Der Bücherwurm

Ok, thanks for all the answers.

I just hope it doesn't take too long because my landlord wants to sell the place we are currently renting. So come Jan. 19th we might have to move. I just wish they could give an estimate of how long it will take so I can decide if it is better to look for another furnished flat or stay at a hostel come the 19th if we are unable to stay where we are.

The AP is done outside of the Embassy - so they can only update when they get updates.

Where? At the NVC?

They gave us a blue sheet that shows the web address for the embassy where you check the AP list to see if your case number has been added. Once the case number appears we are supposed to return to the embassy with the passport. They haven't updated the list since the 18th, however.

AP Status update...

Anyone have any idea how long AP through Ankara takes on average?

Just curious how long people wait after the interview to inquire about their case? Will it annoy the consular staff and make them take longer? Or should I be calling DOS instead of emailing the embassy?

They probably won't really look through your pictures. I just included a few sheets with thumbnails of our photos that I printed off my computer with some text detailing which relatives/friends were in the pics. That way you can fit about a hundred pics on 3-4 sheets of paper for them to glance at.

That's good, at least one embassy cares.. Ankara doesn't care at all.

lol

What do we need living wages for? Apparently, we don't even need private let alone public sector jobs. Being employed is so 1990's.

To all those that contacted their congressman after being put on AP...How long did you wait before contacting them? Do you think it makes the Consulate mad when you get your congressman involved? I'm worried they would delay our case even longer or am I being paranoid?

Personally, I think the govt. following private industry and outsourcing to China is a great, cost-cutting idea! The Chinese have done such a wonderful job with their own country. Surely, they can only improve America too.

So what is everyone that can't be with their family for the holidays going to do on Christmas? I'll chat with my family on webcam to cheer them up. My mom says she'll keep the tree and decorations up til February if she has to so we can celebrate Christmas whenever we do arrive. They're even keeping some turkey, sweet potato casserole and asparagus casserole in the freezer to make for us so we won't miss out on the traditional meal. My husband plans on making me my favorite Persian dish, Fesenjun, with turkey instead of the usual chicken Christmas Day. Then I'll treat him to the movie, 'Avatar', since he wants to see it. The next day is our 1 year anniversary so we will eat out. We will probably go to the Ikea restaurant and share a plate of Norwegian salmon and Swedish meatballs with potatoes, etc. I used to live in Norway so I miss some of the foods from there and he's acquired a taste for it too. And of course there will be lots and lots of pistachio baklava. Yum.

Population of Ocala is 46K while Orlando is 186K

I never realized Orlando was so small. Of course, the only time I ever went there was as a child so of course everything seemed bigger then.

Anyway, good luck on your move, Donna!

Haven't seen it yet. I think I'll treat my husband to it on Christmas Day. Hope it's available in 3D here.

Every day I am reminded why I married an un-liberated Ukrainian woman. You are the reminder for today. Thanks.

Goodness! I suggest gin.

Love,

Joyce

Ah, yes. VJ's resident bitter, male harpy. Reminding me daily why crotchety old men are best left to babushkas with low standards.

Me thinks he needs far more than gin.

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.

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

In some of the states I've lived in, the highway patrol have quotas they have to fill for tickets issued. So they just hang around by the roadside stopping people for speeding and issuing tickets til their quota is filled for the day and then they head off to the donut shop or something. Meanwhile, somebody speeds past the donut shop going 40 miles over the limit but they don't lift a finger because they've filled their quotas already. So I was wondering if the consulates are told they have to put a certain number of people on AP.

Awww, so sweet about the butterfly.

Hopefully, none of you will get AP or that the AP will be short. Maybe Santa will be dropping lumps of coal in certain CO's stockings this year.

I believe they make up their minds before the interview!

I do too. It says on the Ankara embassy website that most Iranian applicants will have to go through some additional AP. I suspect that maybe they are told to put a certain percentage on AP. So maybe they just randomly assign AP til they fill their quota.

I think they have a dart board in back with case numbers on it and when they throw the dart and miss they decide to put you on AP.

Seriously, maybe the consular staff are being instructed to dole out AP more often due to the economy. I don't know. Our interview resulted in AP in Ankara and I suppose we should be happy because all of the Iranians ahead of us got AP and some got an RFE or a denial. They just told us there was some additional processing necessary. My husband has a rare name so it isn't name check, the CO didn't have any problems with our paperwork or co-sponsor and didn't doubt our relationship. There are no red flags in our relationship. We are the same age and educational level. We have both lived together for a little over 2 years and will have been married for a year the day after christmas. I even included a letter from my parents saying they are aware of our relationship and that we will be staying with them initially. Still we got AP.

It sounds like both Abu Dhabi, UAE & Ankara, Turkey are both handing out AP left and right. Our interview was on Dec. 15th as well but in Ankara and the CO had no problem with our documentation, didn't have a problem with the Affidavit of Support, didn't doubt our relationship. He just handed us the blue slip, our pics & my husband's passport back and said just check the website every Friday. He didn't give us any reason other than saying there was some additional processing necessary. It can't be a name check because my husband has a very rare name and is the only entry that comes up if you google him. There were a lot of Iranians ahead of us that all got AP, a few got an RFE and a few got denied. I think, due to the economy, the consulates are just putting more people on AP even if there is no problem with their packet. I don't know how soon after an interview is kosher to contact a congressman. Maybe others will say how long they waited before they started calling.

I think 6 months would be a fair compromise.

Interview was yesterday in Ankara. They were doling out AP left and right. They put us on AP and said it would be another month or two til the visa is issued.

There was a boatload of Iranians ahead of us and behind us as well. The ones ahead of us all either got AP, an RFE or outright denied. Didn't stick around to find out about the ones after us. We just headed back to the hotel for a consolation drink. One family that won the greencard lottery was absolutely thrilled and grinning from ear to ear to just be put on AP after seeing some denials and RFEs.

Good luck Der Bücherwurm ! I wish you a quick and easy interview ! hopefully you won't have to through AP !

Thanks. Unfortunately we were put on AP. They were in an APish kind of mood this morning. There were loads of Iranians in line ahead of us and all of them either got AP, an RFE or denied altogether. My mother is crushed. She was hoping we might be able to make it home for the holidays. I hope it won't be a long AP.

I'm so nervous/excited. We will be taking an overnight train to Ankara tonight so we can have a full day to explore Ankara tomorrow. Then our interview is bright and early on Tuesday. I so hope it goes well and the AP is short.

I haven't read all of this but lordy it's sickening hearing u repeat "my daughter is arab....my daughter is moroccan." I'm american with 2 kids from the same dad who is algerian. They know it, EVERYONE knows it. But THEY are .....gasp.....american!!!!! and proud of it. For the love of god. what is ur point in always bringing this up???? if ur kids weree born here ther are americans!!!!!

Many people have been wondering the same thing.