treehugger

It can happen to anyone. I'm a British woman born and bred, and tomorrow I will have been in mandatory AP for nine weeks

Sometimes my husband gets all fired up about only eating halal meat, so I tell him that I'm happy to cook only halal meat for him if he brings it home. The halal store is about 20 minutes away and right near where he works. He never brings it home and ends up eating the non halal meat.
My rationale is that if it's really that important to you, you'll make the effort.

I agree with you, I like the idea of UK instead of individual nations. Technically, the UK is one country that consists of England, Wales, Scotland and NI, though people may claim those each as nationalities. Technically, I should have a Cornish flag on my profile as my fiance is from Cornwall (and many in Cornwall would argue that they should have just as much autonomy as Wales or Scotland and that Cornish is just as much a nationality as the others). Yes, a person can be Scottish rather than English, but everyone born in the UK is British.
But all of that is really just theoretical. For practical immigration purposes, especially since there is only one Embassy at which all of these people would interview (London), I think that having everyone under the UK portal would be a good idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF_6vubbyW8



“He that can have Patience, can have what he will”

“All good things come to he who waits”

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

“Patience is the key to paradise”

002.153 Al-Baqara
YUSUFALI: O ye who believe! seek help with patient perseverance and prayer; for Allah is with those who patiently persevere.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

I was just sitting here, thinking about how horrible it is to wait, and not have a sure date to look forward to Because patience is a virtue, i need MUCH more of. Anyway, we all know this is a hard thing to do... wait, and no one likes it. When my daughter complains, about something, or about not having something I play the guilt trip on her...."Emma, you shouldn't complain. Think about children, who do not have anything. You have so much. This usually works on her, b/c she is such a thoughtful lil girl (just needs reminded sometimes) Now, I'm sitting here doing a guilt trip on myself. So, I have to wait for my fiance a lil longer. There are worse things I could be waiting for. There are worse things others are waiting for

- I could be waiting for a loved one to come back from war....will they come back?
- I could be waiting for a heart transplant
- I could be a new mother waiting for her prematurely born baby to breath through her own lungs.
- I could be someone who has survived a natural disaster, waiting for relief
- I could be an Orphan, waiting for someone to adopt me, and make me feel loved
- I could be an abused child, waiting for someone to save me!
- I could be someone with limited financial resources, waiting for the next time they can afford to feed their crying children.

I could be waiting for these things, but I am not. I am waiting for my fiance who loves me, and who I'm sure I will be with, and have a bright future with. I am lucky to be waiting for this! So I am happy, and fortunate to have Hamza to wait for...otherwise there would be nothing I am waiting for... and God might find me something else to wait for, and it might not come in the form of a handsome Algerian.


Good luck to everyone waiting. I just started waiting. SOOOOOO, gimme a couple months I might change my tune BUT...I think this thought will jump start my waiting, on a good note

Hoping everyone has a short wait!

I disagree. I see sense of entitlement and pissiness due to things not going as planned.

Like others have said, it's entirely the norm for a MENA person to have AP regardless of which consulate they are at. Last year there was a couple with a guy from the MENA region applying through the London consulate who got stuck in AP/AR for 9 months. One girl was born in India as a baby but moved to the UK as a baby and she still got stuck in AP for more than a month.
Just now, there has been a case of a Canadian born woman who has been stuck in AP for 3 months so far and a natural born British woman who is still in AP from February. They have no idea why this is happening, but there it is.
My suggestion for the waiver/AP forum is just so you can find people in similar circumstances. Whatznext has been waiting over 2 years in AP (after a denied K1 visa) and her husband is applying from Ukraine, although he is from the MENA region.
I've never been in AP (although we waited 5 weeks after our interview for our visa) and I can't imagine what you must be going through . I really hope you get your visa soon. You guys look beautiful together in your picture

Thank you LaL
Whether already married (like us) or just engaged, you NEVER EVER FORGET your visa experience. So many low, low days of depression, waiting and waiting, losing hope, and missing your SO terribly.
My husband is Egyptian and went thru the Qatar embassy, we interviewed together very well, nothing else requested, but still took 3 months of AP, and we know that is the short end of AP!!
So anyone thinking that those of us with our SO's already home, that maybe we forgot or don't understand anymore........WRONG!!
This whole process teaches you PATIENCE and to not compare your timeline with anyone elses even from the same embassy. Each case is different!!!
Zahra

Meghan, I think you need to step away from the computer and everything else and take a deep breath. This has been one helluva week for you with your Ramadan bullsh!t going on with your family, your fiance's interview stress and now AP/AR. You need to understand that AP/AR for 6 days is nothing...there have been people in AP for 2 years. Yes, it sucks the big one, but it happens.
The MENA VJrs are quite compassionate, and hell - I'm not even MENA and I'm very compassionate, too. Let me just say this: don't go putting on airs about your visa experience compared to someone else - that just doesn't fly around these parts. No one forgets their visa interview experience...it's kinda like losing your virginity - you never forget your first time.
That being said, we can all tell you the horror stories of visa interviews: (ours was hell on wheels at Buenos Aires); AOS interviews (easy as pie); ROC process (completely fvcked from the get go - had to wait for a year to receive his permanent card); and citizenship (hubby's process was a dream, except for the rat-####### IO who interviewed him in 6 minutes, no less!). We're your support, your backbone, your cheerleaders. Everyone here wants the best for you and your fiance, accept it and move on. See, it's kinda like what Red Green used to say, "Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together."

Most people who frequent this forum have been on AR/AP. In my journey we went through Montreal (with a "mena" man) and were on AR for 8 months. The advice is good advice, really. It's really disheartening to see people new to the process lash out at seasoned members suggesting we don't recall what the wait is like. I remember.

Whoa hold on there. I'm not being judgmental but based on your posts you really need to cool it. I DO remember being on AP and names checks. I waited 4 mos. in AP. I didn't come here and have a temper tantrum about it after 6 days. If I'd have done that I'd have never made it. I also didn't act indignant and think it was my right to have no AP because others in my same position waited less. You'll get no where with that attitude.

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

People really call daily for an update on when their interview is going to be scheduled? Even those of us in AP don't do that!!

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

People really call daily for an update on when their interview is going to be scheduled? Even those of us in AP don't do that!!

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I really don't know what to say - the current crop of K1 filers seem to be flying through with their applications (yay!) and despite this they need hope regarding when their interview is scheduled? Really? From my husband filing to NVC completion was exactly five months, slightly longer than average (at that time, don't know about now). I had to wait a further two months for an interview - roughly the same amount of time current K1 filers take from sending in the application to USCIS to the embassy receiving the case - wow! My interview was short and sweet, told to expect the visa within a week or two, but SIX MONTHS later and I'm still waiting as I later found out I'm in administrative processing and nobody knows why. Two congressional inquiries and three attempts by a senator and we're still none the wiser, or closer to getting a visa. I have been told there's no timeframe and that it could take years and there's nothing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I'm the one that needs hope here, blimey!!! All this and I still don't call the DoS daily, or even weekly...
Oh and, my case is NOTHING compared to fellow UK applicants that needed to apply for waivers. There are people waiting years, literally, for an outcome and there's somebody at the moment who's already endured the most testing circumstances and who's appealing...she's been told it's another 26+ MONTHS before her case is reviewed. And yet here we have people who can't wait an extra few days to hear when their interview will be. How on earth do they expect to cope with the trials and tribulations of life, including marriage?!?

I haven't been nasty once in this thread. You're the one who flies off the handle any time someone dares to post something that doesn't go along with you agenda. Just once I'd love you to really try to understand what some of us are saying, rather than jump down our collective throats.

People really call daily for an update on when their interview is going to be scheduled? Even those of us in AP don't do that!!

People really call daily for an update on when their interview is going to be scheduled? Even those of us in AP don't do that!!

People really call daily for an update on when their interview is going to be scheduled? Even those of us in AP don't do that!!