biggish data

MENA CR1/K3/K1 visas PART2

QUOTE (?J+I? @ Sep 12 2009, 08:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good luck to those waiting.

Jackie

Glad to see this back, Im sure its going to be very helpful and supportive for alot of people.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2009-09-12 20:45:00

Happy Soon to be New Years! We are home bcz I'm sick 100-101 fever, feeling blah! Hope everyone has an awesome and blessed New Year!

Our dog Farrah is an inside dog so far since shes a puppy and we are training her. Shes been doing really good going outside. When shes goes potty outside I call her by her name and tell her good dog and pet her. Then as soon as she gets in I say that again and give her a small piece of a dog biscuit. We've had for her for about 4 days now and she will head to the back door when she wants to go out and potty. Shes doing really good!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-31 23:11:00

Hey MENA Peeps! Adam and I just added a german sheppard puppy to our home! Her name is Farrah is she is about 2 months old. Shes such a sweet dog and we are working on training her. 2 of my 3 cats get along with her just fine but our male cat Alex doesnt like Farrah at all. Adam has been wanting a dog for a long time and now we have a big back yard and the space so shes all his! Hope to post some pictures of FB soon!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-29 19:46:00

We plan on going back to Alexandria Egypt for a visit in 2012. Looking forward to seeing his family again. His sister finally set up a yahoo acct so for christmas we did a video chat with her and saw our little 2 1/2 yr old nephew. Hes soooo cute! I was making deviled eggs and Adam set the camera up for her to see what ingredients and how I made it. I got a really great family in laws! Love them!

I dont know how I survived today. It was horrible at work! I'm off for 2 days and going to relax and do some things around here tomorrow then celebrate my neices 5th birthday on Tuesday.
Adam bought me a keyboard for Christmas. I used to play the piano and kinda stopped after my dad died. It feels good to play again! For his gifts, I wish I took pictures of him bcz he was like a kid in a candy store! It was a great day for christmas with all the family over. I'm ready for the New Year party now!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-27 01:47:00

Merry Christmas!!! Thankfully Adam fell asleep at a decent time so I could sneak in his presents and wrap them!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-25 01:06:00

Jeanne, tell Wael Congrats from us on his 3 yrs here! Adams is coming up Jan. 9th.

Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a nice day with family or friends.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-23 23:54:00

Hey MENA Peeps! Its been a crazy hectic week. The death of a young associate last Saturday and about 20 of us associates attended his funeral for him. Work is hectic as usual. People have been extremely rude and crazy- as usual. What bugs me is how ugly parents are to their children. I have heard enough of parents cursing out their little children with every name in the book. Parents who continue to shop while their little children are looking for them, and parents who do not bother to look for their missing children at all!
3 associates in my store got sent to jail for stealing thousands of dollars of electronic merchandise over several months time. All of them walked out the store in handcuffs. Crazy, like they dont know their going to get caught.

I was offered a higher position in the company but declined for now. I never thought about this position and I love what I do, so I dont think I want to go for it.

Adam has been working on little projects in the home such as installing a new sink in the bathroom and new faucets in the house. He is currently working on how to hook up a sprayer to the toilet without it leaking water! I'm staying away from that one, he's on a mission and I wont bother him. We received christmas cards for many of you and we thank you! We have them all over our door. Christmas is going to be at our house and we are so excited to have family over. Hope everyone is doing well and has a great week!

Edited by ~PalmTreeGurl~, 19 December 2010 - 05:43 PM.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-19 17:42:00

Good Evening MENA! Its cold here in Houston, but it could be colder! Bring it on! We are loving our new house! We just put our tree up a few days ago and the cats are loving it. Lets see... water being drank, ornaments flying thru the room, lights trying to be eaten, branches coming down... this is cat heaven! I'll be working on pictures soon of the house. I hear Christmas will be spent at our house so we are working on the little odds n ends for however many people will be over then.
Adam is working at my store for the next 3 weeks helping out in different areas. Its going to be kinda nice seeing hubby while I'm there

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-06 19:53:00

i pick up my passport without the visa

Awesome news! Congrats!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-28 21:00:00

Ours was 4 months of AP plus 4 months of trying to get a movement certificate - through Egypt

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-05 23:24:00

best way to send packages to Egypt

I've used Fedex more, but have used both.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 22:41:00

Visa approved :)....but got AP :(

Seems like the standard way Cairo does things. Hope for the 4 weeks but prepare for much longer.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 22:40:00

Adam received his Selective Service Registration card in the mail today. Was dated back in Sept 08 and has his number on it. So thats good to know. So when filing for AOS form I485 if you are inbetween the age of 18-25 they will register you with Selective Service. Now whether you get your card in the mail or not at that time is a whole nother story. But at least we got what we need and he will apply for Citizenship this year!

Edited by ~PalmTreeGurl~, 15 January 2011 - 02:22 PM.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-15 14:22:00

Ok, great news! Adam called the Selective Services today and told them he couldnt find his registration number from online. They checked his name, social, dob and found his SS Registration from Sept 2008. They gave him his number and are sending his card in the mail. They had no explanation as to why we can not find his information when we put it in online. But YAY! Glad to have what we need and can apply for Citizenship this year.

So, word to the guys between 18-25... when you come to the USA, make sure you register with the Selective Services!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-10 19:20:00

Adam says when we were in Georgia he got something in the mail he thinks from them, but theres nothing in the system for his name SSN and DOB- nothing at all. And we surely dont have that one piece of paper that he thinks could be the one. Frustrating!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-10 01:05:00

Did he ever get a number or a card saying it was automatically done?? It was done automatically when he filed his AOS right? Thats what we've been thinking all along and we didnt know anything otherwise about it for the past 2 yrs.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-10 00:42:00

Page 5 of AOS I-485 states: Selective Service Registration

The following applies to you if you are a male at least 18 yrs of age, but not yet 26 years of age, who is required to register with Selective Service System: "I understand that my filing Form I 485 with USCIS authorizes USCIS to provide certain registration information to the Selective Service System in accordance with the Military Selective Service ACT. Upon USCIS acceptance of my application, I authorize USCIS to transmit to the Selective Service System my name, current address, SSN, DOB, and the date I filed the application for the purpose of recording my Selective Service Registration as of the filing date. If, however USCIS does not accept my application, I further understand that, if so required, I am responsible for registering with the Selective Service by other means, provided I have not yet reached 26 years of age. "

Edited by ~PalmTreeGurl~, 10 January 2011 - 12:41 AM.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-10 00:39:00

Hey MENA! This is something we are dealing with right now and dont know if anyone else in here knows or been through this. This year Adam is eligible to apply for citizenship. So we started reading the N400 and near the end it asks if you are inbetween 18-26 when you came to the USA did you Register with Selective Service. I went back to Adams AOS I 485 paper work and on page 5 it talks about if you are between 18-26 it will forward your info to Selective Service to be registered if your AOS gets approved. Well his did back in 2008 and he was about to turn 24.
So, now we were looking for a Registration Number and we dont have one. We did a search on www.sss.gov with his Name, SSN, and DOB but nothing comes up. This is making me wonder if he really did get registered or not and now he is 3 months past 26 he couldnt register if he wanted to now.

I dont know if anyone else in here has been through AOS when they were 18-25 going on 26 but make sure you guys register I guess on your own. I dont know if this will affect him applying now for Citizenship or not bcz if he didnt get registered during AOS like the I485 says it would do, then he cant apply for Citizenship for 5 more yrs to my understanding bcz its not good moral character to not register which could/would deny you.

He's going to call Selective Service tomorrow and hope to get an answer. We have the AOS I 485 paperwork page 5 signed where it was agreed to all and a copy of our approval of his AOS so I hope that will prove that we did believe he was going to be registered.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-10 00:28:00

moving to florida

Im no help with Florida, but I think Houston is a great place to move to. The economy here has been so far so good for us in Texas. Houston area is full of middle eastern people/couples. Grocery stores and middle eastern restaurants there too. Several VJ people live around the Houston area. Us, Amal and her hubby, Sandra and Maged up north of us, and a couple others around FB and VJ. We are about 1 hour or so from Galveston to go fishing, swimming or great seafood markets. Plenty of things to do and we love it here. Thats my 2 cents worth sorry its not about Florida.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-10-02 22:22:00

Women older then there fiance

In any MENA case it could raise a flag, however there are several relationships in this MENA forum that are just like that. Older fiance/spouse and of a different faith. There are some that have made it and didnt have issues, some have had issues and still made it. I'm sure some will come along and tell you how theirs went. I'm only 2 yrs older than my husband and hes from Egypt and we never had an issue. We've been married now 4 1/2 yrs and he's been here almost 3 yrs. We drive each other crazy but we are together for a lifetime

and he just said yes, he agrees!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2010-12-19 21:28:00

Yah this is more updated and alot more info on what to do as far as getting married. I wish it would have been that discriptive back then when we did it. Best wishes to those going through the process.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 20:05:00

http://www.mfa.gov.e...INT=Guest#Visas

Never mind, I found it on this website:

Exemptions from Visa Fees

Egyptian visa fees do not apply to the following:

Holders of diplomatic passports.

Officials of international organizations and specialized agencies and state delegates to conferences.

Arab League officials.

Non-national spouses of Egyptian nationals.

Non-national members of the clergy, prominent scientists, journalists and members of official cultural, educational and sports delegations.

Non-national students studying in Egyptian institutions.

Non-diplomatic personnel of diplomatic and consular missions affected in Egypt.

Parents, siblings and adult children of members of the diplomatic and consular corps affected in Egypt.

Nationals of Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Russia and the United States are partially exempt from Egyptian visa fees and will, therefore, pay a reduced fee.

II) Residence in Egypt for Foreign Nationals

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 12:14:00

I noticed it doesnt say that if your married to an Egyptian citizen and your bring your marriage certificate to the airport you can get your visa stamped for free. That was good back in 2007 and wonder if its still good now?

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 12:09:00

And just another thing to add: Adam and I are going on 5 yrs of marriage and we met online almost 6 yrs ago. We have our ups and downs :help:

good times and stressful ones :bonk:

, but he's my boo for life! :luv:

my Egyptian hubby !

Edited by ~PalmTreeGurl~, 23 January 2011 - 04:10 AM.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 04:09:00

http://travel.state....s/cis_1108.html

Here's info on Egypt. Its seems like alot has been updated on that website since I went to Egypt last time.

Here's something posted on that website regarding marriages:

Marriage in Egypt: The Egyptian government allows U.S. citizens to marry in Egypt. For further information, please refer to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.

Many marriages between Egyptians and U.S. citizens are successful. However, the Embassy warns against marriage fraud on the part of the U.S. citizen or the Egyptian. Entering into a marriage contract for the principal purpose of facilitating immigration to the United States for an alien is against U.S. law and can result in serious penalties, including fines and imprisonment for the U.S. citizen and the Egyptian. At the same time, it is not uncommon for Egyptians to enter into marriages with U.S. citizens solely for immigration purposes. Relationships developed via correspondence, particularly those begun on the Internet, are particularly susceptible to manipulation. The U.S. government urges U.S. citizens who meet Egyptians on the Internet or while touring the country, to take the time necessary to get to know them before considering marriage. Unfortunately, the Embassy sees many cases of abuse against U.S. citizen spouses and often the marriages end in divorce when the Egyptian acquires a green card or citizenship in the United States. These cases invariably occur when the relationship is based mostly on Internet communication and very little face-to-face interaction.

It also takes about safety, laws, dual nationals, adoption, ect...

Just thought I'd pass it along for those who are newer to this.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 03:49:00

Location of Egyptian Peeps

We're in Texas now east side of Houston, was in Atl Georgia.

We know of an Egyptian fella that just got his visa to be with his wife and live in Minnesota and wonder if anyone around VJ is near them. He says he only lives near snow!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-26 01:57:00

FAMILY ACCEPTANCE

When Adam and I first discussed kids, he was 21-almost 22 and all fully charged up with, "Oh yah! I want 12 kids like a soccer team!" :dance:

and that was his answer for years, up until we got to Texas with all the neices and nephew rugrats! Now its more like, "12?!" WHO said 12! I only want 1!
lol And I'm perfectly fine with 1, when it happens.

However, on a realistic note about that. I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian symdrome) and a blood clotting disorder which we know and both been told that if I was to get pregnant- which is hard but totally possible with the medicine I'm on for PCOS, that I have a huge chance of getting a blood clot while pregnant or having miscarriages. So while we know the odds of both of those issues I have, adoption is also something Adam and I discuss and would do. At this moment though we are loving life together and are not in a hurry for a child.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-25 23:32:00

FAMILY ACCEPTANCE

Its my opinion that you should do as some others suggested and just go for a visit and meet him and his family. I did get married on my first visit, but my grandparents had already met him first and we are about the same age...
Even though he may seem very mature, hes still only 22 and you havent met him yet. Take time to get to know his family, if you've spent 3 yrs already online, whats another couple of months to get to know someone face to face before a long time commitment of marriage and this crazy visa process. IMO, K1 fiance would probably be best.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-24 23:14:00

I've been working like crazy and spent 2 weeks sick. Im sooooo looking forward to this coming up weekend. I took the 28th to Feb 1st off for my bday on the 31st and to just be away from work!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-23 03:54:00

Awesome News Jeanne! Congrats to you Wael! Very proud of you! How many questions did he have and how long did the interview take? Keep us posted on his Oath date! Yay!!!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-12 22:37:00

Good morning MENA. Jeanne, terribly sad and wow thats so close to you guys! So glad ya'll were not in that parking lot. Definitely praying for all involved and trying to recover as well as their families and the town.
Hope everyone has a great day. Its raining and cold here in Houston. I still dont feel well and its my day off so I'm going to rest at home. Got work at 6am tomorrow.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-09 11:10:00

2nd day of the year and I had to go to the urgent care clinic- sooo glad they were open on Sunday! I have strep throat and a middle ear infection. Off work til Tuesday.
We added a picture of our puppy on FB. We couldnt find our cat Candy and searched all over the house, then started looking outside even though she never goes outside we thought maybe she got out when we let the puppy in or out. We were calling Candy like crazy... no sound. Lily got up and went into the laundry room, jumped up onto the wash machine and was looking inside... There Candy was! Pictures on FB! I love cats!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-02 23:50:00

Hey MENA Peeps! Hope everyone has an awesome and blessed New Year. I started out my year sick. I've got strep throat and cant go to the doc til Monday.

Also, Please pray for the families that lost their loved ones in Alexandria Egypt last night. A bomb was set off in front of the Coptic church and killed and injured both christians and muslims.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-01 13:53:00

What makes your marriage successful?

Communication is the key to our marriage. We tell each other everything and discuss everything. I am lucky to have a man who does not ignore when I am upset and just hopes it goes away, this has been the case in my experiances with men. He always tells me, let's talk about it babe so we can fix it. Sometimes I am not ready to talk about it just yet so he gives me my space until I am ready to talk.

Awww awesome Sandy and Jack!!!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-31 19:54:00

What makes your marriage successful?

What makes our marriage work is so many things blended in together for each other. Love- and by that I mean how we show each other love the way each of us need it. He needs love as in hugs and kisses and being told how much I love him, I need love in time spent with me and helping do things. When we show each other love according to how we need it we feel that love greater. Respect and by that, how we treat each other around others and to each other when no one is around. Prayer - through prayer and by praying for each other. Laughing together, finding time to just have fun and laugh together and bond. When we do those things daily it makes us grow so much closer.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-31 02:11:00

My update

Welcome back to VJ! Congrats on the 6th yr anniversary!!! (L)

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-01-03 23:54:00

Riots in Egypt?

How are you doing Olivia? Many people have asked about you and wondered where you were or how you are doing.

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2011-02-09 12:41:00

Riots in Egypt?

QUOTE (Ihavequestions @ Apr 6 2009, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's my opinion, for what it's worth (and, yeah, I know I'm not Egyptian, but I do have a bird's eye view). Egypt has multiple problems....

1.) This is the Land of InshAllah. I hear it everywhere, every day, about every thing. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, happens unless God wants it to. Sure, I can understand that spiritual/religious perspective, however what that also does is remove optimism and any opportunity for someone to help themselves. Really, why bother when, at the end of the day, it's not going to happen unless God wants it to. More than anything, though, it's the sense of not having ANY control over one's destiny, whatsoever, that is troubling.

2.) The one exception to InshAllah is when it has something to do with the government and what citizens perceive the government should be doing but isn't. Case in point: the dismal economy. Sure, there's poverty in Egypt, lots of it and it's deep. To Egyptians, it's the government's job to fix it. And, to an extent, it is doing what it can. For example, 6th of October, a brand spanking new development in Cairo, is in full swing in terms of construction and occupancy. Somebody (EGYPTIANS) have jobs because of it and somebody (EGYPTIANS) are buying the homes and stocking up the neighborhood stores to feed/clothe the people living in them. But, somehow, that's not enough.

3.) Egyptians are experts at making their own problems then crying about them. Case in point: "I'm not married because I can't find a man with a high enough degree with and a job that looks like it will last forever so he'll always work and a fully furnished right down to the teaspoons apartment and with a ton of gold and cash to hand me as soon as we sign the papers and a luxurious venue for the wedding party that will impress the neighborhood and speaking of the neighborhood I can't find a man that comes from a good enough family because we all know that if a man comes from a good family he will be a good husband and if he doesn't come from a good family and have the apartment and furnishings and the gold and the cash and the big wedding party and the high degree and the forever job, well, I just can't get married and I'll have to live with my family forever and my neighbors will all look at me and think I'm not married because I'm too difficult which I really am but, dammit, it's my future and I have a right to have these expectations even though they are making a big problem for me to cry about." Get my drift?

4.) The fear of making a mistake is deep. I mean deep. They learn this in school. They really do. Come on, this is a place where teachers beat (and kill) children who don't turn in their homework. This is also a place where making a mistake makes the family look bad and if the family looks bad, well, nothing really happens other than the family looks bad but somehow the fear of the family looking bad is enough for people to be very afraid of making a mistake.

5.) Xenophobia is the norm. Even deeper than the fear of making a mistake is the fear of something - or someone - different. The pressure to conform is almost as intense as the pressure to get and stay married.

6.) The government is corrupt and baksheesh (bribes) are the norm. It doesn't matter what someone has done, or wants to have done, a little payola to the government official (who is trying to make it on less than 400 LE a month in most cases) is all that's necessary. To curb this corruption, the government should clean it's own closet, starting with paying their own employees a liveable wage.

7.) The government itself perpetuates the hate. If it's Jewish, it's wrong and, in this government's head, there's no difference between Jewish and Israel. The television is FULL of it, all of the time. Because of this (and because the government's education purposely never teaches its students the difference between fact and fiction, or to figure out the difference for themselves) people believe it, wholesale.

8.) Egypt has put itself in a position that forces it to depend on western money. Just stand outside of a money exchange place and watch the foreign currency going in. Big money. Not only that, it has a population that eats bread with every meal (and, frequently, as an entire meal). Does Egypt grow wheat to make this bread? Nope. It's imported, at low or no cost (from western countries), baked, then sold to feed hungry bellies because it's CHEAP.

Oh, I could go on..........

I liked your take on the situation there at hand. Makes sense!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2009-04-06 15:43:00

Riots in Egypt?

QUOTE (humpkinpumpkin @ Apr 4 2009, 09:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Far2Long @ Apr 4 2009, 07:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

One fact will always remain and that is that US policy is and has always been and will probably always be to support Israel and Egypt in the peace process. Those are the only two actively working together in the peace process for several decades now and we wish it to remain that way and support it. Those two will not be losing our support anytime soon. That has been made very clear to me at my time here studying at the University.

By "we" and "our" you mean the USA? Yes absolutely. The USA cannot ever break ties with Israel because Israel holds too much financially on the USA. If we did break ties, especially now, we'd be up the creek without a paddle. It would be nice if it were just that the USA believed in Israel's policies and supported them because of that or actually if it were a democratic thing were the actual people of the USA were able to vote on whether or not to support them but that obviously is not ever happening because of the way our gov't is set up.

Egypt only works with Israel because the USA gives them money and they'd lose that money if they didn't. Again it would be a very different scenario if Egypt actually agreed with Israel's policies but they don't. The majority of the Egyptian citizens hate Israel with a passion and detest that their government supports them but what to do what to do. Elections there are a complete farce anyway. I've seen youtube video's of the ballots for anyone but Mubarak being tossed in the bucket. It's just ridiculous.

I do look forward to hearing your point of view once you've lived there for a while. I'd love to hear the point of view, again, from the actual Egyptians on here but to be honest I doubt any would speak up for fear of retribution. Heck blogging like you said is dangerous there so it wouldn't suprise me if they were monitoring other areas of the net as well.
I hope that in time things will change there and they can have a true democracy. Stranger things have happened so who knows.

Yep, the net is monitored from over there. for sure!

~PalmTreeGurl~

Female

Egypt

2009-04-04 23:36:00