Rana&Eli

Hi, we have our interview next week for the CR-1, and one of the required documents to bring to the interview listed on the checklist online is the "proof of family extract," which we were not asked to provide with neither our I-130 application nor our DS-260. From my understanding "family extract" is a document that is readily available to Lebanese citizens to be picked up from a government office, but my wife is a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon (non-citizen) and thus cannot access this paper freely. We think the closest thing is a similar document provided by UNRWA (the Palestinian-focused UN agency) that shows family history, but we're not certain that this document will meet the requirement. What should we do?

2 hours ago, adebek said:

Finally, my wife interview got scheduled. Good luck every one.

Same!! We have our interview on August 6th

Good luck!!

Hi,

We are applying for the CR-1 visa from Lebanon. When we uploaded all our documents to the CEAC portal page in March, I was a bit concerned about my proof of US domicile since I had been living in Lebanon for the past 3 years while attending school. I did my best to upload evidence but I felt it looked a bit weak (didn't have a job in the US at that point). We got DQ'd right away though (March 9).  But I moved back to the US in June to start a new job, and now I have a contract from my new employer as well as pay stubs, which is much stronger evidence than anything else I uploaded before. Is it okay if I upload more evidence to the CEAC portal evevn though we've already been DQ'd and assigned an interview date? (On July 15 we got scheduled for an interview at the embassy for August 6). Thanks in advance for any advice

15 hours ago, adebek said:

My wife got DQ'ed back in March 15 and so far we heard nothing from the embassy.

Same man same.. do we know of anyone who has gotten their interview scheduled at the embassy in Beirut?

4 hours ago, B777X said:

Hello there,

 

Our case was Documentarily Qualified on February 23rd, 2021. The next day we filed an expedite and got denied. Waited for three months and on 10th of May we filed another expedite. We received an answer on June 10th,2021 from NVC saying that the Embassy can't expedite the case. So we have almost been waiting for 4 months already. Even if you contact NVC they will not be able to provide any information regarding your interview as the Embassy or Consulate schedules it. The only explanation in our case was that the US Embassy in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) is working half staff nowadays. We are still waiting for our interview appointment.

Hello,

Thank you for the information! It's just really frustrating that we are all left in the dark here. I hope we hear back from them soon though. Best of luck!

33 minutes ago, StaGor said:

Everyone is different depending on visa category and the consulate where the interview is supposed to take place.

For instance, for IR-5, we have been waiting for almost a year now due to presidential proclamations, and a backlog and local embassy reduced capacity.

Please clarify your visa category, so peers can provide you with some guidance.

Oh thanks. So we're based in Beirut, Lebanon, and we're applying for the CR1 Visa. We submitted our initial application I-130 in November of 2020, it was approved by NVC in February. We completed our DS-261 in March 2021 and it was labeled as documentarily qualified almost right away. Since then, we haven't received anything

Hello,

We received our DQ on March 9th, 2021. We expected to receive a notification about our appointment with the embassy by now because we understood that 4 to 6 weeks is the usual time it takes following the DQ (Documentarily Qualified). Since we haven't heard anything, we're thinking of contacting the NVC. Is there anything else we can do? And how long does it usually take to schedule an interview with the embassy?

Hello, 

We just received notice that our I-130 was approved and sent to NVC and we are now working on Form 1-864 (Affidavit for Support). Because I was in graduate school abroad from 2018-2020 I don't have much income over the past 3 years -- my 2017 tax return should look fine but in 2018 and 2019 I only worked during the summer. So, I was thinking I should have my mother as a joint sponsor to be safe. But I have a few questions:

1. Is there any way I can indicate on this application that the reason why I don't have much income for the past 3 years is because I was in school and living abroad? Presumably they already know this from my 1-130 but I would like to reiterate it if possible.

2. My mother surely has more than enough assets to be a good sponsor--she lives comfortably, owns 2 homes and retired at 61--but I was wondering about if the fact that she is now retired and therefore doesn't have income from an employer lessens her standing as a sponsor. If so, should I also list my father as a sponsor? He doesn't have as much money/assets as my mother but is still working full time

3. I have been on unemployment since July 2020--can I list these payments as my income? If so, how can I predict the total amount for the year when the unemployment checks are constantly changing?

Thanks in advance for any help

Thanks for the feedback so far, we will probably remove the flight itineraries that are not backed up by passport stamps.

I have to ask though, what is the harm in submitting too much evidence? Obviously we want to avoid the RFE, and we're a bit nervous (as most newlyweds are) that since we haven't been married long (2 months) we haven't had the chance to have much financial co-mingling, etc. Plus, since my wife's father is from Palestine, she does not have Lebanese citizenship nor a Lebanese passport (she is classified as a Palestine refugee born in Libya, with an Egyptian Travel Document)--and from what we've read, the USCIS is especially cautious with cases from the MENA region. Why not just submit as much evidence as possible? (Yes I get that the flight itineraries prove nothing). Better to err on the side of too much evidence rather than too little, no?

Hello all,

My wife (Lebanon resident) and I (US citizen) are preparing to submit our I-130 packet online for the CR-1 visa in the coming days. We were hoping to get some feedback on how our submission looks and we are seeking any tips about if any additional pieces of evidence we might want to add.

US Citizenship Establishment:

-Scanned copy of my Louisiana birth certificate (front and back)

-Scan of each page of my passport

Bona fide marriage evidence:

-Marriage certificate (original in Arabic, and English translation signed by sworn translator)

-Copy of rental agreement signed by us and our landlord showing that we live together in Beirut (English and Arabic)

-1.5 page document telling our story of how we met, how our relationship developed, our marriage, etc.

-Flight itinerary from my mother's trip to Lebanon, showing that she has met my wife [unfortunately my mother does not have her passport at the moment so we could not provide a Lebanese passport stamp as evidence]

-Flight itinerary from my father's trip to Lebanon (which was unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic)

-Flight itinerary showing our upcoming honeymoon trip to Turkey

-Screenshot of e-mail from my mother to my wife welcoming her to the family

-Scan of Western Union money transfer I sent to my wife for "Family Support"

-Screenshot of Western Union money transfer my mother sent to my wife

-Screenshot of our WhatsApp message inviting friends to our wedding dinner

-Screenshot of my wife's e-mail correspondence with her US employer requesting they transfer her paycheck to my US bank account rather than try and send it to Lebanon

-Screenshots of our university transcripts showing that we attended university together in Beirut

-Screenshot of Facebook post announcing our marriage to friends

-Around 40 photos of us over the span of our relationship (2 years). Many include us with her parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, and formal occasions such as our wedding dinner, getting our paperwork signed at the courthouse, etc.

-Around 50 screenshots of our WhatsApp text logs over the span of our relationship (roughly 2 per month) + screenshot of our WhatsApp statistics showing that we have sent over 30,000 texts to each other in the past 2 years

-Screenshot of Zoom call where my wife met my father

-Screenshots of all of my flight itineraries over the past 2 years to show that although I do not have Lebanese residency and I always enter the country on a tourist visa, I have indeed been living in Lebanon for the past 2 years

Like many newlyweds living outside the US, we are not yet able to have much in the way of joined bank accounts and these type of things that are considered strong bona fide evidence. Should I add a Last Will & Testament (not sure how valid I can make this while living in Lebanon)? Should we add sworn affidavits from friends, or are these a waste of time? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Eli and Rana

Hi, we were told by the US Embassy in Beirut that "Petitioners residing overseas in countries where USCIS does not have a public counter presence as in Beirut are required to file their Forms I-130 by mail with the USCIS Chicago lockbox. " We're just a bit concerned that sending everything through DHL is a bit expensive , so we're wondering what other Lebanese applicants have used to send their forms to the US. And can a Lebanese applicant confirm that they had to send by mail and filing online was absolutely not an option?

Thanks

1 hour ago, NancyNguyen said:

You said “start the process”, did you file i-130 with USCIS? US embassy in Lebanon can’t help you anything.

No, but to get married here in Lebanon we need to have proof that I am not married, which if I understand correctly must be certified by a form taken from the US Embassy.

I e-mailed USCIS and they replied:" Petitioners residing overseas in countries where USCIS does not have a public counter presence as in Beirut are required to file their Forms I-130 by mail with the USCIS Chicago lockbox." How am I supposed to  file by mail to Chicago if we're living in Beirut?

I'm a US citizen living in Lebanon and my fiance is a Palestine refugee from Lebanon. We want to get our process and paperwork started with the Embassy in Lebanon but they don't seem to be open in any capacity. The appointment booking server is unavailable (blocked out) online, they don't answer the phone, and they reply to our e-mails with automated messages. The first step for us is to obtain the document certifying that I have never been married previously, and then get started with the forms... how can we go this if the Embassy appears to be shut down?

Hi, I am a US citizen living in Lebanon. My fiance is a Palestinian refugee, born and residing in Lebanon, and we will soon marry and start the CR-1 visa process. We are wondering if there are extra complications or a longer timeline for acceptance given her status as a Palestinian refugee?