Our interview was borderline culturally inappropriate and I don't think our visa officer knew anything about Islam or anything about the culture of the Middle East. She said comments such as "weren't you a little too old to study in a madrasa" referring to those horrid images on telly with little kids reciting the Qu'ran back and forth and didn't even think about the fact that my husband (fiance at the time) studied in a highly reputable Islamic seminary in Iran, called a madrasa from the Arabic word, but NOT at all like the ones she was referring to. Also, she didn't seem to believe that my husband learned theology, philosophy, science and arts in the madrasa. She even asked whether we shared a "bed" which in his eyes was totally inappropriate. Anyways, she finally approved us but it our interview was like walking on egg shells, she questioned and refuted each and every answer and turned everything around which was difficult for him to answer since English is not his first language.
Luckily our second interview in Ankara was a breeze and the interviewing officer even spoke Farsi!
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #6985
Review on December 18, 2010:
