Calling everyone going thru Islamabad Embassy, version 2.0

[scarlethawk 0]

...

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

...

Technically nikah date is the date you sign the nikahnama which is the marriage certificate. That would be date to use by Pakistani and Islamic laws as you become husband and wife starting that date. Rukhsati is a social practice and has very little to do with laws IMHO. I think you are fine.

[jaxguy 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

NO Problems at interview. You did the right thing. The date on Nikahnama is your marriage date. No need to worry everything will be fine. Good Luck on July 25th.

[waiting4s 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

Islamically and legally the Nikah date is the marriage date, as the nikah nama is the official document establishing that fact. My nikah was two days before the rukhsati, not as extreme as yours, but same deal. You did the right thing. The delayed rukhsati is just cultural.

Edited July 1, 2007 by waiting4s

[KHURRAM SERAJ 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

XStrangerX2007,

This should not be a problem as Marriage date legally is Nov. 19,2003.

Don't panic, if you are asked about this at the interview just tell them the truth as they know the Pakistani customs as well.

-Khurram

[chicago 0]

My wife had the interview on Tuesday, I called DOS today and the lady told that all the processing at Washington is done, and I should be hearing from Embasssy sooon. Alhamdulillah. Is this all that needs to be done here, or is there any thing else what is done here.

Thanks all for your help

Fabulous! Good for you!

Can you share interview details?

My wife reached there at 5:45am, there were 10-15 people ahead of her, but as time passed, the line got longer and longer. Before boarding the bus to the embassy, there was a security check, they took all cell phones. There were two more security checks before she entered the embassy. There was a long line at the entrance, and for some reason, the non-immigrant applicants were given preference, they were sent in first, so after after all of them entered the embassy, then they started to send immigrant applicants in. She waited about 40-45 minutes inside, then her name was called and were asked 2-3 questions about marriage, about me etc, she didnt have to pay that $380 because i piad at NVC. She was told to wait and have a seat. Her name was called again and this time there was a guy who went over the papers, I have sent and she has sent, she had to pledge everthing is right in papers and she signed DS-230 part 2 in front of him, again told to sit and wait, After some time, third interview and there was a foreign lady with a translator (because my wife asked for it, almost everyone asked for translator that day). My wife thinks its a good idea because it gave her some time to think about before giving the answers. She understands english, so when the american lady asked something, she started thinking about the answer and after the translation was complete she already had the answer. They took the finger prints and returned all the original documents, kept the passport. Asked 5-10 questions about people in pictures, about me, about her, what I studied, they asked name of the univerity I graduated from, i dont know why, but luckily I told her about it a day before interview. She was told that she will have the visa in less than 2 months. I am also attaching the file containing the questions that I made my wife memorize. All the questions she was asked were from this list.

Thanks

Questions_for_interview.doc

[scarlethawk 0]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. It's very appreciated.

One final question ... what did the interviewing officer tell your wife about AP/AR or when she will get her visa? Also, can you share your timeline?

Edited July 1, 2007 by scarlethawk

[XStrangerX2007 0]

THANKS EVERYONE !!!! I feel so much better...!!!

("chicago" thanks for all the details.. they will be very helpful to those of us who are waiting for our interviw dates to come... it takes some pressure off whe u know wht to expect)

[zaki 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

My nikah was in November 2001 and rukhsati was December 2004. Long gap between Nikah and rukhsati. CO did not ask me about nikah or rukhsati but i told him that nikah was in 2001 and rukhsati was in 2004. He asked why wait for so long and asked for pictures of both functions also he asked me that tell me something interesting about your wife in this gap.

At the end he approved and congratulated but said need to do AP. Nothing to worry about Nikah or rukhsati gap.

Zaki

[Dood Wala 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

Yes it could be a problem, but only if you mention it. In desi culture first, there is an engagement, and then there is Nikah and then rukhsati. And gora's don't understand this long process. So when your husband goes to the embassy make sure he doesn't mention anything about nikah and then later rukhsati process. Otherwise it could be a problem. Obviously, there are some pakistani people who work at the embassy. They know what happens in our culture. we like to do the nikah first so the paper work can be started. And rukhsati will be around the time when the petition is approved.

Just make sure don't show too many pictures. I remember someone went through the same issue. This girl who got married (nikah) in summer but her rukhsati was in december. So when she took her wedding pictures (she wanted to show some pictures of nikah, especially when she was signing the nikah form) but then her valima was in winter. She took out most of the valima pictures in which her family members were sitting next to a heater and wearing extra warm clothes. just an idea how the embassy can find out that there was a huge gap between your nikah and valima.

[Dood Wala 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

My nikah was in November 2001 and rukhsati was December 2004. Long gap between Nikah and rukhsati. CO did not ask me about nikah or rukhsati but i told him that nikah was in 2001 and rukhsati was in 2004. He asked why wait for so long and asked for pictures of both functions also he asked me that tell me something interesting about your wife in this gap.

At the end he approved and congratulated but said need to do AP. Nothing to worry about Nikah or rukhsati gap.

Zaki

you are on AP, do you think your AP has anything to do with this huge Gap? In some cases it could be good thing because CO may take this 3 years Gap as successful marriage. but not every CO think like that?

[chicago 0]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. It's very appreciated.

One final question ... what did the interviewing officer tell your wife about AP/AR or when she will get her visa? Also, can you share your timeline?

They gave my wife a white paper saying that CO thinks that there is additional administrative processing required before they can issue the visa. And once thats complete they will issue the visa. The CO at the end of the interview told my wife that don't worry you will get the visa in less than two months. I don't know how long they take to issue one after its cleared from Washignton.

[zaki 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

My nikah was in November 2001 and rukhsati was December 2004. Long gap between Nikah and rukhsati. CO did not ask me about nikah or rukhsati but i told him that nikah was in 2001 and rukhsati was in 2004. He asked why wait for so long and asked for pictures of both functions also he asked me that tell me something interesting about your wife in this gap.

At the end he approved and congratulated but said need to do AP. Nothing to worry about Nikah or rukhsati gap.

Zaki

you are on AP, do you think your AP has anything to do with this huge Gap? In some cases it could be good thing because CO may take this 3 years Gap as successful marriage. but not every CO think like that?

Do u think that i made a mistake here to tell CO the complete story about the gap between nikah and rukhsati ?

Zaki

[ali1978 0]

My wife had the interview on Tuesday, I called DOS today and the lady told that all the processing at Washington is done, and I should be hearing from Embasssy sooon. Alhamdulillah. Is this all that needs to be done here, or is there any thing else what is done here.

Thanks all for your help

Congratulation Chicago . Was she on AP, if she was then how long it took for clearance from DOS?

Ali

[Dood Wala 0]

Hey everyone,

My husbands IR-1 interview is coming up soon (july 25,2007)... and I AM SCARED.. I just realized something... I was reading some of the old posts and now im VERY CONFUSED..

In the I-130... we wrote or NIKAH date as the Marriage date... which was Nov. 19,2003.. My "Shadi" "ruksati" was on october 12,2004.. WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM??? or am i jus panicking for no reason.. according to Islam NIKAH=marriage but desi culture dosnt consider u married unless you have the whole ruksati thing... will this be a problem at the interiew???

ANY THOUGHTS......??????????

Thanks in advance!!!

My nikah was in November 2001 and rukhsati was December 2004. Long gap between Nikah and rukhsati. CO did not ask me about nikah or rukhsati but i told him that nikah was in 2001 and rukhsati was in 2004. He asked why wait for so long and asked for pictures of both functions also he asked me that tell me something interesting about your wife in this gap.

At the end he approved and congratulated but said need to do AP. Nothing to worry about Nikah or rukhsati gap.

Zaki

you are on AP, do you think your AP has anything to do with this huge Gap? In some cases it could be good thing because CO may take this 3 years Gap as successful marriage. but not every CO think like that?

Do u think that i made a mistake here to tell CO the complete story about the gap between nikah and rukhsati ?

Zaki

Never Ever tell anything beside what has been asked by the CO (that is the basic rule). Don't provide any volunteer information. The answer of the question should be to the point. Don't try to provide the background behind the answer (basically, don't try be a smart ###).

If asked for date of marriage: just provide the date that you put on your I-130 (nikah/rukhsati whatever it was). If the nikah date was on the I-130 and there was a gap between nikah and rukhsati (more than a month) then just pretend that rukhsati was on the same date of nikah.

it could cause an issue especially if your interview is taking place before your rukhsati date. And if it hasn't then like i said CO may take this as a positive thing because it could prove that your relation to your wife is still very strong. Although, Gora's may take this process very strangely. CO may put you on AP for further investigation just to see the precision of the marriage.

[XStrangerX2007 0]

Thanks everyone....

ZAKI did u have a translater or did u have your interview in English??? and by the way dont worry, inhs'Allah everything will work out (Ameen)...

I already Paid the Visa fee to NVC... How much money should he take at the time of interview ($100?)??

And if you have any other advice for interview preperations or anythings pls tell..

Thanksss...