CR1 Petitioning

[SmilesAbroad 27]

Oh and an extra note, I always loved hijaabs on other women even years before I became a muslim. I always secretly wished I could wear one of those but I didnt want to be insulting to the faith. If I had know Islam when I was a teenager, like 17/18 I know that I would have converted to it, but unfortunately I did have completely wrong ideas about what Islam was (pretty much all the bad things you can hear about it) and so I never took up study of it in my search for a religion to follow as my own. I am sure there is no way to prove this to USCIS, short of one affidavit from my close friend who always listened to me point out hijaabi girls and say how jealous I was of their head scarf

[SmilesAbroad 27]

Oh and an extra note, I always loved hijaabs on other women even years before I became a muslim. I always secretly wished I could wear one of those but I didnt want to be insulting to the faith. If I had know Islam when I was a teenager, like 17/18 I know that I would have converted to it, but unfortunately I did have completely wrong ideas about what Islam was (pretty much all the bad things you can hear about it) and so I never took up study of it in my search for a religion to follow as my own. I am sure there is no way to prove this to USCIS, short of one affidavit from my close friend who always listened to me point out hijaabi girls and say how jealous I was of their head scarf

[catknit 144]

Petitioning at some consulates can be a little more difficult than other consulates. Some consulates are just super hard to get through. Each consulate has their staff trained to look for things that may be indicative of potential fraud by the beneficiary.

In no way am I judging you about your story, but the Consular Officer will - it needs to have rhyme and reason, it needs to make sense from a third party's point of view and you need to handle any petition and additional proof as a legal case. Just showing up to an interview and saying "but we LOVE each other" won't result in a visa. Especially from a country like Pakistan. Unfortunately it is a T country [i think that's the phrase. It's Monday morning and I'm rather slow on Monday mornings]. Petitioners from T countries get extra scrutiny based on ties to terrorism found within their nation.

Many South Asian countries are also considered high fraud countries. In these cases, the consular officers are looking for immigration fraud [trying to gain immigration benefits fraudulently mainly through bogus relationships]. Anything that isn't "typical" for that culture's traditional family/relationship values may be questioned. Things like mixed race marriages, mixed faith marriages, older brides, divorces, blended families [step-kids] all add to extra scrutiny from the consulate. This is where you need to take an unbiased look at your relationship and see how it fits with what is typical for a "normal" marriage in Pakistan. Anything that deviates from that norm may need to be addressed in some fashion as it will most likely be brought up in an interview.

It's great that you found both a man and a faith that make you happy. Many people have successfully gone through this process. I just want you to be as prepared as you can from the start as it IS a bumpy road. Best of luck!

[pushbrk 12,114]

Petitioning at some consulates can be a little more difficult than other consulates. Some consulates are just super hard to get through. Each consulate has their staff trained to look for things that may be indicative of potential fraud by the beneficiary.

Just to be clear, USCIS handles "petitions" and Consulates/Embassies handle visa applications and issue. Getting a petition approved compared to obtaining a visa based on that approved petition kind of compares in difficulty to "getting pregnant" compared to "giving birth". Getting pregnant is the easy part. Some births are pretty simple and others are seriously traumatic life threatening events, with others falling anywhere in between. Islamabad is one of the more difficult ones, and even if the process through interview ends up being pretty straight forward, you usually have a long wait before you "bring your baby home".

Time to get familiar with the real world of bringing a spouse or fiancee from Pakistan and prepare yourself for the coming ordeal. It's not just filling out paperwork and waiting for the result.

[SmilesAbroad 27]

Petitioning at some consulates can be a little more difficult than other consulates. Some consulates are just super hard to get through. Each consulate has their staff trained to look for things that may be indicative of potential fraud by the beneficiary.

In no way am I judging you about your story, but the Consular Officer will - it needs to have rhyme and reason, it needs to make sense from a third party's point of view and you need to handle any petition and additional proof as a legal case. Just showing up to an interview and saying "but we LOVE each other" won't result in a visa. Especially from a country like Pakistan. Unfortunately it is a T country [i think that's the phrase. It's Monday morning and I'm rather slow on Monday mornings]. Petitioners from T countries get extra scrutiny based on ties to terrorism found within their nation.

Many South Asian countries are also considered high fraud countries. In these cases, the consular officers are looking for immigration fraud [trying to gain immigration benefits fraudulently mainly through bogus relationships]. Anything that isn't "typical" for that culture's traditional family/relationship values may be questioned. Things like mixed race marriages, mixed faith marriages, older brides, divorces, blended families [step-kids] all add to extra scrutiny from the consulate. This is where you need to take an unbiased look at your relationship and see how it fits with what is typical for a "normal" marriage in Pakistan. Anything that deviates from that norm may need to be addressed in some fashion as it will most likely be brought up in an interview.

It's great that you found both a man and a faith that make you happy. Many people have successfully gone through this process. I just want you to be as prepared as you can from the start as it IS a bumpy road. Best of luck!

Hmm, well we are a mixed race marriage and I am not a "syed" like his father wanted, but after he got to know me my father in law really loves me so much But I hear a lot in pakistan that some still view whiter as a better than darker, especially in marriage prospects. I am not sure how traditional that practice is, but maybe it will mean there is not really anything unusual with our color difference and getting married anyway. Thanks for the advice!

[SmilesAbroad 27]

Just to be clear, USCIS handles "petitions" and Consulates/Embassies handle visa applications and issue. Getting a petition approved compared to obtaining a visa based on that approved petition kind of compares in difficulty to "getting pregnant" compared to "giving birth". Getting pregnant is the easy part. Some births are pretty simple and others are seriously traumatic life threatening events, with others falling anywhere in between. Islamabad is one of the more difficult ones, and even if the process through interview ends up being pretty straight forward, you usually have a long wait before you "bring your baby home".

Time to get familiar with the real world of bringing a spouse or fiancee from Pakistan and prepare yourself for the coming ordeal. It's not just filling out paperwork and waiting for the result.

Haha I really like your analogy. That is pretty neat. Insha Allah we will just both be working and saving money and waiting, occasionally visiting and of course alwaysss talking on Skype and maybe the time will go by as fast as this last year did We hope, we pray :)

[Imagination 15]

Kyda,

I think you are worrying wayy too much! There are several muslim hijabi girls who petitioned for their husband in Pakistan and were successful.

-Don't worry about your pictures in Hijab with your husband. You don't need intimate pictures either. Pictures of you and him alone and with family at different times, places, etc are evidence. Pictures from your wedding day are also evidence (may be some pictures of you and him signing the nikah papers) and after marriage, etc

-You can contact Skype customer service to request chat/call logs, that would also be an evidence. If you use any other IM service and/or email.. get the logs and those are evidence.

-After your marriage, if you stay at a hotel, get both of your and his name on that and attach receipt for evidence. Your and/or his family and friends can write Affidavits that show knowledge of your marriage and relationship (see guidelines for that)

-There is a list of other evidence that is provided by USCIS (find that in the guidelines as well, there is an option to add additional evidence depending on what you have)

-You plane tickets are also evidence, from each trip.

-Wedding certificate/registration is required evidence of your marriage.

If you are only worried you will be denied because you are muslim and marrying someone from Pakistan. You don't need to worry. They will not discriminate you in that way. If that were the case, no one from Pakistan would be getting their fiance or spousal visa (and forget about tourist visa). CO in Islamabad are familiar with culture/religion/traditions of Pakistan and look at the relationship in that way. They do not expect intimate pictures of couples where holding hands in public is considered wrong. They have ways to find out if the relationship is legitimate.

I wish you all the best!

Edited March 6, 2012 by Imagination

[SmilesAbroad 27]

Kyda,

I think you are worrying wayy too much! There are several muslim hijabi girls who petitioned for their husband in Pakistan and were successful.

-Don't worry about your pictures in Hijab with your husband. You don't need intimate pictures either. Pictures of you and him alone and with family at different times, places, etc are evidence. Pictures from your wedding day are also evidence (may be some pictures of you and him signing the nikah papers) and after marriage, etc

-You can contact Skype customer service to request chat/call logs, that would also be an evidence. If you use any other IM service and/or email.. get the logs and those are evidence.

-After your marriage, if you stay at a hotel, get both of your and his name on that and attach receipt for evidence. Your and/or his family and friends can write Affidavits that show knowledge of your marriage and relationship (see guidelines for that)

-There is a list of other evidence that is provided by USCIS (find that in the guidelines as well, there is an option to add additional evidence depending on what you have)

-You plane tickets are also evidence, from each trip.

-Wedding certificate/registration is required evidence of your marriage.

If you are only worried you will be denied because you are muslim and marrying someone from Pakistan. You don't need to worry. They will not discriminate you in that way. If that were the case, no one from Pakistan would be getting their fiance or spousal visa (and forget about tourist visa). CO in Islamabad are familiar with culture/religion/traditions of Pakistan and look at the relationship in that way. They do not expect intimate pictures of couples where holding hands in public is considered wrong. They have ways to find out if the relationship is legitimate.

I wish you all the best!

Worrying is definitely my thing! lol. And this process is stressful and complicated to say the least. I really don't like having to document my life so that some one might be satisfied that neither myself or my fiance is a scammer! But we all have to do it and one day it will be over insha Allah. I am not particularly worried about being muslim and pakistani, but more about the fact that my fiance tries to break away from the standard traditions of his culture and explore new ways! It sounds like they expect you to be tied down to old customs and traditions. We didn't want to have a traditional pakistani style wedding but now it looks like we have to! Thank for the advice, we will keep it all in mind as we start the CR1 process in a few more months.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Kyda