biggish data

Good Morning MENA!! Happy Thursday!!

This time change really stinks!! I'm glad most things stay open 24hrs here or I would be in trouble. I think last night I finally went to sleep around 11pm which is 6am in Cairo and woke up around 3pm Cairo time. However, if I stay on this schedule I shouldn't have any trouble when I come back and need to adjust back to East Coast time

Mohamed sends his greetings to everyone and says thank you so much for all the help and advice everyone here has given us :star:

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-16 08:28:00

Hey Andrea.. Mandy is gone ... wow, I didn't even get a chance to say have a good time to her .. i pray everything goes well with the interview.. yeah i wish i was going to Egypt too... and Andrea I know all about the gray hair thing.. my 7 year old, well i just don't know sometimes ... my nerves are bad.. i'm getting too old for this i guess

Happy Hump Day MENA!!

Thanks Andrea and Wonderfule!!

I arrived in Cairo about 5 hours ago, and I already have packet 3 ready to be sent, so looks like that will go out tomorrow

I will definately keep in touch. Im having a great time, I was so happy and excited to see Mohamed, I've missed him soo muchhhh.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-15 12:28:00

Happy Tuesday all!!!

Thanks Wonderful, Andrea, Jeanne and Olivia for all the wishes

I'm leaving for the airport in a few hours, so what am I doing on here :whistle:

LOL. I will definately keep in touch and as long as we can get a fairly quick interview in Cairo it looks like we will be doing the visa through there. I was planning on going for only two weeks but now who knows, but thats ok, I'm not going to stress, I have a great friend helping with the kids and mom will be coming down soon if I need her to help out as well...whatever is meant to be will be

Olivia, good luck with the job.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

I will be in Cairo at 4pm (Cairo time tomorrow) :dance:

Edited by mandyu1, 14 September 2010 - 06:36 AM.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-14 06:34:00

Good Morning MENA!! Happy Monday!!

It's been a few days or so since I've been on here...I'm finally feeling better from my surgery, although I can't seem to remember a lot of what has happened over the past week :whistle:

LOL. And I'm so excited, I leave for Cairo tomorrow :dance:

and for once I'm already packed and ready to go!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-13 07:11:00

Happy Eid everyone!

Olivia, this is a great idea!!! Much better than the couple of responses daily... I know I'm guilty because it just depends if I get 'puter time or not!! Sorry about the gov't job too....I'm glad that you are planning on continuing with your education! Me, I would be a "professional" student if I ever win the lottery!!
Hey Mandy, MsW, Jeanne, Jackie, Jenn, Sara, Tamara, Charles!!!!
If I missed anyone, it wasn't on purpose!!

Olivia, Jackie, good luck on the upcoming interviews!! Let us know how it goes!!
Mandy, when are you leaving for your trip????? And what was decided, Cairo or KSA?
Well next week will be my week back in the office so I will get to visit VJ!! Whoo Hoo!!
Hope everyone has a great Friday!!!

Hi Wonderful, Andrea and Jeanne!!

Thanks for the well wishes!!

Andrea I leave on Tuesday and we're still looking at our options. The embassy said they sent him another packet out on Tuesday but he still has not received it.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-10 13:46:00

Good Morning MENA!! TGIF!! :dance:

Olivia, I'm so sorry you didn't get the job, I was really hoping and praying for you.

Happy EID everyone also!!

Well I haven't been around for a few days, I had my surgery on Wednesday, thank God everything went well. I got home last night, and I'm still somewhat out of it :whistle:

So if I write something and don't make a lot of sense please excuse me :blush:

LOL.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-09-10 07:34:00

Hello MENA, Good Sunday evening/afternoon!!!

Jeanne I'm glad your husband enjoyed Black Friday. I actually don't know what is worse, Black Friday or after Christmas sales. I agree with you and Andrea, whoever's trunk was open I'm sure was not a happy camper when they came back. I feel sorry for people like that. Last year at Christmas I was shopping and looking in the mens department and my youngest son was holding a wallet, I thougth it was one he just picked up at the store, but he actually found it on the floor. I looked inside and it had over $300 in cash so was a good samaritan and turned it in.

Andrea-glad you got out after work and over the weekend and found some good deals. I have to say I am finished shopping, and I did all of mine in 1 day, which isn't like me at all. And heck yeah, make Sameh and your son wait!! lol.

I put my tree up and have 1200 lights on it :unsure:

I'm a little worried about keeping it lit, I'm afraid it will ignite lol :whistle:

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend, I'm not looking forward to work tomorrow, but love this time of year....I don't work a full week for the rest of the year!!!! :dance:

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-28 17:15:00

Hello MENA, and Happy Black Friday!!!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. My mother cooked and to my surprise it wasn't that bad lol. I started my shopping last night. Toys R Us opened at 10 pm, so my dauther and I got in line at 9, and waited over 2 hrs to get inside, finally got home around 1am, but got some good deals. Then slept for about 3 hrs before heading out again in the morning. Needless to say....I'm exhaused!!!

Have a great night and weekend all!!!

Edited by mandyu1, 26 November 2010 - 08:02 PM.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-26 20:02:00

Hi Jeanne,

I'm anxious to hear about your husbands black friday adventure, and what he thought of all the madness. My daughter is bugging to come with me and I'm debating if I should let her go. When I shop, I like to look and take my time or also get what I need, after a couple of hours she is complaining how tired she is, and I'm not in the mood to hear it lol, so we will see.

My parents are coming from Detroit, my mother just called and said they landed. From what she told me earlier, they had everyone on the plane, then the police came on and were talking to the pilot, after about 30 minutes they came back with TSA and took 12 people off the plane and were searching around thier seats and aisles, not sure what they were looking for, but thankfully they made it safely.

Oh, and I got an email from the embassy, they extended our petition approval (it was suppose to expire on 11/6), so thats a good thing. Mohamed should be back in Egypt in about a week so we can finally wrap this up

Enjoy your turkey day!!

Edited by mandyu1, 24 November 2010 - 01:53 PM.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-24 13:51:00

Hi Andrea

I'm feeling good thanks. You should tell your daughter to start giving you some grandbabies to spoil!! I don't know if you remember, but right before I went to Egypt I had surgery, and after the doctor told me that she thought I may have PCOS and may have a hard time getting pregnant, so we were all a bit surprised that it happened so fast.

How thoughtful of your husband, or maybe he is just hoping to get some good gifts out of it lol. I love shopping on Black Friday, I can remember as a kid some stores would open at midnight. Enjoy your family tomorrow!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-24 12:48:00

Good Morning everyone!!

I'm having a hard time focusing on work today, the clock seems to be moving sooo slow!! My parents come into town today, and my mother just called and said they have been sitting on the plane for over an hour, and were told there is a security issue and they all need to deplane...perhaps I may be cooking Thanksgiving dinner after all :whistle:

Speaking of Thanksgiving, a friend of mine and I were talking today about tomorrow and all the different foods we were going to eat, I'm so hungry now!! lol

Hope everyone has a great day, and get ready for the big Gobble Gobble!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-24 10:36:00

Thanks Andrea and Olivia, and no worries Jenell

btw I'm due June 26.

Olivia - I did get your reply, thanks!!

Sorry to hear your spending the first Thanksgiving away from your husband

But glad to hear he is getting a lot of support there. I can vouch for sure that Michigan does hire a lot of foreign doctors. The Detroit area has the 2nd largest arab population in the country, and i see first hand many foreign doctors.

I developed a blood clot early in pregnancy with my youngest and had to go through the same thing. They say the biggest risk of blood clots in pregnancy is that you can develope one in the placenta, however since they found it so early and I'm already being treated the chances of that happening are low. In addition to seeing my OB/GYN I also see a maternal/fetal specialist regularly that will monitor me and the baby. As for traveling, I talked with the doctor about that and she said usually they don't like pregnant women to travel so far for so long because they are more susceptible to blood clots, however since I'm already being treated I should be fine.

That would be great if they would give me an expedited visa!!! However, like Olivia told me, premarital sex in that area is frowned upon, so idk if they will use that against us. Or maybe they will make us wait for the birth to get a paternity test, but I can also get something from my dr stating the approx date of conception was, and it will agree with the dates that I was in Egypt. Also, even if they took the baby into consideration I would still meet the income requirements, so thats not an issue.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-23 13:00:00

Happy Tuesday MENA!!! Hello ladies and Charles Aw man, sorry Andrea that you want to go to the sales Friday and can't Mandy, don't feel bad about being pregnant I'm not sure what the CO may think or even if you have to tell them.. but please keep tabs on having blood clots are they going to give you blood thinners please please please be careful with that I'll be praying for you girl when is Mohamed's interview? and where in the world is everybody if they are fixing din din for Thanksgiving, I want some

Thanks Jeanne and Jenell

We can't marry in Egypt because then they would cancel our K1 and we would have to start all over for the spouse visa.

They do have me on blood thinners, however the only medication that is safe to take during pregnancy is by injection only, so for the next 7 months I need to give myself an injection every 12 hours.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-23 10:37:00

Hey Mandy!!! I wondered what's new with you!!
How long will you be staying in Egypt this time? I am soooo ready for another trip there. I don't know if its just the act of traveling or because I miss Egypt, because hubby is here!! I know we won't be going over there for awhile. Hubby wants to go when his brother gets married next year.
How in the world did you survive your mother's cooking growing up?? LOL I only say that because I wasn't a big fan of my mom's cooking either and growing up I did alot of "sneaking" food after dinner because I wouldn't eat her food!
After moving out on my own I realized that she puts way too much spices in different dishes and I am a plain salt/pepper kind of girl!
Now I have no problem eating what she makes as long I am there to have her put some on the side for me minus all the spices!
I keep hearing all these good deals that are going to happen Friday morning and I'll be stuck in the hospital! Kind of makes me want to start shopping at midnight and just go straight to work from there!!! I won't do that though because it would be torture on me to go to work after!!
Jenell~I tried to look at your pictures but of course work has the website blocked so I'll have to wait until I get home to see it!
I hope everyone is having a great day!!!

Happy Tuesday Andrea, and in a way, its my HuMp DaY!!!!

Its funny you say your mom used too much spice, my mother didnt use any, not even SALT!!! Although after its cooked she puts so much salt on her food I'm surprised she can stand the taste of it.

I'll probably be in Egypt for like 2 weeks, and I'm really ready for it. There is some news I need to share...Mohamed and I are expecting a baby in June. Yep, not your typical souvenir, but it appears thats what I brought back with me from my last trip there lol. As many people know, we are not married yet and of course we would prefer to be married before this happened, but it is what it is. Now I'm trying to figure out how this is going to affect our visa, I think there are pros and cons of the CO knowing I'm pregnant, so the decision is do we tell them or not.... I had a bit of a bumpy road in the beginning, and found out 2 weeks ago that I have 3 blood clots (1 which is serious), but all seems to be going well, thank God.

When I use to work on the friday after Thanksgiving, I would get up at 4-5am and show before going to work, then hit the sales later in the day. My daugther is already getting herself ready to hit the stores with me lol

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-23 09:56:00

Good evening MENA, Hi Andrea and Jenell

Hope everyone had a good day, I'm so glad Monday is over, I've had a hellish day :crying:

I haven't been posting on here as often as I use to, but I hope things will be back on track soon. I'm planning on returning to Egypt in 2-3 weeks to finish the interview.

A lot has been going on recently...I just returned from a little getaway with the kiddies to Disney, however it actually wore me out and I feel worse now lol. My parents are coming to town on Wednesday and my mother will be cooking Thanksgiving. I'm not a big fan of her cooking :whistle:

but this time all I care about is less work for me lol. I'm looking forward to the long weekend and the black friday deals :dance:

Have a great night everyone!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-22 23:15:00

Mandy sorry to hear you can't visit your honey in KSA. That's a hard visa to get. Usually you have to have a ma7ram, family, or job to get into the kingdom. I know people think whatever they think of KSA, but being half Saudi my experience is that it's not as bad as what I've read or heard. I've always enjoyed my time with my family there and I think it's a beautiful country. Actually, I just had a single friend who made umrah with her family in in May of this year and loved it. Remember it's a dream to visit the KSA for most Muslims at some point in there lives if they can. Hmmm...not sure why I was on the "Defend KSA bandwagon", since no one really said anything bad about it and even more so I'm usually one of the first to talk smack about it, LOLOL! Anywho.....

Despite what many people think of KSA I would like to visit there one day, but I have to admit I would be more comfortable going after we're married. A woman from the KSA embassy here in the US called me today and basicailly said the same thing, if I'm not married, or have a male relative traveling with me, or over the age of 45 I can't get a visa. However, I have read online of young single women getting tourism visa's, and Mohamed has even said he has seen women out in the streets alone, although its not very common. Anyway he is planning on returning to Egypt around the first of December, and next week he will be making Hajj there and the following week is Thanksgiving so maybe this happened for the best.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-10 21:30:00

Hey everyone, happy HUMP DAY!!!

Well they didn't approve my visa for Saudi Arabia, I'm feeling a little disappointed and also relieved. I was hoping to see him, but I was also a bit scared to go there especially since we're not married yet. I've heard some stories of women being there alone and some are not good. I guess I will just have to be patient and wait a few more weeks.

Andrea-sorry to hear about your procedure and date with the bathroom.

Hope everyone has a great day!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-10 12:07:00

Good evening MENA

Hi Wonderful, I hope everything is ok.

I haven't posted on here in awhile, our visa has kinda been at a stand still until the beginning of December when Mohamed returns to Egypt. He's going to make Hajj this weekend and next week, and I've applied for a visa to visit him in Saudi Arabia, but who knows if I will get it, their laws are strange when it comes to women being alone. If I get the visa I may just travel back with him to Egypt and stay until either the interview or he gets his visa.

Olivia, sorry to hear about the distance between you and your husband....Liz, we have talked a lot today and all I can say is I'm sorry and hugsss (F)

Andrea, that is so funny about your husband driving :lol:

Hope everyone has a good night

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-11-09 22:09:00

Wow, you are going for your interview date. Didn't notice that before. Best of luck!

Thanks Wendy and Amber

I will let everyone know how it turns out, I'm so nervous :unsure:

Edited by mandyu1, 28 December 2010 - 08:21 AM.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-28 08:21:00

I just booked my flight today and I have always flown Delta direct from JFK. I do the same for the return, except last time I flew Air France and had a layover in Paris, and I have to say it was one of the worst travel experience I've had, I will never do that again!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-27 15:37:00

I feel the same way, I leave on the 8th!!! Best wishes for a safe flight!!! And let us both pray the time goes FASTER, FASTER!!!

I think everyone is going to Egypt soon, I'm leaving on the 9th

Have a safe trip!!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-26 22:28:00

And congrats on Mohamed's interview, Mandy! That's a great day, my son birthday! I was thinking though, that's strange....since he didn't turn in the packet 3 yet? Or is it some other documents needed? Either way, at least he has an interview. Are you going to be with him there?

Thanks!

my son's birthday is the 13th. I know it is strange, but no he hasn't returned anything yet, and I do plan on being there with him. Plans are that I will be in Egypt on Jan 9 and stay for 2 weeks.

Sorry about all the cold weather and snow, i know it is hard with being pregnant and dealing with that mess!!! I can't wait to find out what the baby is

Try and take it easy these last couple months!!

Hope everyone else is having a great week!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-15 21:45:00

Good Morning MENA & happy Tuesday!!

Hope everyone is keeping warm and getting ready for the holidays. I received an email this morning from the embassy, they scheduled Mohameds interview for January 12 :dance:

But the strange thing is that he still hasn't returned the documents to them, so I'm not sure why they scheduled his interview already :unsure:

Anyway, he will be back in Egypt any day and will be able to get everything to them before then.

Have a great day all!!! :star:

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-14 09:06:00

Good morning and happy HuMp DaY MENA!!

Welcome Sunny, and congrats Danni :dance:

Hope everyone is having a great week so far, and recooperating from the holiday weekend!! My daughter is home sick today, like all parents I don't like to see my kids sick, but sometimes I don't mind...it's been very quiet and peaceful

Have a wonderful day all!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2010-12-01 08:44:00

If the documents was part of the reason for AP, i am sure you 2 would of gotten a second interview, so they had a chance to review them. So your a step closer, I hope he gets his visa fast.

thanks....all I know is that he never returned packet 3 until we arrived at the embassy for our interview. That was the point I was trying to make that was so strange because normally they will not schedule an interview until they receive packet 3 back, but they did in error, thats why the supervisor was fighting with the girl in the back asking her why she scheduled the interview. They may have had 10-15 minutes to glance over the documents, but they didn't have enough time to do much else with them, especially since they were conducting other interviews as well. But the bottom line is that they approved his visa, and I called the DOS yesterday to see if they could give me any information, such as it being in the embassy or being sent to DC, and I was told that it was at the embassy undergoing administrative review. I'm praying it stays there and doesn't get sent to DC.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-15 06:58:00

I really do not think you have AP cuz they did not have your documents. It is more then common to recieve AP (like everyone, almost), they do background checks on everyone. And if he has a common name it can take longer for AP. So just know that what you are going through is normal.

I know AP for Egypt is normal, however some people are lucky enough to not get it, and I didn't say the reason we got AP was because of them not having our documents, I stated I felt it was part of the reason, meaning along with the background checks that they have to do. No CO is going to issue a visa 10 minutes after receiving the documents and not having time to review them when normally they have them 2 weeks or longer in advance and have time to review and do any background checks at the embassy level that they need too. The embassy made a mistake and scheduled our interview when they should not have, and for that reason they were not prepared when we showed up on our scheduled date and time.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-14 13:38:00

Mandy~
Congrats on the interview!!!
I know it's disappointing to hear anything with the dreaded words AP in it, but don't be too disappointed!
Look how far you and M has made it this far!!! I think I was MORE upset because when hubby had his interview the CO didn't really offer any information.
He did say congratulations, Mabrook and welcome to America, but I truly thought, ok, this dude is lying!
At least they were upfront and told you what to expect!
I truly believe with all my heart and soul that you will be hearing from the embassy before you know it!!!

Thanks Andrea!!

You have been a great support, thanks for everything (F)

I remember the CO was very friendly with us, making jokes and laughing, and surprisingly we both were not that nervous. All the information she provided to us was on her own, we didn't ask any questions, so part of me feels like she wasn't just telling us that to shut us up. Also, our case was hung up at NVC for almost a month because we were in AP, and I'm sure they were doing some checks then too, and I really feel part of the reason for us getting AP has to do with them not having his documents and forms prior to the interview.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-14 11:00:00

Well it sounds it went as good as it could under the circumstances. And the traffice in Cario is always bad...lol. I spent 2 weeks there. Fom my understanding all Egyptains get AP and really rare if they do not. So sounds like everything went normaly there and congratulations and I hope that my husband interview can go as smoothly.

Thanks, when is your husbands interview? This my 3rd trip to Egypt, I hate the traffic here, but figured since everyone is always out late that the streets would be dead at the early morning hours, but they werent!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 17:27:00

It's likely they are reviewing the documents *and* processing his fingerprints/name hit, etc/whatever (this happened with us as well). I wouldn't worry about the fraud aspect - its likely just run of the mill AP. Congrats!

Thanks for the reply LaL

I hope you're right, but I'm still a nervous wreck. Also, I just remembered that they didn't take the affidavit of support from me. I'm trying to think positive and think thats because we brought everything back today, and since they didn't have time to go through everything it was just an oversight on their part. I'm going to call in the morning and see if we can bring it back, but I'm wondering how she can approve it without verifying that I qualify to sponsor him.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 16:31:00

Hi all,

We had our interview this morning, and I have to say the day was a complete disaster. We were running late, and the traffic in Cairo was horrendous, not to mention we were both extremely tired. We got there and standing in line to enter, this man is coming around checking everyone's receipts and making sure their name is on the list. Well Mohamed's wasn't, but good thing we had the email from the embassy stating for him to come today for his interview so they let us in.

As some of you know, this was really confusing because the embassy issued an interview date before receiving Mohamed's documents back, so we just brought everything with us today. We took our number and waited for them to call us, when we went to the first window the woman was surprised that we were there, she said she didn't have us listed as having an interview today. We showed her out letter and she handed it over to her supervisor. We could see and hear the supervisor talking with one of the girls in the back, asking why she sent us this email and scheduled us for an interview when they didn't receive his documents yet.

Since we had everything she decided they would go ahead and do the interview, so she took all of the documents, translation, passport and medical report. Mohamed was then called for fingerprints. Shortly after we were called for the interview. We seen a somewhat younger woman, with long straight, light brown hair. She seemed very friendly, she took the DHL receipt and asked me how long I had been in Egypt and when I was leaving. I told her I was there this time for 2 days and was leaving on Jan 23. She then said she would like to speak to Mohamed and then to myself alone, so I went and waited. Mohamed talked with her for about 10 min before he came back to get me and I went up. When I first got up there the first thing she said to me was, "So you have been to Egypt many times." I said yes, this is my 3rd visit. She then said, I understand you were here in April and again in August, I said yes I was in April but it was actually early September the next trip. She laughed and said, "oh, ok, he said August but was getting confused by the dates," and made it appear like it was not a big deal. She then went on to ask me some questions:

How did we meet
What was it about Mohamed that made this relationship grow from meeting online to now this
If I met his family and how do we get along
How many kids do I have and their ages
Have my kids ever been to Egypt before
How did Mohamed propose
What do I do for a living

After that she said that the relationship appears to be creditable, however there are some fraud signs. She said that sometimes men will look online for women who are slightly older than them and who have children and they use them as a way to get a greencard. She said it was her duty to make me aware of this and asked if I still wanted to proceed with the petition. I said, I was already fully aware of that, and I know that Mohamed loves me and I love him, and yes I wanted to proceed. She said ok, you can go get him now.

We came back and she said congratulations your visa has been approved, however it requires some additional processing and I'm not sure if you will be able to travel back together...your visa should be ready in about 4 weeks (yeah I heard that one before) She asked Mohamed if he would be traveling in the next month and needed his passport back or if they could keep it, he replied, No he would not be traveling and they could keep it. She gave us a white piece of paper with the embassy website and said we can check the status of our visa on this site, and that was it.

I had already figured that he would get AP so I'm not that much in shock, but still disappointed. I think the fact that we just gave them the papers today may also play a part of him getting AP.

Any thoughts anyone on how you think it went?

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 11:59:00

the current situation in Egypt

Hi everyone,

I read about evacuating US citizen and their immediate families,,,,my question is,,, my dad is a legal permanent resident,, and he is here in Egypt with me now
but both of us are scared and he wants to go back to the US and he can't leave me behind here alone( both my mom and sister are in the US now). I don't have a visa to the US. So will I be able to go with him even if he is not a US citizen yet??

I know they are evacuating US Citizens and immediate family members (spouses, children, parents) that are non US Citizens. However, since your father is only a permanent resident and not a US Citizen you need to contact the embassy to see if you qualify for this. If you do, you will need to go to the embassy and they will prepare documents for you so that you can enter the US. But I'm sure everything is pending approval. I read this on the embassy website and also the Department of State website. Maybe your mother and sister that are here in the US can call the Department of State and get more information, their # is 1-202-663-1225. Good luck!!

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 08:36:00

Me too! I wanna go, I could use the distraction

Do you live near Disney?

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-10 16:55:00

I hope its good news for you. Will keep you in my prayers. We try to keep constant contact with my husbands family and things are ok for the moment. I wish I could go back to Disney, we havent been in about 4 yrs. I think its time to plan another trip.

Keep me posted on your status and Im praying your news will be good.

Thanks Wendy

I know things are ok for now, but Mohamed told me there is a big protest planned for tomorrow, I wonder what that will bring :unsure:

And_Sam & I are Disney fanatics!!! :dance:

Looking forward to going back!

Edited by mandyu1, 10 February 2011 - 08:50 AM.

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-10 08:49:00

Heh heh when are you going to learn not to call the DOS for information for another country? LOL next time call them and tell them you want to give them an update on the embassy in Cairo! Then they can pass it on when somebody else calls asking about what's happening there!!
I thought you said we had to wait until March for Disney? When do you come home?

haha good point. I just looked at the email from the embassy too, it gives a personal email address from the embassy for "sent from" along with her name, not the typical IVConsular section at the embassy...maybe I can email her personaly from now on? lol I'll be patient for a while

I'll be back the 19th, I thought we were going Feb 26 or 27?

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 11:09:00

I think that it's their way to let you know that even though they are technically closed, they are still working on the visa's that all ready had their interviews before the protesting started. I think this is good news!!
Specially since they have your SO passport! Basically they have a skeleton crew there at the Embassy (which we ALL know!), and even though they are not processing new applications or scheduling new appointments, those who all ready had their interview are still being worked on. Got to give them SOMETHING to do! Can't watch tv all day!!
I'd take this as a good sign Mandy! Whoo hoo~ let's all celebrate by going to Disney World!!!! I REALLY want to go!!!

I agree, and we already have plans for Disney (2 more weeks!!), but this just gives us more reason to go!!

I called DOS this morning and asked them what this meant, and said that it contradicts what I was told last week by them, that all visa's are on hold until the embassy reopens. The woman didn't really know what to say to me except that they're not on the grounds of Cairo so they don't know what they're doing...really!! :bonk:

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 11:01:00

"Any visa applicant who was interviewed on January 27, 2011 or earlier and whose passport is currently at the Embassy for visa issuance will have his/her case processed to completion. All issued visas will be returned by DHL. DHL will contact applicants regarding the delivery of their passports".·

What other interpertation could there be from this message? I think you are lucky to get a reply in light of what is going on. The fact that they replyed at all shows they are doing the best they can to complete the work in a difficult situation. He was lucky to have gotten the interview before the insanity began.
It will be interesting to see how long it actualy takes for him to have the visa in hand. If he was put in the infamous black hole of A P it could be a long wait under the cicumstances. Hopefully that wont be the case so he can leave soon.

I was surprised when I woke this morning to fine that email. I was just confused because on one hand they are saying, they're only there for emergency american services, and on the other they're saying they will complete visas for applicates that meet that criteria. Anyway, I know they're short staffed and there will be a delay, but this gives me some hope. Thanks for the response

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 10:32:00

DHL will contact him when his visa is ready for delivery is what it says. Whether of not that's affected by him being in AP, I couldn't tell you.

I know that, but that wasn't my question. I was told last week from the DOS that all visa's from there are on hold and would not be issued until the embassy reopened, however if I'm interpreting this reply correctly, then all applicants with an interview date prior to 1/28 and gave their passports to the embassy, will have their visas processed and issued even if the visa dept for the embassy is closed, which contradicts what the DOS told me (and we all know the DOS says things just because they don't know what else to say and they don't want to sound stupid).

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 09:19:00

Hello everyone,

As some of you know my fiance had his interview on 1/12/11 in Cairo and was approved, but was told he had AP and should receive his visa in 4 weeks. Well with everything that is going on in Egypt we were unsure what was happening with his case. On 1/27 I emailed the embassy (before they closed) with a question about our case, and finally this morning I received the following reply:

The Embassy regrets the inconvenience caused to the Egyptian public by our current inability to provide visa services. In light of current situation, please note the following:

The U.S. Embassy is currently providing only emergency American Citizens Services in the Consular Section. Americans needing emergency services can come to the Embassy’s West Entrance (Consular Entrance) from 9:00 am-12:00 noon Sunday-Thursday.

Due to the security situation and reduced staffing at the Embassy, no visa interviews are being conducted until further notice. The Embassy will inform Vodafone and the public when we are able to begin visa interviews again.

Any visa applicant who was interviewed on January 27, 2011 or earlier and whose passport is currently at the Embassy for visa issuance will have his/her case processed to completion. All issued visas will be returned by DHL. DHL will contact applicants regarding the delivery of their passports.·

Visa applicants should not come to the Embassy to inquire about the status of their cases.

Information about all consular services is posted on the Embassy’s website at http://cairo.usembassy.gov

Regards,

Consular Section

US Embassy Cairo

ES

Not sure if I'm interpreting this right, but it sounds like since his interview was prior to 1/28 and they have his passport, then they are still processing his visa, even though the visa department is currently closed. What do you guys think?

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 08:55:00

Regarding: U.S. Embassy Cairo Warden Message 11

Re-booked my flight today with AirFrance. They've got me leaving next Thursday. I'll be going unless things get really out of hand, in which event I'll just move it up a month.

Thats good news, what route do they have you taking?

mandyu1

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 20:44:00