dananawara

i think the 6 month requirement is only if you are filing directly through the consulate in Egypt. Otherwise, if you are filing through USCIS at whatever district you belong in the US then there is no residency requirement to go there and get married.

Glad you had fun there. I love Egypt as well. Getting ready to go back for the 4th time in february. Also love Alexandria.

The "The Black Guy" from the Cairo Embassy said 3 weeks ago that we would recieve my fiance's passport. It has been 5 weeks now, so how long does this processing usually take. I don't understand why they would say 3 weeks when infact it takes longer. Anyone know what is happening?

well...ive been waiting since 1/22/07.....

jeeeshh... you know.. i can kind of see both sides here. I mean, I had to call my human resources dept to find out my date of employment and look through divorce papers to find out date of my divorce. I think a reasonable question actually would have been a reason for my divorce. And if they wanted to ask dates, well ok.. thats fine, BUT.. it shouldnt have been a determining factor.. but thats just me!

good luck with the interview. I would also like to know how long it takes to get a final denial as I have been waiting since his interview 1/22/07 until present. Wish I could give you some advice but you see where all my wisdom has gotten me... hahaha. If we could do the interview again though, one thing I would change is... I would make sure my fiance (Sherif) didnt go in Timid or scared or whatever the word is.. I can describe it but I think they made him feel intimidated as Im sure they do alot of times to interviewees. I dont know. Just think positive.... positive.. postitve. Things will happen when God wants them to happen. Not in OUR time but in HIS! when its time... he will be here. And thats what I keep thinking. Its just not time yet

do you know what he looks like? I'll ask Sherif.....

you can on limewire and download them for free. Its file sharing. it is the best ive found. Nothing as far as reading letters but teaches you pronunciation very well and very slow. I really really really like it!

My daughters have decided they want to surprise DH as we dont know when he will step foot in America, by learning Arabic. We went to the library and got out what the librarian thought was a great book, ok turns out not so great....

Are there free sites online that combine sound and lessons?

Wendy

Have you heard of the pimsleurs egyptian arabic cds??? awesome...........

they also just have arabic......

I don't know when I started my job and I also have no clue what the date of my divorce was. (I also haven't the faintest idea what my wedding date for my first marriage was). I never went over those questions with my husband. Just the basics like birthdates, ages of me and the kids, names of my siblings and parents. I mean even those things are kind of silly for him to know since he's never even met my siblings or my parents. I have no clue the exact ages of his sisters I just know they're in their twenties. I haven't the foggiest idea how old some of my best friends are for pete's sakes!!!!

I think you just got the bad interviewer. What did he look like? (not to start all THAT up again but now I'm curious lol )

I have no idea what he looked like.... my best guess would be black hair and dark skin.... hahahahaha

[and 1 more thing ... understand that for the first year, i thought things were going pretty smoothly.. its only during this time of AP/AR that im feeling like im helpless since theres nothing I can really do. Besides my sweetheart and our families I really had nowhere to turn to for advice, comments, etc... If you feel like Im becoming "overly assertive" (hahaha) its only because Ive had noone to vent to that knows what Im going through....and now I do.... Im open to any and all suggestions and/or advice......

go shopping at khan el khalili for sure...... and I sure would love some halawa...

hahahahahaha!!!!

Wael... please dont take my frustrations personally. Im sure Im far from being the only one here with these feelings. Im just angry at the system you know... Sometimes I think I am ashamed to be from a country where we can send our 18 year olds off to War.. and this is from experience (both brother and ex husband in Iraq for a year) I, myself am a prior military nurse. We give visas to terrorists that come and wreck planes into our buildings and kill thousands. I work hard and pay taxes for (and dont think Im prejudiced, because the next thing you will know, I will be getting hate mail from mexicans, and Im not because my ex was american but of mexican descent) all the other illegal people here to get free healthcare and governement assistence and when we ask the goverment for a favor, and not for free mind you, we had to pay money for these cases to get processed. But when we ask them to let our loved ones come here to be with us, work, pay taxes, etc.... and the best that they can come up with in an interview is.... when did she start her job.. it kind of pisses me off. dont you agree???

I don't know when I started my job and I also have no clue what the date of my divorce was. (I also haven't the faintest idea what my wedding date for my first marriage was). I never went over those questions with my husband. Just the basics like birthdates, ages of me and the kids, names of my siblings and parents. I mean even those things are kind of silly for him to know since he's never even met my siblings or my parents. I have no clue the exact ages of his sisters I just know they're in their twenties. I haven't the foggiest idea how old some of my best friends are for pete's sakes!!!!

I think you just got the bad interviewer. What did he look like? (not to start all THAT up again but now I'm curious lol )

hahahahahahaha... my fiance or the interviewer???

thanks.. Im gonna read this.. also sent you back a personal message.

how the heck did u get an interview so soon after you filed?? I filed in April 2006 and interview was 1/22/07. Since then has been in AP/AR. this has been 1 1/2 years. What are you going to do now? Are you married or engaged?

Please excuse me if I missed something but in the second line of your post you wrote that when you went overseas, you & your SO "decided to get married" and then you came back and filed the I129F.....in the title of this thread it states "fiance visa egypt"........are you married???.......did you get married during your stay in egypt?.......if so, you should have been filing for a spousal visa, not a fiance one.

We DECIDED we would get married. We didnt do it right then. We wanted to do it in the states......

( They ask him a FEW STUPID questions that OFCOURSE he didnt know ) .. (ex. what date i started my current job)

1- FEW .. i wouldn't be surprise if someone failed to provide a right answer for one question .. but a FEW ????

2- OFCOURSE .. why OFCOURSE ?????

3- STUPID .. ( ex.what date i started my current job ) oh mam do you think that this is a STUPID question .. so i'm really afraid to tell you some of the question that i have been asked !

Number 1: yes .. A FEW...what date I started my job??? Come on .. who cares.. it that the question that decides if you really love someone? I couldnt even tell you the date he started HIS job. Its not important to me... I dont care. What is the town of the main office I work from???? I work from my home.. why does it matter about the main office I work from, Im not there everyday.. Im in my home. why not ask what I do, about my life, about our time together? another question.... The date of the divorce from my ex (and I have only had 1 ex)? which was way before this relationship. I dont even know the date of my dicvorce. I coudnt even tell you right now thinking about it.. and you know what?? I DONT CARE. Why does that have anything to do with us. It wasnt like I had a short first marriage. I was married over 13 years. So yes.... i believe these are stupid questions. It has nothing to do with OUR relationship, OUR future. I didnt know this was something we had to study for. We are in an honest relationship and he went there (to his interview) and was honest. If I were dating a USC right now.. Im sure he wouldnt know the answers to these questions either...nor would expect him to...nor would I care if he didnt.

Number 2: Ofcourse... I say ofcourse because it is from personal experience of going to this embassy in Cairo in the past of the chaos that is there. My mother lost her passport about a year ago when we were there visiting my fiance and his family and noone wanted to help us. they would give us a quick answer (not very kindly at that) and send us to someone else who would do the same thing. All they wanted to do is get rid of us. You know.. Im sorry that they dont make very much money over there working for the government but when you are in a job that you have to provide customer service, then do your job.. or let someone else do it. I paid money for them to review a file on a genuine relationship as did everyone else who is in this forum. Now I dont know about everyone else here but I am a damn hard worker and I dont like to just give my money away for a bullshit interview like this one. Sooo....After hours of them doing this sending us here and sending us there...My fiance had to pay someone 10 pounds and guess what ??..the passport was done in 20 minutes ..like magic....mmmmm.....

and as for number #3.. Yes... my opinion still stands firm.... STUPID QUESTIONS!!!!!

I called the Dept of State today and they told me that after my fiances interview that the case was sent back to USCIS in California for AP/AR because he was refused ; not denied. Please...anyone... tell me what THAT means?

I would love it ...thanks. Is he very expensive?

i will most definately do that and thank you for the number. Now let me ask you a question? do they know the reasoning my case was sent back for AP/AR?

oh you lucky little thing.... you must be thrilled beyond words.

Ive been in AP/AR at USCIS in California since April 2007. Just a quick question: when you say you call DOS;who do you call? The National Visa Center or The foreign embassy.

Just wanted to add a new note: Called USCIS in California last night. The girl in customer service said shes never heard of a case being sent back from the consulate to USCIS. I gave her this website!

ok... heres my story: Im a bit of a newbie to this website but not so new to immigration. I met my fiance in Jan of 2005. Decided to go for a visit in September 2005. Stayed a few weeks. It was great. Went back in March 2006. Decided we would get married. Came home; filed a I-129F with USCIS in Texas. Received a letter stating that USCIS California was going to be handling these cases and they forwarded it there ( I guess it's Vermont now) Anyway... Case was approved 8/2006 and sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) to process additional paperwork. Received a letter from them about 3 weeks later stating peperwork process was complete and case was being forwarded to embassy in Cairo. Interview in Cairo was scheduled for 1/22/07. Fiance shows up for interview, they tell him they wont see him until he shows them a receipt that shows he pain courier service to send passport to him. He goes to get this. Back to the interview. They ask him a few stupid questions that ofcourse he didnt know (ex. what date i started my current job). They didnt want to see pictures, emails, snail mail, my plane ticket stubs, phone records, etc.. NOTHING!!! So they send him home with his passport and tell him it needs additional processing and that he would hear something in a 2 months. I decide to fly back to Egypt March 2007. While Im there, my fiance calls the embassy to discuss the status of this case, they tell him the case was sent to Athens, Greece for additional processing. This doesnt seem right but we accept it, what do we know, we've never done this before. After a few days of thinking about this and wondering why the heck it was sent there, I decide to call them. Now they tell me it was sent back to the NVC in the US for additional administrative review. Well this sounds a little better so we accept this. They tell me I can follow up with the NVC in the states and give me a reference number. When I go back home in 4/2007 I call the NVC and they tell me they had it but it was sent back to USCIS in California and I should contact them. soooooooooooooooooo............ I call USCIS in California who tell me that they have no record of it and since it has been since 1/2007 since his interview that they will put a trace on it and they will contact me with the status of it in no more than 30 days.

In about 2 weeks I receive a letter that states the case was sent back with a request to review it form the State department and they have 180 days to conduct this review and will contact me if they need additional information. I call them about once a week just to hear the same thing. No reason it was sent back given.

soooo... I contact my senator. He calls the embassy and gets the same answer and also tells me that since the validity period has expired that he suggests I file a new petition. Now , I think that since I paid a fee for a service and it was out of my hands as to this validity period then they need to do soemthing because they have the authority to extend validity times. Why should I have to pay this fee again (which by the way has increased) when they didnt do their job in the time frame they had? This has nothing to do with me. And I tell my senator this. He says.. well why was it sent back? I say.. I have NO clue. He says.. well the first thing you need to do is cntact the embassy in Cairo and find out the reasons. I tell him I tried that, and he says.. "well ... I'm going to call them". I tell him good luck getting in touch with them because they have certain dates and times they answer their phones. He says , "oh.. I have a congressional liason there so I will get an answer." He says... "now I know they will tell me that they need about 10 days to research it but I will get back to you." Im finally starting to think.. thank goodness now we will figure this out.

About 9 days later, I get a letter from the Senator that states their are some inconsistencies with my fiance and his exwife from years ago. Now he has been divorced from way before we met or started this process. I have the papers, I turned them in myself. Soo what this could mean, i have no idea. He again states I should refile.

Well.. i dont want to refile. I would rather appeal, and a immigration lawyer told me that if the test is denied then a reason has to be given.

I call USCIS and tell them what the senator said , they say they have no record of this. I ask if they think I shoud refile. They say .. well you have a case still in review and if you refile, then they may revoke it because you already have a case here. Sooo.. I call my senator and tell him this. He says.. No.. Im sure you should refile, this is what they told me. I say.. they have no record of giving you this information at USCIS. He sends me the letter through email that they sent him that looks like a pre-generated letter that goes to everyone regarding a validity period and suggests refiling. I call USCIS back.. they tell me that my case should be finished with review no later than 10/2007 and I should wait. Im waiting......................................................................

any suggestion? I will say one thing Ive learned...

the diversity visa lottery starts excepting applications again in 10/2007 and this can be applied for even with an existing pending visa. last year , more than 5,000 egyptians got this visa approved. Just something to think about... i know we are.

To help us Egypt people I wanted to keep a list of the AP people.. so we can be on top of HOW LONG we have to wait!!

micky_sabry (Egypt, K-1 but should have been CR-1) Interviewed 7/26/06 Awaiting AR

AshkiA (Egypt, CR-1) Interviewed 8/17/06 Awaiting AR

gotmeahunk (Egypt, K-3/CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 11/19/06 Awaiting AR

angeljan (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 1/25/07 Awaiting AR

nouna (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 2/1/07 Awaiting AR

Becky&Sam (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 2/5/07 Awaiting AR

Cheryl & Medo (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 2/7/07 Awaiting AR

aj1 (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 3/12/07 Awaiting AR

just waiting for my habebe (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 4/2/07 Awaiting AR

Fouad (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 4/29/07 Awaiting AR

JODO (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 5/01/01 Awaiting AR - (VISA! 06/13/07)

m&n (Egypt, CR-1/IR-1) Interviewed 5/6/07 Awaiting AR

TamaraLovesAdam (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 5/9/07 Awaiting AR

deemabrouk (Egypt, K-3) Interviewed 5/23/07 Awaiting AR

Jo and Re (Egypt, K-1) Interviewed 6/6/07 Awaiting AR

dananawara (Egypt, K1) Interview 1/22/07 Awaiting AR

Hmm...

I can surely relate to you. So sorry to hear about another victim of AP/AR. My fiances interview was 1/22/07... still in AP/AR.....................................