.

I believe the biggest difference in the CR-1 vs. K-3 question is from which country the foreign national is coming. If you lived in someplace like France or Germany from which the US allows tourists to come and go with limited formality/visa, I believe the K-3 would definitely help the case. For Egypt, I don't think this is true (but we continually wonder about it ourselves). A K-3 is a visa that allows the foreign national (you) to come the US as a "NON-immigrate", to wait for your "official" processing to be completed here and then have your final interview (for your immigrations visa) in the US. The problem is that the US Embassy in Cairo requires a full interview for the K-3 visa and it appears to be as time consuming and thorough as the CR-1 interview. They do not want the Egyptian to come to the US unless they believe that the Immigrant visa will be approved. If you file the K-3, you will have your "official" immigration in the US at a local USCIS office. You also must file for and "Adjustment of status" (non-immigrant to immigrant) and there are add'l fees associated with that (I'm not sure exactly but I know it is at least $1,000 USD or more for the extra step)/

Having said all that, there is no fee to file the petition for the K-3 once you have filed for the I-130 so I say give it a try. If the K-3 gets done sooner than the CR-1, you can make the choice at that time. If the CR-1 gets done first, it didn't cost any extra money. The form to petition for a K-3 is I-129F. This form is titled "Petition for Alien Fiancé" and is s the form that you would normally use if you had decided to do your official marriage in the US. Section 8 of this form explains how you use it if you are already married and is required for the K-3 visa.

I know this is a lot but hopefully it will help you with some of your questions. PLEASE NOTE - this is all based on my experience and/or understanding. I am happy to help but cannot be responsible if anything has changed that I am not aware of. This (Visajourney.com), http://www.uscis.gov and http://cairo.usembassy.gov/consular/acs.htm are all good source of information. Another website that has been helpful is http://shusterman.com. This is a US Law firm that specializes in immigration. We did not use them and this is not an advertisement. I recommend watching their video at http://www.shusterman.com/greencardsthroughmarriagevideo.html (this is where I got the tips on the photo's and such).

Please note: it is very hard to contact the US Embassy in Cairo by email or phone. The best way to contact them is to make an appoint and go. My husband and I have both tried many times to contact them by phone and email and never gotten an answer or response.

The USCIS recently announced that they will be raising filing fees on 11/23/10. In particular the I-130 fee is scheduled to increase from $355 to $420.

Best wishes to you both.

[sara535 15]

i thought the K3 had become pretty much obsolete?

[And_Sam 44]

Dear Messy,

I am an American Citizen and my husband is an Egyptian Citizen. We recently married in Egypt and, based on our experience, the link posted (by "je veux ton amour") is the ONLY process "approved" by the USCIS (US Customs/Immigration) and the American Embassy in Egypt to qualify you to apply for either a CR-1 or K-3 visa. If you marry in a religious ceremony, I beleive you still have to go through this process (for US immigration purposes).

Where do you plan to live in the future? If you plan to live in the US and your circumstances allow, I would recommend getting married in the US instead of Egypt. You can still have your religious ceremony in Egypt but your husband can file an I-129F in the US which is a petition to have you come to the US and marry "here" within 90 days. In my opinion, this is the quickest way for you to be together permanently.

Technically the CR1 is quicker than the K1 visa but Egyptian women seem to get K1 visas faster than Egyptian men.

If that doesn't work for you and you must ("officially") marry in Egypt, you must use the process in the link above. We completed Steps 1-3 in one day and those were the only steps that required both of us to be there. The remaining process needs to be completed in Cairo but can be done by you alone.

After the marriage contract is completed (day 1) we had to wait approx 2 wks before the contract was available to us. They fill in some parts of the form after you leave on day one. As someone else mentioned, make sure that you get some sort of documentation if you plan to travel in Egypt because you cannot stay in hotels/resorts without a valid marriage cert. I'm guessing that your religious contract would work for the travel part also.

After those first 2 weeks, you must return to Cairo to get the finalized Arabic contract and take it to the "Egyptian Ministry of Justice Translation Office". This does not require both people but MUST be done in person by one of you. The Translation office then takes another 2 weeks to complete the translation which, again, must be picked up by one of you.

We were able to get our contract with translation within 1 day. I was able to sit with the man translating and make sure that it was in proper English. You of course need to pay extra for that. We then went straight to the US embassy (US citizen side) and got the paperwork notarized that it was official.

Once you have received the translated copy, there are a couple more steps (see instructions) to finalize. The instructions say that you "don't need to have it authenticated at the American Embassy to use for immigration in the United States" but you do want to do this step in order to officially register your marriage in the US for other purposes.

You must have the Arabic and English copy of the marriage certificate before you can apply for the I-130 (petition prior to the CR-1). You must apply for an I-130 before you can apply for a K-3. Although you can't file the I-130 prior to the marriage, I encourage you to get the instructions and start gathering the "other required documents" as soon as possible. As such, you will be ready to file it as soon as you get the official translated marriage contract.

Please note - I have received recent notices from the US Embassy in Cairo stating that an appt is required for all services. This should be done in advance (https://evisaforms.s...e=CRO&appcode=1). I recommend making you appointment early in the day. Even though you schedule a time, they still serve people in the order in which they arrive. Once we got there, we have sometimes waited two hours for service. If you schedule early, there is not as many people in front of you to create a long wait time.

Other items to note: Take many pictures of the two of you together. Take many pictures of the two of you with your friends and family. If you are having a religious ceremony, take many pictures there. If you stay in a hotel/resort, make the reservations in BOTH of your names. If you travel together by plane or train, keep copies of the tickets and boarding passes. These are all good items to use as evidence of a "bona-fide relationship" and will be needed when filing the I-130.

CR-1 vs. K-3 - As noted above you must file the I-130 (petition for CR-1) before you file the petition for the KR-3. I have heard many different stories about this. Some say that they both take the same time to process so forget about the K-3 and just go for the CR-1. Others said the K-3 did help them get to the US faster. Once you apply for the I-130, and then the I-129f, they usually get approved at the same time, or a couple of days in between. When that happens the USCIS will cancel out the I-129f application and only continue on with the I-130, hence the CR1 visa.

I believe the biggest difference in the CR-1 vs. K-3 question is from which country the foreign national is coming. If you lived in someplace like France or Germany from which the US allows tourists to come and go with limited formality/visa, I believe the K-3 would definitely help the case. For Egypt, I don't think this is true (but we continually wonder about it ourselves). A K-3 is a visa that allows the foreign national (you) to come the US as a "NON-immigrate", to wait for your "official" processing to be completed here and then have your final interview (for your immigrations visa) in the US. The problem is that the US Embassy in Cairo requires a full interview for the K-3 visa and it appears to be as time consuming and thorough as the CR-1 interview. They do not want the Egyptian to come to the US unless they believe that the Immigrant visa will be approved. If you file the K-3, you will have your "official" immigration in the US at a local USCIS office. You also must file for and "Adjustment of status" (non-immigrant to immigrant) and there are add'l fees associated with that (I'm not sure exactly but I know it is at least $1,000 USD or more for the extra step)/

Having said all that, there is no fee to file the petition for the K-3 once you have filed for the I-130 so I say give it a try. If the K-3 gets done sooner than the CR-1, you can make the choice at that time. If the CR-1 gets done first, it didn't cost any extra money. The form to petition for a K-3 is I-129F. This form is titled "Petition for Alien Fiancé" and is s the form that you would normally use if you had decided to do your official marriage in the US. Section 8 of this form explains how you use it if you are already married and is required for the K-3 visa.

I know this is a lot but hopefully it will help you with some of your questions. PLEASE NOTE - this is all based on my experience and/or understanding. I am happy to help but cannot be responsible if anything has changed that I am not aware of. This (Visajourney.com), http://www.uscis.gov and http://cairo.usembas...onsular/acs.htm are all good source of information. Another website that has been helpful is http://shusterman.com. This is a US Law firm that specializes in immigration. We did not use them and this is not an advertisement. I recommend watching their video at http://www.shusterma...riagevideo.html (this is where I got the tips on the photo's and such).

Please note: it is very hard to contact the US Embassy in Cairo by email or phone. The best way to contact them is to make an appoint and go. My husband and I have both tried many times to contact them by phone and email and never gotten an answer or response.

The USCIS recently announced that they will be raising filing fees on 11/23/10. In particular the I-130 fee is scheduled to increase from $355 to $420.

Best wishes to you both.

[And_Sam 44]

i thought the K3 had become pretty much obsolete?

It does become obsolete if the person first applies for the CR1 visa with the I-130 application. Usually the I-130 and the I-129f application gets approved within a day of each other. When that happens, they (USCIS, NVC?) will cancel out the I-129f and persue the I-130 application.

I guess people can still only apply with the I-129f application. Why? I don't know. Why pay more money once their SO gets to the US?