Cousin marriage (Egypt)

[relshamy 11]

Hi guys,

Not sure if any of you have any experience or know of anyone that did. My fiance and I are cousins and we have applied for the k1 visa. Will that raise any sort of red flag in the Egyptian consulate? We are both free to marry in the USA, since we will be in Fl. and they approve cousin marriages. I am absolutely sure of his love and I've been staying with him here in Egypt for the past few months till he gets his visa. We are both obviously the same religion, and we are the same age (he's about two months older). Our parents are the happiest parents ever because of our engagement. We will include lots and lots of evidence like pictures, gifts (gold jewelry and such), phone messages, phone calls, anniversary pics and gifts and such.

How hard do you think they will be on us?? Any advice?

Thanks everyone.

[bt1 42]

Hi guys,

Not sure if any of you have any experience or know of anyone that did. My fiance and I are cousins and we have applied for the k1 visa. Will that raise any sort of red flag in the Egyptian consulate? We are both free to marry in the USA, since we will be in Fl. and they approve cousin marriages. I am absolutely sure of his love and I've been staying with him here in Egypt for the past few months till he gets his visa. We are both obviously the same religion, and we are the same age (he's about two months older). Our parents are the happiest parents ever because of our engagement. We will include lots and lots of evidence like pictures, gifts (gold jewelry and such), phone messages, phone calls, anniversary pics and gifts and such.

How hard do you think they will be on us?? Any advice?

Thanks everyone.

Are you already married? You mentioned anniversary gifts, implying you are married. If so, you can't be issued a K1 visa.

[together4evr 360]

You will only have problems if your families have any history of marrying a cousin to bring them to usa or marrying an american then divorce her and bring an egyptian wife over. Or if your families overstayed tourist visas

[relshamy 11]

Are you already married? You mentioned anniversary gifts, implying you are married. If so, you can't be issued a K1 visa.

No we are not married. I meant our engagement anniversary. We have been engaged for a year now.

You will only have problems if your families have any history of marrying a cousin to bring them to usa or marrying an american then divorce her and bring an egyptian wife over. Or if your families overstayed tourist visas

No we don't have any history of that

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it.

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

No we are not married. I meant our engagement anniversary. We have been engaged for a year now.

Interesting. I don't know how it works in Egypt but they may try to independently confirm that you are not married. It could help to bring an affidavit or two from people who attended the engagement party saying that it was indeed an engagement party and that you are not married. That is if you want to present evidence from this engagement party for your case. Good luck!

[oldahmed 38]

Interesting. I don't know how it works in Egypt but they may try to independently confirm that you are not married. It could help to bring an affidavit or two from people who attended the engagement party saying that it was indeed an engagement party and that you are not married. That is if you want to present evidence from this engagement party for your case. Good luck!

I don't think this is necessary.

[sandinista! 1,816]

Does Egypt require the "celibacy certificate" showing you're unmarried, like they had in Morocco?

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

I don't think this is necessary.

Well some people prefer to be overly prepared. Judging by her previous posts relshamy strikes me as one of them. It's not like it's a difficult thing for someone to write and sign an affidavit. A lot of people get them from relatives for the interview or for the initial petition even.

[LaL 418]

I think having affidavits created specifically stating you are not married is confusing. You aren't married, they are accustomed to engagement ceremonies, there is no need to explain further really. I wouldn't provide *any* proof (pictures etc) that you guys have had anything remotely similar to a wedding. Why muddy the waters?

[Mithra 1,185]

The consulate has probably dealt with this sort of thing before so I agree that an affidavit is probably unnecessary. If the OP wants to get one that's fine. It wouldn't be difficult for the consulate to find out if they are married. Even if they had a lavish engagement party that looked like a wedding, it's normal in Egypt. I don't think there is a celibacy certificate in Egypt. My husband was never married before we got married and they took his word for it. It states marital status on the gov't ID.

I don't think they'll be a given a hard time because the only possible red flag is the cousin thing and that's very common in Egypt.

[relshamy 11]

Thanks for your input everyone

[Sarah Elle-Même 660]

True Egypt certainly keeps better public records than other countries. Especially previously... though I can't imagine that changing with party lines.

[Ihavequestions 419]

Interesting. I don't know how it works in Egypt but they may try to independently confirm that you are not married. It could help to bring an affidavit or two from people who attended the engagement party saying that it was indeed an engagement party and that you are not married. That is if you want to present evidence from this engagement party for your case. Good luck!

If you "don't know how it works," why are you confusing the issue? Engagement parties are obviously engagement parties - the lack of a white wedding gown in pictures being the most obvious tell-all.

OP, to answer your question, you should be fine.

W alf mabrook!

[Cathi 5,617]

Interesting. I don't know how it works in Egypt but they may try to independently confirm that you are not married. It could help to bring an affidavit or two from people who attended the engagement party saying that it was indeed an engagement party and that you are not married. That is if you want to present evidence from this engagement party for your case. Good luck!

It is very normal in all MENA countries to have an engagement ceremony. The CO's are trained to know the difference between an engagement and a wedding and about the country's customs and culture. No need to confuse things with unneeded affidavits. My husband and I never got a single affidavit for anything from anyone, and we had no engagement or wedding party, I didn't want one. His mom cooked a dinner for us with a few close relatives and friends, and I totally forgot to take a single picture, we were never asked by the CO why we didn't have engagement or wedding photos. let alone why we didn't have any affidavits.

[amysaid 9]

Agreed... Egyptian engagement parties are the cultural norm, the CO should be aware of that. In most cases the actual marriage is so much more low-key than the engagement! I don't think any kind of proof is necessary to prove that they aren't married. As for the cousin marriages, as long as it is recognized in Egypt (which it is) and in the state that you will be residing in (which it is) then you shouldn't have any problems, other than the potential for the CO to be squeamish about it from his/her own personal opinion. It is somewhat taboo to marry your first cousin according to popular US norms so you may need to address that at the interview. I believe another VJer that went through Morocco had to deal with this during her fiancé's immigration, I can't remember what her user name is anymore, but her name is Kenza.