After 12 months - NVC told our marriage certificate is not valid. Anyone married in UAE?

[Silv 0]

In my case USCIS approved my marriage certificate, but at the NVC stage, while waiting for my interview date, they told us that it wasn't valid. My stamps were in English and Arabic so I did not need to translate those. We authenticated the certificate with the US embassy but they didn't really look at it.  

I forgot to mention to you we also contacted the Arizona congresswoman for help. 

 

Have you ever thought to contact an Immigration lawyer?

[LandK 8]

2 minutes ago, Silv said:

In my case USCIS approved my marriage certificate, but at the NVC stage, while waiting for my interview date, they told us that it wasn't valid. My stamps were in English and Arabic so I did not need to translate those. We authenticated the certificate with the US embassy but they didn't really look at it.  

I forgot to mention to you we also contacted the Arizona congresswoman for help. 

 

Have you ever thought to contact an Immigration lawyer?

Was the congresswoman any help? Yes, we have a lawyer, I just wanted to see what others' experiences were because I think this is a first for them as well! It's the waiting around to see what USCIS's final say is that's so difficult. Thanks for your help!

[Silv 0]

3 minutes ago, LandK said:

Was the congresswoman any help? Yes, we have a lawyer, I just wanted to see what others' experiences were because I think this is a first for them as well! It's the waiting around to see what USCIS's final say is that's so difficult. Thanks for your help!

Not for us, but I have read that for some people was helpful. So I will give a try. We had a lawyer too, but the we solve this issue by ourselves by contacting directly NVC and the Embassy in Naples. You have to keep bugging them telling that your certificate is valid as per the UAE law!!

[jayjayj 571]

12 hours ago, LandK said:

We are in the exact same situation, except at the USCIS I-130 Petition stage. We received an RFE for a marriage certificate from Sharia court (we married at Christ Church, Jebel Ali, Dubai) and have the MoFA and Dubai courts stamps on the back of our certificate. Do you think they are not accepting it because the court stamps/seals aren't in English? We are no longer living in the UAE so it will be difficult to get anything other than a translation done. Advice?

 

 

This is the back our our St. Andrew's wedding certificate.  We have two UAE stamps, one is the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the other is the UAE Ministry of Justice.  Do you have both of these?

 

The third stamp is the Philippine Embassy notarization, needed to register the marriage in the Philippines.  We don't have a U.S Embassy or Consulate notarization.  

 

[jayjayj 571]

9 hours ago, LandK said:

Was the congresswoman any help? Yes, we have a lawyer, I just wanted to see what others' experiences were because I think this is a first for them as well! It's the waiting around to see what USCIS's final say is that's so difficult. Thanks for your help!

Our Congressman was helpful.  Definitely get them involved, especially if there is an error by either the USCIS or the NVC - an error is grounds for an immediate expedite.  There is no downside to contacting them.  Your rep's assistance email address should be listed on their website.  Give them a one page summary of the issue and attach any relevant documents.  Your rep will have his or her assistant reach out to the dedicated Congressional liaisons at either agency.  Congress holds the purse strings of these agencies, so the agencies have high quality people manning the Congressional liaison positions.  I consider them "Tier-3" agents, not an official title though.  Those liaisons can make good things happen fairly quickly. 

[LandK 8]

13 hours ago, Silv said:

Not for us, but I have read that for some people was helpful. So I will give a try. We had a lawyer too, but the we solve this issue by ourselves by contacting directly NVC and the Embassy in Naples. You have to keep bugging them telling that your certificate is valid as per the UAE law!!

Would you be willing to share the letter you wrote to the NVC explaining your situation...omitting your personal information, of course. I have no idea where to start!

 

3 hours ago, jayjayj said:

 

 

This is the back our our St. Andrew's wedding certificate.  We have two UAE stamps, one is the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the other is the UAE Ministry of Justice.  Do you have both of these?

 

The third stamp is the Philippine Embassy notarization, needed to register the marriage in the Philippines.  We don't have a U.S Embassy or Consulate notarization.  

 

Ours has the same Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp, but because we were married in Dubai, ours has the Dubai Courts stamp instead of the Ministry of Justice. Which type of congressman did you contact? Senator or congressional district representative or what? Thanks for the info!

 

[jayjayj 571]

2 hours ago, LandK said:

 

Ours has the same Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp, but because we were married in Dubai, ours has the Dubai Courts stamp instead of the Ministry of Justice. Which type of congressman did you contact? Senator or congressional district representative or what? Thanks for the info!

 

Just a thought, but I wonder if they want you to the UAE Ministry of Justice stamp after getting the Dubai Courts stamp.  The UAE Ministry of Justice is the national authority over all the Emirate's court systems, it happens to be in Abu Dhabi.  Either way, I would expect it to still be a valid marriage certificate, especially since our federal government doesn't register marriages.

 

I contacted my Representative in the House.  They seem to be more receptive to constituents, since they are broken up into smaller districts.     

[LandK 8]

8 minutes ago, jayjayj said:

Just a thought, but I wonder if they want you to the UAE Ministry of Justice stamp after getting the Dubai Courts stamp.  The UAE Ministry of Justice is the national authority over all the Emirate's court systems, it happens to be in Abu Dhabi.  Either way, I would expect it to still be a valid marriage certificate, especially since our federal government doesn't register marriages.

 

I contacted my Representative in the House.  They seem to be more receptive to constituents, since they are broken up into smaller districts.     

I would consider that if I still lived in the UAE, but unfortunately, we have moved to the UK. The RFE we received from USCIS says that they want a marriage certificate issued by Dubai Sharia Court and that a marriage certificate issued by a church is not accepted.

[Silv 0]

We had the UAE Ministry of foreign affair,  ministry of Justice and US embassy stamp! This was our letter below:

 

 

 

Dear Officer, 

 

I hereby respectfully ask that the mentioned case to be expedited for interview in Naples for the following reasons:

 

1. Our Attorney sent the civil documents requested by your office in a packet on 22nd February 2017 along with the list of documents included. The NVC informed my attorney that the documents were keyed into your system on 24th February. (Fedex Receipt attached)
2. On April 29th 2017 we were informed that two documents were missing: Silvia Conti’s Italian Police Clearance Certificates and our Marriage Certificate. These Documents classified as ‘missing’ were exhibits 9 and 12 and they were indeed included in the packet as you can see from the Attorney's letter attached. Nevertheless these documents were sent again on May 1st 2017.
3. In the same date we were informed that our Marriage certificate was considered invalid as it was not issued by the Sharia Court. Our marriage certificate was obtained from the ADJD (Abu Dhabi Judicial Department), as per requirement for non-Muslim marriages; it was signed by Revd Pius Iroka who conducted our marriage and countersigned by Cannon Andrew Thompson, an authorized signatory of the Church in Abu Dhabi.  In addition, our certificate was attested by the Ministries of Justice  (ADJD), Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Consul at the Embassy in Abu Dhabi, as per the requirement of the local law in Abu Dhabi.   (See email from St. Andrew's Church and US Embassy in Abu Dhabi) 
4. Congressional support by Congresswoman Martha McSally’s office was sought on 2nd May 2017. They gathered all the evidence and documents that proved our marriage certificate is valid as per the UAE law. These documents were sent to your office to support our cause.

 

 

There is no evident reason for this delay in processing my wife's interview; it has been 5 months since the civil documents were received along with the fees as instructed. 

We validated our marriage certificate following the UAE requirements, laws and its authenticity was attested by the US consul in Abu Dhabi as well. 

I kindly seek immediate action to process my wife's interview as we have met all the prerequisites. 

 

 

Thank you indeed for your time and consideration in reviewing this letter, and the attached evidence.

 

[Silv 0]

6 minutes ago, LandK said:

I would consider that if I still lived in the UAE, but unfortunately, we have moved to the UK. The RFE we received from USCIS says that they want a marriage certificate issued by Dubai Sharia Court and that a marriage certificate issued by a church is not accepted.

It is not true that the certificate has be issued by the Sharia Court!!

 

https://www.abudhabi.ae/portal/public/en/citizens/family/marriage/getting-married-as-an-expatriate;jsessionid=LeZLLRm8V2XIzk4hfS4iH5PkkzvoWNK95uVC-HBth2fPE-Kxm-if!413312254!1038811407!1513089735100

[jayjayj 571]

6 minutes ago, LandK said:

I would consider that if I still lived in the UAE, but unfortunately, we have moved to the UK. The RFE we received from USCIS says that they want a marriage certificate issued by Dubai Sharia Court and that a marriage certificate issued by a church is not accepted.

You definitely don't need anything from a Sharia court.  Hopefully, once they get their act together, you'll get an immediate expedite.    

[LandK 8]

8 minutes ago, Silv said:

It is not true that the certificate has be issued by the Sharia Court!!

 

https://www.abudhabi.ae/portal/public/en/citizens/family/marriage/getting-married-as-an-expatriate;jsessionid=LeZLLRm8V2XIzk4hfS4iH5PkkzvoWNK95uVC-HBth2fPE-Kxm-if!413312254!1038811407!1513089735100

Yeah that’s what I’ve been trying to tell them. It’s all so frustrating! However, the link you sent above states if married in a church the certificate must be obtained from Abu Dhabi Jusicial Dept, which is worrying since ours is issued by the church. I guess I’ll start with getting those stamps translated into English and explaining the situation with links to official govt websites, etc. How did word your letter stating your case?

[Silv 0]

3 minutes ago, LandK said:

Yeah that’s what I’ve been trying to tell them. It’s all so frustrating! However, the link you sent above states if married in a church the certificate must be obtained from Abu Dhabi Jusicial Dept, which is worrying since ours is issued by the church. I guess I’ll start with getting those stamps translated into English and explaining the situation with links to official govt websites, etc. How did word your letter stating your case?

The ADJD (Abu Dhabi Judicial Dep) is a branch of the Sharia Court, it is the ministry of Justice functioning as Sharia Court/Law, but they don't get it! .

The marriage certificate can be issued by the Church, just need to validate it as per the UAE requirements. The Dubai Court stamp should be good together with the ministry of foreign affair stamp. Yes I would then translate those. Have you thought to contact the UAE Embassy in UK?

 

Sorry i don't understand your question: How did word your letter stating your case?

 

[LandK 8]

10 minutes ago, Silv said:

The ADJD (Abu Dhabi Judicial Dep) is a branch of the Sharia Court, it is the ministry of Justice functioning as Sharia Court/Law, but they don't get it! .

The marriage certificate can be issued by the Church, just need to validate it as per the UAE requirements. The Dubai Court stamp should be good together with the ministry of foreign affair stamp. Yes I would then translate those. Have you thought to contact the UAE Embassy in UK?

 

Sorry i don't understand your question: How did word your letter stating your case?

 

Oh I was wondering what you wrote in your letter to NVC explaining your situation. 

[Silv 0]

5 minutes ago, LandK said:

Oh I was wondering what you wrote in your letter to NVC explaining your situation. 

This is the letter we wrote

 

 

Dear Officer, 

 

I hereby respectfully ask that the mentioned case to be expedited for interview in Naples for the following reasons:

 

1. Our Attorney sent the civil documents requested by your office in a packet on 22nd February 2017 along with the list of documents included. The NVC informed my attorney that the documents were keyed into your system on 24th February. (Fedex Receipt attached)
2. On April 29th 2017 we were informed that two documents were missing: Silvia Conti’s Italian Police Clearance Certificates and our Marriage Certificate. These Documents classified as ‘missing’ were exhibits 9 and 12 and they were indeed included in the packet as you can see from the Attorney's letter attached. Nevertheless these documents were sent again on May 1st 2017.
3. In the same date we were informed that our Marriage certificate was considered invalid as it was not issued by the Sharia Court. Our marriage certificate was obtained from the ADJD (Abu Dhabi Judicial Department), as per requirement for non-Muslim marriages; it was signed by Revd Pius Iroka who conducted our marriage and countersigned by Cannon Andrew Thompson, an authorized signatory of the Church in Abu Dhabi.  In addition, our certificate was attested by the Ministries of Justice  (ADJD), Foreign Affairs and the U.S. Consul at the Embassy in Abu Dhabi, as per the requirement of the local law in Abu Dhabi.   (See email from St. Andrew's Church and US Embassy in Abu Dhabi) 
4. Congressional support by Congresswoman Martha McSally’s office was sought on 2nd May 2017. They gathered all the evidence and documents that proved our marriage certificate is valid as per the UAE law. These documents were sent to your office to support our cause.

 

 

There is no evident reason for this delay in processing my wife's interview; it has been 5 months since the civil documents were received along with the fees as instructed. 

We validated our marriage certificate following the UAE requirements, laws and its authenticity was attested by the US consul in Abu Dhabi as well. 

I kindly seek immediate action to process my wife's interview as we have met all the prerequisites. 

 

 

Thank you indeed for your time and consideration in reviewing this letter, and the attached evidence.