How important are multiple visits?

[sachinky 464]

The people who answer questions at the Kolkata consulate are a bunch of clowns. My wife's mama is very proud of the fact that he knows many of them personally and introduced me to one gentlemen during a visit to Kolkata. Fiancee visas came up and he told me those illegal now due to fraud

I had called them a few times to ask a few different questions. One man I spoke to asked me if I was marrying an American or an Indian. I said, "American, obviously, otherwise why would I choose to bother the US-Consulate with my wedding plans?" "No, no, madam, white American?" I said, yes. "Then you will have no problem. Just take your marriage certificate and they will issue the visa on the spot." Riiiiiight.

(To be fair, I got this same question during my interview at Mumbai. They even asked several times if my husband was a USC. At one point, I wanted to say, 'if he isn't, then clearly I'm at the wrong place.' I held my tongue though, I got snippy during my student visa interview and that didn't go too well, although I was issued the visa at the end.)

Edited March 17, 2011 by sachinky

[Miss smarty pants 84]

Hi everyone,

Our interview is coming up insha'allah and I was wondering if I should make another visit to see my fiance beforehand. I only visited once in August for about 12 days? I noticed that some say that a short stay/one visit can be a potential "red flag". So I was thinking about staying for another couple of weeks around the time of her interview insha'allah. The only reason I have not visited since August is because I had no more vacation time at work and didn't get my days back until recently. Do you think one visit would be bad for us? Should I visit again?

There are many more important things about one short visit than getting a visa. Marrying someone you don't really know from a foreign country has ruined many, many lives in this forum. It could be one of the most expensive, heartbreaking things you could ever do. Really think about that. my thoughts to you is definitely visit again if you can.

[VivianNYC 1]

There are many more important things about one short visit than getting a visa. Marrying someone you don't really know from a foreign country has ruined many, many lives in this forum. It could be one of the most expensive, heartbreaking things you could ever do. Really think about that. my thoughts to you is definitely visit again if you can.

I couldn't agree more. Of course Casa will look more favorably on multiple visits, but way more important is that you are completely confident you know this man inside-out. Personally I can't see how in one visit someone could be sure of that, but no doubt many long and successful marriages have resulted from very short courtships, not to mention arranged marriages. Unfortunately there are probably way more that fail because the man (or woman) didn't turn out to be the romantic ideal they first appeared to be, as another thread on this board has shown. How can you really know a person unless you have spent considerable physical time with them, experiencing all of each others' moods and faults, and weighing up whether you can live with them for the next 20, 30, 40 years? I'm not sure when the Affidavit of Support kicks in with a K-1, but that's a big deal down the line if things turn sour, being financially responsible for someone for a very very long time. Best of luck though.

[VivianNYC 1]

I couldn't agree more. Of course Casa will look more favorably on multiple visits, but way more important is that you are completely confident you know this man inside-out. Personally I can't see how in one visit someone could be sure of that, but no doubt many long and successful marriages have resulted from very short courtships, not to mention arranged marriages. Unfortunately there are probably way more that fail because the man (or woman) didn't turn out to be the romantic ideal they first appeared to be, as another thread on this board has shown. How can you really know a person unless you have spent considerable physical time with them, experiencing all of each others' moods and faults, and weighing up whether you can live with them for the next 20, 30, 40 years? I'm not sure when the Affidavit of Support kicks in with a K-1, but that's a big deal down the line if things turn sour, being financially responsible for someone for a very very long time. Best of luck though.

Oops, you're a man. Tried to edit, but too late. Just exchange "man" for "woman" above. I think it's probably different for Moroccan women coming here than Moroccan men in terms of adjustment, but nevertheless, the more you know, really know, each other, the better for her adjustment here.

[Mithra 1,185]

Absolutely nothing to do with the thread but thank you for reminding me about artichokes. I bought some at the produce market on Saturday and completely forgot about them. I will eat them this evening.

Other than the taste-tests, I haven't even eaten any yet. I'm waiting until Friday to make the blood orange marmalade and the red currant red raspberry. I am feeling lazy tonight. I'm making artichokes right now. Can you imagine if I had actually used the peach liquer the peach passion fruit called for? That would have made for an awesome post.

[rek pooh 0]

Absolutely nothing to do with the thread but thank you for reminding me about artichokes. I bought some at the produce market on Saturday and completely forgot about them. I will eat them this evening.

Enough with the food posts guys!!! To everyone else...thanks for the advice and keep it coming insha'allah. I like to share ideas.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Enough with the food posts guys!!! To everyone else...thanks for the advice and keep it coming insha'allah. I like to share ideas.

you could always not read the food posts, and just read the ones that contain the information yr seeking. an oz of adab could go a long way. the regional forums are not 100% visa stuff, 100% of the time. the people posting helpful stuff do it 100% voluntarily. if part of their helpful stuff also involves tangents, so be it.

[rek pooh 0]

you could always not read the food posts, and just read the ones that contain the information yr seeking. an oz of adab could go a long way. the regional forums are not 100% visa stuff, 100% of the time. the people posting helpful stuff do it 100% voluntarily. if part of their helpful stuff also involves tangents, so be it.

Masha'Allah

[Crossed_fingers 128]

It's like trying to herd cats in here sometimes.

[rek pooh 0]

Yes, everyone is talking about the same situation. Most often, the FBI name check is not complete at the time of interview. The result of the interview is either a denial (sent back to USCIS) or an approval (pending additional processing which usually includes the name check). After an approval, occasionally people will receive the visa as soon as the next day, but this is rare (out of the VJ population at least). Usually (again, speaking of the VJ population), the visa takes from a couple of weeks to several months to be issued. Now, if your experience is with marriage and fiance visas of Moroccans in the U.S. bringing over their SO's, then it's possible that what you are saying is true - that's a smaller sample of the VJ population, and maybe the experience of that group is different. What everyone here is trying to clarify is that your typical beneficiary reading VJ will not get the visa the day immediately following an approval.

Tourist visas are a different story and as far as I know, it usually happens the way that you've described.

What exactly takes place during AP and do they just check the foreign spouse/fiance or both? Also, if they just do a name check then why does it take weeks for some people? Just curious

[Crossed_fingers 128]

I don't know exactly what takes place during AP besides a background check, although I've heard that both people are checked at least to some degree. I think if a person has a common name there is a high likelihood that they'll get a "false hit" by sharing that name with a criminal or terrorist suspect or whatever, and then it may take a while for whoever is doing the background search to sort that out and make sure that the person actually being checked is not the same person with the criminal record. That could cause some of the delay.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Focus people!!! Does anyone know how long from approval in Casa does it take to have the visa in hand on average?

Honestly, no one here knows. All we can do is speculate, but it is true that Moroccan women have had far fewer issues with getting a visa than to Moroccan men unless something unusual pops up. My SIL got her tourist visa without any sponsorship almost immediately after requesting it, and she barely speaks English. Unlike most men, my husband had a cursory interview, and received his visa within 24 hours. We had married within 10 days of our first meeting, and he's 21 years younger, both supposedly red flags. Mitigating factors are we're both Arab, both Muslim, can communicate easily in 3 languages. I can't tell you for sure why he had no AP, and no substantive interview. The CO's know why they do what they do, but it's rare that we know.

Edited March 30, 2011 by Sofiyya

[rek pooh 0]

Honestly, no one here knows. All we can do is speculate, but it is true that Moroccan women have had far fewer issues with getting a visa than to Moroccan men unless something unusual pops up. My SIL got her tourist visa without any sponsorship almost immediately after requesting it, and she barely speaks English. Unlike most men, my husband had a cursory interview, and received his visa within 24 hours. We had married within 10 days of our first meeting, and he's 21 years younger, both supposedly red flags. Mitigating factors are we're both Arab, both Muslim, can communicate easily in 3 languages. I can't tell you for sure why he had no AP, and no substantive interview. The CO's know why they do what they do, but it's rare that we know.

Masha'Allah...interesting. As a matter of fact, I did speak to an immigration lawyer and he said that having things in common such as religion and a solid means of communication (speak the same language) are very important factors.

[Teffah 5]

I visited my husband (then fiance) twice before his interview. I created two different photo albums from the two trips (small $1 photo albums from Wal-Mart). I really think it helps. The first trip I stayed for 2 weeks and the second trip I stayed for 3 weeks.

[Moonlight2011 13]

Loooks intersting.

My fiance visited me Two times in less than two months but for few days (lesss than a week..)

I guess if ure fiance came for more than a week its fine, but the most she comes the better it is..cause they will see that ure trying get together as much as u can do it and afford it.

Actaully im wondering if the Algerian embassy give easily visa to woman or to man...i heard so horribol things..about it i start to worry!!