Hope15

Hello all,
I have been a silent viewer of this thread and I feel that I can relate to a lot of people here because I have been trying to bring my husband back to the U.S. for the past 6 years. It has been a volatile journey and a very tiring one as well.
I wanted to share some of my experience with some of the people here because sometimes you think you are going through this alone but I want you all to know that there are people like me who have been struggling for years and have not given up hope.
My husband came to the US in 1999 on a duration of status student visa. He wasn’t able to continue with his education and due to his special circumstances he applied for an asylum petition which was referred to a judge. He later withdrew his petition and took a voluntary departure. Meanwhile, we met and decided to get married here in the U.S. before he left for Pakistan. At that time I was only a green card holder so when we filed our I130 in March of 2006 we had to wait till December 2010 for his consulate interview. While our case was pending, I went to visit him every other year which meant I couldn't advance in my career because I had to leave my job every time I went to Pakistan.
Finally when we had our consulate interview in December 2010, my husband's visa was denied due to illegal presence of more than a year in the U.S. We were told we will need to file an I601 waiver but when we consulted with lawyers here in the U.S. we were told that he does not need a waiver and should be issued a visa as he never accumulated any illegal presence due to his "duration of status" student visa.
We filed a Motion to Reconsider with Laurel Scott, one of the very reputable lawyers in the US, but Islamabad refused to acknowledge it. For several months we tried but at the end, we hired a local attorney and filed our I601 waiver. Meanwhile, we have a 2 and half year old daughter that had never met her father because I wasn't able to visit due to my job. Finally, I took her to see her dad earlier this year while our waiver was still pending.
Our waiver took 1 year to process and in May 2012 after all this time we were told by Bangkok that a waiver was never needed and that they are going to ask Islamabad to reconsider issuance of visa.
Islamabad is now in the process of issuing us a visa and they have requested for new medical exam as well as a new police certificate. We are hoping hubby will be here soon. I hope it is before November because that will be our 7th wedding anniversary and so far, we haven’t even spent ONE of them together.
Those of you who are going through this situation where you are waiting for your spouses to join you, please remember people like me and my hubby who have a journey that is spread over years and it might offer you some comfort and hope that there is an end to it. Be strong and you will get that good news soon!
Good luck to everyone here who is struggling to unite their families. May the month of Ramadan bring blessings to all of us.

Asalam O Alykum Everyone! Insha Allah these hard days will be over soon, Remember for every dark night, there's a brighter day--, Insha Allah this will over soon, Make 2 raqats of Salat E Hajat( Prayer of Need) every day and Insha Allah, Allah will give you success.

I just now saw this thread
normally i try not to be too blunt because I do not like to hurt anyone's feelings but i feel that i need to be honest with what i have read so far.......
there is something wrong this complete situation.....his family should be so besot over his bride that any excuse to see her would make them prepare and prepare for her arrival...
normal paki treatment of a wife sons wife or husband of the daughter demands them to be so welcoming as many years as i spent in Pakistan i never once ever saw this kind of treatment towards any guest in anyone's home.......the very fact that your coming from the USA to their home is such and honor (well in most cases) that they have a hard time waiting for your arrival......there should be unlimited text at least where are you now what is your flight details.....
as far as him not showing you love and attention......from what i remember of Pakistan in public not much is shown but you do see the respect and caring in the way that they protect their wife's and are very attune to what their needs are in public as in are they thirsty is there a shop they want to go to these are just simple examples but im sure you get my meaning......
my brother always looked for his wife when returning from work before he looked for any other person in the home.....he said to me once if the wife is unhappy the home is not his castle but instead his prison...most paki that i know feel the same way.
did he ever take the time just to bring you small things to show he he was thinking of you as in hair ties things like that...that he found that he thought was pretty and you would like?
also not just Pakistan but Islam demands that he support you....your money is suppose to be your own....i have to think what is up with this family? sure in the USA at first both (or one until he/she can find a job here) need to give to the needs of life and many times it takes both to keep the home going because of the way that life is here.....but in Pakistan? really? please please look at this picture with open eyes....... and your family is not stepping in?
this complete story makes me worry about you! where is your support? why did your family agree to such a match?
If you divorce this man your life is not over......how ever if you keep this relationship going and your the only one adding to it emotionally and financially......your hopes and dreams and your heart will never be complete.....
this is just my opinion but the thought that you should purchase running shoes and run fast away from this is the best thing that you could do is in my mind.....that advise i give based only on what i read on this thread......
what ever you decide is up to you i have added you to my prayers May Allah help guide you towards what is best for you
Ameen
sara

Dear visa journey members. This is my story with Nigeria consulate. On July 6 I went for my interview and was denied. The CO told me and also gave me a slip explaining that our relationship is for "immigration purposes" and that they are sending our petition back to USCIS with their recommendation that the petition be revoke. We said to ourselves that is time to execute our plan B,to live in Nigeria. My wife came to Nigeria in September to live with me. When she arrived,we decided to email the consulate that she is here with me. The consulate replied that I have been told to return for my interview on November 10. We were surprised because neither me or my wife received any email from the embassy. To be so sure of this I email the consulate again telling them that I have been told to return for my interview but I have no idea what I should come with because my police certificate has expire and my medical record is with the consulate. They replied the following day confirming my appointment also said that I will be advice accordingly on the day of my interview. This time me and my wife were convinced that yes we have an interview. We used our discretion to get another police report a day before the interview. My appointment was 1pm. That day I step into the consular section at 1:07pm. At about 3:55pm my number was called to window 13. It was this young white guy. This is how it went:
CO:Good afternoon sir
ME:Good afternoon to you
CO:What did you bring that you did not come with in your first interview?
ME:I was surprise to hear that because nobody told me to bring anything.I use my initiative and gave him our recent pictures we took at our district convention of Jehovah"s witnesses.
CO:Looking at the pictures he point at my wife and said is she the one?
ME:yes,she is outside as I speak with you.
CO:smiling and said I believe your relationship is real. He ask me what is my wife favorite Nigeria food?
ME:Fufu. He started laughing even those seated waiting for their interview were laughing too because they heard everything. Then I brought our three books of call logs,instant messaging and emails. It was made as a book with our pictures on the front page. This is what I brought to the first interview except the third one that contained recent call logs.
CO:What is all of that?
ME:call logs,instant messaging and emails.
CO:All of that?
ME:yes
CO:can I see any of them?
ME:yes.I gave him one of the books.
CO:She made this? It is beautiful and was smiling. He opened a page read something and was smiling. He kept saying more than five times that he believe our relationship is real and was typing.
CO:We are going to issue you a visa but your police report and medical has expired.
ME:Here is the police report.
CO:Thank you sir. He continued typing. He left and came back with a paper and told me that the medical is only valid for six month and gave me the paper and the address of the two hospital to go for the medical. That I can return 1pm any weekdays with the report and I will be issued a visa. The following day me and my wife went for the medical report. 14th of November I went to pick the medical result and went back to the consulate. I was the first person to go in for 1pm appointment. At about 2:15pm a young Nigerian guy called my name not my number to come to window 21. He ask for the medical and my international passport which I gave to him. He then gave me the letter to go pick up my visa on the 21st. javascript:emoticon(':kicking:')

Congratulations

I have a contact who works at VSC. I asked them about why the sudden explosion of approvals of K-1 visa's.
1. They were behind on K's and reassigned some people to start knocking them out. Also they were understaffed and just added about 40 positions to get the allocation of people per work load corrected.
2. What typicaly happens at the service centers, is that the Visa's that are the most time senstive and generate the highest revenue get the most attention. So if the H-1b's wich are more time senstive and generate much more revnue get behind, people get pulled off the K's. Then when they get ahead they will catch up on the lower priority Visa's like K's.
This is why you see the big cycle in processing times. It appears VSC is running 90-100 days average right now. as they have hired people and reassigned people to work on k Visa. For all of you waiting on NOA2 I hope the trend keeps up. I know how it feels to have gotten you NOA1 and settle in for the long unknown wait.

I dont have time to write 10 things but I love your #10

1. I have gained 18 pounds during this process
2. I have noticed some hairs that appear to be grey
3. I have not cleaned my home in 4 months
4. I am over 6000 miles away from a hug I need the most
5. Someone else is in control of my destiny
6. My phone bill was over 700 dollars this month
7. Egyptian internet connection makes web cam poor
8. I work many hours of overtime to pay my phone bills
9. It is cold where I live in Illinois
10. I miss my husband with each breath that I take.
LOL
I do see the light at the end of my tunnel. It is all worth it to be with my husband forever. I can list many many things I am happy for and they will be the same things many people are happy for. I just thought it would be more fun to post depressing stuff! heeheehe
I will be done with NVC soon and then on to wait the dreaded 6 month wait till Cairo interview date. I am sure most other countries can post they are happy their consulates are not like Cairos.
Good Luck
We will all have a happy ending!

Hey All,
The new "We the People" petitioning website is up at whitehouse.gov I created one, requesting that the government impose shorter processing times on IR/CR visas, or allow families to be reunited in the US while visas are pending. If we get 25,000 signatures this month, the administration will take it under review!
http://wh.gov/2aH
If for some reason the link doesn't work, the header is "Impose strict time limits on IR-1/CR-1 visa processing, so that Citizens are not unjustly torn apart from their families" at https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/
If you believe in it, sign it, FB it, tweet it! It's too late for most of us, but nobody should have to go through what we've all gone through.