Amal93

Sounds more than sufficient to me. I had less evidence and hubby is here now. You'll be fine! Good luck!

18 hours ago, bodgie19 said:

For people who have entered the USA already. My fiance (Syrian) is a hijabi and I want to know if they are giving any trouble to people with a hijab? How is the POE officer how is his/her demeanor (I know it's all relative)? I am am traveling to get my fiance from her country during the holidays and then traveling back together. I have Global Entry. Should we go in the line together or should we go separately. 

 

Any advice or experience from anyone who has entered already would be great.  We are on a K-1 and we are entering at Chicago.

I would say 9 times out of 10 there wouldn't be an issue, they're mostly professional, but of course could encounter a nasty officer. My husband just entered at JFK, sporting a beard (I know not the same as hijab) and he had 0 problems. We went on separate lines. When your fiance gets to the counter, officer will ask for visa packet. He'll take it along with her passport and hand it over to an officer to escort her to immigration office, where they will look over her stuff and stamp her passport. Don't worry about it, she'll be fine. 

13 hours ago, Sahal Muse said:

When was the interview date. 

10/3/19

Visa has been issued Alhamdulilah. Kuala Lumpur embassy.

Timeline of events for us were as follows:

Interview was at Oct 3rd, 2019. Embassy kept passport and said visa would be issued 4-5 days later. Also ds-5535 was not requested. Took nearly 3 weeks, issued on 10/22. Ceac status the whole time said ready (for interview), up until Monday 10/21 it changed to AP, and then next day it was issued. (My sister on the other hand, visa was issued 2 days after interview).

Also, for those who will be traveling to Malaysia, feel free to message me on this website if you have any questions about the country ie where to stay, steps you have to take to get married here, advise on how to handle immigrations customs when trying to enter the country (they can get very nasty, esp when you're constantly leaving/entering or hold a Yemeni passport), where to go to renew visa, etc. I've been here on and off for a year and my husband 2 years so we know how to navigate this place pretty well. I can give you phone numbers of agents who can find you an apt for a month or however long. Also anyone who got married here and registered their marriage under the Yemeni embassy, be warned USCIS may reject your petition as they don't recognize the marriage certificate as valid. Yemeni embassy no longer certifies marriages between Yemenis and Americans, but if you were unlucky enough to do so as we did back in 2017 you will likely run into issues, so ask away if you have questions. 

Wish you all the best of luck and praying you get your visas soon, esp those of you who have had to endure the torture of months under AP. 

1 hour ago, Moalgahim said:

Does anyone have any idea what's going on at the us embassy in Djibouti me and my brother have all ready given them our wifes passport 2 weeks ago and nothing they don't reply to emails I dont understand what's going on has anyone gotten there visas yet within the last 2 weeks or is everyone on the same boat. What should I do any ideas 

I'm in the same boat. Passport has been at Kuala lumpur embassy for 2 weeks. Sent one email so far, no response, although I didn't expect them to respond. Ended up dropping by at aramex just to see if it was there and nothing. Woman that works there said the embassy hadn't sent any passports for the past two days (17th and 18th) as embassy has been having meetings. Starting to get worried tbh..praying we get it very soon. 

6 hours ago, Rey_18 said:

Inshallah,

How long did it take for you guys till he got his visa?

He hasn't got it yet. Embassy has had his passport for a week so far, hopefully he'll get it this week. But our initial i-130 filing was back in 8/2017. So if, Inshallah he does get it this week that'll make 2 years and 1.5 month from start to finish. 

5 minutes ago, Rey_18 said:

I did a ton of research before I filed so thankfully I knew what things to send and evidence to send so that inshallah that they don’t send me an RFE (request for evidence). I hope they don’t because I sent so much evidence, pictures of us/wedding pictures, passport stamps of my travels to him, marriage certificate, marriage entry, wedding invitation since we had our wedding in a hall, proof of my pregnancy, I was pregnant when I sent the file, so they know that our marriage is real and authentic. The only REF I might get is our baby’s birth certificate since I sent them proof of pregnancy. I just pray and hope that they approve me so that I can just do the interview, because after I do the interview, I can finally travel back to him. Also congratulations I’m so happy for you guys! 

Thank you! That's good, inshallah you skip the nonsense and get straight to an interview or even approval. 

On 9/29/2019 at 9:39 PM, Nag & Matt said:

Keep us updated and good luck.

They took passport right after interview and said it would be issued within 4-5 days. It has been 6 business days, still waiting. Inshallah this week!

Bro in law interviewed same week. They also took his passport and told him the same thing. His was issued 2 days later. 

15 hours ago, Moalgahim said:

Can anyone help me I drop of my wifes passport at the us embassy a week ago and thats all they requested her Med and PR are still good until November and I havent heard anything they havent updated her case any info plzzzzz let me no

My husband's passport has been with the embassy for a week as well with no updates on ceac. Don't worry about it sometimes it takes 2 weeks to get the passport back with visa. 

2 hours ago, Rey_18 said:

I see that you’re ir1/cr1 case is at Texas service center. I also filed the same case and my case is also at Texas service center. Have they gave you an NOA2 yet and if so how long did it take? 

I did receive an NOA2 requesting evidence 10 months after the initial filing. However, during that time I had no idea that there are steps I can take to try and get a response faster, for instance contacting congress reps. I don't know if doing so during that stage of the process would have sped up a response or not. Also, during my initial filing of the i-130, I sent 0 evidence. Again, I was very new to this process and didn't know that I should've sent evidence with the i-130 to potentially have instead received an interview or approval rather than a request for evidence. Although, a lawyer told me that regardless with Yemenis even if someone sent a ton of evidence the first time they always send a letter requesting additional evidence. Anyways, hopefully your process moves faster than ours did. At the end of it all btw, our case never even made it to NVC as USCIS rejected our petition. We ended up asking the embassy if they would allow us to petition directly with them and they did. Now, I'm waiting to receive my husbands visa in the mail. 

Trump's public charge rule that was set to start oct 15 has been blocked. It would've penalized immigrants living in the U.S who were using government assistance. His other ruling however on not granting visas to those who they believe will likely become a public charge is still set to take effect on Nov 3rd. Although, I read elsewhere that it is expected to be challenged in court soon as well. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/judge-blocks-trumps-public-charge-rule-on-immigration.html

On 10/6/2019 at 12:37 AM, missileman said:

It has always been a consideration.  This is, in no way, a travel ban......this policy enforces existing law......which protects the US taxpayer as well as the new immigrant.  There is no reason the US taxpayer should bear the burden of new immigrant's health care.

well it favors those that are well off. So much for "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.." and its ridiculous to require immigrants to obtain insurance within such a short amount of time (30 days). It takes at least half that time to just obtain the green card and social security card. 

On 10/8/2019 at 10:53 PM, Muhammad&Mansory said:

Has anyone taken medical test while pregnant? I know a guy in Turkey who got contacted about his wife's visa; but his wife is pregnant and they are planning to wait until she delivers (4-5 months from now). Has anyone done medical exam during pregnancy? 

A neighbor of mine did, during her first trimester- she hasn't given birth yet. Neighbors friend also did so, although she was in 2nd/3rd trimester. She had a healthy child. 

On 9/26/2019 at 10:52 PM, paret3169 said:

Anyone know of cases that interviewed recently  post the new automated system? Does it really make a difference? Do they still give the DS 5355? I’ve been shy to ask because my wife’s interview is coming up and I know you all have been unfairly waiting so long and i haven’t gone thru what u all went thru yet.  I have been praying for you since I joined this wonderful group, you guys have been great help! I pray we are all with our loved ones soon inshallah!

I heard of one recent case here at the kuala lumpur embassy, interviewed in sept and at the end of his interview was told to leave his passport with them. About a week later, visa was issued. My husband's interview is also coming up this week. Inshallah all the best for all of us.

On 9/25/2019 at 3:35 AM, Nag & Matt said:

I watched the whole thing too, it was very interesting. I think the ban supporters have a strong point. They probably won't issue the no-ban-act. 
Because it is clear that it is NOT a Muslim ban, all the citizens of the countries are being affected regardless of their religion. So, I really do think that treating it as a Muslim ban is not going to solve our problem. They should focus on having an effective short waiver system instead. and grant exceptions on a case to case basis, like children and older people.  

That is just my opinion. And I am saying this because I imagine the Syrian government for example will not cooperate with the US government. What are your opinions? And please correct me if I am wrong. 

I do think it's a muslim ban, largely because of the president and his staff's rhetoric regarding Muslims. Those at the hearing also brought up good counterpoints to the witnesses from DOS and DHS. For example the chairwoman, stated that if the U.S gov truly doesn't trust the information coming from the Iranian gov regarding their citizens then why are Iranian student visas not a part of the ban. Plus, Obama and the administrations that came before him, had already introduced a more rigorous vetting system and it has been largely successful in keeping terrorists out of the country. Trump took it to a whole new level and attempted to "fix" a system that was doing just fine, due to his dislike of immigrants from certain countries. According to this article, from 2002 to 2016 the rate at which a deadly attack was carried out by an immigrant has been "one for every 379 million visa or status approvals". Trump should really be trying to curb the increasing domestic terrorist attacks. 

heres the article: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/us/politics/us-vetting-system-already-robust-before-travel-ban-report-finds.html

For those of us who can't make it to the hearing on the muslim ban, here's the livestream link: https://judiciary.house.gov/legislation/hearings/oversight-trump-administration-s-muslim-ban

It'll be live at 10 am eastern time today (9/24)

On 9/21/2019 at 11:53 PM, fakeeh said:

Lets agree to disagree we tried everything maby we are not lucky niw new baby coming I have to apply 2 her 2. My first baby visa expired alread which I will also need to renew but we will not do anything unless ap is over

congrats on the new baby and good luck to you and all of us!

On 9/22/2019 at 12:29 AM, Jorgedig said:

Yes, there are anecdotal stories of approved expedites for pregnancy.  In general though, it is not considered a reason to expedite, and such requests are not approved.

yep

1 hour ago, fakeeh said:

We have sent 3 emails they didnot even responed it. Was just ur sister luck that Ap was done same time of the email nothing can expadiate the AP unless it is really over

I don't think it was simply a coincidence. AP was over so quick because they did expedite it. After her interview, she waited 3 weeks before contacting them to make the request to which they responded along the lines that they have added this request to her case file. 3 weeks after that they tell her to send in the passport. I just don't like seeing posts that say something is impossible, there's always a small chance that reaching out will work in someone's favor. For instance the other user on this forum who reached out to the white house and ended up getting an update on their case. If something sounds like a long shot, you should still go for it you never know. Myself and my two sisters were all able to do a DCF (we did initially start the process via USCIS). None of our cases matched the criteria listed to do a DCF, but we thought it's worth a shot to make such a request as it doesn't cost anything to send an email. All 3 of us were allowed to do a DCF. They may very well deny Jess's attempt to expedite, as is the norm with such requests (esp if her case is still in USCIS), but theres a small probability they won't. Just don't rule out the chance that a request for something be it DCF or expedite will be denied simply because most others who have attempted have been denied. Anyways, did you try having your congress rep make an inquiry about your request to expedite. 

9 hours ago, Jorgedig said:

They will not.  There is a pinned post about it here on VJ.

 

 

No, Pregnancy is NOT Grounds to Expedite Your Process
 

Not true. I'm sure in the majority of cases, yes they will deny. But, I think its dependent on the embassy, the officer who is responding to the request and how persuasive the email is. My sister had requested an expedite due to pregnancy, and 3 weeks after the request they accepted and she got the email to send her husband's passport. She sent the passport and included a letter from her doctor saying she needs to fly back to America soon as any more delay and it will become dangerous for her to fly. Due to that letter, she received her husband's passport back in just 3 days and they were able to travel to America together. Anyways, my point is it's worth a shot. It's just a simple email, and if you have a lawyer thats even better have them do it. The worse that will happen is they will deny the request. 

I have scheduled an interview for my husband, but it isn't until next month. I've been checking multiple times a day to see if a sooner appt opens up, but then the next time I go on to check it says I''m reaching the max amount of times I can check. Anyone know what the max number is? My sister was doing the same and they locked her account for 3 days. 

On 9/10/2019 at 10:59 AM, salhasl said:

I know this might be a stupid question, but do you guys think the embassy you interview at matters? I am in a group that shares information about abu dhabi embassy and they are post pictures of their visas everyday. Unfortunately no other groups seem to be as forth coming. So do we know if certain embassies approve visas more frequently than others? All my research says embassy has no control over the process, but with things changing so recently, maybe some embassies simply have not caught up with the new process yet?

Don't know, but as of July and August here in Malaysia many families who have been AP 4-11 months have been getting their visas. 

On 9/10/2019 at 7:16 AM, salhasl said:

Backlog is slowly being cleared. I know it sucks, but looks like people who are interviewing now have a decent shot at bypassing AP altogether. July numbers for Iran are almost 10X numbers for June. August is looking to be even better. We will know around Sept 25.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

 

They implemented an automated pre-screening mechanism (search my posts) and looks like that is having a meaningful impact. Everyday there are visas being issued with no AP, same week. Just that since all this is very recent, I am having a hard time getting statistics around what percentage, etc. Initially, I only saw visas for people who interviewed in June 2019, but now a days they are calling in people who interviewed 2018. I have hope this trend continues. I am really looking to hear from people who have interviewed within the last month or so.

 

My sisters husband interviewed mid July 2019 in Malaysia, 6 weeks in AP and then got the visa issued.

On 9/10/2019 at 2:16 AM, Muhammad&Mansory said:

Nothing new that I did not already know; but they provided details that shows they actually contacted the embassy and someone looked at the case. I guess the message served as a poking device  

 

I also wrote all the supreme court justices asking them to re-consider the waiver system! Dunno if they actually read my mail; but nothing to lose by trying! 

Nice okay, and yes never hurts to try. Also  about how long did it take from when you sent the letters out to when you got a response?

15 hours ago, Muhammad&Mansory said:

Well, I can understand your curiosity; I myself find it difficult to write them

 

I thought that it does not hurt to bombard them with stories about families they are separating! Probably my message finds its way to a staffer who might sympathize with our situation! Second, they need to hear our suffering, even if they do not like to! So I have sent them a dozen of letters asking the WH to intervene and push my wife's waiver application forward! 

 

I definitely knew it is a very long shot; but it does not hurt to try everything we can to ask for our rights! 

After all, I received a call from USCIS headquarters a few months ago (the stupid staffer forwarded my request to USCIS instead of Dept. of State) and now I just received a letter from DOS that mentions specific details about my case. In other words, at least someone opened my case and probably had a look at it or probably verified that it is not just sitting in someone's desk covered with dust! 

 

At the end, we do not have a clue how these waivers are being processed and any small action might go a long way! 

Not a bad idea if nothing else it raises awareness regarding this issue. Also mailing the supreme court justices, being that they were the ones who upheld this law. I do remember now a lawyer mentioning how we should mail/call the supreme court justices about how this law will affect us (this was before it went into effect, when they were still deliberating about it), but I think it's still worthwhile for us to mail them now too so that in the future when this law is challenged again.

How long after you sent the letters did you receive a response? And did the response provide you with new information about your case or was it things you already knew? 

1 minute ago, Ali333 said:

I think this is normal as they need to make sure the applicant/lawyer is asking about the right case .. and btw I got an update on September 2nd but I’m not sure if it was a normal update because they were working on my case or it’s was because of the email inquiry.. the last update was August 15th. 

We’ll wait and see 

Oh gotcha...Inshallah they send it back soon