egipto26

thanks a lot for your reply...well im glad that your case went well and u can be with ur husband..congratulations!
im counting the days for our visa!
by the way when u call the fbi number you gave us, what do they ask for, e.g. for the case number and that's it? i think i will call them sometime by 5pm, but im just a little confused b/c i was told through email that our fingerprint clearance was sent to the Dept of state not the fbi so i have no idea where and if the fingerprints eventually get forwarded around to different offices..


QUOTE]Originally posted by jg1012002
When my husband had his fingerprints done, he was my fiance. His visa was never issued by Abu Dhabi because I am 10 years older than him and they objected to that ----- so we ended up getting married in Cyprus and he ended up getting his immigrant visa.

His fingerprints were finished and returned to the consulate (Abu Dhabi) within 10 days. He did have to pay the $85, as did all the other males that day. This procedure had just started and they actually called him back the next day to do fingerprints because they did not realize they needed fingerprints. (All the males that interviewed with him on June 2 were called back the next day for fingerprints.)

Funny thing was, my husband is indian but worked in Dubai, UAE. According to Department of State, they (Abu Dhabi) never should have requested the namecheck or fingerprints. However, as I soon found out, Abu Dhabi does things the way they want to and screw everyone else. When we went to Cyprus, they informed us that because he was now my husband, his security clearance was totally different. Of course, I was thinking the worst and thought we would get bogged down in security clearances again. But they just did the normal clearance and it was back within 7 days (this clearance is the same as they run on any immigrant, basically the NCIC check). They scheduled us an interview in two weeks and he got the visa same day.

These issues resolve around a limited number of countries and predominantly the muslim countries. They instituted the fingerprints because names can be changed, and so many have the same common names. So they instituted the fingerprints in hopes of preventing some of the terrorists (that they have fingerprints on) from getting in the country. The good thing is the FBI has so much more experience in security issues, always adheres very strictly to their procedures, is very organized and from what I have seen normally has these finished in a relatively short time frame (2 weeks). The only problems I have seen in the last year is with the embassies, Department of State, and National Visa Center. Security is a relatively new concept to DOS, NVC, and embassies and they really haven't grasped the procedures very well. [/QUOTE]

IMhp

Thanks for sharing your personal experience. That helped. We are going through similar process, we paid $85 for Fingerprint and they asked us to wait till it gets clear. Do you know any site where I can find more info about NCIC?

Thanks

jg1012002

They need the name, date of birth, country of birth, and, if I'm not mistaken the Case number from the embassy. (Its been almost six months since he had the fingerprints done.)

jg1012002

I don't know of any site with information on the NCIC. However, from what I experienced and know, the NCIC is very simple. It is a database of criminals. They simply enter the name and if a hit comes back that the person has been arrested before then they have to request fingerprints to distinguish if it is same person. If the fingerprints do not match, then no problem the visa is issued.

IMhp

Just did search on NCIC and found following sites. They just talk about what and why, nothing more then what jg1012002 explained.

http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ncic.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ident.htm

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/is/ncic.htm

egipto26

hi i just called the fbi tel. number to check on the status of my husband's fingerprints. they had no records of them being processed there. so i guess they are still with the department of state. the customer service rep. told me to just get in touch with the consulate so that they can give me info. on who to call in the dept. of state. but i won't email the consulate again as they just told me to wait and that they dont have any jurisdiction over the fingerprints once they are sent to the dept. of state.... so more waiting for me...

Hebapotamus42

I finally received an answer from the Cairo consulate. This is what they said:

...If the interview went successful, your husband may receive his visa within one week, and not on the same day. Some cases, and not all require clearance from Washington. We are unable to determine if the case requires clearance or not until the Consular Officer get to the stage of approving his visa.

- The same for the fingerprints, not all cases require fingerprints to be taken, but depends on issues that the Consular Officer determine on the appointment date.

So, Patty

I guess you better have your husband pocket an extra $85 just in case.

Khadija

They must have come up for air as I got a reply today, too. Here's what mine said:

Dear Ms. Ghannam,

Please note that the fingerprints are not required from all applicants, but only some of them. Only the Consular Officer determines this requirement on the appointment date and when he gets to the stage of adjudicating the case on the computer. In case Mr. Ghannam is required to submit his fingerprints, he must pay $85 on the same day.

Regards,

Consular Staff


If I dare read between the lines, I take this to mean that if there's a "hit" waiting to be checked out, he could have to be fingerprinted. So, in the meantime, I'll be praying up a storm that Ghanam (or as they spell it Ghannam) is not a common name and that it will be clear sailing after the 3rd in which case he'll have an extra $85 in his pocket!

I must admit I had to fight the temptation to respond to the Consulate with a snippy reply to the effect that how on earth do they expect folks there to just happen to have an extra $85 laying around let alone with them if not forewarned!!! But, I bit my tongue!

I like the one week mention in your response from them. Not that I'd be bringing him here any sooner than after December 27th (business travel for me the 16th - 21st pretty much kills that as do blackout dates to use my miles during the holidays) but it's nice to know it might come that quickly.

Cheers and Eid Mubarak a little early,
Patty Khadijah

Hebapotamus42

That's what it sounded like to me, so it would seem they don't start to do any realwork on a case until they've actually met with the applicant. Ghanam unforunately isn't a unique name, but on the bright side I haven't heard of any bad guys with that family name. My husband's name is way too common, though. I'm hoping the middle name makes it more unique.

I know what you mean. Why the @#$%!! can't they put in a notice to that effect with the packet 3 instructions?

Eid mubarak to you, too.

egipto26

hi in my hubby's case there is a "muhammad" in his name... i knew he'd go for clearance..his first name is also very very common... in our case they called us the next day and told us about the $85... they gave us a few days to come so it wasn't so bad..but yeah $85 is a lot, we were lucky to have the money around. i think right after the interview they tell u whether u have to go for clearance or not... in my case the name check computer was down on the day of the interview so we had to wait til the next day.
it seems funny now that they say only "some" men have to go for clearance..when on the department of state website it mentions that all applicants from "muslim" countries or state sponsors of terrorism have to go for extra checks.... they told a friend of mine that all egyptian men have to go for some type of clearance but at the same time they also told me that it is also possible for the visa to be issued in one week...
i wish u luck heba and patty, hope ur husbands wont need this clearance inshallah!

Leslie

Hi,

Can you give me the link where you read that?

Leslie

egipto26

there are too many links where i have read this! i would say do a search on yahoo or google for "condor check" "name checks muslims" or "security advisory opinion" in same cases they also call this " administrative review or processing".. good luck..
I will try finding the ariticle on state.gov where i read about the state sponsors of terrorism and the extra checks for these countries..

Khadija

I guess we'll never understand the mysterious and arcane ways of Consulates and Consular Officers. Pray, pray, pray! That's all we can do now - and make sure our hubby's/wives have sufficient funds in their pockets on interview day! Do they do anything in New Hampshire? For those who are stuck there forever it would seem so. For those of who zip through (relatively speaking), it would seem not. Who knows... Let's hope, at least for those of us pending in Cairo, there are no "hits" and our spouses will be congratulated and told to watch their mailboxes!

Speaking of Ghanam, I wonder if his visa will be issued to Abdo Ghannam or Ghanam. Ghannam is in his passport. We (I should say I) took Ghanam from the translation of our marriage license he didn't have a passport until after we were married - just his Egyptian identity cards. I guess it doesn't matter that much and I suppose, phoenetically, it's more correct.

Bye for now,
Patty Khadijah

Leslie

Thanks. I'm not doubting you, I have just heard too many different things. Sometimes it's the state sponsors of terrorism, sometimes it's Muslim countries, sometimes it's Middle-Eastern countries. There are a lot of Muslim countries that do not sponsor terrorism. There are also a lot of Muslim countries that are not in the Middle East. I don't know when these terms are being used interchangeably, because they don't all mean the same thing. That's why I wanted to see specifically the link to the DOJ web-page that mentioned Muslim countries, because I have never been able to find anything like that on their website.

Leslie

egipto26

one website where they mention "list of 26" countries that have to go for extra check is an immigration website www.simmonsungar.com/news/newrules_nonimm.html
it says there that all males btw 16-45 need the "condor check"
there is also info about the consular CLASS database- i guess this is where they enter the person's name to see if there is a hit.