Zayd

Simp,

It is not possible for all people, but if you are creative, there are ways you can provide government documents that some is Muslim. For example, only Muslims are eligible for Hajj and Umrah visas from the Saudi Embassy. If your husband has been on Hajj or Umrah in the past, you should submit a copy of the visa he was issued by the Saudi Embassy. Since only Muslims can get such visas, having one is a pretty strong proof he is Muslim. In addition, if he legally changed his name to a Muslim name, you should submit a copy of that document. Furthermore, if your husband has donated money to Islamic charities (e.g. paid zakah), he can include copies of the receipts and his tax returns that show the donations.

Also, in addition to getting a letter from the imam of your masjid, I would get testimonies from family and friends (both Muslims and non-Muslims) asserting he is Muslim.

Zayd

I hear you guys. It just doesn't seem right.

For some reason, my new country seems to be against immigrants. Or at least people who need medical attention.

No one is discriminating here. I know most of us just blow off the I-864 Affidavit of Support or the equivalent but it really means something. Before coming to the US, you agreed not to become a burden on the state for at least 10 years. We can not be upset when they actually expect us to honor that pledge.

Sounds great! Did you call the DOS line to see if the status has been updated? That was how I heard the checks were cleared. . .

They still say AP but to provide the Embassy info requested.

If the hurdles of AP are not cleared, there is no point to ask for another medical. It wastes your time as well as theirs. I have never heard of someone in AP being asked for another medical just to be jerked around so it seems you are very close. I would call DOS everyday and hope to get different representatives. Some will tell you more than others so keep calling (never more than once a day because they know and mark it in the computer).

Here is my denial white slip

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t=#entry2776620

"[EXCERPT]...When USCIS receives the returned petition, they will contact the petitioner, who will have an opportunity to rebut consulant findings concerning this case....."

So there is light at the end of the tunnel - I do have a chance!!! However I wonder how I submit more evidence or clarification to USCIS. Are they going to send you a form or something? Does anyone ever success to rebut a consular's findings after the case is returned to USCIS? If so, how will the process be processed again? (ie, Will USCIS resend the package to NVC, then Consulate, then re-interview?)

Your inputs are greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Cam

Cam,

I129F forms expire four months after they are approved. Often, the service center lets them expire and die and will never send any followup concerning the case. This happens more at CSC than at VSC so there is a good chance it will just be allowed to expire (if it hasn't already) with no chance for you to rebut. You are in a difficult situation. Since the K1 is still pending, it is not always possible to file for a CR1. Your best hope is to get them to reconsider the petition in HCMC. Marc Ellis is probably the best lawyer to help you with the case at HCMC. Many people have had issues while at HCMC and most go with Marc as he routinely travels there and have good ties to the embassy. He is your best bet to get this reversed. His website is http://www.marcellislaw.com/ .

Others who know more about HCMC can comment. Odds are you will get no chance to rebut and you need to move ASAP to prevent it getting sent back. K1 petitions are only usually sent back to die.

Hi all,

I'm curious... when someone is put on AP, are they given a paper from the consulate stating this?

Thanks!

The customs also differ embassy to embassy. In general if it is pending AP, they will mention 212 or 221 with different letters after it. This is another way to know. If they did not give him any additional information, you may be able to call the Department of state at (202) 663-1225 to get more info.

They gave him a paper with a list of things we need to submit (already did... but that's besides the point...) They wanted: 1) "Lindsay to fill out I-864 not I-864ez" (I submitted I-864ez to NVC), 2) different police certificate from Italy, 3) "Lindsay's 3 most recent pay stubs" (all sent to NVC with AOS, I guess they also want more recent for some reason). That's it. They told my husband to get these things, and then return anytime to the consulate at 1pm. The officer said everything else is fine- his interview went really well. I'm still paranoid that that we'll get thrown a curve ball when he submits these. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Now we're waiting for my mail to get to him (can take 1-2 weeks) and for his record to come from Italy (his brother is getting for him). Ugh. Enough already!

It was 221g.

If it says 221g, then you are definitely in AP. It is also possible that once you hand in all of those forms, you case could go into security checks despite everything going well during the interview.

So, my husband has been stuck in AP for 7 months for a K-3 visa. I am wondering if I should just go ahead and pay the IR-1 fee to NVC that I received last April while we are waiting for the AP to finish and see if the IR-1 gets sent to the embassy before the AP finishes. Will this cause any problems for the pending K-3? I know I might waste $310 dollars, but I have already wasted 18 months of my life waiting for this K-3 visa too.

It is ill advised to file for the CR1/IR1 now. If you do it, all the time spent on AP for the K3 will be wasted, and the K3 application thrown in the garbage. I even recall one case from Turkey where someone was issued a K3, got a second interview a week later for CR1, which they took and were put on AP. I don't remember if that AP for their CR1 has ended but the last time I saw they were on AP for a while.

Also, the IR1 fee is $400 and the AOS fee is $70 at NVC. I know it is hard but doing IR1 now would just make it worse.

Hi all,

I'm curious... when someone is put on AP, are they given a paper from the consulate stating this?

Thanks!

The customs also differ embassy to embassy. In general if it is pending AP, they will mention 212 or 221 with different letters after it. This is another way to know. If they did not give him any additional information, you may be able to call the Department of state at (202) 663-1225 to get more info.

We only had to submit a new one from the place my hubby lived during the processing time. . .originally he had one from Pakistan and one from Canada. . . but since he only stayed in Canada during processing, we only submitted a new Canadian one. . .

Thank u very much friend....u really reduce my tension....

Myprayers, the rules for processing differ from embassy to embassy. If emt had one experience in Canada, it is not guaranteed that Islamabad will do the same thing, especially since Islamabad is so strict. If at all possible, I would advise you to get them all if possible to reduce the risk of delay on the case. It can take more than 2 months from when you submit a document to when they actualy review it. You would not want to waste that time if they decide they want all of the certificates.

The Adobe PDF Professional version allows also you to save the changes to the pdf forms. For those that have the software already or have access to it through work, it is a good choice. I used it through the I130 process.

The US embassy in Islamabad recently changed how they deal with cases that come out of AP. Previously, they would only print the visa after they had requested the passport and were ready to put the visa inside it. However,, while waiting for passports in the past, sometimes security checks would expire and cases would fall back into AP. Now the embassy has started printing visas as soon as AP is completed and they are satisfied with the security checks. This is even before they have confirmed no police report was outstanding and that the medical is up to date. Therefore, issued and printed now means the same thing. Your visa is now ready to be put into your passport. Due to the recently holidays and reduced staff at the embassy, things have been running slow. Just wait for them to call and they will.

I called DOS on 1/12/09 they said he was approved 1/8/09, so I was wondering how long we might have to wait before he gets his visa? His visa was kept at time of interview.

Have you confirmed with the embassy that AP is complete? You should not submit your passport until the embassy calls you. Even if they say on the phone line to submit it, you should not until they call you. It can take up to a month for them to call you and then up to another three weeks for you to get it back. DOS will also be able to tell you if the visa has been issued (i.e. printed).

There's no need to be dramatic here. The operator said "may". There is no maximum time limit for a visa to issued. It could take forever if the US government was so inclined. However, few if ever take that long.

If the interview date is Feb 24th do you think they will want my tax return for year 2008? Even if I haven't filed or received my W-2 by then? I sincerely hope that 2007 will be enough.

In 2007 i made a little over $20,000 which should be totally fine.

In 2008 i made $17,850. Only $350 over the 125% poverty limit.

Now I AM over the limit, albeit just barely. Do you think they can deny me based on this even though I made enough??

Has anybody here been asked to get a co-sponsor even though they made more than the minimum??

Thank you!

It is definitely not unheard of for the CO to ask for a co-sponsor even if you are above the minimum. If you think about it, 125% of the poverty limit is the minimum they will ask for to issue a visa. The CO has the discretion to ask for additional evidence of financial support if he/she wishes. It is up to them.

Similarly, it is not unheard of for them to ask for the 2008 return even though it is not due yet; it is more likely they will ask for it if the person is barely over the minimum. Also, if the beneficiary is coming from a high fraud country like India, they are more likely to ask for such additional documentation.

One thing that should ease your mind is that the CO will not deny the visa for this reason. They would put you under something called administrative processing (aka 221g). Once you supplied whatever documents you requested to their satisfaction, they would issue the visa.

Hey! At the medical examination, they will ask you do you carry any STD's. so you have to answer to that question honestly. Does anyone know from experience that having an herpes won't cause your denial?

would it be called germs of endearment?

Charles apparently studied about STDs the same place he studied humor and politics. That's why most of his posts about the election were a ###### joke.

But, I digress.

It's a virus, stupid.

Symbiosis, this is a ridiculous and unnecessary post. Shows some insecurity on your behalf. If you don't find the posts funny, then don't read them. By the way, here is the definition of irony in case you are unfamiliar, "the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning".

I disagree.

Charles' post was the unnecessary one in my opinion. Trying very hard to be funny and have SOMETHING to say in about every post sometimes gets a little tiresome.

Especially if somebody askes for advice about a health issue and is worried about this - no need to make fun of them, IMO.

But hey - maybe it's me, I'm German and have no sense of humor after all!

Mrs. J - I agree with you completely, except the part about your not having a sense of humor!

why am i not surprised?

Because you continuously post unhelpful and inappropriate responses?

Talk about unhelpful. Julez' your post is unhelpful to the say the least. Get off charles' case just because you disagree with him. He is one of the more helpful people here when it comes to administrative functions on VJ. If you looked past the small world you lived in, you would see it and not be so snarky.

Thanks for exposing your true prejudices.

You're the one who took somebody's odd question about marrying his ex's sister and decided to use it as a soapbox to play the offended Muslim. Until your comment, nobody had brought up religion of any sort.

If someone had actually made a comment about my religion, yeah, I'd have defended it. But that's different from launching into how-dare-you-say-stuff-about-Muslims diatribes when nobody had even brought up religion.

Shaggy, if you read my post, it was not directed at just any individual who made a comment. It was made to someone who is either Muslim or married to a Muslim. If it is the first case, they should know their own religion. If it is the second case, then they should be more conscious of their own spouse's religion. It is not like John Q. Public made a comment, and I responded. I even pointed that out in my post. It seems you and chavelle both need to read the entire post and the preceding ones before interjecting.

Her statement was unconditional and general. Whether she intended it or not, she insulted all women who fall into this category. It is incumbent for the Muslim to defend all other Muslims who are slandered, so what about the daughters of our beloved Messenger?

Congratulations, Zayd. I've been trying to tell people how wildly unreasonable some Muslims are, but you've done a much better job than I ever could!

Now

This is such a bigotted comment that you would single out Muslims like that. Someone could just as easily say how wildly unreasonable Christians are and point to ####### Cheney and George Bush or how wildly unreasonable Jews are and point to Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netyanahu. Thanks for exposing your true prejudices. If someone had defend Jesus the way I defended the family of Prophet Muhammad, you would have been silent. But you clearly wanted to read into it what you did.

I don't know how many people have run into this situation before but here it goes anyway. So a couple of years ago I got married to this girl from the Philippines. I thought we were in love but found out that she was just really good at manipulating people. Eventually I was able to file a K1, get her to the US, marry her then find out she had someone back home. I had that marriage annulled for marriage fraud. So I go about my business dating other girls. But now, I end up with her sister. Eventually I do want to bring her over. My question is will their relationship be a burden to my petition? Also, will I have to send a copy of my annulment papers with the K1 petition? Has anyone run into this before?

My thoughts on this are that any girl who is willing to get with her sister's ex-husband has questionable morals, no matter how "in love" she may seem with you. This kind of relationship is asking for trouble, and is bound to create even more family drama--resentment, jealousy, fights. I personally wouldn't want to get myself involved in a mess like that or be a catalyst for the break-up of family relationships. It's just not worth it. No matter how hard it may seem, end the relationship and move on to find someone else that isn't willing to risk destroying her relationship with family. Family, after all, is first and foremost. Another way to look at it is, would you marry a girl that your own brother or sister had been in a relationship with, whether married or boyfriend/girlfriend? Would you be willing to ruin your relationship with him/her for a so-called love with their ex? Or on the other side, how would you feel if your own brother/sister told you they were going to marry your own ex?

I am not sure if you are Muslim or not but I think you may be because your spouse is from Morocco. If you had knowledge about Islaam, you would know that two of Prophet Muhammad's daughters married the same man, Uthman bin Affan. When the first sister died of malaria, the other sister married him later. Maybe you should keep quiet and know your own spouses religion if not your own.

I dont mean any disrespect, but this sister is not passed away. This is an entirely different situation.

sorry, back to topic

Her statement was unconditional and general. Whether she intended it or not, she insulted all women who fall into this category. It is incumbent for the Muslim to defend all other Muslims who are slandered, so what about the daughters of our beloved Messenger? Allaah said in the translation of the meaning,

“neither backbite one another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting). And fear Allaah.”

[al-Hujuraat 49:12]

Speaking irresponsibly or without thought is no excuse for broad insulting statements.

I don't know how many people have run into this situation before but here it goes anyway. So a couple of years ago I got married to this girl from the Philippines. I thought we were in love but found out that she was just really good at manipulating people. Eventually I was able to file a K1, get her to the US, marry her then find out she had someone back home. I had that marriage annulled for marriage fraud. So I go about my business dating other girls. But now, I end up with her sister. Eventually I do want to bring her over. My question is will their relationship be a burden to my petition? Also, will I have to send a copy of my annulment papers with the K1 petition? Has anyone run into this before?

My thoughts on this are that any girl who is willing to get with her sister's ex-husband has questionable morals, no matter how "in love" she may seem with you. This kind of relationship is asking for trouble, and is bound to create even more family drama--resentment, jealousy, fights. I personally wouldn't want to get myself involved in a mess like that or be a catalyst for the break-up of family relationships. It's just not worth it. No matter how hard it may seem, end the relationship and move on to find someone else that isn't willing to risk destroying her relationship with family. Family, after all, is first and foremost. Another way to look at it is, would you marry a girl that your own brother or sister had been in a relationship with, whether married or boyfriend/girlfriend? Would you be willing to ruin your relationship with him/her for a so-called love with their ex? Or on the other side, how would you feel if your own brother/sister told you they were going to marry your own ex?

I am not sure if you are Muslim or not but I think you may be because your spouse is from Morocco. If you had knowledge about Islaam, you would know that two of Prophet Muhammad's daughters married the same man, Uthman bin Affan. When the first sister died of malaria, the other sister married him later. Maybe you should keep quiet and know your own spouses religion if not your own.

I am preparing a list of documents that need to be taken at the visa interview. Do we need to take a complete copy of packets submitted for CR1? This includes DS-3032, AOS packet, and IV packet.

You will not need a copy of the DS3032. However, you should bring copies of the AOS, DS230, I130, and interview packet with date. Sometimes I have heard of AOS getting lost so having a backup is safer. Also you will need the interview date packet to enter the embassy.

Ok Guys and Girls I need your opinion:

As you all know , once my fiance receives his visa we will be getting married in the US. Im "non-desi" USC and he is pakistani. Of course, he wants the Iman to marry us here at the mosque. I have no problem getting married in the mosque and wearing traditional pakistani wedding dress. I have alot of friends from here of different religions that would like to come to the wedding, but i dont want to impose on them about having to cover in the mosque. We are both open minded and want everyone to feel comfortable.....so my thoughts were, get married somewhere other than the mosque and have an Iman conduct the ceremony at neutral place where everyone will be comfortable, or we could have a private ceremony at the mosque alone and then have a reception to invite everyone. Tell me what your thought are

I am not Pakistani but my wife is. I am Arab. The recommendation for having a marriage in a mosque is conditional that no reprehensible acts go on. Your willingness and keenness to wear the hijab during the ceremony is something great.

While some may not have the courage to say so here, I will tell you the honest truth because Allaah is not shy about the truth. If women go to the ceremony in the mosque without maintaining the etiquette, then having the marriage ceremony there is forbidden. Examples of acts that would make it forbidden to have the marriage ceremony in the mosque include displays of beauty by women (e.g. not wearing the hijab, wearing too much jewelry or makeup, wearing perfume), mixing between unmarried men and women, not being ritualistically pure with wudhu (translation: ablution), not praying the two units of prayer for greeting the mosque, etc. This is not a complete list but only what I could think of. Also to have a marriage according to Islamic law, you would need to be represented by a male Muslim guardian. Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Any woman who gets married without the permission of her guardian, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid, her marriage is invalid. " This hadith is authentic from many chains of narrations.

I think your other ideas for arranging the ceremony are safer and probably lessen the chances something could go wrong.

Hey! At the medical examination, they will ask you do you carry any STD's. so you have to answer to that question honestly. Does anyone know from experience that having an herpes won't cause your denial?

would it be called germs of endearment?

Charles apparently studied about STDs the same place he studied humor and politics. That's why most of his posts about the election were a ###### joke.

But, I digress.

It's a virus, stupid.

Symbiosis, this is a ridiculous and unnecessary post. Shows some insecurity on your behalf. If you don't find the posts funny, then don't read them. By the way, here is the definition of irony in case you are unfamiliar, "the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning".

I don't mean to carry on this off-topic conversation,but I must share my opinion regarding this whole thing of arguing the schools of thought...this is the biggest problem with Muslims in my opinion. Why are we nit-picking this issue? The bottom line is that Muslims are united as Muslims because of their religion and basic strong tenets of belief. I myself being Muslim, feel sad that we are arguing about schools of thought and such...what kind of impression are we giving of ourselves, even more so, why are there always Muslims arguing about schools of thought or creed or whatever....Muslims means we are Muslims, that's it, its not about differentiating all the time, it is about being united.

Creed is what separates Muslims from non-Muslims. A defect in aqeedah can take one out of the fold of Islaam. If creed is not something worth discussing, then nothing in Islaam is. Would you prefer not to be differentiated from those who curse Abu Bakr and Umar? Or would you prefer not to be differentiated from those who pray to those in graves? None of that has anything to do with Islaam. How can one call for unification on such falsehoods? We as Muslims should unite but on the truth as established in the Qur'aan and Sunnah. Unity on falsehood is disunity from our Messenger.

Details about my situation:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168772

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168972

As you can probably see from the above topics I started. I want to go the cr1 route because it is typically quicker, cheaper and also makes for my husband to be capable of getting a job much sooner then the k3 process. I don't know much about DCF or what it even is but know that I can use it if I go back to Pakistan and stay with my husband while filing right? Would I still be filing for cr1, only that I'd be filing from abroad? Would it make my situation any more complicated or take longer? Or would it possibly even be quicker? What are the facts I need to know about DCF and how to use it in my situation?

Is DCF initially the same as filing for i130/cr1?What are the differences? How long would it typically take? Could I still use a joint sponsor? Would being unemployed and not having a personal income source hurt our chances? I really want to get started with this procedure of being with my husband soon.....please help.

EDIT:

I just checked out the DCF guide, and it says that establishing permanent residency for at least 6 months abroad is a must? What if I have a multiple entry visa valid upto 06-16-2013? I don't think that would suffice....any possible way I could work around it? Or would I still end up having to wait 6 months...and getting a residency?

To use DCF, you must be RESIDENT in the country for at least six months. Even living there without being a resident is insufficient to use DCF. You do not have a residency visa for Pakistan so you could not use your multiple entry visa for that. There is no way around this condition. Since you live in Michigan, your case would most likely be assigned to the California Service Center for processing. They specify the timeline for adjudicating I130 petitions (assuming no additional security checks which can happen for Pakistanis) at six months. Therefore, your I130 with USCIS would most likely be approved before you even fulfilled the DCF conditions. As such, the fastest route would be to just apply through the standard process as soon as possible.

Also, having joint sponsorship for I864s in Islamabad appears to be a red flag that almost guarantees administrative processing (AP). If you can in any way fulfill and exceed the I864 conditions without a joint sponsor, I highly recommend it.

Why the heck is a Pakistani thread in MENA? LOL I have to laugh because some of my family on Christmas were saying things like "oh you're from the middle east? I know a pakistani fellow...". We really need to up our geography lessons in the USA apparently.

So every Muslim follows either one of these 4 schools of thought, all of them are correct, details may differ, but it is not like one school forbids something totally and the other school accepts it, nothing as drastic as that, its just where some details are doubtful, each school of thought interprets in their own way.

I disagree. Not EVERY muslim follows either one of the 4 schools of thought. What about the Shia muslims?

I was speaking about the SUNNI MUSLIMS...and as far as I know, Shia's are considered a totally different group in the opinion of the entire Sunni majority. But if you still want to argue school of thought, then you can include Jaafri as the 5th school of thought for the Shia Muslims.

I agree not all Muslims follow a school of thought (e.g. the companions who just stuck to the sunnah). However, it is important to note here that schools of thought apply to understanding of jurisprudence issues. Shias have a totally different creed (aqeedah) than Sunnis so they fall into a totally different category and can not be considered a fifth school of thought.

and yes a muslim man can marry a non muslim woman but not a muslim woman allowed to marry a non muslim man from my understanding she is no longer considered a muslimah if this happens. But I don't know they whys or anything I am sorry for what happened to you but everything does happen for a reason and look here you are now!

Fear Allaah that is a major thing to say she is not a Muslimah anywhere. A "marriage" between a Muslim female and a non-Muslim man of any creed is not recognized in Islaam so it is as if there is no bond or marriage linking them. The Muslim woman is still Muslim but is a zaniyya (fornicator) and would be treated as one.