Visa Complications Force Saudi Students to Hold US Weddings
Lulwa Shalhoub, Arab News
JEDDAH, 31 December 2007 � Omar Bafakeeh and Ala Aqeel, a Saudi couple, celebrated their marriage Saudi-style in Pittsburgh, US, on Dec. 21. They married in the States, not because they wanted to but because they had no other choice due to difficulties that Saudi students face acquiring US visas.
Difficulties in obtaining US visas � including rejection of visa applications and unnecessary delays � mean many Saudi students, once they arrive in the US, do not return to the Kingdom until their studies are completed. This means staying in the US during holidays, and missing weddings and funerals.
�Having my marriage here in America was frustrating for me, but conditions and circumstances have forced me to do this. Thank God my fiance� and her family understood my situation,� said Bafakeeh, whose wife, herself a student in the Kingdom, came to the US with her family for the marriage.
Bafakeeh�s marriage was attended by Muhammad Al-Eisa, Saudi cultural attach� in the US, and Muhammad Jameel Mulla, minister of communications and information technology.
Nazeeh Al-Othmany, a member of the Saudi Students Club in Pittsburgh, said that the wedding was a golden opportunity to educate people about Saudi culture, traditions and marriages.
�We also thought that this would be an opportunity to shed light on the effects of delayed visa procedures on Saudi students,� he said.
The wedding coincided with Eid Al-Adha, and faculty members of the University of Pittsburgh were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the way Muslims celebrate Eid.
An Islamic marriage ceremony was held at an Islamic center in the city and marriage certificates have been issued to the couple. The wedding had a distinct Saudi flavor, including Arabian coffee, dates, food and decor.
According to members of the Saudi Club, non-Saudi attendees asked questions about Saudi lifestyle and were surprised that Saudi women were able to arrange such occasions and that they do not wear hijab at home.
Meanwhile, 13 of Bafakeeh�s fellow students have been stuck in Saudi Arabia since the summer, waiting for their visas to be issued by the US Embassy in Riyadh.
Al-Othmany, a post graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, said he had also experienced difficulties getting US visas.
�I couldn�t return to Saudi Arabia when my father passed away and when my younger brother got married,� he said.
He added that his wife was also unable to return to the Kingdom when her mother and brother passed away and when her nephew got engaged.
�All this because of the difficulties of the visa renewal process. For this reason, plenty of students around here have decided to stay and avoid returning to the Kingdom until their studies are completed,� he added.
Source: Arab News
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