Y's_habibitk

Hello all wonderful MENA ladies, I miss you all more then you know, but as you know of what happened, sometimes it was hard for me to come here to VJ.

SO...... wanted to update you all, Im fine, day by day, as ugly as this will sound, I count my blessings this has happened, a marriage does not work one only one of the couple is truly in love.

For me, Im healing, and believe it or not, Im happy. Starting to live again, even went out with friends a couple of times, and it felt good. Coming out of my thump as a good friend says, LOL. Even been asked out a few times, but I declined the invitations. You ladies on VJ have been a inspriration to me, and at many times my crutch, thank you all for all the kindness and warm PM's you have sent me. I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a very good 2010!!! Its been a rough year for all.

Much love to all of you's !!!!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Beth XOXOXO

((Beth))

Im SO happy to hear that hun, you know I adore you and think you deserve the very best in this world. Your attitude is amazing and wise. Have a great holiday and may 2010 bring you great blessings babes

ya!!

Oh, you do not know my mom. It's not about attractiveness, she just doesn't want me to be with a Moroccan or have anything to do with one, romantically. If the extent of our relationship was just a friendship then she would be all for it. In other words, not for her daughter but gladly someone else's.

do you know exactly what her concerns are so you can try to address them with her? Or is she just straight up not into you marrying anyone other than the guy next door?

I would try to have a calm intelligent convo with her and ask exactly what her issues are with it... if its something that you can ease her about, maybe that will help. If she is worried about you being used for a GC, there's nothing to ease her mind about that other than him staying around afterwards.

Awesome Serena! Sounds good. I hope you are booking a flight very soon

"Notice

Many marriages between Tunisians and Americans are successful. However, individuals who enter into a relationship for the principal purpose of immigration to the United States are violating U.S. law and could face serious penalties, including fines and imprisonment. In the Embassy's experience, it is not uncommon for Tunisians to seek relationships with Americans solely for immigration purposes. elationships developed via correspondence, particularly those begun on the internet, are particularly susceptible to manipulation. The U.S. government urges Americans who meet Tunisians on the internet or while touring the country, to take the time necessary to get to know them before considering marriage. Unfortunately, the Embassy has seen cases of abuse against American spouses, or marriages that end in divorce when the Tunisian acquires a green card or citizenship in the United States. These cases invariably occur when the relationship is based mostly on Internet communication and very little face-to-face interaction.Periodically, the Embassy is contacted when an American has met a Tunisian online, and while visiting their contact in Tunisia, found themselves in financial or otherwise difficult situations. If you are concerned about a family member or friend who is visiting someone he or she met online, you can contact the American Citizens Services Unit at (216) 71-107-000 or email tunisconsular@state.gov."

WOW...they arent messing around or mincing words are they....and they ask people to call if they are "concerned"?

sheesh they must see ALOT of fraud to put it out there like that. It sounds like they already have a bias opinion of internet based relationships there.

April,

I hope its not a stock answer but M4E hs been there and done that so she is probably right.

Yes, you can follow the CR1 at NVC then to the consul for interview as well.

Good Luck

long time no talk... I miss you guys!

I hope all is well in everyone's corner

((((you guys))))

Early MERRY CHRISTMAS. I hope you all have a wonderful week with family and friends and have lots of yummy food.

my situation is such that i make good money when i can work, but my fiance and i have a newborn, so i can't really work until he gets here to help me.. it just seems unfair to me that they're raising the fees for this specific type of visa 167%, but not others, when this visa is meant to reunite families..

I see that raising only k's seems unfair... look for an across the board raise after this Im guessing.

whew, Im so glad mine just started school and we dont have to worry about daycare anymore($$).

I do know from experience that its rough, to say the least; to have a baby and work full time on one income.

Good Luck on a speedy reunion!

Just always expect (and prepare for) the worst. Expect to pay money to USCIS hand over fist for the next 4 to 5 years (which is a given). Expect the immigrant to be unemployed or underemployed for a very long time.

And (if you can), delay the visa journey until you're financially stable. It sucks to be apart, but trust me, it sucks even more to be together and always have money worries.

well said

Good luck on the interview!

It is miserable to work with a bunch of backstabbing eh hemmmm's. Another manager and I were just talking about how one person can upset the whole office dynamic....I think we just hired one

I hope you snag this job hun!

It sounds to me you are making copies of you Tax return that you/or tax service has done for you. If so, they are not accepted....you need to call the IRS and get Tax Transcripts (summary of your taxes for a specific year) for the last year or 3. IRS will give you three years for free. They will mail them to you. Send the originals along with you I-864 and make sure you keep copies.

Good call, thats why I asked why so many.... I got 4years(i think, maybe 5) worth and they were only like 4-5 pages each.

One word...Greed!

I can write off most to that but in that situation taht didnt even make sense... i think it was them thinking, "if we're going to pay them, they will be at that office". We do have field staff that come in to turn in notes but they couldnt enter them in for p/r anyway lol

anyway, hows your job going? any better since the incident and drama? I hope everything cooled down

That's funny Lisa...but really? They would rather pay you to sit in the dark at work, than pay you to sit in the dark at home? That doesn't make any sense! And Merry Christmas to you too! And to Yazied & your little boy! I hope it is wonderful for all of you and you have a great new year too!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everyone!

Good luck, peace & happiness to all those still waiting and with interviews coming up. I pray that God richly blesses each and every one of you!

Amanda

Thanks

Oh and I totally agree and we were all pretty dumfounded that they made us sit around there, the phones werent even up for petes sake! I'll never understand some decisions.....

Well she does not know ! sometimes she feels like she failed and sometimes she feels like she succeed .

She asked one of those people if she did good at that interview and he says yeah .

Well good. Im sorry that she had to go through that but God willing it was all they needed

I think most parents will eventually come around if they see that

a) you're well treated and taken care of and

b ) you are truly happy

It may take alot of time but be patient with her and let her come to terms with it. You cant make her feel any way whatsoever.

dont worry about the interview, they will be more concerned about what HIS family thinks about the whole thing rather than yours.

Good luck in the future with those dynamics. At least your dad is onboard.

Wow it's so nice to hear how financially stable everyone is.. I guess you're right.. I should have checked my bank account balance before I fell in love..

I dont think anyone meant to be an ahole or anything.

I tend to agree that if you are in severe finacial struggle, you might want to replan your visa journey. Im not saying to give it up or anything but if you cant figure out how you are going to pay for fees and AOS(if needed) then what will happen once your spouse gets here and cant find a job right away, or has to wait for EAD? Thats one more person to take care of in the house and no more income. Especially for people who have children.

I understand and can say all that but I know if I was in that situation I would want to just jump right in. But its wise to plan,plan and then plan again. Especially in these times.

I will gripe if AOS goes up to almost 2700(if it takes the similar 167% increase) because thats pretty excessive but oh well, its all part of it I guess. this is a very expensive process.

I dont mean to sound judgmental or anything so please dont misunderstand. I just think that if you are totally broke, you should save and wait until you can afford to pay everything and not struggle once the spouse gets here. Finacial troubles can undermine a "traditional" marriage...how about one with cultural differences, one partner struggling with cultrue shock and homesickness? That sounds like more stress than necessary to me. I wonder what part it does play in the sucess of many marriages here that have a rocky adjustment period..

sorry

Checking in on Serena but Im a day early... good luck doll and I hope its painless and smooth

Amanda,

I hear ya... heck when we all lost power here last year for a week from the hurricane(came here with 50mph+ winds) we sat in a dark office all day because corporate didnt want to pay us for being at home.

Oh well they paid us to sit and do nothing together, at least I wasnt sitting at home with no power alone lol

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and to those that celebrate themselves or with family... early Merry Christams!

lol at rudolph! J makes ME sing the songs instead

Thats great that he's doing well at work and YA christmas is important! Good that he will be off on christmas day

We do our family gathering on Christmas Eve so Y asked for that off and so has to work on christmas day which sucks but at least that day that we're all together, he can be there.

I remember having to work on christmas at my first retail jobs so its to be expected sometimes but Im glad we sorted it out

why are your tax transcripts/864 packet that long and hefty?

and yes, make copies of EVERYTHING..just in case

Hey Beth and Amanda!

How's everything guys?

amanda, are you done shopping for your little one? Is she excited about santa? What does raad think about all of this christmas madness? lol

Beth,

How are ya? Christmas plans?

Aya,

I think you will do just fine darling! I think its admirable that you have worked hard for so long and made something of yourself when it would be easier to just sit around all day

I have only seen two members to go through pali in the last few months/this year and they both got AP. Try a search in MENA for Jerusalem and see if you can find their experiences.

here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...te=%2Bjerusalem

Did she have a good feeling about the overall interview? Did they seem satisfied with her answers?

Good Luck!

My senator's been involved for a while now, so in the event of AR I'm not waiting at all--I will call that day and see if my case worker can get any traction while I am still in the UAE. The Senator's writing me a letter of introduction and I hope that helps, but I just don't know. It bothers me that I can't cover these bases--I would have gladly gone to each govt. agency and initiated the name checks myself if I knew that would help. I completely respect the US's desire to keep itself safe, and don't think that looking into my wife's background is unreasonable. I do think it's unreasonable to not better coordinate it so that this process is quick and transparent. There's no reason to not have an ETA; this is all computerized now.

The intro letter from your senator was a good idea. Let us know if it helped.

I agree about needing an ETA. We have to give our landlord a months notice or risk losing part or all of our deposit which amounts to two months rent and would more than cover one of our plane tickets home. But since they won't give an ETA, notice is impossible.

Our congressmans office rep emailed the consul a few days before Y's interview also and I believe it cant do anything but good.

HAPPY B DAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENZA

enjoy your day

I agree again with JPaula especially about the laguage issue. The fact is that most of us american petitioners do not speak our SO's laguage so they need to see that the beneficiaries have a good enough grasp of english... if they dont, Im sure the thought is: "how are they communicating and so in love?" I do see where the line of questioning was going with the tunis issue too. If you understand the culture norms and try to look at it from an outsiders POV, you will have some idea of what youre up against and what points to "fight" Sadly, you might never know why they denied him

stay strong, keep building your relationship together. There are alot of people who have been through this and they're here to help and provide support