Hi everyone,
I've been catching up on the posts here and I want to provide some more context around our interview, which might shed some light on why we were approved and other cases weren't. Honestly, I was getting very worried during the interview, and was thinking that we would also get rejected, but here are some points that might have made our situation different than some of the others:
-We talked down our religious differences; my husband indicated he did not pray often, did not fast during Ramadan etc. We both emphasized that religion is not an important part of our life. My husband was not entirely comfortable saying this, but we knew it would be a sticking point.
-When the questions about my salary came up, he said, "Well that is very attractive to an Egyptian man", I responded with, "My husband did not even know how much money I made until we prepared for this interview. It has never been a topic of conversation, but I thought it might be a question, so I told him how much money I make."
-I addressed his concerns, and agreed that I would be skeptical about the same things if I was in his shoes, but about my husband's 'genuineness'; I told him that I lived amongst his boss, his friends, his family, his barber, his grocer, etc. etc. etc. and everybody would go on and on about what an amazing man he is (and how I should treat him well). After 4 months, I saw absolutely no warnings, and I consider myself to be an intelligent/observant person who would notice something like this.
-I also said that I had traveled extensively, and could identify when somebody is conning you. I told him some stories of other tourists in Egypt who had gone through similar situations, and my husband even pointed out some men he knew (in the city where we lived) that did this sort of thing regularly.
-I told him flat out that my husband is not using me for the visa; my husband would actually prefer that we live in Egypt, and I told him I would not (that if anything, this was the one issue we did not agree on). I said how I want to raise a family in Canada, a country that boasts strong medical care, education, economy, and offers lots of opportunity - I want to give my child the best chance in life. I said that if he didn't give us the visa, we would have to find a country that would take us both, but that I would not raise a child in Egypt, especially with the current political situation. I also referenced a recent family experience in which an infant born in Egypt died shortly after birth, which further reinforced my decision not to move to Egypt permanently.
So after all this, he said that he still wasn't convinced - BUT - that I seemed grounded/stable and he would give it to us. I honestly let out a huge sigh of relief when he said this - like I said earlier, it could have gone either way.
I don't think there are is a quota for accepting/rejecting couples, but I do think he has largely made up his mind before you even enter the room - he has been doing this a long time and has heard it all. It's definitely a challenge, and one we almost failed ourselves, but it seems having both wife and husband attend at least gives you a chance, and then emphasizing the reasons that your husband could not possibly be using you for a visa in a mature and polite manner may also help to change his opinion (if that's his concern with you). Giving personal and specific accounts/stories to differentiate yourselves from the other cases may also help. These are all just theories - who knows.
I'm so sorry for anyone who is going through this horrible situation right now, but I wish you all the best of luck in your appeals and future interviews.
