Myopia

Judging others' iman and actions really takes away from our own personal jihad. Spending time with one's family is the measure of religiosity?

When it comes to Islam, I look at the Quran and Sunnah and see if the actions match. ALlah tells the believing women in the Quran to cover so I cover. Other women choose not to cover which is in contradiction to what Allah has ordered the believing woman to do in the Quran. I know what Jihad An Nafs is. I also know what enjoining the good and forbidding the bad means also.

The idea that because I am striving for the sake of Allah within my self, trying to make sure I pray on time, making sure that I am aware that all my actions are accountable etc(which is part of striving feasibilillah), I am not supposed to correct someone else is incorrect.

You can spend time with your family. Islam tells us to honor the ties of the womb. This is wajib on us but we do not celebrate or partake in those celebrations that are contradictory to our beliefs. Celebrating Easter would be a contradiction as we do not believe that Jesus died on the cross so why would anyone wish to sit with anyone and celebrate that? I consider myself quite balanced but I have never understood why some muslims think its ok to celebrate occasions that are clearly in opposition to the Shahadah. Allah knows best.

... Likewise you are permitted to marry chaste believing women [Muslims] or chaste women among the people who were given the Scripture [Jews and Christians]...

The key word in that ayat is chaste. Ask him what chaste is in Islam. Chaste means the woman does not have sex outside of marriage, she is modest in her dress and demeanor.

The chaste woman is supposed to be religious which is why in the Quran chaste is connected when it comes to muslim women and the Christian or Jewish woman.

Too bad you didnt tell the story teller you understood Cinderella but couldnt relate because she should know Algerians dont wear shoes. Dont let this go without responce because she will continue until stopped.

Awesome.

Tell her to come to VJ and do this:

She is not net friendly so hopefully someone will come and answer my question particularly as relates to the military service.

Assalamu Alaykum And Hello!

I have an american friend who is currently communicating with a man from Syria.

She wants to marry him but is unsure as to how the Immigration process works.

He is due to begin his 2 year military duty and he tells her that marriage to her will allow him a way out of doing this duty. Is this true? Would she have to go to Syria to meet him or could she meet him in a third party country such as Turkey?

She plans to work in the UAE and then return to the US in the future. She is currently in the Uk,

Thanks.

I wasnt trying to be offensive. I think alot of the women are lonley, maybe not even really religious in the first place or had a bad experience with church. In the long run, I always encourage people to stay close to their family and friends and even if they want to explore Islam, to do it slowly and methodically because for the most part, most of these women will not stay with the men they marry and its very hard especially if they have kids because the muslim community is really not set up to sunday school them or be a support to them after they get older ( the kids) I think sunday school is very important to kids and their development whether they be christian they go to jewish school or even an islamic school. But these half hearted cupid conversions are bad for all around. They are bad for the mena guy because he thinks he is getting something different than what he is really getting.. a woman who really didnt do it for the right reasons, the woman who is only doing it to either please the guy , get him more interested or make marrying her more palatable and the kids who are usually coming out of divorce to begin with to be thrust head first into a religion that is totally foreign to American society and the fact that most of these guys wont even be around 4 or 5 years later. You have a kid who missed out on normal American activities which yes, church seems to be a big part of the lives of most Americans, a woman who has removed herself from the American community and yes church is a big part of that and then the fact she will most likely end up without these guys in the end anyway. I see very little outreach programs for 55 year old plus American women in the mosques if they arent married anymore and its a lonely place to be aging without your American friends...No church trips to branson.. I wonder if anyone else has thought about the impact of these cupid conversions on everyone around the woman converting for the relationship which has little chance of lasting anyway.

I thnk that taking offense is really silly because if you are a commited muslim, you wouldnt care if someone questioned your reversion to begin with. I just think the embassies are onto all of this and they know that alot of the women

Most Muslim communities have schools for their children. In arabic this is called a Madarassa which means school. In this society the word madarassa has become synonomous with terrorism which has never been the case.

If a woman accepts Islam sincerely then she is going to find the community here in the USA lends itself to children and educating them.

My husband is very religious and we agree that we live in this country. We will not isolate our children from the larger American culture or my family. We participate in all holidays with my family in our own way. ppearances". Truly converted happens in your heart and intentions. And Islam isn't any harder than you chose to make it.

Honestly. COnversion in Islam is more than something that occurs in the heart. Islam can be Islam lite if you make it up as you go along and follow what you want to follow but this is not really Islam.

When you say your husband is religious and then say you participate in all holidays...it conflicts for me as a muslim because I know that religious muslims will not take part in those festivals. Allahu Alim.

This is not to offend anyone. Its just my opinion and I have been around the masjids etc for over 10 years. I find most of the reverts really have no clue of what they are getting into, they have no understanding of apostasy, they have been sold some kind of lighter version of whats really involved and the relationships were the fodder to why they went and jumped in to begin with. I have met many who miss their churches, their holidays and traditions, ESPECIALLY when the relationships end after the guys get their papers and then they feel super lost because blood is alot thicker than water and unless you really wanted this and there was no relationship that inspired it, whats left for the American when things go south? The parking lot of the masjid is littered with the broken hearts of women who reverted to please men and not for their own reasons... I feel this very strongly and if you did it for you and you wont leave it when your marriage goes south, then good for you but thats not what I have watched or seen,,

I also feel that if a relgious muslim doesnt insist on the western woman reverting , most likely its just for papers anyway. I dont know a religious muslim who would marry a non muslim anyway, especially if kids are on the way...I think if they are willing to do it, they want a greencard and not much else. Religion is very important to mena men as far as I see.

I think you are spot on. On these forums a lot of the reverts are practicing what I call Islam lite. They do not wear hijab, they dont pray, they have men who smoke and drink and arent really good practicing members of Islam. We have muslim women who are married to non muslims who full well know that in Islam they arent even married so thats how much their faith means to them (why not just leave Islam if you want to live a life that contradicts Islam?) and so on and so forth,

A religious muslim man can marry a woman who is christian or jewish and she will not need to convert.

Thats everybody,

it looks as though my application was approved. On 4/20, the USCIS website says my card was ordered for production, and yesterday I received my welcome letter.

In all the last 5 and a half months have not been as terrible as I imagined.

Thanks all. Just waiting for the actual card now

And Breathe!

I was thinking maybe it will be better if I will withdraw my petition right know... and apply after few month or so... When my husband will have even a little bit work experience to show, that he can support me.

I got my EAD card and last Friday apply for SS card, I can find the job here to show as well that I can support my self, or him if needed.

What the officer will think if I will withdraw my petition and after couple month apply again?

If you withdraw your petition(rather your husband does) then your EAD will no longer be valid.

hhhmmmm I am also sailing in the same boat. I came on 6/29/10 and had immigration till 12/28. Applied for extension and was granted for 3 months till 3/15. Married my US GF in Jan. Filed my I 130 in Feb. I did not file my I485 as we did not have enough money for it. Also our attorney adviced to file it later. I will my I485 AND I765 next week. He also informed us that i can apply for my Advance parole for travel and come back. It should not be a problem. May be my case is a little different because i got married within my extension time period or may be not

But you have now overstayed your extension and if you leave you will trigger a ban. You are now out of status as can be denied entry if you choose to use the AP.

WOWOW, the THIRD interview letter, we're march people are moving fast...

well san fransisco is not small and i am sure they have many applications as well, c'mon federal plaza LITTLE BIT FASTER

I-130 petition is approved at the interview, you don't receive an approval for that before the interview

Who knows. I dont think we will get interviews till July the earliest.

Hmmm I hope you are right for their sake but why do we go through the process then of filling for a K-1 visa? I mean I had a tourist visa, I didn't overstay but we could have gotten married when I was in the States and I would be forgiven?

I don't think it's that simple as some people claimed. I guess since you have nothing to lose, you can go for it and do anything you can to make your wife legally stay in the US

The worst thing on VJ are people who really don't know what they are talking about and thats ok as long as when you do talk you give correct information. I can attest to that because at times I have given misinformation and then felt worried that my bad advice may have caused someone to make a move that they would not have made before I opened my big mouth!

The Immigration process is not limited to K1/ CR1 and those other types of visas. There is a process which allows people who are already in the US to adjust status from out of status to in status. Being in status means becoming a legal permanent resident. You went through the process because your situation was different. You met your spouse and wanted to bring her to the USA so you did it by the book (so to speak).

Had you remained in the US , got married and then filed for your LPR status you would have had that overstay forgiven.

Bear in mind people overstay for a variety of reasons, it is not always because they intend to circumvent the "right way".

yay! i just got my interview letter! set for may 23.. at last!thanks god! but no ead yet.

Another small town boy! I don't think that any of the NYC filers will see anything till at least July/August earliest.

They received the welcome letter today. So the greencard is coming very soon.

They played the system. Welcome to America indeed.

Whatever happened to integrity. They aren't even really married.

What a terrible dark secret. Talk about skeleton bones.

Good evening Visa Journey family,

I am about to send my package but the thing is that I am confused about the G325a forms. I read the instructions and I went through the form itself and from my understanding, I (I am the one applying for an AOS from an F-1 Visa) is the ONLY one to file the form. Does my husband who is a US citizen needs to file the form???

Many thanks!

You fill one and your husband fills out one.

Ok sorry. I was confused. As I understand you did file for AOS based on marriage but left before the AOS was adjudicated?

Why are you worried about the interview? What did the IO say that made you feel that she was more concerned with the first marriage?

If you gave a timeline with entrys to the US (with the visa that you entered in) it may become clearer.

Does anyone know if you can get a dl in Florida with the noa1 of the 485 or 130?

No you can not.

I would think so but I'm concerned that they they think that I tried to hide the fact by not indicating filing in my application.

I truly didn't remember going through the complete process and am still amazed I did. It was 16 years ago and my memories from that time are really a blur.

I'm hoping that the fact that I abandoned the case and never benefited from it will be taken into account.

I hope they just need to fill up some blanks and answer some questions before moving on, it felt that the officer was hardly interested in our current marriage.

The problem is on the forms you are asked about previous marriages and your forgetfulness could be seen as a misrepresentation.

I am assuming that both times you got married, you were here on the Visa Waiver Program. That means twice you entered the US, married a US citizen and then filed for a green card. The first time you abandoned the case, this time you didn't.

I think that this is a red flag because it may look as if you married your first wife for immigration purposes and your forgetfulness may look like concealment because you knew that it would look odd if you had the previous marriage on your forms.

How did the IO come to find out about your prior marriage? Did you tell her that you were married in the interview or did she inform you that she knew?

What evidence were you asked to send in? The evidence from the first marriage or second marriage?

PS. Seriously, how many people forget a marriage?

What about moving to Canada?

Do your research,

Immigrating to Canada

oh lmfao!!! i like that last bit you added..i wish they did that with me xD cause my photo was so crappy..looked like i have a ton of hair on just my right side.. i looked funny but at least you've got a chance to pick xD you'd be proud of your gc and ead cards xD!

There was no way to save my picture and she did asked me if it was okay.

I asked her if she had photoshop(and I wasn't joking)

Is anyone going to reply? I really need to reply to the email but I need some opinions!

You're a grown man in a grown man's situation. I don't want to sound mean but you have had excellent advise and it did not cost you a dime!

You have three choices

a) Listen to the lawyer who actually knows your case and see where this ends up. Let her write the letter etc.

b) Return to your home country

c) Keep posting on VJ hoping that we know the unseen and can decipher your case.

The choice is yours.

Also I hope you know the laws of the USA when it comes to pregnate women in the work place. Many companies wont hire pregnate people because they must give them leave after the baby is born & allow them to come back to work later. I hope thats not the case for you in your search.

Gosh. They are not allowed to discriminate. Pregnancy is treated as a temporary disability so once you are hired, your employer can not fire you because you are pregnant. Here is what the law says in NY. I am not sure of the laws in your state but suffice it to say that knowledge is power!

Pregnancy is not a disease.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act provides a framework for how pregnant women should be treated on the job including the following guidelines:

* Pregnant women must be treated the same as other applicants or employees with similar abilities or limitations

* An employer cannot refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant as long as she is able to perform the job

* An employer can only require pregnant workers to submit a doctor note excusing their inability to work if they require all employees to do the same

* Pregnant employees must be permitted to work as long as they are able to perform their jobs

* Employers must hold open a job for pregnancy-related absences the same length of time jobs are held open for employees on sick or disability leave

* Employees with pregnancy-related disabilities must be treated the same as other temporarily disabled employees with respect to pay and benefits

Well you need to exhaust all options and this is an option.

All the best.

doubt it's anything to do with the town being small or big, it just it is lol what to say...

If the area he lives in is sparsely populated , then the District Office closest to him would probably have less of a case load therefore he would be seen faster. If you live in a bigger city with more immigration applicants...then your process will be longer.