moctar

Just to let u know that my wife finally got her VISA!!. Yes she did!! after nearly a year of waiting, her visa was approved. It was a very painful process and very costly. But we are grateful that it is over.

hey, peeps!

@purplesky-they very well might. this world is small.

@moctar-sorry to hear that. why did they put her on AP? what evidence did she bring with her?

My wife brought our photos and emails. They only asked to see the pictures. The interview took five minutes, she answered all questions except one, which was the name of my former wife, and the CO told her she should have known that and at the end of the interview he told her they will call her back in two weeks, but they never did. I wrote them explaining why she didn't know my former wife's name, and they responded that the case was referred to their eligibility review unit for further processing and that they cannot predict how long this will take. They said they are not requesting any additional evidence from us though. So I don't really know what kind of processing are they doing or how long this may take.

How long have you been in AP for. I am noticing bunch of other reasons for AP. Such as age gap. How long you knew each other prior the marriage. How much evidence did you show them. The fact that you are in military should work for your favor. May be your consulate has a high fraud rate which is why they are doing AP on every one.

How has it been since the AP ?

- Age gap is 10 years ( but that's is very normal in the country I am coming from ).

- Evidence is not a problem either, because the consulate said they don't need any additional information or documents from us.

- Also, it is very easy to verify the relationship in the country I am coming from, because it is a small country (less than 3 millions) and almost everybody knows each other.

- My military service doesn't seem to have any positive impact here, and I hope it is not working against me.

I have been in AP since June 22nd. Every time I ask for the status of my case the reply I got from the consulate is: "We have Initiated all our inquiries and waiting for replies, we cannot predict how long this will take however", which is very frustrating to me, but there is nothing I can do, just wait and see..

Your current marriage is well above that 5 years mark. So, I don't think your AP is not that issue.

Loto

Thank you.

Moctar, when did you marry this time? I see your I-130 filing in 2009-10-15?

Loto

I married Aug 8th 2009.

well, i guess i am the lone soldier here. lol.

Hi,

I am also going through Dakar. My wife had her interview on June 22nd and was placed on AP. I am really getting frustrated by now but there's nothing I can do, just wait and see.

Moctar

Hey Loto

In the same manual I was reading that if the petitioner got LPR thru a previous marriage to a USC, then a special note will be put on the app indicating to the consulate that it may be a possible Sham. We are definitely talking AP here.

The situation is that the Petitioner did get LPR thru marriage to a USC about 6 yrs ago. Became LPR, removed conditions showing good faith etc. And then got married this year to a non USC. The petitioner now is a USC and has applied for CRI1 for the beneficiary not currently residing in US. The beneficiary has never been previously married.

I am looking at 100% chance for AP for the wife (beneficiary) here ? What do you think ?

Hi Loto,

What if the petitioner gained LPR thru marriage in Mar. 2002 but got citizenship thru military service in Dec. 2003? Is that the reason they put my wife in AP? and if so, how long do you think that may take?

Thank you,

Moctar

Moctar, in reference to your answer, I don't think all Africans commit fraud and I am not going through anything.

You asked for assistance about your AP case and what it could possibly mean and I explained it to you.

I can't help it if your case sounds like fraud to me. Honestly, each time you post something, it goes closer and closer to that, but who am I.

Anyway, it seems like you want the good news and nothing but that. I can only give you the facts based on the info you have provided.

I understand you simply want your wife with you and probably could care less about anything else. That is to be expected.

But, based on everything you have said in your previous messages, it looks suspect. You can't see it because you are in the case and not looking from the outside.

You mentioned the Affidavit of Support on my timeline.

I found out later on that the AP staff was using that as a stalling tactic and just didn't tell me. They might use anything to delay. The delay is to investigate more into the marriage and the intending immigrant...also to cause the immigrant to just abandon the case.

By the way, the reason I didn't mention fraud in previous postings was because I didn't listen to the good folks on here (VJ) who told me also that my case looked suspect and also could be fraud. Basically I was on the inside looking out at everyone else....same as you are doing right now.

After the fact, I studied up, interviewed immigration officials, etc and know more about immigration than most attorney's.

I wasn't trying to convince you that your marriage was a fraud, I simply said that the information that you gave to us sounds very much like what happens to those who are eventually found to be in fraud marriages.

I answered your question to help you understand the process in Dakar, not to break up any marriage.

Good luck.

Thank you.

I don't care what your local customs are, but if you're going in for a visa interview where the fate of your relationship rests on some government worker, you better bet that you know your spouse's ex-wife's name. We're not talking about who you dated in middle school or who your first girlfriend was. We're talking about your former spouse's name. It is not unreasonable to think that someone who is now married to you would know who were married to previously. Otherwise, don't be surprised if you find yourself in AP or worse, denied.

The fate of our relationship doesn't depend on my wife getting her visa or not. I am just curious if someone else has gone through a similar scenario before.

Thank you.

By the way, what custom says not to speak about previous spouses? I'm assuming you are Muslim based on Mauritania being an Islamic country. I am Muslim also and their is no Islamic custom that says that. Actually your supposed to inquire about character and previous spouses and family to know what type of person and family you are marrying. I've traveled all over the African continent and various other places and learned about (and lived with) a great many cultures. What you said doesn't sound plausible. That is a red flag to an interviewer and also why you could be in review. Most women who marry usually want to know about previous marriages of a man. Women like to know all sorts of details that men rarely care about. If she doesn't know the ex's name, that is weird. I still know the ex's names of every past person I ever dated as I'm sure that most women would know also.

Yes we are Muslims, but that is our religion. In addition to that we also have our local customs. I would also like to let you know that traveling around the world doesn't entail one to know everything about societies.

But on your next trip to Africa, I am inviting you to stop by Mauritania and ask what would a women feel if her husband talks about his prior marriages? and how disrespectful to her this can be?

Once you do that then you will probably understand what I am talking about. You will also probably be surprised by how many women don't even want to go to the United States. And I am talking about facts.

Thank you.

Moctar, you have asked this before.

Please do not double post. Simply write again in your own original thread.

It will come up as active again for all to see.

By the way, in reference to your question (that I answered before also), it took almost another 6 months to be approved. That only happened because I personally went to Dakar to see what was going on (happened to speak to the interviewer, but didn't know it at the time). Flew back to my home for a business appointment then flew back to Dakar for the real interview 3 days later.

Also, at the time I was also in the process of completing background checks to work for USCIS (had applied the year before), so I had my OPM government papers with me to show the interviewer that I was about to possibly work for government. I think that is what also swayed the person, because barring that, it probably would not have been approved.

Hi Leedah,

Thank you for your prompt answer and for sharing your experiences.

First of all, you did not answer my question in the previous posting. Instead, you tried to convince me that there is some fraud involved in my case, which we chatted about a few times. Secondly, when I looked at your time-lines and your previous postings, I didn't see you mentioning anything about fraud in your case, but you rather stated that your case was delayed because of Affidavit of Support.

Lastly, I don't know what are you going through right now that make you believe that people from West Africa are all about fraud. It is unfortunately true that some people are like that but not all of them. Also fraud exist everywhere not only in West Africa.

Thank you,

My wife had her interview in Dakar, Senegal on June 22 2010. The interview took 5 minutes she answered all the questions about me, the only question she didn't know was the name of my former wife (My former wife by the way, sponsored my green card, but I got my citizenship through military service). The CO told her she was supposed to know her name, then he asked for our pictures and my wife showed him our photos. At the end of the interview, the CO told her they will call her in few weeks. I wrote the consulate explaining how according to our customs we don't talk about past marriages and he responded: "your case was referred to eligibility review unit for further research and processing. We will contact you when we can move forward". After 10 days, I wrote another email asking for the status and they replied "we have initiated all our inquiries and waiting for replies. We cannot reliably predict how long this may take".

I would like to know if anybody has gone through a similar situation? and if so, what was the outcome and how long this may take? and which kind of research and processing are they doing?

I greatly appreciate your help.

Thank you.

Has anyone gone through the eligibility review unit in Dakar, Senegal? and if so can you tell me how long it took before they approve the visa?

I appreciate your help.

Leedah,

So how long did it take before they actually finished their inquiries and approve the visa?

When I said me and my wife from the same country, I also meant we are from the same culture and we have a very strong relationship. So as I said there is no worry about any kind of fraud in the relationship.

But thank you for your warnings and for sharing your information anyway.

Yes, that is EXACTLY what they told me. Wow, amazing.

They do that (the waiting game) to give the intending immigrant who is considered a fraud time to get frustrated & tired of waiting and just take off.

I don't know how I feel telling you this bit of information because I know that you would obviously tell your wife and if she is a fraud, she will undoubtedly keep on for the prize.

You also mentioned being from the same country and knowing your wife.

I lived in my ex's country off and on since 2005 and I thought I knew him also. I traveled back and forth from the U.S. to Senegal, traveled into Gambia by bus (6 to 8 hours) by myself every month and eventually learned the language just to keep from getting lost. I am the same religion (muslim), I am a black person (same as my ex), I have children from a previous person who is from the same country AND same area, have met (several times) the whole family, etc etc.

Say all that to say,....it doesn't matter.

If your case ends up in review, something is amiss.

No one has time to review cases months and months at a time and perform extra interviews on a whim.

Good luck.

Leedah,

When I asked the consular section they said nothing about fraud. But they send me the following message: "Sorry no updates on your case yet. At this point we are not requiring any document from you or Mrs. ********. We have initiated all our inquiries, and are waiting for replies. We cannot reliably predict how long this will take, however."

Does this looks familiar to you?

Also, the reason I said there is no fraud in my case is because me and my wife are from the same country "Mauritania" and I know her very well and I know the system very well too. So There is no fraud in that regard. Is it possible that they are just conducting background checks on my wife?

I appreciate if you can provide me with your take on this.

Thank you.

The reason the case went to this department is because someone in that unit thinks their is some evidence of fraud going on.

Mine went through this unit and also a few others that I know of.

Guess what, they were ALL turned out to be fraud AFTER they were approved for their visa. In my case, they did everything but sit me down and plainly say "uh, your husband is a fraud and you need to stop your petition right this moment". Naturally I wouldn't have believed them and would have did everything humanly possible to prove them wrong (which I did). Well, they were right.

All I can say is, if your case ends up in this unit, start looking long and hard at your situation to see why they feel it is fraud.

These people actually live in Dakar and know all the customs, language, idiosyncrasies, ....everything about what fraud looks like.

I personally thought, "hey, they are American just like me. They don't know my marriage". Well, turns out they did but can not, by law, force you to abandon a petition if you can prove that YOU THINK your marriage is real and legit, even if it isn't.

I think they will just approve the petition and take a "I told you so" stance after the fact.

Good luck in your review and be careful.

P.S.

Here's a barometer..

If the case is in review and they make her come to more than one fraud interview over the months, not to be funny, but you definitely should do some soul searching.

there's no fraud in my case. So I am not worried about that at all.

Thanks for sharing your story.

The reason the case went to this department is because someone in that unit thinks their is some evidence of fraud going on.

Mine went through this unit and also a few others that I know of.

Guess what, they were ALL turned out to be fraud AFTER they were approved for their visa. In my case, they did everything but sit me down and plainly say "uh, your husband is a fraud and you need to stop your petition right this moment". Naturally I wouldn't have believed them and would have did everything humanly possible to prove them wrong (which I did). Well, they were right.

All I can say is, if your case ends up in this unit, start looking long and hard at your situation to see why they feel it is fraud.

These people actually live in Dakar and know all the customs, language, idiosyncrasies, ....everything about what fraud looks like.

I personally thought, "hey, they are American just like me. They don't know my marriage". Well, turns out they did but can not, by law, force you to abandon a petition if you can prove that YOU THINK your marriage is real and legit, even if it isn't.

I think they will just approve the petition and take a "I told you so" stance after the fact.

Good luck in your review and be careful.

P.S.

Here's a barometer..

If the case is in review and they make her come to more than one fraud interview over the months, not to be funny, but you definitely should do some soul searching.

Hi Everyone,

My wife had her immigrant visa interview last week in Dakar, Senegal, and our case was referred to the Eligibility Review Unit for research and processing. Has anyone gone through this before? and if so, how long does this process take? and what the purpose of this?

I appreciate your help.

Thank you