ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
Middle East and North AfricaQuestion for those working with Syrian Relatives
I try to pray, as often as I can, daily....I admit I'm not very devout, maybe that is my problem.. smile.gif

There have been times when I literally wouldn't get out of bed for a week from numbing depression..and I hate that. I guess I need to just shut up and buck up!

Thanks for allowing me to vent ......hopefully this will pass... and hope you all find happiness in this short life.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-20 16:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaQuestion for those working with Syrian Relatives
Hi Far2Long, and thanks for the long and emotional response smile.gif I do hope the same for you as well, that things will go fine.

I guess I am sort of sick of dealing with bureaucrats, hence why I was drawn to this site, because there are real people who are experiencing the same turmoil I am living with right now. Calling USCIS at this point has become a dreaded task, as they never seem to really be happy to help (Well, I can understand this, it must be annoying to do this after a while) and they never seem to know the complete answers to any of my questions.

I basically want to make sure I look at every angle of this and make sure that everything is taken care of, as I do not want to waste any more time than I have to apart from my guy.

It doesn't help that I have vivid dreams of him constantly coming to me at the airport....sometimes I feel angry about this, as if my sub conscience was taunting me....

I wonder if any of you have ever asked yourselves if it was worth going through all this headaches to be with your guy/girl. While I am having a very hard time, and miss him...I'd say yes...I'd go through this just to be with him... I just wish I could go to their offices right now and tell me "look, he's a good guy, please don't delay this any longer, just let him come to me!"

Anyways, happy Friday and thanks for your replies....

Kat
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-20 13:56:00
Middle East and North AfricaQuestion for those working with Syrian Relatives
I kind of looked into it already and it seems sort of complex. I guess (no big surprise) I am tired of the wait (I had to wait 5 months to even get the I-130 form sent it...) and I realize I may have to wait up to a year now for my husband to be with me...and that stinks. Thanks for your responses....
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-20 01:11:00
Middle East and North AfricaQuestion for those working with Syrian Relatives
thanks for the kind words, i am a bit mortified about some of my comments, didn't mean to go that much in detail, but i guess i'm really pissed off/frustrated at this point. i've even considered Oz to move to, as a friend of mine has been living in NZ for a while now and loves it...but i guess i should just have patience and wait...

hope things go quickly for you as well!

regards,
k.

Edited by enraptured, 19 March 2009 - 01:25 AM.

meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-19 01:25:00
Middle East and North AfricaQuestion for those working with Syrian Relatives
Hello all,

I have been lurking in these forums for quite some time now, don't post much...since it seems a bit clique-ish but maybe that's just me smile.gif

I guess USCIS doesn't really tell you everything you need to do in regards to your case right?

Well, I am hoping that someone here is sponsoring a spouse from Syria and can help me answer some of the following questions I have:

Would it be better if I went to Syria and lived there for a bit and then did this DCF process? Would it be faster? Mind you, I am jobless right now (well, working as a temp for a law firm, but the job stinks and will end soon), but do have a sponsor who is going to help me. My main concern that kept me from considering this was an issue I had years ago from high school, (I can't really go into detail here) but now I just don't care anymore. I am sick and tired of the waiting. I got married November 2007, came back here to work like mad, thinking we can go to Dubai and live together, but everything fell apart in regards to the current economic turmoil the world is facing right now. With that having happened, I had no choice but to start here again from scratch and come back. My husband in the meantime went back to Syria, where he has been putting up with a lot of BS lately sad.gif

At this rate, I am just looking for a place, ANY PLACE, where we can be together. I've seriously considered moving to Europe and other places, but I am not sure if this is a smart move. I've even considered moving to the North Caucasus, where we are both from, since we have connections there and can get jobs, even if they will pay $200 a month lol.

I've been through an awful lot of pain and terrible times these past few months/years and it's made me realize that I really couldn't care less for the cookie cutter lifestyle that has been forced upon me for so long. No, I don't want a 3 bedroom suburban home, don't want a lot of kids (not even sure about this to be honest, I'm definitely not interested right now), and don't want really anything but to be with him and to have a simple life where we have the bare necessities and a few luxuries and that's it.

I am wondering whether it is worth going through all this BS to wait and wait and wait...and now after reading some of your posts, I feel that there's no doubt that his case will go through AP hearings as well, which annoys me to death. I understand it's the Middle East and all, but come on...I'm saying this because I wish they knew who we were, they would see they have nothing to worry about. But I guess everyone else can say the same thing?

So, I'm basically annoyed because it seems that I will have to spend my third wedding anniversary alone (did not even get to my second yet), and am wondering if this is worth the headache.
'
I had been in communication with one member here who suggested I go, but as I said, I have some concerns about going to the ME that I'm worried about. I barely made it through Jordan this summer, and that was because it was a launching point for Dubai.

Sorry about the incessant ranting, but I'm really pissed off and sick of all of this, and I'm not even halfway through yet!

If anyone can offer some ideas or words or whatever, I'd appreciate it a lot.

Regards,
Kat

p.s. that's us when we visited Petra this past summer.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-18 15:40:00
Middle East and North AfricaWe just found out we will be having another boy !!!!!
congrats, all the best!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-07 21:49:00
Middle East and North AfricaPets?
i have two cats, a female 2 year old persian and a male persian/himalayan 2 year old male...Itty Bitty and Wes....I love them both to pieces! Wes is technically my sister's but she's proven herself too lazy to care for him properly, so he is technically mine for now...Itty Bitty is pregnant too and about to give birth soon, if anyone would like a free Persian kitten after 2 months, please PM me...

this pic is from my sister's old place last summer....

Attached Files


meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-20 22:16:00
Middle East and North AfricaWhy I fell in love with my MENA man/woman
QUOTE (Ganja_Girl @ Apr 21 2009, 10:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My husband is the greatest person for me, he handles everything, I am barely capable of even getting out of bed. I am really lucky, I hit the lotto with my husband. good.gif


lol i love your name...ganja girl... hahahahaha....

my father and his mom were neighbors when they were kids biggrin.gif and my cousin and he went to high school together... we didn't really connect until 4 years ago though. i didn't really like him much back then. and he for sure didn't like me...(he thought i was a big b*tch lol), but 9 months later we reconnected, and then slowly but surely it turned into love. he told me he loved me, i said...that's nice. it was 6 months after that when i realized how deeply i loved him. and my love grows more and more each day. it has been 7 months since i have seen him.....i'm really having a hard time over this separation. i don't understand why USCIS can't rush things a bit more...why is it so damn hard to get all this going? i understand there's a lot of people and what not who are trying to bring loved ones here as well, but why can't spouses be a priority? it's so unfair. sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-21 22:59:00
Middle East and North AfricaSent in I-130, waiting for approval, need question answered
Hi all,

I am writing this here, in the hopes that someone here may have done what I am contemplating doing. I've asked this question before and gotten no replies but one.

I am going to Syria next week to be with my husband. I can't deal with this separation, we've been married for nearly 1.5 years and only submitted the I-130 recently.

Would my going there affect this process in any way? Could I have the documents I need ready here while I am overseas? Could my mother or someone who will be handling my mail send me what USCIS sends me and I sign it, fill it in, add the evidence etc and then send it back? Is this acceptable? Would I need to tell USCIS I moved overseas to be with hubby till the end of this ordeal? Has anyone done this while they were waiting for the I-130 to be approved and for the rest of the stuff to start rolling through? Am I dumb for even thinking of doing this? Would I have start all over? I am ok in regards to the I-1485 (have a reliable joint sponsor, and my tax returns show that I made way over the poverty line these past 3 years), don't have much in the bank account and that will probably be nil if I go overseas anyways, but whatever.

Can someone answer my questions...I'm going to get the visa this week and made up my mind to go, but I really would like to know if my situation will be affected by me traveling overseas to be with hubby. I have no intention of spending forever there as well. I definitely am coming back, but hopefully with my man by my side.

Thank you in advance.

rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-27 00:17:00
Middle East and North AfricaArabic Movies - Why do they yell so much???
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....people tend to raise their voices when they talk in the ME too, I've noticed.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-03-26 21:35:00
Middle East and North AfricaHonor killings in Morocco?
QUOTE (rclouse @ Apr 14 2009, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
OK, thanks for the information. That's pretty much what I thought, that "honor" killing is not a Moroccan phenomenon.

Lots of people on the intarwebs think it's an Islamic thing, but IMHO it's more of a cultural thing. Perhaps those perpetrating it try to find religious justification, but really there is nothing in Islam permitting or approving it.


it is DEFINITELY culture associated.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-14 19:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaHonor killings in Morocco?
ironically, just read about one today in jordan where the guy killed his pregnant sister and mutilated her body sad.gif there's some sick ish out there....really sad....kind of reminds one of the utter ignorance arabs from pre-islamic times lived in.... sad.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-04-13 22:18:00
Middle East and North AfricaNO AP EGYPT APPROVED!!!! HUMDULLA!!!!!!!!
congratulations!!!!!!!! kicking.gif kicking.gif kicking.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-24 07:41:00
Middle East and North AfricaSinger Michael Jackson dead at 50
inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-26 22:45:00
Middle East and North AfricaObama sending ambassador to Syria after years
why did this liberman dude's comment appear in the article about the decision? what does that have to do with anything...but in any case, good deal.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-26 23:20:00
Middle East and North AfricaAre Muslims in America Unfriendly?
QUOTE (Ihavequestions @ Jun 27 2009, 12:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Me too.

Quite an interesing article, one which astutely sums up my own feelings on the subect.

I was chased out of a Mosque - by my own husband. We were in Cairo and, evidently, it was okay if I stayed right behind him except when he walked into a Mosque. When he turned around and saw me he scolded me and told me to leave. Then, outside, he ripped into me: "That was a Mosque!"

Not only that, but when someone asked him if he'd taken me to the Mosque, he lied and bragged he took me to one in Cairo.

Then, when we were going to a wedding ceremony at a Mosque, he insisted that my hair had to be covered because women have to be covered in a Mosque. He didn't ask if I was menstruating which I KNOW is the only reason I couldn't enter. His primary concern was how I looked, even though it wouldn't matter to God whether my hair was covered or not. But then, this is the same guy who "knows" Muslim women who don't cover are either "bad Muslims" or have "bad husbands" because, in his version of Islam, it's compulsory.

He asked me a couple of weeks ago, while he was having a "religious moment" why I wasn't Muslim, and my answer was "Muslims." Not all Muslims, mind you, but the vast majority of them that I've met disuade me from even considering it. Those I've found who live closest to their Book are converts.

Anyway, back to topic, I have to wonder if it's because, culturally, those men don't talk to women who aren't family in general?

no offense, but when i read your post, i was like "why are you even dealing with him if he's that annoying"..that's kind of sad......
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-27 00:38:00
Middle East and North AfricaAre Muslims in America Unfriendly?
QUOTE (Sofiyya @ Jun 26 2009, 08:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE
Like I've said before, Alhamdulillah I found the message of Islam before I met the Muslims...


You're not the first to feel that way . . . Islam is wonderful, but I can't stand the Muslims



i totally agree good.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-06-26 23:45:00
Middle East and North AfricaHappy Anniversary Tamara & Adam
congratulations!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-22 18:00:00
Middle East and North AfricaNot a religious Man
inna lilahi wa inna ilayhi rajioon...

i'm sorry about your loss. may he rest in peace rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-26 20:23:00
Middle East and North AfricaEgypt is where?
lol....why am i not surprised.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-30 04:06:00
Middle East and North AfricaPlease give a warm welcome to:
hi and welcome to vj !
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-03 22:12:00
Middle East and North AfricaOMG!! We are out of AP and getting his Visa.
wow mabrook!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hope you guys are reunited very very soon!!!!!!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-07-30 04:05:00
Middle East and North Africathis is the end...
im happy that things went well for you and hubby. smile.gif and squeaky is awesome...ill see you around wink.gif rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-10 14:07:00
Middle East and North AfricaJust found out divorce was not final before applying for finace visa
QUOTE (Donna A @ Aug 8 2009, 04:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
ok, one of the mena girls (i cant remember her name now) something similar happened and she didnt find out he was married until they were at the interview. if someone can remember her name u might be able to talk with her and find out what she did. i think she still went ahead with the visa some how. i think he even clearly lied to her calling his kids nephews or neices or something like that. he was fully aware he was still married. so that situation was a little more complex then urs and i think they made it thru.


not to sidetrack the topic, but how could she accept being with him knowing that he was still married on top of that? was he trying to scam her? that's really nuts.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-08 16:38:00
Middle East and North AfricaGREAT GREAT news
congrats, that's good news!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-13 11:40:00
Middle East and North AfricaOMG!! He got his Visa minutes ago...
congratulations!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-15 11:47:00
Middle East and North AfricaPleased to announce
congrats!!!!!!! good news!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-16 18:08:00
Middle East and North AfricaGOT MY CR1 VISA TODAY
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-18 11:30:00
Middle East and North AfricaGOD IS GOOD...ALL THE TIME! OMG NOT MAYBE
congratulations!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-19 10:43:00
Middle East and North AfricaYEA!! He's here and how his trip went.
congrats!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-19 16:21:00
Middle East and North AfricaPrays for Kenza
good luck!!!!!!!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-25 00:46:00
Middle East and North Africa60 Days Exactly and i got VISA...Alhmullah
congrats!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-24 13:38:00
Middle East and North AfricaNot able to look up info on USCIS... STILL!
why not try just calling them and verifying the status via telephone?
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-20 13:02:00
Middle East and North AfricaTuesday
well, east coast summers suck! so i'm glad the fall is close by! no more humid 90+ degree weather. biggrin.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-01 05:03:00
Middle East and North AfricaMixed Religions
bottom line: if one person believes strongly in their faith, and would like to pass this faith along to their kids, make sure your partner is fine with it. if you both believe in your respective faiths, and argue over which one your children should follow, then there is trouble.

it depends entirely on how open and communicative the couple are in regards to this. i personally rejected two marriage proposals from two of my best friends (one was russian orthodox and the other was a german catholic) because of the issue of how to deal with the kids later on. i am not very orthodox myself but i felt that perhaps if things were to change for me, it would pose an issue and unnecessary headaches down the road.

so, the answer to this is: yes, and no. biggrin.gif

lol
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-08-27 13:42:00
Middle East and North AfricaOVERWHELMED
QUOTE (santa cruz @ Sep 4 2009, 07:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (bhajishah @ Sep 4 2009, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Appeal then refile, or have senator go after on a FOIA. EVeRY one deserves thier day and to be heard, what a bunch of commies over there wow!! and this folks is the US embassy.


How would we go about appealing? We have not gotten a written notice from USCIS. What is a FOIA? Thanks so much for your help and support.
Yes they are very racist at the embassy that is for sure.


I don't understand why the embassy can't just let you come in and talk to you about your options. It's very discouraging to hear about this. They would really be trying to do their best to accomodate you. You are a citizen and pay taxes which in essence pays for their salaries....I will PM you.
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-04 23:27:00
Middle East and North AfricaOVERWHELMED
santa,

i wish i had some answers.... rose.gif rose.gif rose.gif rose.gif
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-03 21:47:00
Middle East and North AfricaI HAVE TO SHARE MY GOOD NEWS
congrats!!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-03 21:31:00
Middle East and North AfricaOMG OMG OMMMGGG APPROVAL!
congrats!!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-10 19:46:00
Middle East and North AfricaHow many of you
http://www.ou.edu/ssa/learn.htm

http://www.studyabro...abic/index.html

http://languagestudy...d.com/Syria.cfm

i also think the syrian dialect would be closer to what would be spoken in jordan versus the egyptian one, but that's just me.

damascus is also a very safe city and the government/local authorities go overboard when it comes to the protection of its foreign presence/tourists etc. i never felt odd or unsafe there ever during my stay. it's also pretty cheap....way cheaper than jordan FTW.

i'm not hating on jordan, but i just think it's overpriced for no good reason.

QUOTE (enraptured @ Sep 9 2009, 09:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
http://www.ou.edu/ssa/learn.htm

http://www.studyabro...abic/index.html

http://languagestudy...d.com/Syria.cfm

i also think the syrian dialect would be closer to what would be spoken in jordan versus the egyptian one, but that's just me.

damascus is also a very safe city and the government/local authorities go overboard when it comes to the protection of its foreign presence/tourists etc. i never felt odd or unsafe there ever during my stay. it's also pretty cheap....way cheaper than jordan FTW.

i'm not hating on jordan, but i just think it's overpriced for no good reason.


if you wanted to go tour those jordanian tourist spots as well, you could do it for much cheaper than the program and all that for 4500 bucks. you can easily take a bus to jordan, get a cheap hotel, get a cheap tour guide who will guide you to all those spots, etc...

i dunno, good luck with whatever you decide!
meowmeowmeowFemaleSyria2009-09-09 20:09:00