lamaestra

This is so true!! I can relate to many of these!!

All I can say is Amen! Amen! Amen!

Welcome back. My husband has been here going on 3 years now. I think VJ is great but many of us still need support and friendship even after the visa journey ends. Good Luck and congratulations on the birth of your son.

Doreen

Tell me something ladies. I think most of the men who come here from the Middle East are Muslim. How do you deal with differences in religion- let alone culture? I'm asking those ladies who have not converted to Islam. My husband and I are both Christians and we bump heads periodically. He's Coptic Orthodox and is really into a lot of rituals/customs stemming from thousands of years ago. My denominaton is about 100 years old and Pentecostal.

When we attend the Coptic church in our area, I feel tolerated, not accepted. I know I'm an outsider. After my son was born, another woman from the church held him when he was baptised. (Did I mention two weeks earlier that the priest refused to baptise him even after my parents and siblings showed up just for the scheduled occasion? He had to be educated by his bishop . . . but that's another story.) I lost this honor because I'm not Coptic. Neither my husband nor I are permitted to take holy communion because I have not been baptised in their church. If I do decide to "join" the congregation and get baptised, we will have to be remarried in the Coptic church.

I like who I am. My husband knew who I was when he married me. I don't mind learning about the doctrine of his church in order to be sensitive to what he believes, but I don't like feeling pressured to change the very essence of who I am.

Congrats on your marriage and the birth of your son! and welcome back. I think a lot of this is something many of us go through.

As for cooking/recipes, look at the top of this forum for the pinned thread "Sultan's Kitchen" - tons of recipes there that we've all contributed to. Also, as for support, there's lots of it here. It's not just people waiting for the process of getting their spouse/fiance'/fiancee' here - there's a lot of us going through other phases (AOS, naturalization, etc) and folks who've been here for many months and years w/ lots of experience to share. Stick around for a bit and you'll likely find some good advice to all the transitions you're going through.

Good luck and again, congrats!

Noura

All of you guys are really great. Thanks for referring me to the thread. I had a few minutes to skim through the pages. Time is so precious these days!

I remember you ! Welcome back !

Yes, we're still here....

-MK

Thanks for saying you remembered me! That made me smile.

Hello, everyone! Happy New Year! It's been over a year since I've visited this forum. To be honest, I didn't feel like I belonged here after my fiance arrived in the US. Much of what I read here is about fiances and wives waiting for their loved ones to get here.

Well, we've been married 1.5 years now, and we've been blessed with a son. I love my husband and I have no regrets about our marriage. Still, I long to talk with other women who are married to Arabic men. They are unique specimens! Is there anyone out there who realizes we still need each other even after he gets here? Seriously, I need advice on cooking Arabic food and helping him adjust to life in the US. He's working, but he doesn't like knowing that his wife earns more than he does. At times, he gently tells me that I don't know my place and that I want to control everything.

I'd appreciate some pearls of wisdom from my sisters!

Good to see that we can discuss AFTER the visa is issued! For such a long time, I was one of the only ones here that already had her husband here. I am a pioneer........... Ok, maybe not that dramatic, but nothing can prepare you for that first month.

Let's here some more 'reunited and it feels so good' stories.

Jackie

We are reunited, married, and it does feel good.

I am getting a little frustrated with the SSA. I was told my husband could not get a social security number until he gets his EAD. This is preventing him from opening a bank account and being added to my health insurance. I went to 3 clinics to get a vaccination supplement, and the people there acted like they had no clue what we needed. I showed them the print out of civil surgeons form the immigration website and they were still clueless. One nurse asked me, "What is he- Mexican?" They were trying to give him a full physical examination!!! I told them he didn't have to have that. Thank goodness- since he's not covered on my medical insurance yet.

Who has been in this place before? What were the first things you did to get your husband established in this country?

Amy, have you heard anything from the embassy yet? I know you are disappointed that you are still waiting for your baby to come home to you. How are you holding up?

I have been so busy over the last 7 days. My fiance got his passport and visa on last Monday. Today, he arrived in the USA!!! I talked to him on the phone as he left the airport. No, I haven't seen him because he flew directly to his family. He will spend a couple of weeks with them and finally come to me just before our wedding in mid-April.

I am so exhausted after all the waiting and hoping and praying. It is so good to be in this place right now. I am very happy and so thankful that God has brought us this far.

When the NVC forwarded the file to the appropriate US embassy abroad, they sent me (the petitioner) a letter with the case number on it.

It sounds like all you have is the approval letter stating your petition was approved. The petition will be forwarded to the National Visa Center where it will be reviewed and assigned a case number. As I said before, they will send you a letter with the case number and tell you that the case has been forwarded to the US embassy where your spouse will be interviewed.

Everyday, I find a new reason to keep reading this thread. I thought I was alone. My fiance's family is doing the same thing. They want him come directly to them and spend a month with them. Then, they will all fly to the South to meet me and my family a week before the wedding. I am livid! After all the work I did to help him get his visa, I think the least he can do is come to me first and then go visit with them for a couple of weeks this summer after we have settled into our new home. I even offered to go visit them with him if he would wait until this summer.

Can you imagine me not seeing him for 10 months and then seeing him again only 1 week before I married him? That's insane. I need time to get used to his company again.

His family even offered us a room in their house if I would agree to relocate to their city and state. No, thanks! We don't need to start our marriage with both of us being unemployed.

On a more positive note, I am glad they will be here to help him adjust to life in the country. Only they understand the culture shock that someone from their country will experience. Even though they are thousands of miles away, they will be a huge source of support for us. He keeps me reminding me that whatever they say or do is done out of love.

If any of you wrote to Senators how long did it take for you to hear from them ? It has been a week for me, and I am soo anxious. Just wanted to know generally how long it takes till they start working on the case.

I emailed my senator and his office replied via snail mail 2 weeks later. They sent me a form that I had to fill out and sign to give them permission to investigate our case on my behalf.

Now, I am starting to get very concerned about what life will be like for my fiance and me when he finally arrives. I do not want him to feel like less of a man, but I can't help but feel that he will be emasculated with his wife paying all the bills and driving him around town. He has already told me that he

"will be the head of the family."

Tell me this. For those of you who are your husband's sponsors, does being his sponsor mean you can not quit your job for 3 years? I am asking this because we want to start our family soon after we are married, but I am concerned about having to take time off during the pregnancy and after the birth of the baby. What would happen if you got laid off before the "support" period ending? Would someone else have to step up to be his sponsor?

I think pinning this topic is an excellent idea. I read a lot of stories on this website that have a happy ending, but things do not go smoothly for every couple. These couples need to know what their rights are and what needs to be done if they have been treated unfairly. Kiya, I tip my hat off to you for having the guts to stand up and do this.

Hi ladies! It's been a while since I've posted anything here, but I have to share my great news. My fiance was interviewed on Feb. 14 in Cairo. He may have seen Amy and her fiance while he was waiting. We both got the best Valentine's gift ever! The interview was a success. They told him they would mail his passport within a month.

Can anyone explain this delay? They didn't tell him why he had to wait a month. We are both really happy now that he will be coming here.

I'm not sure when to set the wedding date. Is mid-April too soon? Does anyone have any ideas about this? Will it really be a month or longer? Could he get it sooner? I would hate to sent out wedding invitations and then have to sent out notices saying the wedding has been postponed for another month. We both want to get married about a month after he arrives in the US. I am living on Cloud 9.

I'm just a little nervous about seeing him again too. It's been 8 months since I've seen him. How have some of you handled getting reacquainted? Does anyone have any great advice?