cairo interview...AP, sort of.

[DarwishAE 19]

My husband had his interview today. I haven't gotten all the details from him yet but it overall did not go well. The CO accused him of lying, harassed him, and made fun of his English abilities. He had some chat logs from Facebook with him that the CO took at the end and gave my husband a paper back. It said we had to provide more evidence before a decision was made. The CO wanted 50 pages of chat logs from us.

So, I went through over 50,000 messages and narrowed it down to a 54 page word document that spans our two year relationship. My husband went to the Aramex office and sent it all to the embassy about 30 minutes ago. I'm not really sure what to expect now. As I get more details I will add them here and write a review.

[Jawaree 718]

They are trying to establish a bonifide on going relationship

[DarwishAE 19]

They are trying to establish a bonifide on going relationship

Yes I know. Although we had plenty of photos and Skype screenshots. I had also been there in June for a month. With two other trips as well.

Edited September 1, 2014 by ElizabethDarwish

[Ning 619]

My husband had his interview today. I haven't gotten all the details from him yet but it overall did not go well. The CO accused him of lying, harassed him, and made fun of his English abilities. He had some chat logs from Facebook with him that the CO took at the end and gave my husband a paper back. It said we had to provide more evidence before a decision was made. The CO wanted 50 pages of chat logs from us.

So, I went through over 50,000 messages and narrowed it down to a 54 page word document that spans our two year relationship. My husband went to the Aramex office and sent it all to the embassy about 30 minutes ago. I'm not really sure what to expect now. As I get more details I will add them here and write a review.

From what I have see you can expect to go into A P for an undetermined amount of time. If that doesn't happen and they simply look over these chat logs you should fee lucky.

[DarwishAE 19]

From what I have see you can expect to go into A P for an undetermined amount of time. If that doesn't happen and they simply look over these chat logs you should fee lucky.

Yeah I'll be absolutely shocked if they don't put us in AP.

[EAA 6]

Send in as much evidences as you can and don't worry you won't be in lengthy AP, I saw many cases like yours and they went well in last.

[DarwishAE 19]

Send in as much evidences as you can and don't worry you won't be in lengthy AP, I saw many cases like yours and they went well in last.

That's good to know. He wouldn't take the photos from our most recent time together so my husband sent those as well with the 50 pages of chats.

[Ning 619]

That's good to know. He wouldn't take the photos from our most recent time together so my husband sent those as well with the 50 pages of chats.

Its best to just give them what they ask for. Sending in other info may just be opening Pandora's box. What you see as evidence they may see as what they need to verify so A P could be longer.

[Crossed_fingers 128]

Sorry to hear about the tough interview. As I recall, your case had some huge red flags, what with the way you were introduced, short courtship, and language barrier. With that said, it's positive that you at least have another chance to provide additional evidence. I think it would have been wiser to only submit what they requested, however. I hope the chats demonstrate a strong ability to communicate with each other, compatibility, and future goals and so forth. At the end of the day, Cairo appears to approve far more couples than they deny, and that is in your favor. Good luck!

[DarwishAE 19]

Sorry to hear about the tough interview. As I recall, your case had some huge red flags, what with the way you were introduced, short courtship, and language barrier. With that said, it's positive that you at least have another chance to provide additional evidence. I think it would have been wiser to only submit what they requested, however. I hope the chats demonstrate a strong ability to communicate with each other, compatibility, and future goals and so forth. At the end of the day, Cairo appears to approve far more couples than they deny, and that is in your favor. Good luck!

Yes, we had all those red flags. But I've seen much worse go through the Cairo embassy and get approved. We are both trying to stay hopeful but have plans for me to move to Egypt if our case is denied. In the chats I included some disagreements, talking about our plans in the future for kids and such, and discussions about dealing with our cultural differences. I think I put good variety. From talking with my husband the consulate seemed to have the biggest issue with our language barrier. Which I get, but any issue that has come up because of it, we always talk it out and find out where the misunderstanding occurred. Maybe he shouldn't have sent the photos but there's nothing we can do now. It's in God's hands now.

[Smelserjl 137]

I'm sorry for these difficulties. Didn't you have to send in evidence of bona fide marriage with your I-130 (the initial petition with DHS)? And the embassy said it still wasn't enough? DHS and state should coordinate their activities more. It doesn't make sense for DHS to approve petitions and then the embassy tells people it's not enough info.

[DarwishAE 19]

I'm sorry for these difficulties. Didn't you have to send in evidence of bona fide marriage with your I-130 (the initial petition with DHS)? And the embassy said it still wasn't enough? DHS and state should coordinate their activities more. It doesn't make sense for DHS to approve petitions and then the embassy tells people it's not enough info.

Yes, we sent evidence with the i-130 and then at the NVC stage since I went to see him while the i-130 was processing.

[Ning 619]

I'm sorry for these difficulties. Didn't you have to send in evidence of bona fide marriage with your I-130 (the initial petition with DHS)? And the embassy said it still wasn't enough? DHS and state should coordinate their activities more. It doesn't make sense for DHS to approve petitions and then the embassy tells people it's not enough info.

USCIS initially checks to see if the docs are correct. The embassy serves as the gatekeeper for the issuance of the visa because the circumstances vary from country to country. In Egypt there is a history of visa fraud that becomes part of the checks that are imposed to try to limit the volume of fraud. This is an unfortunate part of the journey that in this case has made it very difficult to endure.

The O P in this case has done well to survive this so far and must continue to stay strong until this is finally over. It is a true test of wills That everyone considering obtaining a visa from Egypt should review because it happens to many cases there.

[DarwishAE 19]

USCIS initially checks to see if the docs are correct. The embassy serves as the gatekeeper for the issuance of the visa because the circumstances vary from country to country. In Egypt there is a history of visa fraud that becomes part of the checks that are imposed to try to limit the volume of fraud. This is an unfortunate part of the journey that in this case has made it very difficult to endure.

The O P in this case has done well to survive this so far and must continue to stay strong until this is finally over. It is a true test of wills That everyone considering obtaining a visa from Egypt should review because it happens to many cases there.

Spot on. Cairo is a tough embassy. I'd say 95% of everyone I've met and become friends with doing this process in Cairo has gone through AP that was 6 months or longer. While the rate of denial seems low, AP is pretty much a given. We waited 5 months for an interview and are over 700 days into the process. Giving up is not an option. We made it this far, we can handle another 6 months if we have to. Our case officially updated to say AP today on CEAC.

Should also note, for the other poster, I see that you are going through Cairo. Front-load your paperwork. Send as much good evidence that you have. In our case we didn't have a lot when we filed the i-130 and had to keep adding more.

Edited September 9, 2014 by ElizabethDarwish