bashar26

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued!  Syrian, banned, he was given a waiver after 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued!  Syrian, banned, he was given a waiver after 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued!  Syrian, banned, he was given a waiver after 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

This is the best news ever. 
It made my day! I am very happy for you guys. Ever since I read your article you've been on my mind a lot. 
Congratulations 💃💃💃
Catherine and Bashar I wish you the best life together.  And thank you very much for the update and tips. 
Sending love your way. 

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

Just wanted to give everyone hope inshallah:
 
my husband's visa was issued! After 4 months in administrative processing. He will come to the US inshallah next week.
 
Keep pushing anyone around you that you can for support. This is the only way. Be respectful to embassy staff but follow up over email at least once a month. Talk to your senators and representatives. Get anyone who can to make an inquiry on your case! I have a feeling we were only successful because of sustained pressure over time, from media as well if you can! I wrote a personal essay and last week when things were being spoken about in the news again, I posted it on FB and I believe this had some part in it.

https://app.in-it.com/missions/StopTheBan
 
This could be a helpful link for US citizens looking to get their stories heard about their struggles to get their banned spouses or fiancés here to the states. 
 
It looks like they want to hear from anyone affected by the travel ban, stuck in administrative processsing or waiting on waiver info. 
 

I apoligize if this has already been discussed but this thread is quite long.
 
Is anyone in this group from a country affected by the travel ban? I am from Syria and had to complete the DS-5535 form at my interview 3.5 months ago. I have been in AP since. My wife is American and now living in New York while we wait for AP to finish (she moved ahead of me to establish domicile)
 
Any help or links to resources appreciated! I have only heard of one person from a travel ban country (yemen) getting his visa so far... 

thank you for sharing your good news, it means so much to us! 
 
Besides your husband's clean travel record, did you make any extra efforts on his behalf? like contacting congresspeople, submitting additional documents for waiver consideration.... any details can help us. were you in contact with the embassy frequently?
 
thank you!
 

This group is sometimes useful 
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/580057072441088/
 
 
someone today said they called the Norway embassy and they said average AP time is 6 months. 

This group is sometimes useful 
 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/580057072441088/
 
 
someone today said they called the Norway embassy and they said average AP time is 6 months. 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics.html
 
monthly visa issuance statistics by country available at this link

Update: my husband received a call from U.S. Embassy to renew his medical & send his passport...

The average American has no clue, and neither do many members of Congress. They are completely oblivious. While it's not the major problem, the organizations who are supposedly fighting this proclamation are blatantly incompetent.

The AP process is patently unfair to all American spouses. If they provided timelines, that would be a significant improvement. Living in total uncertainty is simply impossible.

Wow, @bashar26, thank you so much for sharing this. These types of personal stories need to get told more often. I feel like so many here in the US have no idea just how far reaching and extreme the effects of this ban have become on US citizens and their far away fiancés and spouses. 

Hello,
 
In the spirit of sharing the experience, I wanted to share with you a personal essay I wrote about my experience in AP. Feel free to share it if it resonates with you.
 
https://ne-ma.net/2018/12/05/maybe-tomorrow-maybe-next-year/

Thanks for speaking out! I think you probably are experiencing all the same stuff as us. I would just emphasize the fact that there is no timeline. My husband is Syrian and we are both really seriously considering starting our lives together in Syria rather than wait in separation for this travel ban waiver to come through (when we have no good reason to believe it will actually even come!). It seems pretty ridiculous that I can't return to the country where I was born and start my adult life just because my husband is from Syria. Also, I have spoken with 3 congresspeople and have seen no results following their inquiries into my husband's status. The limbo is truly torturing. We can't plan anything. We are both 26 years old and just in a total forced pause. 

Thank you for reading it makes me so happy when someone can relate to this experience. together we can be strong. 
 
Here's a list of the immigration FB groups I am a part of: 
 
US EMBASSY ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS & Form DS-5535
Visa Filers from Turkey to the U.S.
Visa Journey
I-130 filers Immigration Visa Group.
 
That's it I think. Visa Filer from Turkey might be of interest to you, even though you are not applying from Turkey, because the administrators there are very intelligent and they keep up to date with immigration news. 
 
Hope this can help, and I'm wishing all the best for you and your husband to be living together as soon as possible.

Hello,
 
In the spirit of sharing the experience, I wanted to share with you a personal essay I wrote about my experience in AP. Feel free to share it if it resonates with you.
 
https://ne-ma.net/2018/12/05/maybe-tomorrow-maybe-next-year/