Becky&Sam

Was just thinking...when everyone gets here in Egypt why don't we have a VJ reunion!! Wael and I would love to meet everyone in person...what do you think about it? Wael and I have already met one couple here from VJ last night and was so nice comparing our timelines and venting!! So guys think about it and perhaps we can all finally meet with our SO's...

I can't go until after the first of the year which I plan to if Sam has not received his visa by then. Wael and Jean if you are still there then would love to meet up with you then, but this is still a long way off I know. I wish I could go sooner, but I have no time off from work until after the first of the year.

We have two of the red flags listed in the other post.....you can see by the ticker below how long we have been in AP....

We are both fed up with this whole thing.....Not understanding why we aren't allowed to be together at this point.....I have had a major emotional meltdown this week which culminated last night with a big crying session to my husband on the phone..... soooo I would say at this point he is handling it much better than I am right now, but with his work hours right now he doesn't have much time to do anything but work.

There are so many aspects of the US government that I was not aware of until starting this process. I don't feel nearly as free as I did before...I don't believe that the US gov't always has the people's interest at heart....I feel basically let down and disillusioned with what is supposed to be the fair and legal way to immigrate here (not to mention very expensive). We as petitioners have absolutely no rights except to be told nothing about the process or where we stand. Anyway just trudging along through the days until we hear something......

thank you all for the congrats and well wishes. Inshaa Allah.

Congratulations on your wonderful news!!! Prayers for an easy pregnancy and healthy baby!!

I guess I look at it that is f*** up morroco denys so many valid relationship and its f*** you could reach Norway on a camel by the time Egypt finishes the prcocessing. Both situations are absolutly unfair and you don't see people from other most european counties ever having to deal with this. And yes I believe it is allllll about what the counsular thinks of you and how they like you and in that way it is verrrrry personal.

Do you think that the fraud factor of some MENA countries compared to that of Europe means nothing?

There are some fraud factors in other countries besides MENA and they do not have these ridiculously long wait times.

How about some examples?

Like others have said, Egypt handles many other countries going through the visa process.

How would the Consulate benefit from making people wait if they didn't have to? I just don't see why people think that everything is so simple when we have no idea what goes on in the Consulate. What good would come to the CO's by making people miserable and waiting? I feel bad for the CO's because I think they have a really hard job and clearly no one appreciates them doing their job. People around here spend the day bashing the Egyptian Consulate like they are actually going out of their way to ruin your lives.

Russia, Phillipines are also high fraud consulates not necessarily for men, but for women dying to leave their countries too.

As far as the other countries that are going through Egypt consulate I don't know about their wait times. I have no doubt that this process is simple in any way shape or form, but I don't feel bad for CO's at all. We have been lied to about wait times and that is very frustrating. I don't see anyone on here acting like they are going out of their way to ruin our lives.....I know that the CO that interviewed my husband probably forgot about him the next dayor that day...they handle so many cases.........and I don't think that the CO is the main person making all decisions on our case. I feel it has moved on to others and there seems to be a general carelessness from the consulate about they way they handle things, ie people's personal information, passports, etc.

I understand that you "feel" like your case has been passed around. That is speculation. Unless you have been in the Consulate and worked there then I doubt any of us can say what is and what is not happening there. I see people everyday on this board complaining about the Consulate and how they tear families apart and ruin relationships by making people wait. I don't see how you can say that they are careless. Yes they made a mistake by sending out the wrong passport. My husband got screwed over during AOS but you don't see me on here making generalizations about the entire US government and Immigration services about how careless they are. Mistakes are human.

I know for a fact that there are others dealing with issues on our case as they have contacted my husband's family and also him by phone. They had his information at that time...also they misrepresented themselves to his grandparents and my husband, stating they were with DHL and had papers to deliver for him...but asked questions about our relationship and things that had nothing to do with delivery. Also these "DHL" delivery men went to the neighborhood store and asked about us with our pictures. So I feel that we have multiple reasons to be dissatisfied with the way our case has been handled in Cairo. I sent an email to Cairo consulate questioning them about this situation, but no response. So our dealings with them have not been on the up and up at all. I don't pretend to know why these things are happening, but I do know that carelessness comes into play with a lot of the "mistakes" that have happened out of Cairo. So the "generalizations" I am making are based on our personal experiences and other experiences that have shared them. That is what this whole thread is about ........those of us that are in long AP and what our opinions are about why this happens.

What is wrong with more than one person handling your case? Can the CO give the interview and do a field investigation along with other responsibilities? I don't understand why it's not ok for more than one Consular to handle your case.

I have no problems with more people handling the case...........it is the what they are doing that is not appropriate or right.

I was wondering what other people WHO ARE IN ap were thinking as to why we are stuck there and to give us a chance to talk about this so overshadowing part of our daily existence

Geez, sorry, I guess my ideas were not welcome.

Im sorry I have to admit I feel under attack from sarah , I don't know her and I know that many people on the other side who didn't experience this may be a little kurt. I didn't mean you and Im sorry for my wording. Im even sorry I posed the topic.

I don't feel hurt, but others that have not experienced what we are going through don't have an understanding of what it is like to deal with this. Don't worry about any attack. We are all free to express our opinions and feelings here.

I guess I look at it that is f*** up morroco denys so many valid relationship and its f*** you could reach Norway on a camel by the time Egypt finishes the prcocessing. Both situations are absolutly unfair and you don't see people from other most european counties ever having to deal with this. And yes I believe it is allllll about what the counsular thinks of you and how they like you and in that way it is verrrrry personal.

Do you think that the fraud factor of some MENA countries compared to that of Europe means nothing?

There are some fraud factors in other countries besides MENA and they do not have these ridiculously long wait times.

How about some examples?

Like others have said, Egypt handles many other countries going through the visa process.

How would the Consulate benefit from making people wait if they didn't have to? I just don't see why people think that everything is so simple when we have no idea what goes on in the Consulate. What good would come to the CO's by making people miserable and waiting? I feel bad for the CO's because I think they have a really hard job and clearly no one appreciates them doing their job. People around here spend the day bashing the Egyptian Consulate like they are actually going out of their way to ruin your lives.

Russia, Phillipines are also high fraud consulates not necessarily for men, but for women dying to leave their countries too.

As far as the other countries that are going through Egypt consulate I don't know about their wait times. I have no doubt that this process is simple in any way shape or form, but I don't feel bad for CO's at all. We have been lied to about wait times and that is very frustrating. I don't see anyone on here acting like they are going out of their way to ruin our lives.....I know that the CO that interviewed my husband probably forgot about him the next dayor that day...they handle so many cases.........and I don't think that the CO is the main person making all decisions on our case. I feel it has moved on to others and there seems to be a general carelessness from the consulate about they way they handle things, ie people's personal information, passports, etc.

I understand that you "feel" like your case has been passed around. That is speculation. Unless you have been in the Consulate and worked there then I doubt any of us can say what is and what is not happening there. I see people everyday on this board complaining about the Consulate and how they tear families apart and ruin relationships by making people wait. I don't see how you can say that they are careless. Yes they made a mistake by sending out the wrong passport. My husband got screwed over during AOS but you don't see me on here making generalizations about the entire US government and Immigration services about how careless they are. Mistakes are human.

I know for a fact that there are others dealing with issues on our case as they have contacted my husband's family and also him by phone. They had his information at that time...also they misrepresented themselves to his grandparents and my husband, stating they were with DHL and had papers to deliver for him...but asked questions about our relationship and things that had nothing to do with delivery. Also these "DHL" delivery men went to the neighborhood store and asked about us with our pictures. So I feel that we have multiple reasons to be dissatisfied with the way our case has been handled in Cairo. I sent an email to Cairo consulate questioning them about this situation, but no response. So our dealings with them have not been on the up and up at all. I don't pretend to know why these things are happening, but I do know that carelessness comes into play with a lot of the "mistakes" that have happened out of Cairo. So the "generalizations" I am making are based on our personal experiences and other experiences that have shared them. That is what this whole thread is about ........those of us that are in long AP and what our opinions are about why this happens.

Well if they are so taxed by so many other cases perhaps the need more staff? I don't know how they work I just know that there wait times are the longest of any country. You could have a fiance from cuba or iran here much faster. I don't want to argue. Obviously some people are "lucky" maybe your one of them. But for all of us stuck here in AP it is clear this is anthing but an efficent system and I was wondering what other people WHO ARE IN ap were thinking as to why we are stuck there and to give us a chance to talk about this so overshadowing part of our daily existence

It does become an overshadow over your daily life.. no matter how hard you try not to let it. I feel like it is taking away my hope.

I guess I look at it that is f*** up morroco denys so many valid relationship and its f*** you could reach Norway on a camel by the time Egypt finishes the prcocessing. Both situations are absolutly unfair and you don't see people from other most european counties ever having to deal with this. And yes I believe it is allllll about what the counsular thinks of you and how they like you and in that way it is verrrrry personal.

Do you think that the fraud factor of some MENA countries compared to that of Europe means nothing?

There are some fraud factors in other countries besides MENA and they do not have these ridiculously long wait times.

How about some examples?

Like others have said, Egypt handles many other countries going through the visa process.

How would the Consulate benefit from making people wait if they didn't have to? I just don't see why people think that everything is so simple when we have no idea what goes on in the Consulate. What good would come to the CO's by making people miserable and waiting? I feel bad for the CO's because I think they have a really hard job and clearly no one appreciates them doing their job. People around here spend the day bashing the Egyptian Consulate like they are actually going out of their way to ruin your lives.

Russia, Phillipines are also high fraud consulates not necessarily for men, but for women dying to leave their countries too.

As far as the other countries that are going through Egypt consulate I don't know about their wait times. I have no doubt that this process is simple in any way shape or form, but I don't feel bad for CO's at all. We have been lied to about wait times and that is very frustrating. I don't see anyone on here acting like they are going out of their way to ruin our lives.....I know that the CO that interviewed my husband probably forgot about him the next dayor that day...they handle so many cases.........and I don't think that the CO is the main person making all decisions on our case. I feel it has moved on to others and there seems to be a general carelessness from the consulate about they way they handle things, ie people's personal information, passports, etc.

I guess I look at it that is f*** up morroco denys so many valid relationship and its f*** you could reach Norway on a camel by the time Egypt finishes the prcocessing. Both situations are absolutly unfair and you don't see people from other most european counties ever having to deal with this. And yes I believe it is allllll about what the counsular thinks of you and how they like you and in that way it is verrrrry personal.

Do you think that the fraud factor of some MENA countries compared to that of Europe means nothing?

There are some fraud factors in other countries besides MENA and they do not have these ridiculously long wait times.

I feel that if someone's security checks and clearances can be done in 1 month to six weeks...unless you have some type of security flag happen........... having some people get visas in six weeks or less and others wait more that six months is ridiculous!!

Personal feelings about visa issuance and why times are so differing will range widely depending upon if you have had to wait a long time or got the visa within a reasonable time frame.

When you call DOS and the case is complete on their end and you know that other inquiries, checks have been completed months ago....what conclusion do you come to???

Trying to do their job correctly doesn't come high to my mind when I hear about them shipping out incorrect passports to individuals, or passports without the visa in them, etc. This does not speak to me of people caring about their job and making sure all the i's are dotted and t's crossed... in my opinion.

I have to agree. I think the interviewer had it in for my husband from the start. Our case was approved, security checks at Washington passed and it's sitting in Cairo waiting for their final issuance. The DOS man that I talked with yesterday said, "ma'am in the end it is up to Cairo to do what they want".

I don't think that's right. If they have that much power then they shouldn't abuse it, i.e. if the interviewer really doubted the relationship why did he not want more evidence? My husband went with our wedding album, a huge pile of phone records, chat records, my plane ticket stubs, etc. and so if he really doubted things why not look at this stuff more intently?

Also, what checks does Cairo do? They haven't gone to his house, they ask for the copy of the police records so it's not like they go and get that themselves, they ask for the movement certificate sometimes so it's not like they're doing that themselves....................so I'm at a loss as to what they actually do over there in terms of their own security checks.

In the end I'm better when I don't try to make sense of it. I look at it all like the lottery. If you are lucky you will get it early and if not you'll have to wait.

I believe our case is sitting without any work being done on it right now. On some shelf where they doubt our relationship to it must wait X amount of time before they will issue the visa.

Security checks have been done.

Home visit and verification with him at his work was done.

The last time I called DOS they cannot see that anything is happening right now, just waiting for the visa to be issued.

At Sam's interview he had to insist that the CO look at our pics and tried to show him some other evidence, ie plane tickets, and reservation confirmation for my visit 3 weeks after his interview, mail correspondance to him from my kids, parents and me, etc. He finally agreed to look at the pics, but nothing else.

At the time of his interview the CO told him all his paperwork was complete and they had all they needed from him and would just have AP time (1-2 months HAHA!!) before visa issuance.

So as far as more security checks there I don't believe they are happening... they are just sitting on the file and not issuing visa because of their supicions, but no proof of those suspicions.............CAUSE THEY ARE NOT VALID!!!

This is my opinion of what is happening with our case right now.

my heart is breaking , my dog is geting worse and has not responded to treatment. Her case has stumped every vet so far and without over a 1000 dollars in diagnostic tests there is little more than can do. I feel so sad really. I have had her only 4 months but she has helped me so much find any level of peace during this process. Its funny jut wnhen you think oh man I can't take ANYMORE life says sure you can just watch what I can do...

Have a good day everyone thanks for reading

I feel your pain Been there with sick animals. I hope that your dog can make a recovery, but if not....that she will not have any more suffering.

This is my first and LAST time to ever do this.

Happy Birthday to you both..... Its a wonderful day to be born on....

Kez

Happy Birthday to all three of you, Kez, Doodle and Dawn. IT is a great day for birthdays!!!

My hubby's birthday is today too!!

Just because I had good news yesterday/today doesn't mean I will have good news tomorrow. My grandmother is dying in the hospital and while Ramy has his visa he won't be here soon enough. She's going for surgery tomorrow or Thursday (and then she'll have a second surgery the next day) and there's a very high chance she won't make it. We're supposed to be happy but instead we kind of argued about when he's coming because he told me now he needs about a month to finish up his business, pack, and leave, but if my grandmother dies I don't want to go to another funeral without him (we lost a friend of ours from high school in June to an atv accident). Yesterday I cried almost the whole way from the hospital to my dress fitting because a part of me knows she'll never see it and I'm her only grandchild.

I wasn't going to post in here at all till I saw I was brought up but if you need a pity party then you need a party with chocolates and movies and friends in a large flat in Egypt with a cow in the kitchen! And if you just need to talk, well then you need to talk.

Doodle is right, VJ is pretty much visa process support but I want to add that it's through this board that we make friendships and when we hit rough spots--divorce, pets, family members dying-- that have nothing to do with visas, we're there for each other, even if we've never met in person. It might not seem like much but it really does mean a lot.

I am so sorry about your Grandmother sparrow!! I know the pain of losing friends and family members and not having your SO/husband with you. Since the time we started this visa process my brother was killed in a tragic accident (but he was currently undergoing treament for terminal cancer so I think this was a blessing that God took him from any more suffering) and my really good friend here at work committed suicide. This kind of a loss along with trying to get your future husband/husband here is a great emotional everything, ups, downs, depression, joy. Dealing with them alone is very very hard.

I hope that your grandmother can make it and have some recovery before your wedding and be there for you. I will pray that Ramy can get here in time and your grandmother can see you get married.

I appreciate the support and comfort that I have gotten here on VJ and don't believe that anyone would begrudge someone getting their visa before another and I see that everyone is always happy when there is a visa issued to anyone...............but it doesn't make the waiting for those of us that are still in AP any easier!!! We aren't in control of who is giving out visas.... and we can only support those that are waiting and congratulate those that have gotten theirs!!

Why does this have to be so hard? Why does my husband have to be from one of the hardest countries to immigrate from???? Why couldn't he have been from Canada or England or some place that doesn't do AR/AP or at least a consulate that freakin' gives you a straight answer about what the heck is going on???

I feel like dragging all of us outside the embassy and grabbing big huge signs saying BRING OUR HUSBAND'S HOME!!!!!!! And marching back and forth screaming until they listen to us and see our tears and feel our pain and perhaps gain some compassion.

I have these same feelings . Just talking to Samy and he is asking me why? why? what is the reason that they are taking so long and give us no answers? I don't have any frigging idea, but they have no compassion or care that we are waiting for so long with feelings that are struggling to survive this long distance wait. I wanna go picket too!!! JUST FINISH THE CASE AND TELL US THE ANSWER!!! NO MORE DIFFICULT TO PREDICT TIME LINE IN THESE CASES!!!

I want some molten chocolate cake from Chili's!!!

Houston

and it sucks

I wouldn't want to live in Houston either. Not a great place to live IMO. Some areas around Houston aren't too bad.

Doodle,

My favorite is coke zero and pibb zero. I have no sweets in my house right now. I have been so stressed and depressed over this whole thing I really, really, really want a cigarette!!!

I sang h-bday to hubby on the phone, but I am wondering how many more b-days will we be apart?

Houston

and it sucks

I wouldn't want to live in Houston either. Not a great place to live IMO. Some areas around Houston aren't too bad.

Doodle,

My favorite is coke zero and pibb zero. I have no sweets in my house right now. I have been so stressed and depressed over this whole thing I really, really, really want a cigarette!!!

i wanna join too...can my pity party be coz i hate it in Texas if so, count me in

Where are you in Texas? I am right in between Dallas/Fort Worth.

Have you had the same kind of day I have? I am so depressed today. I just feel like the visa is never coming. Just got off the phone with my hubby and he is feeling the same way today. And today is his birthday or at least there it is already his birthday!!

Congratulations!!!!