ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Africa: Sub-SaharanPaying the Brideprice
So your husband didn't insist on paying your parents the brideprice!? How unfair!

I guess I'm lucky I'm not marrying a Bukusu (sub-tribe of Luhya tribe in Kenya) or a Sudanese woman. The brideprice for my friend's wife was 13 cows (a set price among the Bukusu), about $1500 cash, and other gifts. The good thing there is that you can pay in installments, otherwise most men would become quite old before they can enjoy time with their wives!

I saw some program the other day, maybe Oprah or something on National Geographic or something, where the brideprice for the Sudanese woman was 100 cows. How anyone can afford that is beyond me. Maybe that partly explains all the cattle-theiving.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-08 13:32:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanPaying the Brideprice
I'm wondering how others are dealing with the brideprice and other traditional issues associated with marriage. In our case, I will be paying the brideprice in cash (200,000 KSh--slightly under $3000). We didn't negotiate the brideprice in the normal way either, with me delaring my intentions and then representatives for me (my parents) coming to negotiate with her Godparents. Their airline tickets alone would have cost as much as the brideprice, and I'm not sure my parents would have enjoyed the pit latrine and lack of electricity in Meru! There will be no exchange of livestock, or small gifts of sugar, honey, or traditional drinks, although separate from the wedding, we do of course take lots of small gifts and groceries when we have had the chance to visit her traditional home.

I would have liked to have had a wedding party with her my fiancee's family before I left back for the US, but there just wasn't time. So now what we'd like to do is have the courthouse wedding here soon after she arrives, to meet the requirements of the law, and then plan something more interesting for my friends and family here and for her friends and family there the next time we have a chance and can afford to go back to Kenya--maybe sometime in summer 2008 or during the Christmas holidays of 2008-9. I hope we can fulfill more of the traditional obligations then, although her parents are very flexible to the whole situation and understand that the expectations completely change in our case (compared to her sister, who is marrying a Kenyan from the Kamba tribe), which is why we simply went with a cash deal, with literally no negotiations. In fact, it was Jacinta who talked to her parents about me and told them to tell her what they wanted. Her dad wanted to consult with some elders (because she is the first-born and her younger sister didn't get engaged until after we did), but her mom was like, "no, just give her a figure".
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-08 12:15:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanSpeaking with your African family???
I sent my fiancee's family SMS messages on their cell phones, but I don't call because it's too expensive, and there's not much to say anyway. We talked in person when I visited them in Kenya. I dunno, maybe it will be difference once we're married.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-27 16:07:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanFor white men married to African women

I am Latin, my husband (Irish-American) likes when I have long hair, and when I use highlights, I like that look too but I am not the kind of person who will take care of long hair or that wants to expend enough time in the mornings to style it. I keep it quite long just for him, (if it was for me I would have it as short as his). I don't think he wants me to have highlights because he wants to make me a white woman, he just saw that once and he liked that, now he wants to have it more often.

On the other hand I think my husband looks so handsome with no beard or mustache, he tried it once for me but he definitely does not feel good without a mustache at all and he has been using a beard for the last 6 months or so.
He feels comfortable with his beard same way I feel comfortable with my short hair.

You can ask, if your spouse loves you he or she will not force you to do something that will make you feel uncomfortable.
But if you can do something that pleases your husband/wife it has its rewards too.


Well, I guess it can go both ways. Now that I think about it, I lost some priviledges when I started growing a beard because it scratched her too much. So, as soon as I realized my stubble was getting in the way of my love life, I shaved immediately. But then I kindly requested that if I have to be completely bald, so does she! :devil:

Edited by mmarlo, 17 March 2007 - 02:06 PM.

mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-17 14:06:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanFor white men married to African women

I remember watching a blonde, three-year-old girl rubbing her cheek against the black, natural hair of her friend as both smiled and hugged each other. Children know. I don't understand what happens to some adults. As so many others have said, you are beautiful exactly as God made you, and you deserve to be treated with love and respect, especially by the one who has promised to be by your side as you both go through whatever life brings you.


That reminds me of how all the kids wanted to touch my skin and hair when I was in Kenya. Most had probably never seen a white person before, let alone one with red hair. But what really surprised them was when I could speak (some words in) their language. The look of complete confusion and excitement on a child's face is priceless. Then again, the adults were pretty surprised and happy, too, so adults don't have to lose all childlike qualities!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-17 14:01:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanFor white men married to African women

Spiritee is 100% correct about the ladies husband. As I was trying to say earlier in one of my other posts that these same American men marry girls from these third world countries so they can be able to have control over them. They think American women are too independent and would not take such. Obviously he will try to change her in other ways. For example, he might tell her not to wear low cut shirts or tell her not to wear long pants or dresses. Some men try to tell women that they cannot wear any make up or they might want her to stay fat (insecure reasons) or tell her to lose weight. This has nothing to do with race as you had said, this is a control issue (which most men possess). There are different varieties of control in a mans behaviour. This type of control is the control more likely an American man will have.


Wow. That's a pretty sweeping generalization about American men. Kinda like me saying that American women use (lack of) sex as a means of controlling men. It's probably not just men that try to exert control in a relationship or manipulate their partner to act in a way they want, and it can be very unfair in both directions. Anyway, wear what you want, dress sexy, but then give it to your man! :-)
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-10 23:34:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanFor white men married to African women
I can't get my gal to wear her hair with a natural style! She says it's too much of a headache to maintain properly, but I loved her little afro when she was between styles. Just after I left Kenya she said she got it fixed with a new more natural style--dread locks. Short ones for now, but they'll grow out. I haven't seen her in almost two months, so I can't wait to see the new look. Anyway, guys have their own preferences, and those preferences can change, but he shouldn't force you to do anything. Although, I should say, I'm not a big fan of relaxed hair on African women, but if Jacinta were dead set on that style, I'd let her have it.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-02-25 23:29:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanCultural Dishes You Don't Think You will Ever Get Used To
Although the fish I had in Kenya (usually tilapia) was generally very good, and even better if you could find mudfish, the worst dish I had in Kenya was a fish dish, called omena, which essentially is fried whole minnows, which I think had first been dried, and then mixed with a kind of tomato-based stew. I had one bite and that was more than enough for me. The crunching of the head and still-forming fish bones was bad enough, but the smell and taste was just over the top. My fiancee made the mistake of having a bit more than I did, out of respect for our friend who prepared the dish, and paid for it by having to run to the choo all night. We still have a joke today about that dinner. The accompanying dishes were ugali and sukuma wiki (collared greens), which are basically the staple starch and vegetable dishes in most of Kenya, and those dishes never tasted so sweet as when we could choose them over the omena.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-04-24 12:41:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanCultural Dishes You Don't Think You will Ever Get Used To
I haven't had Fufu, but I've had the East African equivalent--ugali. It's not bad!

I hear the sweetest part of the fish are the eyes, but I never ate them. The key to eating a whole fish is to use your hands.

Goat meat is great, as long as you emphasize that you want a lean cut. In East Africa anyway, you can usually select the piece of meat you want hacked off by the butcher and you can insist that all the fat get cut off. Then it's great! Goat kidneys and testicles, however, are disgusting, and I won't eat a liver, whether it's from a chicken, a goat or elsewhere.

I don't care for chicken gizzards, which is a problem because they're always offered to a male guest, and I was often a guest. At first it was a problem, but when you pass them on to the eldest male in the room, he's certainly not going to turn them down.

I've had really good matumbo ("stomachs"), but in general I just don't like the thought of it or the thin, twisty intestines--no matter how well they're cleaned!

I wish I had tried the sweet white ants while I was in Kenya, but I never really found a good opportunity.

You guys need to be more adventurous! :)
mmarloMaleKenya2007-04-23 19:31:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanHow is your SO adjusting?
Steven, thanks for the advice. I can't wait to get to LA because then we can do some of the things that you mention. We'll be in a place that we pick out and furnish together. We'll both be new to the city, so we'll be forced to adapt to the transit system on our own, learn the best ways to get around and what the city has to offer. I'll have an affiliation with the African Studies center at UCLA and already have a couple Kenyan friends there, so I think we'll quickly become part of that community. I'm looking forward to moving out there because, after four months here in Ann Arbor, it seems like we'll finally have a chance to start living in a place together, not just staying somewhere temporarily, as in our current situation. Anyway, it would be cool if we could get together once we're in town--thanks for the offer!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-08-12 15:46:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanHow is your SO adjusting?
I would say that in general Jacinta is adapting well. She loves some of the conveniences, like being able to get to town, do things, and get back home without necessarily taking an entire day to do it. She likes the roads, high-speed internet at home, predictable electricity, and she's enjoying some new food here, while still being able to prepare most things from back home (we had a barbeque two weekends ago with roasted goat meat!). I think she likes most of the shops, although everything is too expensive, she's not working, and we've been without a salary until my job at UCLA starts next month! I'd say the hardest things are not being able to get home to see her sister's wedding, boredom from not being able to work or have much to do, and not having enough money to do things as freely as we did while living in Kenya. Jacinta's found different ways of getting in touch with her friends and family back home--email, YM, phone cards, etc.--but there was just no way for us to get back for her sister's wedding, and of course no one in her family got to attend ours (though we did just send them a DVD of the ceremony). We signed up for Blockbuster Total Access, so we're going through more movies than we should, but that's getting to be a bit old.

I'd say that one thing that has been a bit hard for me is the fact that Jacinta isn't driving here yet, and so I end up spending a lot of time driving around when I'd rather be doing something else. I work from home, but I normally work about 50 hours a week, and I just feel like I'm getting pulled in too many directions, without enough time to myself. I know it's a bit selfish, but my work is also my hobby, and I think we're still trying to find that right balance between our personal and professional lives (and it's easy to mix the two when you work from home, and it's hard to have much of a professional life when USCIS prevents you from working or going to school!). We're also getting ready to move across the country for my next job, and that's stressful since we don't have a place there yet, and we're still trying to figure out how to get all of our things there. It's also a bit weird spending like 22 hours a day with another person, even someone you love completely. I think we're both waiting to get settled and resume some kind of normal life. But that's all on hold as we wait for AOS and EAD and as we get ready to move to LA, start my new job, etc., and in the meantime, there's too much stressing about how everything is going to work out, money, etc.

Another thing that has been a bit tough is adapting to my family, who have interacted with Jacinta in somewhat unexpected ways. Not long after Jacinta arrived, my grandfather passed away, and virtually everyone in my family got to meet Jacinta, and then a month later we got married in Vegas with my parents, sisters, and a few aunts and uncles in attendance. It was great those first few visits, but in some more recent visits where there was a bit more time together, my mom ended up making some rather offensive remarks without even realizing it. My mom is a really sweet person, she's really friendly and outgoing, she's bought Jacinta a bunch of gifts when she came to the US, for our wedding, and for her birthday, she's always so happy to see Jacinta. However, she keeps making a big deal out of things that she thinks are new to Jacinta here in the US, exposing a cultural arrogance or elitism that is degrading to Jacinta. Last week, we were visiting my grandparents and one night my grandmother was asking people how they wanted their steaks cooked (medium, well done, etc.). When she asked Jacinta, my mom made some off-hand remark like, "how would she know the difference?!". She also kept making a point of telling everyone around how Jacinta had never flown before she came to the US. On its own, that wouldn't have meant much, but once before she also made a point of pointing out and repeating to several people that Jacinta had never had a massage before my mom arranged for them to get massages before our wedding. It's true that Jacinta hadn't flown before, but that's certainly nothing special in Kenya, where ground transportation is the norm except for the ultra-rich, but it was just false that Jacinta had never had a massage before. The very day before, she had gotten a (nicer) massage when she had a facial at a salon where we live, and while Jacinta was living in Nairobi, she had weekly manicures and bi-weekly pedicures, all of which came with a massage. And in any case, who cares; it's not like my mom has a lot of experience eating escargo, cavier, or truffles; different cultures value different things differently, and what we do in the US isn't inherently better than somewhere else. Anyway, it all left the impression that my mom perceives Jacinta as some poor African girl is in need of our civilizing, and it also reveals a kind of classism that I hadn't really noticed before so up-close: how many of the 46 million uninsured people in this country do you think are Sky Team Elite members?! The fact that this affects my mom, who on all appearances should be more sensitive but who had no idea she was saying anything degrading, makes it worse, because this attitude must be extremely common (and every time I hear TV ads or something talking about starving children in Africa, I think our neo-colonialist society does nothing but magnify those misconceptions and stereotypes). Unfortunately, I didn't hear any of my mom's comments directly--I was in a different room each time she said something offense--so I couldn't say anything when it happened. Now Jacinta doesn't want me to make a big deal out of it, and I'm stuck in a difficult position. I'm the type of person who can let something go relatively easily, but only if I say something about it. On the other hand, if I just stay quiet about some problem, it'll keep lingering, and in the present case, I know I'll explode if I hear someone in my family make another ignorant comment about Africans.

In any case, Jacinta and I are so happy to be together. Dealing with these problems now, together, is much better than being apart, wondering when we'll be able to see each other again.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-08-11 05:36:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanHe's here!
Congrats! I'm so happy for you guys!

Sorry to hear about the sickness, though. Jacinta got sick too right after getting here. More of a cold, though, but it lasted for about a week. I hope Ombeni doesn't need dental care any time soon! That's been a real headache here.

In other news, we moved to LA last week and have spent a full week getting the apartment in order. We're still assembling IKEA furniture, and the movers are finally coming tomorrow to drop off our things. I can't wait to get back to work and start up a normal routine again!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-09-09 19:50:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanDisappearing from VJ...
You should be able to find me here: Michael Marlo, mmarlo@umich.edu.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-06-06 21:49:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanDisappearing from VJ...
We're still trying to work out the wedding plans. I thought we'd do the local courthouse thing, but it looks like we're going to Vegas now. Should have the plans sorted out in the next week or so.

Anyone here on Facebook? I've got some pics up there...
mmarloMaleKenya2007-06-05 23:38:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanDisappearing from VJ...
Hi guys, Jacinta and I are doing great. I've been really busy finishing work on my dissertation and teaching a new class, and she's been trying to get used to new things around here and trying to keep from getting too bored. Blockbuster's Total Access plus digital cable have definitely helped, although I think it will be much better once we make some more friends around and have time to hang out with them. It will also be better when J gets her license and can get around a bit on her own. In any case, we're so happy to be together.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-06-05 00:42:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

All of the last letters are dropped from the words, which makes it even harder to understand.


Sounds interesting. Wish I could meet Booker. I'd have some questions for him! (Like whether the sounds at the end of words that normally get dropped get pronounced if you add a suffix or something to the word. (Like in French.) Not a question that a normal person would ask, but one a linguist would ask.)
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-21 22:22:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

Booker speaks English(does Liberian English count? lol.) and Vai. I speak English and Spanish.


I certainly don't speak Liberian English. It probably has its own characteristics, so why not call it that. :)

Isn't Vai one of the languages of Liberia that developed its own writing system? Yeah, I think so. What an achievement. See below:
http://www.omniglot....writing/vai.htm

Edited by mmarlo, 21 March 2007 - 09:28 PM.

mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-21 21:26:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages
:) Thanks. But it's my job, so no biggie.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-21 00:33:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages
Here are some Edo resources:
http://www.isp.msu.e.....ype=All Types

Not sure how useful they'll be, but it's a start!

In my case, I thought if I was going to fall in love with a Kenyan woman, it would have been one from the ethnic group I was studying and have been spending most of my days thinking about for five years. But love doesn't work that way, and I found someone whose language I knew nothing about. But I'm always up for a new challenge.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-21 00:23:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

I have been trying for a couple of years (ok, not trying: intending) to learn Hausa so that we can talk secretly in Santa Fe....


There are a ton of materials for learning Hausa, see the link I posted above and select Hausa from the list of languages. Hausa is also frequently offered for study at universities with African Studies centers. Unfortunately, I don't think NMSU offers it.

Good luck! And thanks for the information on the radio stations.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-20 18:18:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

He English, Sierra Leone Krio and Mende.
Me fluent German, English, a pinch of french, some Krio.....want to
learn Mende.
Can you direct me to a good Mende book to learn the language ?


The following website from UCLA has a really good database of materials for many different "less commonly taught" languages:
http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/index.aspx

You can click on Mende from the "Language" pull-down list, and find a number of materials, including some with recordings. I noticed that the US government produced a "Basic Course in Mende" in the 1960s with tapes, exercises, etc, that we used to use and maybe still use for training Foreign Service Offiicers to Liberia and Sierra Leone. I don't know how easy it will be to track down these materials, but they exist. If you live near a university, that's probably the easiest way to get one. Let me know if you want any more info!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-20 15:27:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

My husband speaks English, Spanish, Dutch, Edo. He understands Yoruba and Ibo as well.

Me (the USC) speaks English, some Swahili, even less Spanish, even less Nyaturu, and about 5 words in Edo (which I really need to learn).

I have the same problem with multiple languages. When I was learning Swahili, it wiped out a lot of my Spanish. I remember being in Costa Rica, and any word I didn't know in Spanish I would substitute the Swahili word. I was confusing people...lol.

I'm losing my Swahili, which makes me so sad. I haven't been back to Tanzania in over 2 years, and most of my Swahili speaking friends here in the States have moved away...


I've gotta know the story behind this. How do you know Nyaturu? Very cool. I've written a paper with some stuff from Kirimi. I've heard that Rimi is maybe a dialect of Nyaturu? I dunno.

I had the opposite problem for a while when trying to speak Swahili; when I was trying to speak Swahili and didn't know the word, the French word would come to mind, and it was very confusing! And a friend of mine who's lived for many years in Kenya has picked up a lot of Kenyanisms when speaking English always says "you know, the nini" (thing/what) or "sindiyo" (isn't it?, no?) when speaking to other Americans in the midwest. He gets a lot of funny looks.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-20 15:14:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

I am amazed by people who learn so many languages in adulthood. It seems like I only have room for one extra language in my brain... as soon as I started to pick up Swahili, my French disappeared. I'm assuming French would come back quickly if I was immersed in the language, but then I'd probably forget Swahili.


I know what you mean. I feel like I've lost French, until I hear a bunch of it, and then I start to tune back in. I've got a lot of languages listed there, but I pretty much suck at speaking all of them, but I know a lot about them, like a biologist might get to know a number of species well, but I have very little communicative ability in those languages.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 22:55:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages

Ombeni is Mmeru too!


Very cool. I think these are different ethnic groups that happen to have the same name, but it would be really interesting if they have a historical connection, and even more interesting (to me) whether there are similarities in the languages. My understanding, though, is that Tanzanian Kimeru is like Kichaga (it may be a dialect of Kichaga, I don't know) and not like Kikuyu, for example.

I'm heading to WI in two weeks for a job interview at Lawrence U. in Appleton. Are you anywhere near there? There's a chance that Jacinta and I will be staying there for at least one academic year beginning later this summer.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 22:50:00
Africa: Sub-SaharanLanguages
Jacinta, who is a Meru, from Kenya:
Kimeru: mother tongue
Kiswahili/Sheng: fluent
(Kenyan) English: fluent
Kikuyu: fluent
Kichuka: understands, but does not speak
Kiembu: mostly understands, but does not speak
... and probably also some other languages/dialects related to her mother tongue (like Kitharaka) that she can understand but not speak

Me, an American, who happens to study African languages:
(midwestern American) English: mother tongue
French: college major (with linguistics), about 10 years of study, plus 10 months study abroad in France, but not fluent
Spanish: college minor, can sortof understand, but not speak well, getting worse
Kiswahili/Sheng: one year of study, plus 7 months in Kenya; I still suck at it
Kiluyia: have done research on about 10 of the 20 dialects can say things here and there but takes me waaay too long to put together sentences, and I don't understand it very well, but I know a lot about the structure of the language, and I've written some dictionaries
Kimeru: a few words, enough to impress the parents :-)
Bakweri/Mokpe (Cameroon): about 6 months of research, have written about the language, but I cannot speak it
Tigrinya (Eritrea, Ethiopia): about 4 months of research, but I don't remember much
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 13:40:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)It has been 1 week and approved fiancee petition hasnt even been received at NVC yet
It can take up to 30 days, or it can take longer if you're unlucky. My I129F petition was approved December 26, and the NVC still hasn't received it. I've read about a handful of people who have had longer waits. Hopefully you won't be as unlucky as us.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-02-21 13:13:00
National Visa Center (Dept of State)For those whose case are under administrative review at NVC
Sorry to hear that you're under AR. There are some good threads on here about the process, which can be lengthy and frustrating. Your file will definitely have been given a case number by now, as it has probably gone to Washington for further processing--background checks and such. I think this is fairly common for petitions for Russian citizens. Do some searches, and you'll find more info.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-04-25 01:12:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionDHL screwed up

Thank you guys. The research specialist (weird title for a DHL person, sounds like someone out of Jurassic Park... or you ever play Zoo Tycoon Dinosaur Digs? :P) called back and spoke with my parents twice today. They said there was really bad weather in Ohio for 2 days so the plane couldn't leave. They had my parents fax a copy of our waybill to them (they didn't have a copy of it?) and they forwarded the fax onto England and France. They said all computer systems have been updated with an alert on our package so it'll pass through as quickly as possible. They also said they'll be monitoring the shipment status and will call us tomorrow at the first sign of anything that could cause an additional delay.

:lol: My dad told them my fiance has a hearing at the embassy on Monday. :lol: I told my dad it's an interview, not a hearing, and it's on Wednesday, not Monday. He was very relieved. I'm glad he told DHL what he did though! :lol: :lol:

So the plane left at 9am EST, it arrived in England at 9:25pm EST. Hopefully it'll get from England to France tomorrow. :)

I can't wait til this is all over. Reading on VJ for 11 months before mailing out my petition I knew it'd be stressful... but I never imagined it'd be THIS stressful. :wacko: But my fiance's under more stress than me, the poor guy keeps worrying that he'll screw something up at the interview and the visa will be denied. So I need to get myself together for him. :thumbs:


Sorry about your situation. I'm in Indiana, and I got hit by that same snow and ice storm. It was really nasty. Hope your package still gets there on time!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-02-24 08:44:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionGod Works Wonders
That's great that you got such a fast turn-around in fortunes. Congrats!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-07 16:02:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPolice Certificate
Sometimes you have to take the alternate route to get things to work out properly in Kenya. My fiancee went through the aunt of a friend of hers, who is an Inspector in the police department, and got the Certificate of Good Conduct fixed in a day.

One more small obstacle successfully navigated...

Next up, medical exam and missing vaccination record.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-08 11:52:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPolice Certificate
Yeah, gotta get it fixed. From the Embassy:

March 6, 2007

Dear Mr. Marlo:

Thank you for your correspondence. Please ask the relevant authorities to correct the mistake.

Please ask the authority concerned to amend the certificate to read the correct names.

Sincerely,

Consular section
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-06 18:45:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPolice Certificate

My fiancee just received her certificate of good conduct from the police, but the police official preparing the certificate made an error in misspelling her surname. Otherwise, all of the information is correct, including the photocopy of her national ID, her ID number, etc., which provides plenty of identifying information.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you have a sense whether this will be a problem at the time of the interview? I just emailed the Embassy to see if this will be a problem, but they haven't been as helpful as I would have liked over email, and I can't get through to them over the phone.

My understanding is that it is illegal in Kenya to apply for more than one police certificate, so it appears to be impossible to replace the certificate, but maybe there are other options like getting some kind of affidavit from the police.


My fiance's police certificate came back clean even though he has a past conviction because they put last name first. Everything other piece of identifying information was on the certificate. We had to call the local agency and they sorted it out.


You had to call the local police agency or the consolate? Did they issue a new certificate or what?
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-05 12:20:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPolice Certificate
My fiancee just received her certificate of good conduct from the police, but the police official preparing the certificate made an error in misspelling her surname. Otherwise, all of the information is correct, including the photocopy of her national ID, her ID number, etc., which provides plenty of identifying information.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you have a sense whether this will be a problem at the time of the interview? I just emailed the Embassy to see if this will be a problem, but they haven't been as helpful as I would have liked over email, and I can't get through to them over the phone.

My understanding is that it is illegal in Kenya to apply for more than one police certificate, so it appears to be impossible to replace the certificate, but maybe there are other options like getting some kind of affidavit from the police.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-05 11:53:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionk1 interview Casablanca
Certificate of Celibacy?!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-08 22:59:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussionpacket 3
Something like this:
http://warsaw.usemba...nd/packets.html
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-08 00:17:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPossible extreme blunder!
Well, it sounds like there's still a chance of the "extreme blunder", but I've got my fingers crossed for you. I've got a feeling that it'll be OK for you. I hope that feeling reflects reality!

Well, there was some confusion about Packet 3/4 at the Embassy in Kenya. My fiancee changed her address after I had submitted the I-129F petition, and the petition was approved by USCIS before she got her new address, but then there was a problem and it was sortof stuck in transit to the NVC for a long time. I tried contacting the NVC for them to update the address, but by the time I found out the NVC had actually received the petition, they had already sent it to the US Embassy in Kenya. Then I found out that my fiancee could pick up the Packet 3/4 information directly from the Embassy, so she went to do that about a week after the approved petition was sent to the NVC. As it turns out (and as I just found out), they gave her all of the Packet 3/4 forms, but they weren't forms specifically prepared for her file, and there was no "letter" that she could take to schedule the medical exam. Then she got a mysterious call on her cell phone a week or two ago from a private number that sounded like it was from the Embassy, but she was in a loud place and couldn't really understand what the lady was saying. She gave them her new address, but she hasn't gotten anything in her new or old mailbox. Anyway, I hope it all gets resolved tomorrow, when she's planning to go back to the Embassy. She's got all of the paperwork done, all the passport photos, the police certificate, the application fee--everything but the medical exam. Hopefully they can give her the letter she needs to get the exam scheduled and she can get the interview scheduled at the same time. It sounded like it could be up to 30 business days for an interview, but I think based on what the few other Kenyans who have posted on here have said, it's more like within a month and not within 6 weeks. Six weeks would be a problem with our April 25 expiry date.

Wow, that's the long version of the story. Good luck to you!
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 17:30:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPossible extreme blunder!
I'm not speaking with any authority on this, but it seems to me that if there had really been a problem, they wouldn't have processed your DS-230, since that was already after the expiration date. I wouldn't count on them to have contacted you, though. Were they able to look up your case file when you talked to them, or were they just speaking in general terms? Hopefully when you get in touch with them, you'll get a sympathetic ear, or you'll find out that they automatically extended it for you. Good luck!

My petition deadline also concerns me. My deadline is the end of April, which is fast approaching, and the NVC was slow to receive my file from USCIS, and it wasn't sent to the Embassy until the end of February. The US Embassy in Kenya told me they would *not* extend the deadline, in response to an email I sent them last week, but mine doesn't expire until the end of next month.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 17:02:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionPossible extreme blunder!
The Embassy can (but does not have to) grant an extension on the initial approval notice. When did you get Packet 3? Were there any delays in the process that weren't your fault? When were you in contact with the Embassy about your case? When did they process the DS-230? They may have automatically extended your petition.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-19 16:04:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionVisa payment
I think there's variation by Embassy. Jacinta paid her fee at a bank where the US Embassy in Kenya has an account, and she brings the receipt back at the time of her interview. This is a fairly normal practice in Kenya--people often pay school fees this way--but it's probably a lot different in other countries.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-03-20 18:11:00
US Embassy and Consulate Discussioni had my interview :(
What embassy are you applying through? Please fill out the details of your situation. It helps us, and it makes it easier for us to help you.
mmarloMaleKenya2007-04-05 05:24:00