Y's_habibitk

I can honestly say I am sitting here thoroughly gob smacked. I have emailed the relevant links to my fiance stateside & we are both about to email to have our input.

The visa fee does not worry us as much as the AOS fees will, especially with my daughter in the cost there too. This is not just a financial process but a very emotional one. We all have to take a back seat in our own future for this process while we wait for someone in an office somewhere to deem us 'approved' and now they are changing the rules mid game...talk about feeling powerless.

There's no official word about fee increases for AOS. I'd say it's very unlikely there will an increase within the next year. We'd have already heard about a pending increase if it were going to take place that soon.

I tend to agree, I think we would have already heard about it.

If they increase AOS at 167%, we're talking almost 2700 dollars

I bet their justification for the k only visas is that they dont have to pay the visas fees to NVC that immigrant visas do, but they end up paying more for AOS! They're just looking for increased funds wherever they can get it I guess. Good Luck to you guys

I'm sorry -- I hope something can be worked out. Good luck!

Thank you all! My husband sent me an email of everything they asked him at the interview. He said they had already printed the denial letter before they even asked him any questions. He felt he was doomed from the beginning. He took a number for interview but they called him last. The refused to look at any pics, emails, mail, phone records, nothing. They did not offer an interpreter to help him find some words in english. He speaks english but he forgot what the english words for gallbladder and hernia to tell them what type surgery I had. It's just frustrating to know that they only went by what they saw in our file and did not even give him a chance. It is also sickening that my senator's office said they are denying a lot of muslim men now.

Your senator also said that he was using you for a GC, dont let anything they said get under your skin hun.

If you file again, frontload that petition to the gills with evidence. If they had their minds made up by just looking at your file this time....give them what they want next time, and then some!

good luck and go enjoy your visit with him

I agree wholeheartedly with Kenza in that it depends on where you live. There is of course discrimination but there is also just a sense of not wanting to promote/hire someone who looks different from the norm.

It might not be "oh, she's a muslim" but "wow, she doesnt blend in".

For example, I had my tongue pierced for 12 years and never had a problem, worked in managment positions and everything. I interviewed for my current job last year and they hired me, offered me a great salary..dream job yada yada... I started and my boss finally noticed it and pulled me in her office and basically said, take that out or we cant keep you..it doesnt match our "corporate image" and if I would have noticed it when we interviewed you, we would not have hired you. She said "I'll give you a couple days to think about it" LOL like i was going to keep it in! A week later HER boss called me and said that she was "shocked" that she had did that and she(big boss) had no problem with it at all and they didnt want to lose me ect ect....goes to show it all depends on the person.

My long explanation is just to say that alot of companies arent so much discriminatory against religion or ethnicity but they want people who look like "everyone else".

It will all depend on what youre doing(type of work) and who is hiring and the company. Hopefully they look at your work preformance and go from there. If you are totally impressing them and doing a killer job you will be ok hun. I

Where does John live btw? where are you going in the USofA?

I have a theory about people who go through USCIS/NVC very quickly and get post interview AP no matter what....

they were processed through USCIS/NVC so quickly because they didnt go through the "typical" name checks and when it comes to interview stage, they get hung up. On the other hand, you do see the occasional timelines where they flew thru the service centers and then got the visa right away also, but i think thats a rarity. IDK, just a theory.

I dont think the CO randomly decides when they see you walk through the door, but I can def see them opening the case file and seeing that there wasnt some certain check done and they know before talking to you that youre in for a name check no matter what.

that just makes more logical sense to me, but then again we are talking about the gov so it cant be too logical

I hope your AP is swift and good luck Zahra

AP normally has nothing to do with you or with proof submitted with your application, it has everything to do with the beneficiary. People traditionally get stuck in AP because of FBI name checks or doubt about the relationship and the USEM needs to maybe do a home interview or something of the sort.

Best of luck!

pretty much what she said

But most everyone i have seen get AP has filed for a K3 not a CR-1

We found it to be the exact opposite of what youre saying. Unless its drastically changed in the last 6 months. It appeared that Amman was "easier" on K visas in general.

but there is no way to "prevent" AP. Amman doesnt seem to dole it out for every other case like some other countries though.

You can make sure you are prepared and have everything in order. Good Luck

I am not sure it matters so much why you have only spent one week with him. Rather, you need to explain--and prove with as much documentation as possible--that you have a valid, strong relationship despite having spent very little time together. (baby crying...more in a few...)

We had pics of when we were together, proof of when we wet the first time online, emails, regular mail, phone records for last 9 months (although it was calling card to AFrica). I guess I can get personal letters from friends and family? Not sure what else to get.

were the emails and reg mail showing daily communication?

We did have letters from family and friends that we frontloaded into the petition and we also had additional ones to use as proof at the interview but they didnt look at them then.

I do think they help if they are from HIS family.

Showing that they accept you and his marriage is a biggie in MENA. Did you have any pics with his family or friends or anything or were they just you guys together?

Just thinking out loud here

Im sorry April

The ladies here have given some solid advise and pointed you in the right direction... good luck to you and I hope everything turns out as you want it to

JPaula...dead on and correct

I know it is rare and you guys are at your wits end already, but at least they are taking action on your case!

I think this might turn out to be a good thing and hopefully some freaking movement on your guys' case after this Good luck

Keep us posted

Congrats!! take care

We also filed for a stand alone EAD but Y didnt have to do biometrics. I always assumed that biometrics were only necessary when filed with the AOS as thats been the experience of everyone I know who has filed stand alone EAD's this year. Anyway, we had quite a difficult time getting ours to the right service center since the instructions are incorrect for our state only (figures) so that put us back a few weeks but they ended up using the receipt date on the first one after I wrote the ombudsman....long story short, we got ours right at the 3 month mark after filing. Maybe a week or so longer.If you arent outside the USCIS timeline, there isnt much you can do. If he goes outside that, you can requst an expedite and/or make an infopass appointment.

The ID sounds odd, I would def call the office and ask to speak to a supervisor. Kind but firm persistence usually pays off in any venue.

Keep us posted and good luck.

That's interesting about the biometrics! They sent us a letter saying he had to go do it, so we did. and yeah, I realize there's nothing we can do about it right now, I was just hoping to get some idea of a timeline. seems like 3 months is common, so we'll just keep holding on for that. As for the DMV, I'm not sure what to do about that. I've spoken to the manager there before, and he basically told me there was nothing they could do, that they just had to wait for homeland security to send them the information. I think we may go ahead and resubmit the info.

Ya, I started asking everyone who did a standalone because I wasnt sure and sure enough none of them had one.... interesting

hmmm, Well that is pretty sh!tty about the DMV. I think I would try resubmitting everything again also

Well, I hope the time to the 3 months goes quickly for you guys and good luck to him on finding a job quickly

I forgot to add that getting a ID here was pretty painless, we went to an office that issues these "blue letters"(just something that you bring back to the DMV that shows they can issue everything) and they looked over his passport,visa,1-94 and a piece of mail verifying address and then gave him that letter right there. I know it varies from state to state but sheesh...if they can visually inspect our docs, you'd think its not as difficult as they are making it out to be for you guys.

Congratulations!! Thats wonderful, enjoy your new life together..

Oh Aya, how ironic. Congrats on your promotion even though you wont be taking it. Its still speaks volumes to your hard work and hopefully is a sign that your future careerlife in America will be as sucessful.

Congrats here too Aya

I hope everyone is doing fine today... I cant believe Christmas is almost here and its going to be 2010 in a few weeks you guys, really.

We also filed for a stand alone EAD but Y didnt have to do biometrics. I always assumed that biometrics were only necessary when filed with the AOS as thats been the experience of everyone I know who has filed stand alone EAD's this year. Anyway, we had quite a difficult time getting ours to the right service center since the instructions are incorrect for our state only (figures) so that put us back a few weeks but they ended up using the receipt date on the first one after I wrote the ombudsman....long story short, we got ours right at the 3 month mark after filing. Maybe a week or so longer.If you arent outside the USCIS timeline, there isnt much you can do. If he goes outside that, you can requst an expedite and/or make an infopass appointment.

The ID sounds odd, I would def call the office and ask to speak to a supervisor. Kind but firm persistence usually pays off in any venue.

Keep us posted and good luck.

CONGRATS Aya!!

Im so happy for you. I cant wait to hear the good news that you have a visa in hand, and it sounds like that is not far off

Lisa

If it was the opposite and she interviewed for the K3 and was denied, she could go back and interview for the CR1, but not the other way around. Once the CR1 interview has taken place the K3 is virtually dead at the consulate.

Im sorry and I wish you guys good luck on appeal or whatever route you decide to take

Im so sorry that happened and I hope that with time you can move forward with your life and be happy again.

Aya,

We had a gazillion pages worth of IM's too but we only printed out the screen shots that showed we talked everyday(it just showed activity next to a date) that way there wasnt any actual convos being shown. It turns out they didnt even look at them anyway but we didnt want anyone else reading our chats... if it was necessary we would have printed out the benign ones but I think printing the screen shots with just dates next to one liner greetings is the best solution. We did the same for emails and printed my inbox,outbox and his as well. I think we ended up printing some emails, like one from every month just in case they wanted it..they didnt.

I dont think I would want to show them an IM with things all blacked out, I think it might look suspicious too, but thats just my opinion.

Hopefully if they even ask, they will see a huge stack and just realize that you arent lacking any proof and not even look. I have read about CO's actually laughing when someone pulled out a HUGE stack of communication and they just laugh and say "ok" and not even look through them.

Im excited for you Aya and I know you are nervous as is totally normal, Im glad you have a good feeling about it all. You're well prepared and good intentioned, I hope they see that and it off and you will be here with your love in no time

Andrea,

congrats and thanks.. I'll have to try those.

hi to everyone else

start here:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

I don't know, I think it's possible that there was love in some of these "green card relationships". Maybe not initially, but sometimes love develops over time. I think family/cultural pressures often come into play that I can't fully understand.

good point also.

amanda,

I'll try bath n body works but i havent liked any of the other ones I have smelled so far... I have been simmering orange rinds,cinnamon sticks,nutmeg and cloves on the stove for days and its nice but I want that tree smell!

Jackie,

tattoo eh? lol

I think commitment born out of love is the glue that holds things together. Love is easy to gain or lose but once a person is fully commited to the other person, that commitment last longer and is not under the whim of mere emotions.

I told my husband once, "to you there's always the option of divorce... (the american ways and laws have shaped this thinking) to me there is no option but til death do us part. The only instance when I'll get divorce is when I am getting abused - physically."

I don't mean to offend those who are seeking divorce or have been divorced... this is my personal conviction.

As for GC hunters, if the allegation is true. THEY never loved you. Love also requires respect. Lying that you love someone when you are only after a GC does not reflect respect. If there is no respect for your person how can you then say that he even loved you?

I tend to agree with everything you said here.

OF COURSE love is a vital ingredient in a marriage but love wont solve all problems. Love doesnt compensate for poor communication skills, maturity levels,total lack of compatability or lack of empathy on ones part. even sick and twisted people can be in love but not know how to act.

And of course that "lovey dovey/lust/excited" feeling doesnt last forever. My dad gave me that advise many years ago and he's right. he said being in love with someone means that when that feeling goes away you have a partner/best friend for life...that love has to be strong enough to last longer than the "honeymoon period"

In context to GC fraud, no...they cant truly love you and use you at the same time IMO.

they could however have loved you but it just didnt work and they figured that they would stay long enough to get the CG before calling it quits

Are you the one that had a horrible experience with the K3 interview and found out they mucked things up or something the first time around? Either way congrats... if you are her then double congrats because I know you went through some seriously stressful times after the k3 interview went awry.

Congrats Sinad!! Have a safe trip and good luck on your new life. I hope your son does well on the long flight and take care sweety