agripa

I think this article from Vox most cleanly outlines what these executive orders are going to do. He hasn't signed the Visa/Refugee ban order yet, but the text has been leaked and it is likely to be accurate. Highlights important to VisaJourney members :
Suspends entry into the United States from Iran, Sudan, Syria, Lybia, Somalia, and Yemen starting 30 days after the executive order's issuance. This will apply to all immigration and as such will include K1 and IR1/CR1 visas. People with applications from these countries will almost certainly be delayed for the foreseeable future. The Secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence will evaluate all countries to see if the provide sufficient information to vet visa applicants for terrorist risks. They will then tell Trump which countries provide insufficient evidence and at that time the country has 60 days to fix this problem. If they don't fix it within 60 days, nationals from that country will be prohibited from entering that country.  

This information is totally irrelevant. Look, I understand that s/he may have acted inappropriate and you need to vent. But this isn't going to help improve your situation at all. Your fiance needs to reach out to her congressmen/senator as soon as possible to get more information. You should try and contact the embassy to see if they provide any information. If none of that appears to be working, you need to have your fiance come to Egypt, get married, and start on the IR1/CR1 spousal visa. Either that or wait it out.

I think this article from Vox most cleanly outlines what these executive orders are going to do. He hasn't signed the Visa/Refugee ban order yet, but the text has been leaked and it is likely to be accurate. Highlights important to VisaJourney members :
Suspends entry into the United States from Iran, Sudan, Syria, Lybia, Somalia, and Yemen starting 30 days after the executive order's issuance. This will apply to all immigration and as such will include K1 and IR1/CR1 visas. People with applications from these countries will almost certainly be delayed for the foreseeable future. The Secretary of State and Director of National Intelligence will evaluate all countries to see if the provide sufficient information to vet visa applicants for terrorist risks. They will then tell Trump which countries provide insufficient evidence and at that time the country has 60 days to fix this problem. If they don't fix it within 60 days, nationals from that country will be prohibited from entering that country.  

They are not obligated to look at any new evidence that you bring to the embassy. This is not a sign of anything. If you look at interview stories all over VisaJourney, 90% of the time the CO doesn't look at any evidence which you bring (even though they often ask for it). This is why people on VisaJourney highly highly recommend front-loading your petition with as much information as possible before hand. It appears that the CO often makes up their mind prior to the interview itself.
 
Again, it's hard to read too much into this. On the surface it appears this is done because the CO expects that the AP process will take some time and wants to make sure you have your passport if you need to travel. On the other hand, there are numerous cases where the passport was returned but the AP was short.
 
You cannot sue (or it is very very very difficult). Visa decision made by consular officers are protected by a principle called consular nonreviewability. Basically, since you're not a US citizen and you're in Egypt (hence not subject to the protection of US laws) you have no standing to sue. More over, bringing over your spouse or fiance to the United States is a privilege not a RIGHT, so you're fiance cannot do anything either.
 
Bottom line - it sounds like from your story you have certain red flags - age gap (with the woman being older) and a previously (denied??) tourist visa you applied for. As you'll often see here on VisaJourney administrative processing takes as long as it's going to take. The only concrete steps you can take are -- (1) have your fiance in the US contact her local congressperson/senator and have them send an inquiry to the consulate. Note they cannot change the outcome, but they may at least be able to get you some more information; (2) have your fiance move to Egypt if possible, spend some time together, get married, and then try for a CR1/IR1 visa. There's really not much else you can do, but wait and keep emailing the embassy for more information.

Hey Aeroth88,
 
My wife and I communicate exclusively through WhatsApp (chat + phone calls) and Skype (video calls). Here's what I ended up sending for spousal visa (should be very similar for the K1 visa) -
 
For Chat Logs:
A screenshot from my cell phone of my WhatsApp profile page. This page lists my name and my phone number used with the account. A screenshot from my wife's cell phone of her WhatsApp profile page. Again, this lists her name, pictures, and phone number used with the account. A copy of my and her cell phone bill showing our name, phone number, and addresss.  I then scrolled manually through our WhatsApp chat and took screenshots spanning our whole relationship (1-2 screenshots per week). I made sure the date and her name was present in every single screenshot. In this way, you've shown what phone number is tied to your WhatsApp account and proven using a cell phone bill that the phone number belongs to you.
 
For SkypeVideo sessions:
A screenshot of my Skype Account information page - shows my name, my pictures, and other personal details. A screenshot of her Skype Account information page. A sample of screenshots of our Skype log - showing the date,time,and duration of a video call which was made. Hope this helps.

The details are still pretty fluid, but it sounds like:
Extended/indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. Temporary ban on refugees from most Muslim countries (i.e., Middle-east) Temporary ban on all visas to people from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Lybia, and Sudan until more "stringent" vetting procedures are put in place.  

Please fill in your timeline, it'll make it easier for people to help you. What is your priority date (PD) listed on your receipt? It sounds like it might be July?? Also, which service center did your application get forwarded to? If your PD is before July 2nd, you're likely beyond "normal" processing time. In that case, you can call ask for an immediate review of your application and reach out to your senator to inquire about your application.

Glad to hear it MrsRana! Good on your for being proactive!

Chin up NimZz! They will almost never deny an application right away and if they feel the evidence is insufficient they will ask for more! Every application is adjudicated differently, and there have been many applications I've read about here on VisaJourney with little evidence which have been approved. All you can do NOW is to start compiling additional evidence and get it ready to submit. This way IF you get a request for additional information you'll be able to respond quickly. Don't get worried, get prepared!

Straight from the NVC webpage -
 
Photocopies to the NVC. Bring all originals to your interview. Good luck!

Every case is adjudicated differently and the mantra around VisaJourney is always "quality" of evidence over "quantity" of evidence. It's hard to say what will happen for sure, but in general the best types of evidence are (i) joint residency, (ii) financial co-mingling, and (iii) time spent together. This is why pictures and travel itineraries tend to be important since they provide evidence of either (i) or (iii). In either case, there's no use worrying about it now as you've sent in your application. If they want more information, they'll ask you for it. Just start on putting all of that information together, so you can quickly respond when and if the time comes. Best of luck!

Just be aware that YOU must file your taxes as either "Married Filing Jointly" or "Married Filing Separately". You can no longer file taxes as a "Single Individual"; this could be a serious issue during the interview (and even the NVC stage) if they look at your 2017 tax returns and see you've filed as a Single Individual. If you don't want to to go through the process of asking for an ITIN for your husband, you should look into "Married Filing Separately". Just be careful not to file as a Single individual.

Hey MrsRana,
 
I'm sorry to hear about your delays. I haven't entered the NVC stage of my application yet, so I can't tell you whether the wait you're experiencing with each checklist is the norm or not. I would, however, suggest that you reach out to your local congressman and state senators. Call their offices and ask to be transferred to their immigration desk. If you're lucky one or more can inquire about the status of your application at the NVC. They cannot help expedite anything or clear your case, BUT there have been several instances (described here on VJ) where an inquiry from a senator's office has helped move things along. At the very least, the NVC has to respond to the senator's request a bit faster then they do over the phone to you. You may learn nothing new, but there is a chance that helps things move along.

Congrats! So, first things first, send the email to asknvc@state.gov which I've detailed in this post: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/595256-i-130-may-2016-filers/?page=32#comment-8441725
 
This will get your DS-261 moving before they even have processed your case. You can use your USCIS Case number for this one.
 
It took my case about two weeks to get to NVC, but that was during the holidays. More specifically, my case was marked on the USCIS case tracker (https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do) as 'sent to NVC' (as opposed to 'approved') on December 28th and received on January 5th. Factoring in the fact that there was a Federal holiday in between those dates, it appears to currently take about one week from 'Sent to NVC' to 'Received by NVC.'
 
What I did, was to start calling every other day once I got my USCIS approval, and moved to calling once a day (towards the end of the day each time) once my USCIS case was updated to 'Sent to NVC.' Don't forget, I had also sent in my email for the DS-261.
 
After a week, I was told over the phone that my case had been received and had been assigned a case number and invoice number, but that I couldn't actually do anything just yet because they hadn't finished entering the details of my case. BUT, at least now I was able to log in to CEAC (https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/) and see something.
 
It took three business days from when I got my case and invoice numbers to when I was actually able to do something in CEAC, which was to fill out the DS-261 there. Yes, I had already submitted my DS-261 in 'unofficial' form via email, but it didn't hurt to go ahead and submit again.
 
It then took about a day (received 11 January) to receive my AOS invoice via email, which also contained my welcome packet with a bar-coded cover sheet and checklist. A tip: KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE WELCOME EMAIL. Receiving it means that your AOS fee has become unlocked and you can pay it as soon as you receive the email. I didn't realize this, and so didn't check the CEAC site until the following day (the 12th). I paid the AOS fee then, and started to put together my packet. I had already gone over all of the information listed on the state.gov website so I actually had everything, including police certificates and translations, ready to go.
 
I submitted my packet, including cover letter, to the NVC yesterday, 13th January. This morning (two business days after paying my AOS fee) I received an email (AIVF FOR NEOPOST DS-1200) which basically told me that I could pay the IV fee ($325... OUCH!). I did so immediately. As I mentioned in a previous post, it looks like it takes about two business days for the system to register a payment, but given that I submitted it on a Saturday, and Monday is (another) Federal holiday, I don't expect to hear anything until Wednesday, but I'm keeping an eye out for those emails nonetheless.
 
The next email I should receive will be an email informing me that I can fill out the DS-260 online. As stated previously, I've gone over all of the documentation and have my answers ready for every part of the form. Once that's submitted, they will tell me to submit my packet (although I've already done that), and the wait begins! My congresscritter is asking about expedites, but at this rate I'm not sure we'll actually need one.
 
Oh, and SECRET SQUIRREL SECRET WEAPON: I downloaded a copy of my consulate's "Packet 3" - DS-2001 from this link:
https://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/pk 3 supplements/{THREE LETTER EMBASSY CODE} - {CITY NAME}.pdf (I'm not sure what your particular embassy code and city name will be, and they may not have these all available. Mine was PRS (for Paris) and Paris (for .... Paris.) So PRS - Paris.pdf - I've checked Montreal, and it exists, but London doesn't have one, for example.
 
Anyway, depending on your particular embassy, you'll have different instructions for the DS-2001 (Notification of Applicant Readiness). Mine basically requests all of the papers you had to provide photocopies of for the packet you should have sent between the IV fee and the DS-260 form, AND (this is important) your DS-260 CONFIRMATION NUMBER which, while I haven't yet filled out the DS-260 so I can't be sure, I am assuming will be like the confirmation number you get when you fill out your DS-261, which is in the format: AA###AA### (a = alpha, # = numeric). I have not sent this in yet, but will be doing so as soon as my DS-260 is submitted. I don't know if this will speed anything up or not, but think about it, the NVC part of the process is just paying some bills and making sure you have all your paperwork in order, and then they're sending it off to the Embassy. If you are reasonably certain that you have all of your paperwork in order, there is nothing in Packet 3 that says "you must wait for your approval from NVC." So we're going to do that and hope for the best.
 

Hey Amul,
 
I'm a bit scared as I submitted something very similar to yours for my I-130 application. It's from the state of Karnataka and is basically titled "Certificate of Registration of Hindu Marriage". I spoke with a cousin who went through this process 4 years ago and here's what he said (via his lawyer) -
 
When I registered my marriage we had to fill out this application and provide identification, as well as a photograph of us with garlands. I believe all of this together constitutes a "memorandum of marriage". A copy of this application can be seen here for the state of Karnataka. My basic gut feeling here is that USCIS dislikes the term "Certificate of Registration" and as a result wants to see this memorandum. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, we never received a copy of this application; the registrar kept this and gave us this Certificate. I'm going to ask my wife if she can go back and get it. My cousin's lawyer submitted the following for the RFE, which ultimately did work for him -
Photos of the wedding including your and your spouse with garlands. Sworn affidavit from your priest who performed the ceremony. Another copy of the certificate. I'll let you know what I hear back from my wife.

High blood pressure will probably not disqualify you, but for your own health and safety you should probably do something about it!!

Been monitoring the June 2016 I-130 fliers thread. Looks like the number of people being transferred from Nebraska to Texas has increased substantially over the past few weeks. Hope this means the workload at Nebraska is decreasing!!!

I think calling sworn affidavits totally worthless is a bit extreme (it is listed as one of the accepted types of evidence on the I-130 form), but Penguin_ie is right, that you'd want to supplement Sworn affidavits with other types of evidence and NOT include it as the sole evidence. In general, a successful I-130 application has multiple types of evidence. Now onto your questions --
Typed is preferred just so that the letter is easy to read. Obviously, each letter needs to be signed by the respective individual.
Absolutely not. This is fraud. Your mom is incorrect.
The rough advice I've seen regarding affidavits is to always have an even number. You want ones from relatives/friends on your side and relatives/friends on your husband's side. Make sure each letter includes the required pieces of information including, (i) the complete name of the individual, (ii) their address, and (iii) their relation to either you or your husband.

Hey Everyone!! Just wanted to point out to all the Nebraska people, it looks like a lot of the May 2016 I-130 fliers are getting transferred to other service centers. Hope this means they're trying to re-balance the load a bit better!!

I put in the postal address for the actual building I worked in and not the corporate headquarters. You should have no gaps in your five year employment history, if you were unemployed (as my wife was), write in "None (Unemployed)" and then write "None" for Occupation. If you were a student (I was a Ph.D. student), provide the name and postal address of your University and write "Student" under occupation. It is very important to not leave any gaps in your employment history.

I followed the example I-130 sheet shown here at VJ (link). Based on this (and my own personal submission) I would advise the following:
Question 13:
Check "Birth in the US" (if you were indeed born in the USA).
Question 14:
Write in "N/A".
Question 14B:
Leave blank as neither option applies to you.
Question 9 for Beneficiary:
I know many people write "None" here, however I left it blank. I was using Adobe reader to fill out the form and when I attempted to type in any particular letter, an error box popped up stating "Only Numbers allowed". I believe the reason for this is that the I-130 form uses barcode technology; you'll notice that there is a barcode at the bottom of the sheets which changes as you enter information. This allows USCIS to simply scan the sheets and extract the information. As such they allow only certain types of information in each box. For the social security number box, only numbers are allowed and since your beneficiary will not have one, the only option is to leave this blank.
Question 10 for Beneficiary:
Unless you're spouse has previously held a green card, it's unlikely they have an alien number. This is assigned much later in the process. I wrote "None" as it appears you can enter characters in this box.

You want to clip it to the very front of your packet along with the check for the application fee. And yes, you want to send it with the I-130 packet if you want to receive updates about your application via email or text message.

You want to clip it to the very front of your packet along with the check for the application fee. And yes, you want to send it with the I-130 packet if you want to receive updates about your application via email or text message.

Whatsapp use screen shots, you can have the date showing and it will show her phone number on top. About 4 shots per page. I did it that way.
Don't worry about bank yet, do that once she is here. I did it early because my husband is from UK so able to visit without the hassle of visa.
Use MS Publisher to organize pictures with little description. Able to put multiple on one page. We did this per visit. So 5 pages, with 4-6 photos. Yes we front loaded even though UK is easy country. No point is not being thorough.
Good luck. You sound on the right path.

I believe what you have is more than sufficient. I wouldn't worry about the joint account at this time.