Ihavequestions

You need a copy of the divorce decree in order to immigrate with your soon-to-be wife to Canada. It could just be a matter of requesting a copy (there will be a small fee) from the court. First, see if you can look up civil records online (in the county your ex-wife lives/lived in at the time of the divorce). That will give you a case number and there should be online instructions for official copies. If that doesn't work, you may need to hire a lawyer in the US, but try to find it yourself first.

Note: The US Embassy does not care what your ex-wife did or did not do. 

OP, I looked at your post history; you married a professional immigrant. There's no telling how long his new job will last, so he's holding onto you to keep the opportunity to go to the US open. 

Pull the affidavit of support and file for a divorce, and do it NOW.

(p.s. It's not his mother working the second wife angle, it's him either letting you know what to expect or he's already got one.)

I second Egypt. The value of the Egyptian pound (EGP/LE) to the dollar makes tourism a great - not good, GREAT - deal financially. A lovely hotel room can be had for $25 (USD) per night. Transportation is reasonable; the train from Alexandria to Cairo, first class, is around $2.50, one way, per person. And I agree, Egyptian food is really, really good. As for English speakers, English is Egypt's second language and most people know some. In the tourist areas, English is a must.

So come and visit!

(Did I mention we have Uber, too?)

6 hours ago, Ahmed & Amy said:

Okay, but doesn't the passport ultimately come from the US itself (I thought it was, maybe I'm wrong.)? I had lost my passport when I first arrived to Cairo and when I went to the embassy, they had me fill out the passport application and a statement saying it was lost/stolen, and then told me that it would be issued from the US and delivered to me within the month. I got it exactly a month later.

So if the embassy/consulate are printing passports, then should not the government change such decision and have it made in the US to for more security, if they are being printed outside the US??

Because it's not a problem within the US embassies/consulates. Fraudulent passports are a thriving industry. This article is eye-opening:  http://www.politico.eu/article/europes-fake-forged-stolen-passport-epidemic-visa-free-travel-rights. Also, not every country issues biometric passports, which emboldens the fraudulent passport industry. 

To stay on topic, the issue is vetting. How can the US - or any other government - properly and, more importantly, assure safety within the US border, when there's a possibility the person trying to gain entry is traveling with forged documents. 

1 hour ago, Dutchster said:

I agree with additional vetting as long as terrorism is still strong when it comes to countries of high concern. Making sure those who migrate never had any ties or contact with IS, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban etc. With the open borders in Europe, it's easy for them to send their soldiers to attack innocent people. 

The "bad guys" have been printing fraudulent passports for a long time. How does the US government "make sure" when the passport is fake, or when a country is so war-torn official records don't exist anymore?

4 hours ago, user64 said:

Thank you, another question.. if anything happened during my process like including egypt, could that terminate my process? or delay it ?

In theory, yes. In practice, it's not likely. The seven countries, with the exception of Iran, are countries in conflict (read: war, civil or other) or safe havens for bad buys - and Egypt most certainly is not either of those. Besides, Egypt is an anti-bad guy partner.

Well from your backstory, it seems you would definitely be able to give me some helpful advice! So thank you for your comment.

he is from Cairo. He said he has a degree in electric, I didn't get information about where from.... I don't know much about that, but it seems like that would have been more of a trade school type thing?

The reason his friend wanted him to speak with me was because I am a native speaker with an American accent. Friend was helping him with English and thought it would be helpful to talk to a native speaker.

He owns a business. I don't know how much money he makes exactly, but he seemed to have no qualms about buying me a plane ticket and stay in Egypt.

These are all things you should be asking about. Here's why. If he went to an Egyptian home to talk to a family about the possibility of an engagement with their daughter, he would walk in the door knowing he would have to provide answers to those questions. There's no reason he shouldn't give you specific, credible answers, too. FYI, there's no such thing as a "degree in electric" or a "trade school" here. His passport should say what his profession is in the bottom left corner. Look at it and see what it says.

I'm going to go on the wild assumption your guy isn't scammy and you aren't his escape plan, and give you my bits of advice. Take it or leave it, but know it comes from the heart.

Plan a vacation of a lifetime and come to Egypt. Yes, alone. There is nothing - and I do mean nothing - to be afraid of as long as one follows sensible tourist advice that would apply anywhere (don't waive stacks of dollars in the air, etc.). You can either book into a quite decent hotel or rent a fully furnished apartment for less than $10/USD a night. A hotel/apartment will give you some autonomy and independence. Meet this guy and see if you mesh in person. If there's a spark, that's great. If not, hey, you got the vacation of a lifetime. If you have concerns while you're here, there are plenty of foreign women here, so plenty of feet on the ground, to comfort and advise you.

One further note. I see that you said you've always been a bit on the conservative side. In my opinion, the foreign woman/Egyptian man relationships that have been durable and lasting are the relationships with a liberal foreign woman, just because those are the women who let their husbands be themselves. Aside from the 50-year-old-woman/22-year-old-Egyptian obvious train wrecks, the real disasters are the western converts who marry and proceed to take him to school about how he's got his religion all wrong. Egyptians as a whole (yes, this is a wide brush) are much more than their religion. They are also thousands of years of culture, tradition, and family/tribe loyalty/affiliations. If you're considering a long-term relationship, his religion is only one part of a very large parcel.

Good luck and let me know when you're coming!

Backstory: Divorced from an Egyptian and live in Egypt because I like it.

Where is he from?

Has he been to university? If so, what's his degree?

Why can't he practice his English with any of the bazillion English speakers in Egypt?

Does he have a job? If so, what does he do and how much does he earn?

Thank you.. But what ministry should I go to?

Ministry of Justice, at the Foreign Marriage Office. You'll file In Absentia and, if I remember correctly, it costs less than 50 LE. After the customary waiting period, you can pick up your Final Divorce papers. As I said, mail a copy to your wife. You should also send a certified copy to the Embassy in Cairo (be sure to include any appropriate identification numbers).

You can easily divorce from Egypt. Simply go to the Ministry, fill out the paperwork, pay the cost, and you're done. Then, send a copy of the divorce papers to her in the U.S. Simples.

We are attempting to send a package (large envelope) to our previous exchange student who lives in Egypt. The address we have is:

(Persons Name)

23 el zordoky St

ezbet shaheen

el minia

government Egypt

It doesn't seem sufficient. Can anyone help with this?

Thanks!

The only other information you could add would be the floor number and flat number, but the baweb for the building certainly knows the names of the people who live in the building, so that probably isn't necessary. It's quite possible that, since it's a package, it will have to be picked up at the post office, anyway.

I would suggest you change the first line to read "building 23, el zordoky street" because that's common address formatting.

Put a phone number on the envelope, either a land line or cell phone, because the post office will call for someone to pick up the package if that's the delivery method.

I know one guy who has two families,one here and one in Russia,he goes to Russia often,that being said travelling often means nothing if her husband action does not match how a couple should live...TOGETHER. He has money to travel often then his problem is not money,he is not sick,I can't see a reason for him not to have his wife with him here.I believe he is living a double life.

I thought the same thing.

Stop blaming the Embassy. Stop emailing the Embassy. Leave your Congressman out of it.

Why? Because it's not the Embassy and your Congressman can't do anything - not one thing - to move your AP along.

Why?

Because AP is done at the local level, by locals. That's right! Local. Meaning, if the beneficiary's name is run through all of those databases and there's a match, further investigation is required. Any involvement with the legal system is investigated. If the beneficiary was a witness to a crime, it's investigated. That investigation requires a local (yes, an Egyptian!) to find the motivation to get up out of that comfy chair, dig through that dusty stack of files, and give the Embassy the information they're asking for. It's particularly challenging in cases where bright lights got the good idea to burn court houses and police stations where paper records are stored.

All you can do is wait.

OmSama, can you ask for an expedite? Do you know?

Are you familiar with the AOS process? This is not an ROC where you can just file a divorce waiver.

Ack. I misunderstood where he was in the process and stand corrected.

So, let me get this straight. You were here (and so was/is your brother), married in October, filed papers in November, with an abusive (you suspect, although you work for child protective services, you aren't sure what abuse is), jealous, psychopathic drinker who, for some reason, expects you to contribute to the household expenses - which is what normal married people do. To make matters worse, she doesn't appreciate mom tossing her $2,000 to straighten out her finances. Is mom here, too?

Why don't you just get a divorce and get your residency?

OP did the bank email you anything to sign re: your request? If theres a joint" & or either name "

a simple phone call wont do it....operative word "he opened acct" Changing the acct to single might

be a bad idea because it states you are no longer his wife & is agreeable on that, You would need

the bank card & PIN # to et money from the acct. Die to the money laundering act foreign and

intertwined US transactions are scrutinized & not only in very large sums.If not divorced why change it

to single?

No longer his wife and having a life in Spain will not be an easy sell to USCIS, however if you get your

foot in the door with that card to see an immigration judge , be sure to have docs showing all

the claims you made here and best wishes again

It's bigger than that. The money in that account came from a lump sum Veterans benefit pay-out. Veterans benefits are protected from seizure - by federal law - and are not considered a marital asset.

She had no right to touch it.

Filing a tax return as married, filing separately is perfectly legal and and appropriate, particularly as there is no "it's complicated" filing status - and it requires the social security number of the spouse. Not only that, but as someone else said earlier in this thread, spouses are not dependents for tax purposes. For veteran's benefits? I don't know. But, it could very well be that there is no "separated" option and veterans are either married or not with no in-between. That doesn't mean he's done anything criminal or underhanded. He could have just answered honestly. Someone who knows more could speak to that.

Meanwhile, going online and registering with a bank from abroad, accessing bank account information, changing a marital status from "separated" to "married", then cleaning out the balance? I don't know if there are legal penalties for that. That's another something that someone else who knows more could help you with, particularly if either the other account holder or the bank had a problem with it and, I don't know, filed a fraud claim or something, which may have happened because the account was closed. Who knows. It's possible.

As for your re-entry into the United States - it's a long shot. Working, going to school, having a life in another country for five years typically means someone lives in that country. Ailing parents and deceased pets aren't going to go very far in terms of reasons to stay out of the U.S.

So sorry you had to waste your time banging out an answer I already had.

Wow. You're pretty arrogant and nasty to people who are trying to help you.

A bit of advice about this group: that attitude doesn't go over well. Unless you want to continue to flounder on your own, you might want to change your tune.

It is a registered marriage not just orfi. We have been trying to get things in his name, the problem is in the nicer neighbourhoods in Cairo many landlords will only rent to foreigners. Its stupid I know, but the way it is.

I'm so happy that I spent all of that time banging out an answer on my keyboard, only to find it irrelevant.

1. You're married, whether you're in the US or outside of it.

2. A K-1 isn't an option, because you're married.

3. Your tax person was wrong. Amend your return.

4. The burden is going to be proving that he has a compelling reason to return from the US. Many people have given you sage advice about how to do that. A lease agreement isn't the end-all, be-all. Joint bank accounts, etc., will help. I will say, though, with a very short marriage, you'd do well to wait a bit before re-applying. That will give you time to build the evidence that comes with a longer term marriage.

If you would have asked your question in the MENA forum, the responses would have been different because MENA people know the difference between a marriage that's registered and one that's not. But you didn't, and people gave you general, not country-specific answers. That's not their fault.

Okay, that said, knowing it's an orfi marriage makes a big difference. For example, your tax person was right. And, as others have said, Embassy personnel are quite versed in what an orfi is and why it's used, so that's not a big deal. Actually, we had a member here who was orfi married. When they went to the Ministry to get a registered marriage done, the officiate re-did the orfi papers because she wasn't legally divorced at the time the original orfi was signed. She took submitted both orfis and the registered marriage papers for her husband's CR-1 application and he was in the US within three weeks.

At the Ministry of Justice. We just signed a contract and they stapled our passport photos to it. Legally we are married in Egypt.

Straight answer, please:

Is it an orfi marriage or a registered marriage? Which one is it; the information you've given hasn't been clear.

As others have said, married is married, so the K-1 is out of the question. Whether he will be granted a tourist visa or not remains to be seen. There's nothing wrong with wanting to share a marriage ceremony/reception with friends and family who were not able to be in Egypt when you married. Just be sure he FULLY explains that.

One question, though. On the tourist visa application that was denied, did he say he was married or single?

Oh, and fire that tax person and amend your return.

Ok thanks for the advice concerning a lawyer , But don't you think that( getting a lawyer) would upset my ex and he may try to get revenge and refuse to sign or try to use his right in claiming the kids , I know that the law and Shari'a by his side , that's why I really need a peaceful way without arousing any issues with him. I will look for a lawyer at the same time .

I don't know. I don't know your ex or what he would do. However, I do know - as I have said - you CANNOT take the children out of the country without his permission. You will be stopped at the airport. Sure, you will be free to board the plane, however the children will not and it won't matter whether they have a visa to enter the U.S. or not. They're Egyptian. That's the only citizenship they have. Their father is Egyptian. He is Muslim. Egyptian Family Law gives him rights and he is free to avail himself of those rights, whether that's refusing to sign, taking the children into his custody, or even filing a court case prohibiting their travel outside of Egypt. He has to give express written consent for those children to travel. There's no way around it.

Again, get a lawyer.

Thanks a lot for your reply , but even when we decided to get divorced , we did it peacefully , no lawyers no courts at all , he didn't even pay me anything after divorce and I asked for nothing because that's the reason for divorce, not shouldering any financial responsibility towards me or the kids. He doesn't even know how the kids look like . Now the question is , where to go to get that document and it should be notarized , Do we go to Ministry of Justice , or Family court , or get a lawyer . And if he did that and sign that documents , does the Egyptian law give me that right or not . I don't have a clue about the law related to family affairs, because as I said we divorced peacefully .

None of that matters. Legally, he's the father and he has rights - and one of those rights is preventing the children from leaving the country if that's what he wants to do, for whatever reason. You aren't going to find a document like what you'll need already prepared. Instead, you will have to have one made. Again, this is not something for you to do yourself. Get a lawyer.

Hi VJ

My US husband filed IR-1 visa forms for me and my two kids"from my ex husband" I am the one who raising them , my ex has nothing to do with them neither financially nor emotionally , may be it is still early for my question , but at the time of the interview do I need a permission from my ex to take my kids with me bare in mind he is the one who issued their passports , as here in Egypt the authorities never allow a divorced wife to issue passports for her own children , but issuing passports by the father is a proof of his approval to travel anywhere, anybody has the same issue , please tell me what to do ?

Obtaining a passport is not the same as giving permission to travel and you cannot take the children out of the country without his permission.

You are going to want a document that clearly states he is aware of your intentions to take the children out of the country for immigration purposes, and that he agrees to it.

Then you're going to have to hope he doesn't get stupid - right up until the plane departs.

This is not something you want to do yourself. Get a lawyer.

One more question please. There is a section where I have to write her address in Arabic, but when I try typing it comes up with weird characters. Is this something that can be hand-written?

I don't see any reason why not.