KokiLulu

OP, where in Virginia do you live? Definitely there are "pockets" of places all over the country that are worse than others. I reverted to Islam in January and have been wearing Hijab ever since. I was worried that I would be descriminated against but i have not experienced anything more than people being curious about why I am muslim and where i am from. I live in Silver Spring, MD, about 10 mins from DC. This area is very culturally and religiously diverse so for the most part people are very accepting of one another. There is Lutheran church, Mosque, Greek orthodox church, and Buddhist Temple standing right beside each other on the main road I live off of. I drive for Uber and in the beginning I was afraid the riders would be afraid of me or descriminate against me because of my hijab and because of the Islamophobia that exists among some. But I have not had any problems. Most people have been very kind. Many people are curious and aren't sure how to ask about my situation. They will usually start off by asking where I'm from but I can feel they really want to know how it is that I am muslim. I have had some great conversations with many of my riders about how I came to Islam. Mind you, I stay close to the DC metropolitan area when I drive so I am mostly in Northern Virginia, DC, and Montgomery and PG county, MD. A couple of times i have taken riders from DC to places further south in VA away from the city and I haven't felt as comfortable there. One girl was not being mean or anything but she couldn't get over the fact that I am muslim. She kept saying "I just don't get it, you're white...how are you muslim". More rural areas are less diverse and when something is unknown it is often feared. My family is from a tiny town in Mississippi where there is very little cultural or religious diversion. I went to visit my family with my ex-husband who was hispanic and felt very uncomfortable. People stared at us hard everywhere we went. No one said anything but you could actually feel tension in the air. I don't think I will be visiting Picayune, Mississippi in my hijab anytime soon lol. My fiance has seen the news about Chapel Hill and other islamophobic events and he is concerned for our safety. He is afraid most American's hate muslims and thinks we will have a bad life here. I can only reassure him that is not the case here where I live. There are definitely parts of Maryland and Virginia I wouldn't want to go to alone in my hijab but nowhere close to home. If you don't feel comfortable where you live and moving closer to the city is a possibility for you, go for it!
OP, where in Virginia do you live? Definitely there are "pockets" of places all over the country that are worse than others. I reverted to Islam in January and have been wearing Hijab ever since. I was worried that I would be descriminated against but i have not experienced anything more than people being curious about why I am muslim and where i am from. I live in Silver Spring, MD, about 10 mins from DC. This area is very culturally and religiously diverse so for the most part people are very accepting of one another. There is Lutheran church, Mosque, Greek orthodox church, and Buddhist Temple standing right beside each other on the main road I live off of. I drive for Uber and in the beginning I was afraid the riders would be afraid of me or descriminate against me because of my hijab and because of the Islamophobia that exists among some. But I have not had any problems. Most people have been very kind. Many people are curious and aren't sure how to ask about my situation. They will usually start off by asking where I'm from but I can feel they really want to know how it is that I am muslim. I have had some great conversations with many of my riders about how I came to Islam. Mind you, I stay close to the DC metropolitan area when I drive so I am mostly in Northern Virginia, DC, and Montgomery and PG county, MD. A couple of times i have taken riders from DC to places further south in VA away from the city and I haven't felt as comfortable there. One girl was not being mean or anything but she couldn't get over the fact that I am muslim. She kept saying "I just don't get it, you're white...how are you muslim". More rural areas are less diverse and when something is unknown it is often feared. My family is from a tiny town in Mississippi where there is very little cultural or religious diversion. I went to visit my family with my ex-husband who was hispanic and felt very uncomfortable. People stared at us hard everywhere we went. No one said anything but you could actually feel tension in the air. I don't think I will be visiting Picayune, Mississippi in my hijab anytime soon lol. My fiance has seen the news about Chapel Hill and other islamophobic events and he is concerned for our safety. He is afraid most American's hate muslims and thinks we will have a bad life here. I can only reassure him that is not the case here where I live. There are definitely parts of Maryland and Virginia I wouldn't want to go to alone in my hijab but nowhere close to home. If you don't feel comfortable where you live and moving closer to the city is a possibility for you, go for it!

Engagements are not the same in every country and every culture. I work for an immigration attorney and we have many African clients. I have heard the lawyer tell some of our clients it's better not to mention the engagement if a bridal price was mentioned because that is considered a marriage by some and it will raise a red flag to the CO. Then you may be asked to prove the engagement was not in fact a marriage. You might be asked to get a government document showing what constitutes a customary wedding in your country to prove your engagement is not considered a marriage. I do not know anything about Ghana but have seen this advice given to Nigerians. So it is probably wise to ask the opinion of people who have cases in ghana as they would have better country specific advice.

I work as an assistant for an immigration attorney and my job is to review the documents our clients bring in to be sent to USCIS to reapond to their RFE (request for Evidence). Read your RFE letter thoroughly because sometimes there is something CIS is asking for specifically. If they specifically tell you what they need, then that is what you send. If they are not asking for 1 or 2 specific things, they are wanting to see more evidence to show you have a joint life together. DO NOT RESEND what you already sent as suggested by another poster. CIS even states in their RFE not to resend what you already sent. They did not lose your original docs. They want additional docs.

Here is what we tell the clients to bring to us to respond to an RFE.
1. tax TRANSCRIPTS vs. returns because anyone can draft up a return but a transcript shows your returns were actually filed with the IRS. You can request your transcripts online at IRS.gov or at your local IRS office. Your tax returns are only helpful if you are both listed on the taxes. It doesn't matter if you worked or not, as long as both spouses names are on the return. You can also submit w-2s and 1099s showing you each have the same address on file. Send your 2014 tax return/transcript if you filed them. It may be difficult to get the transcript for 2014 if you just filed recently but some of our clients have gotten them. If you can't get the transcript for 2014, send the return.
2. Bank statements...even though you already sent some statements up until the end of 2014, send some for 2015. Send a couple, 2 or 3 should be sufficient to show the account is active and being used. You dont need every month. Just a sampling of months throughout the duration of your marriage.
3. A letter from your bank showing the date the account was opened, and the names on the account. The letter alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by the statements showing the usage of the account.
4. Joint bills- electric, water, cable, cell phones, gas, etc...if you are not jointly on the bills, are you an authorized user? If so, try to get something showing you are an authorized user on the account. I think Comcast has a page online that shows the name of the authorized user.
5. Credit cards- either joint statements or something showing you are authorized on each others accounts
6. Insurance policies- life insurance, health insurance, car insurance.. You can send a page or two from the policies showing both your names and the page that shows you or your spouse as the beneficiary of the policy
7. Insurance cards with both names on it
8. Any receipts for purchases made together for anything.
9. Paystubs showing your marital status as Married
10. Something from your jobs showing your spouse as the Emergency Contact
11. If you have step children: something from their schools showing the step parent as an Emergency Contact
12. Hospital bills showing each others names and your address
13. Copies of your drivers licenses or state IDs showing the same address
14. If you don't have a lot of evidence with BOTH of your names on it, you can send bills with only one name but showing you have the same address
15. Send a sonogram report showing the due date for your baby, or doctor report
16. More photos
17. Affidavits from friends, relatives, neighbors, clergy,etc attesting to your marital relationship. The affidavits should be VERY DETAILED and should say how the person knows you, how long they have known you, what they know about your marriage and life together and how they know this information. People have a tendency to write about what a great couple you are and what a great person you are. This is NOT what immigration is looking for. Immigration is looking to see that the affiants have witnessed your life together as husband and wife so it is important for the affiant to share details that show they have been a witness to your ongoing marriage. For example, the affiant should say what they do together with you and your spouse, such as go out to dinner, go to movies, bar b cues, see you in church, visit your home, playdates with each others children. The affidavits should be individualized and different from one another. They must contain the affiants name, status (citizen or permanent reaident) and how they know you or are related to you.
To whom it may concern,
I, Laurie Martin, am a citizen of the USA, and have known _______ for 10 years. We met in college in 2005 and quickly became great friends spending much of our free time together going to baseball games and friend's parties. In 2011_____told me he had met _____and they began dating. We went out together on many occasions to the movies/dinner/etc. In 2013 I attended ______ and _____ wedding. We continue to see each other frequently and get together on special occasions. I go to their home for dinner/ birthday parties/ Christmas, and our children have playdates often. _____and ____are very excited to be expecting their first child to be born in _____....... Etc etc etc

I work as an assistant for an immigration attorney and my job is to review the documents our clients bring in to be sent to USCIS to reapond to their RFE (request for Evidence). Read your RFE letter thoroughly because sometimes there is something CIS is asking for specifically. If they specifically tell you what they need, then that is what you send. If they are not asking for 1 or 2 specific things, they are wanting to see more evidence to show you have a joint life together. DO NOT RESEND what you already sent as suggested by another poster. CIS even states in their RFE not to resend what you already sent. They did not lose your original docs. They want additional docs.

Here is what we tell the clients to bring to us to respond to an RFE.
1. tax TRANSCRIPTS vs. returns because anyone can draft up a return but a transcript shows your returns were actually filed with the IRS. You can request your transcripts online at IRS.gov or at your local IRS office. Your tax returns are only helpful if you are both listed on the taxes. It doesn't matter if you worked or not, as long as both spouses names are on the return. You can also submit w-2s and 1099s showing you each have the same address on file. Send your 2014 tax return/transcript if you filed them. It may be difficult to get the transcript for 2014 if you just filed recently but some of our clients have gotten them. If you can't get the transcript for 2014, send the return.
2. Bank statements...even though you already sent some statements up until the end of 2014, send some for 2015. Send a couple, 2 or 3 should be sufficient to show the account is active and being used. You dont need every month. Just a sampling of months throughout the duration of your marriage.
3. A letter from your bank showing the date the account was opened, and the names on the account. The letter alone is not enough. It must be accompanied by the statements showing the usage of the account.
4. Joint bills- electric, water, cable, cell phones, gas, etc...if you are not jointly on the bills, are you an authorized user? If so, try to get something showing you are an authorized user on the account. I think Comcast has a page online that shows the name of the authorized user.
5. Credit cards- either joint statements or something showing you are authorized on each others accounts
6. Insurance policies- life insurance, health insurance, car insurance.. You can send a page or two from the policies showing both your names and the page that shows you or your spouse as the beneficiary of the policy
7. Insurance cards with both names on it
8. Any receipts for purchases made together for anything.
9. Paystubs showing your marital status as Married
10. Something from your jobs showing your spouse as the Emergency Contact
11. If you have step children: something from their schools showing the step parent as an Emergency Contact
12. Hospital bills showing each others names and your address
13. Copies of your drivers licenses or state IDs showing the same address
14. If you don't have a lot of evidence with BOTH of your names on it, you can send bills with only one name but showing you have the same address
15. Send a sonogram report showing the due date for your baby, or doctor report
16. More photos
17. Affidavits from friends, relatives, neighbors, clergy,etc attesting to your marital relationship. The affidavits should be VERY DETAILED and should say how the person knows you, how long they have known you, what they know about your marriage and life together and how they know this information. People have a tendency to write about what a great couple you are and what a great person you are. This is NOT what immigration is looking for. Immigration is looking to see that the affiants have witnessed your life together as husband and wife so it is important for the affiant to share details that show they have been a witness to your ongoing marriage. For example, the affiant should say what they do together with you and your spouse, such as go out to dinner, go to movies, bar b cues, see you in church, visit your home, playdates with each others children. The affidavits should be individualized and different from one another. They must contain the affiants name, status (citizen or permanent reaident) and how they know you or are related to you.
To whom it may concern,
I, Laurie Martin, am a citizen of the USA, and have known _______ for 10 years. We met in college in 2005 and quickly became great friends spending much of our free time together going to baseball games and friend's parties. In 2011_____told me he had met _____and they began dating. We went out together on many occasions to the movies/dinner/etc. In 2013 I attended ______ and _____ wedding. We continue to see each other frequently and get together on special occasions. I go to their home for dinner/ birthday parties/ Christmas, and our children have playdates often. _____and ____are very excited to be expecting their first child to be born in _____....... Etc etc etc

I work as an assistant for an immigration attorney and my job is to review the documents our clients bring in to be sent to USCIS to reapond to their RFE (request for Evidence). Read your RFE letter thoroughly because sometimes there is something CIS is asking for specifically. If they specifically tell you what they need, then that is what you send. If they are not asking for 1 or 2 specific things, they are wanting to see more evidence to show you have a joint life together. DO NOT RESEND what you already sent as suggested by another poster. CIS even states in their RFE not to resend what you already sent. They did not lose your original docs. They want additional docs.

Yay! Mabrook! Congratulations!! Al hamdulilah!??????