DarwishAE

You have a close friend who is married to a relative of your husband, and that's how you were introduced, no?

Side by side comparisons of other people's visas and relationships don't work. You seemingly have far fewer red flags than so many others who weren't denied and married on the first visit. But something, somewhere grabbed their attention.

Moving forward requires exploring what that is...you can't counter what you don't know needs to be countered. It's not like you scratch out the denied visa and yell do-over!, and all the prior issues the consulate had are dissolved.

Did I ever say I thought we had fewer red flags than other people? Yes, clearly something caught their eye that I have yet to figure out. Once I do, our efforts will be to overcome whatever that may be. I'm not going to just start over and hope that red flag disappears. This denial will follow us and I'm aware of that.

People are not denied based on personal opinions or whims of consulars or any such nonsense. Not understanding the process, or having very little actual knowledge of the process seems to often fuel that absurd conclusion, but that doesn't make it true. People's real red flags are often embarrassing though, and personal, and it's a whole lot easier to pin blame on consulars than aspects of one's own personal life, or the lives of friends and family. If anything, throughout MENA, even though a couple consulates are some of the most difficult in the world, overall they seem to err on the side of giving a visa in the most absurd of circumstances, rather than denying them. They're far more generous, forgiving, and understanding than they're given credit for here.

Well to be quite honest, that's why I was blindsided by the denial. I was geared for a long AP process, not this. Regardless of red flags and whatever, this whole thing is awful for anyone going through it.

What was contained in the chat logs submitted didn't overcome the rest of the red flags. If I'm remembering right, yours went beyond lacking English fluency on the part of your husband...you got married very, very quickly after meeting, and there are friends/family issues in the marriage that must have yelled not legit to the consulate. He didn't successfully overcome those red flags. Maybe he might have been able to, had his fluency been better, maybe not. It's most likely that very little of this has much to do with chat logs, however much significance they seem to be getting here.

Yes we did get married quickly, however, I'm not the first. There are no family or friend issues in our marriage. We have full support on both sides. Yes, sure, we had red flags and many other people get approved with similar or worse red flags. It's quite obvious he didn't overcome the red flags or we wouldn't be in this situation. It's too late to change all that now, so we are moving forward and figuring out what the best course of action is for the future.

the reason is not that there is no enough evidences, i believe that the reason is your spouse did not do well in the interview with the CO, like language thing made the CO doubtful about how do you both communicate with such language, add to that, if you filled in the DS-260 that he speaks english and then ask for translator or do not speak english good enough, that will rise some red flags

I believe the evidences you have are more than enough, you really have strong evidences

That could definitely be it too. My goal for Monday is to get USCIS to tell me why it was denied. They got our case yesterday.

I personally would say 50 pages is a lot of chat evidence.

My husband had his interview at the Casablanca Consulate on 10/10 and they gave him a 221g - because they wanted W2's, an i864A for my mothers spouse - as my mother is the co sponsor not her spouse and not the 1040s or IRS Tax Transcripts simply because they were to lazy to sit down and throughly go through the income information provided IMO and to then interview me the next week regardless that I was sitting outside the consulate and could have been easily called in the same day.

Before we even went to the interview I tried both via phone and email to call and clarify with the consulate immigrant visa section why they wanted this specific evidence with regards to the W2's and the i864A - which I had made the corrects to my mothers I864A per NVC instructions. No one responded to my emails except to finally email me to confirm my husband's interview date - so he could see the panel doctor.

So did you get a 221g or an out right denial just to clarify?

Did you or your spouse have any other evidence such as physical letters, photos, emails, receipts from trips etc that could back up your two year relationship that you took to the interview? Did the CO even ask to look at the items??

I personally find MANY denials are just based on the personal opinion of the consular officer rather than the evidence being lacking on the part of the couple going through the visa process. One such example is my friend who's husband was denied because when he was interviewed - he requested a translator because he felt shy and unconfident using his English with a stranger and wanted to make sure he understood what was being asked or said to him.

The CO who denied my friends husband did so because he couldn't convince the CO that he communicated with his wife in fluent English. If the CO wanted proof of the language skills of the person being interviewed - they should have asked for the results from a TOEFL exam - instead of believing my friends husband - they denied them and they had to reapply and wait another year and then got approved.

InshaAllah you soon get through this process and its a good first step to get legal immigration advice from a lawyer.

Ally & Omar

Thanks for your detail! I appreciate it.

Well we first recieved after the interview what I assume was a 221g although the paper didn't specify. It was asking for us to provide chat logs because the CO didn't believe my husband could speak to me due to his English abilities. So, similar to your friend. So the CO specifically asked for chat logs to prove it since my husband told him we commonly chat on Facebook because I have a crazy work schedule. The letter we got later just said it was being sent back to USCIS for review. No reason as to why which has been extremely frustrating.

My husband really wanted a translator but we practiced a lot before the interview and he did it in English. But the CO told him his English sucked pretty much which did not help my hubby's confidence at all.

I truly believe the CO made a personal decision and ignored the evidence he had. When my husband tried to show him other evidence he refused to look at it. But, the CO had photos from three trips to Egypt and boarding passes to show I was indeed there and receipts from the two times we went to sharm which had both of our info and were signed by the hotel manager. He also had Skype screenshots and cards we gave each other from our birthdays and anniversary. I truly thought going in that this was all enough. When I got the email they were sending it back we was absolutely blindsided. It has been a very rough 6 weeks. Right now we are trying to decide if we should wait and apply again or have me move to Egypt in the next year or so and live there for a year before applying again. We don't have the financial means for me to move for a while, as most people, the plan was to have him here which is what I had been preparing for for over a year. It's amazing how all that can be shattered by a two sentence email.

what is the time frame of the 50 pages you provided? are they around weeks, months? did you not provide viber call logs or skype ?

The evidence we sent initially was just Skype screenshots, some chat logs, and photos of us together and with family. We added more photos since I went on two more trips over the time everything was being processed.

The 50 pages did span our two year relationship. I just went through and tried to pick out ones that showed more than just day to day conversation.

I realize now the evidence we sent was not sufficient. We should have gathered more.

may i ask what the CO asked for extta evidences ? and why couldn't provide

He requested more chat logs since we commonly talk on Facebook with our schedules. We provided 50 pages which I realize now wasn't enough by a long shot.

While I'm searching for an attorney me and my husband can actually afford, I'm trying to find someone I can talk to about what they did after a denial in Cairo or other MENA countries. The denial has been emotionally devastating for me and my husband and not being able to find out the reason has just added to our stress. We are fairly certain it will be for a non bonifide marriage, as the CO seemed to think that and requested more evidence which we apparently didn't respond to adequately. I honestly wish I had consulted a lawyer when that happened and we may not be in this awful mess now. So far all I know is USCIS got our case for review yesterday.

Pretty sure that does not apply to Consulates. I thought you said it was due to communication issues?

We know the consular officer had issues with our language barrier but we have not received an actual declaration of the reason for refusal. FOIA requests can be made to get the case file I just don't know how exactly.

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone here has any experience making a FOIA request for a case file from a visa interview. My husband was interviewed 9/1/14 in Cairo. We a were put into AP and they requested more proof of relationship. We submitted it and then they wanted his passport so we thought all was well. I got an email our case was being sent back to USCIS on 9/11/14. My husband and I are both very frustrated that we still don't have a reason why it was denied even after getting the official letter saying it was being sent back and USCIS would contact us shortly. We can speculate but I want to know so we can prepare to reply to NOIR if that is the case. Any tips would be appreciated. The instructions for FOIA requests are very vague and I don't even know who I would send it to.

Only USCIS can revoke the underlying I-130 petition, not DoS. DoS will return the file to USCIS and state their reasons for why they believe your I-130 approval should be revoked. USCIS will either agree with DoS' recommendations and send you a Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOIR), or disagree, re-affirm your approval, and send it back to the NVC.

If USCIS decides to issue a NOIR you will have an opportunity to rebut the negative points that USCIS have decided.

You should file a FOIA request in order to obtain a copy of the case file from the embassy which will tell you why they denied the visa.

It will take around 6 months for USCIS to decide what action they are going to take. You should strongly consider retaining an immigration attorney experienced in these sorts of cases, or at the very least consult with them.

Thanks for the info. I'm getting a meeting with an attorney tomorrow.

My husband has his interview on September 1st at 730am. His fingerprints were taken promptly after him entering the embassy but then had to wait an hour before being interviewed. The consular officer was an American man who spoke Arabic. He treated my husband poorly from the start and told him his English sucked. The interview lasted only 30 minutes. Asked how we met, where I went to school and did I graduate, the names of my family members, very basic questions. The CO told my husband at the end he believed he was not telling the truth because of our language barrier and gave him a paper requesting our chat logs from Facebook since that is how we commonly communicate. My husband tried to show the CO more evidence he had brought with him but he refused to look at it. Simply told my husband "I want more" in a rude tone and ended the interview.

We submitted 50 pages of chat logs that spanned our entire relationship. They requested his passport on September 10th so I thought all was fine. I emailed Cairo to confirm they got his passport. They told me they had but the case had been sent back to USCIS for re adjucation and to contact USCIS for the status.

I just got word our case was revoked and sent back to USCIS. I'm in absolute shock. What happens next? I'm going to be getting a lawyer involved.

Yay!!! I think it's a good sign!

I sure hope so! I'm like c'mon we've waited a year and a half!!! We are so ready to get our life started in the states!

I thought that the director of the service center the one who makes the decision.

No. USCIS has people specifically who process expedite requests. It's a case by case basis. On what grounds did you request an expedite?

Hello everybody, I requested my case to be expedited a week ago and i didn't receive an official respond yet. however, I called this morning USIS customer service and I was told that my case is assigned to an officer. is that a good thing or bad?

Often your case will be assigned to an officer on the expedite team for review. You should plan to wait at least 30 days for a response.

No problem . Thank you! And you were right, I did indeed write the wrong income number.

Haha we were totally both editing at the same time. Glad you figured it out!! I hope someone can answer about your wife's taxes.

Yes I meant the i-864! Sorry about that!

I would call the NVC about the tax thing. It is possible it is a mistake. I thought ours was too, then I realized I used a different form than usual so where I got the income number was different.

Oh and my husband and I have been in this a year and a half. I understand being pissed but it won't speed anything up.

Thanks Sofi, I got approved today. 226 days following my priority date!

Congrats!!! Now on to the NVC. Hopefully they will start speeding up since you have already waited this long for the i-130. Best of luck

Spousal visa's are "no good anywhere"...,.,..,.if possible should have waited, got married in the USA, and filed the K-1 visa.,.,..,.,I do not understand these spousal visas if they can be avoided.,.,..,..,.,.and again I say ""IF they can be avoided!!!""

To the OP. Just be patient. You're not the only one waiting this long. My husband and mine's NVC process took over two months and that was without the NVC being slow. So far we are a year and a half into this. It will happen and you will move forward.

I received a checklist form the NVC for my form I-864 and I don't understand some of what they want from me.

They state that the income I entered doesn't match my most recent tax form. I just double checked and it absolutely does.

They also say that I didn't prove that I have a US domicile. That is correct, I don't. I live overseas with my wife. Is that not allowed? Can I just put my parents' address or something?

The last part I understand, but didn't realize was necessary. For my wife's I-864a form, they said she didn't submit her IRS tax returns for the past three years. I was supposed to submit her three most recent foreign tax returns. I hope they're easy to get... taxes work a bit differently here.

Has anyone that has gone through similar issues give me some insight on how to proceed? Thank you

1. What form did you use for your taxes? The 1040 and the 1040ez or 1040a require different boxes to be used to show current income on the i864a. I got a checklist for that too. The official instructions for the i864a explain that more.

2. http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/485927-proof-of-us-domicile/

There is a thread on what type of evidence you can use to prove US domicile. It doesn't matter that you live abroad, you need to prove ties you have to the US still.

3. I'm not quite sure why they even want your wife's taxes if she is not the USC. Sorry, can't help with that one. I didn't submit anything regarding my husband's income or taxes.

Not from the Pakistan embassy, but Egypt, we got AP after my husband's interview on 9/1. They requested more evidence of bona fide marriage. It's only been a week and they already requested his passport to complete the processing.

Hopefully since it was only for a birth certificate you will only wait a few weeks.

Hello, I am an American citizen living here in the U.S. and am planning on getting married in Kenya since this is where my fiance lives and so that her family can attend the wedding. Is a K-3 visa the best and most efficient way to go? We don't want to do the K-1 visa since her family would not be able to travel to the States. I am hoping by joining this forum now I will learn from the experience of others and stop myself from making unnecessary mistakes. Any advice to a newbee would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Kevin

K3s are almost completely obsolete these days. Since the i-130s are processed faster or at the same time, the i-130 which is for the IR1/CR1 spousal visa class takes over. This type of visa will get your husband a green card and work authorization in the states, plus a social security number. So unlike the K1, you aren't spending money on adjustment of status.

After you get married make sure you get your marriage certificate translated. For the i-130 you will need evidence of your relationship, including but not limited to: photos, letters from family, chat logs, phone logs, Skype screenshots, etc. The package you send in the beginning is fairly simple. I highly recommend getting into the regional discussions for Kenya to find out more about that consulate specifically.

Welcome to the forum and hope we can help ?

Today, 10 days into AP the Cairo embassy called my husband and told him to send his passport so they could complete the processing. We are praying it's a good sign and will not be in lengthy AP!!