Are Omar And Avery From '90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days' Still Together?
Avery planned to marry her foreign fiancé then go live in his war-torn home in Syria.
TLC has introduced a new cast of couples for their hit show 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days this summer. The show features people meeting their love interests in person for the first time before deciding whether or not to pursue the process of applying for a visa to bring them to America to get married.
One couple, Omar and Avery, have extra hurdles to get past if they are ever going to live in the same country. While Avery is from Ohio, Omar is from Syria, a country torn apart by civil war. Not only that, Syrian citizens are banned from most travel to the US. This couple is left with the choice of Avery moving to a dangerous nation or waiting years to get through the process of securing Omar's visa to come to the United States. They have plans for their future, but the pressure might be too much for their relationship.
Are Omar and Avery still together? Read on for all the details.
1. Converting to Islam
Avery, who is 19-years-old, introduces herself to audiences by explaining that she was raised Christian and lived a typical American life. She did cheerleading and gymnastics, was named Homecoming queen, dated boys and wore whatever she pleased. However, she became friends with a Muslim co-worker and found herself drawn to the faith, eventually deciding to convert. "I believed in God, but I wasn't always 100 percent confident in all of the Christian views. I was open to learning about Islam and never expected to convert, but I was curious, so I asked some Muslim friends about Islam, " she tells Newsweek. "Everything I learned shocked me, it made so much sense and I realized it's an amazing religion," she said. "The turning moment for me was when I went into a mosque and had a moment in my heart I knew I was with the right people, in the right place, about to follow the right path."
She now abides by conservative modesty rules for dress and takes time to pray every day, as the religion demands. Her family is accepting but skeptical of her conversion, saying that this isn't the first time she had found something that interested her and went all-in for a while before moving on to the next obsession.
Avery won't wear her mother's wedding dress because it leaves her shoulders bare.
2. Finding love online
Just a few weeks into her new life as an observant Muslin, Avery learned about an app for meeting other Muslims interested in dating. That's how she connected with Omar. The 24-year-old dentist is from Syria, a nation devastated by a civil war that has been raging since 2011. Avery tells Newsweek that "When Omar sent me a request I saw his profile was so nice, and he was so handsome. I knew he was Syrian but it wasn't until after about a week of nonstop talking that I realized he still lived in Syria," she said. "Oddly enough it didn't change my feelings at all for him."
3. The Muslim ban
The State Department advises Americans not to travel to that country due to the on-going unrest. Not only that, Syria is on a Trump administration list of countries whose citizens are banned from traveling to the United States. At this time, most Syrian nationals are prohibited from entering the US so there is no way for Omar to come visit Avery in her home. The only way this pair can manage to connect in person is to travel to a third country and arrange to meet there. They set Lebanon as their meeting place and Avery plans to go visit Omar.
4. Moving way too fast
The trip to Lebanon isn't just a meet-and-greet for this couple. Avery tells audiences that after a few months of talking online Omar proposed to her. When she accepted, he shipped a ring to her. The visit to Lebanon is actually a trip to her own wedding. Avery intends to travel with her mother who will stay for the wedding before leaving so that the newlyweds can have some time alone. Due to the cultural rules in Lebanon and the strictures of their religious beliefs, the two young people can't share a hotel room. Omar confesses that he has never had any romantic relationships in the past and when he meets Avery at the airport, it's his first time even holding hands with a girl. The religious rules are part of the reason for the haste to marry but they also hope that applying for a spousal visa will be a way for Omar to come to the United States despite the travel ban on his country.
5. Secret plans for the future
Avery repeatedly tells her mother than she will return to Ohio after the honeymoon and begin the visa process. But what she hasn't told her family is that she won't be staying in Columbus indefinitely. She plans to get the paperwork filed then pack up and move to Syria to be with Omar. Her reasons for keeping this a secret are unsurprising: Omar and his family were forced from their homes due to the ongoing violence in the country. As the US State Department warns, no place in Syria is safe from violence. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the region as refugees. Omar has remained in the country with his family and he is continuing his training as a periodontist but even he cannot guarantee Avery's safety.
6. Love finds a way?
At this point in the season, all fans know is that Avery and her mom made it safely to Lebanon and Omar and Avery were overjoyed to see one another for the first time. Now they need to negotiate getting to know one another in the mere days they have left before their wedding. They have a shared Instagram account where they have posted a lot of promos from the show, and one intriguing photo of clothing and accessories captioned "Albakour Kouture coming September 2019.... #syrianspecialities." In the comments, Avery explains that she's planning an online boutique and she hopes to have it up and running by the end of September. Whether she is running it form Syria or America isn't clear.
Will these two overcome all the obstacles in their way? Audiences will have to stay tuned to find out.
7. Twitter's response
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.