It started with a tweet.

Paul Gottinger, an American journalist, posted it online and Mahsa Abbasi, an Iranian food scientist, commented on it.

The interaction led to the two meeting up in Istanbul and later, getting engaged.

Gottinger and Abbasi plan to live in the United States. But in order for Abbasi to come here, she needs to get a K-1 or fiancé(e) visa. She applied for one about a year ago.

It's been a long process, they say. They've had to meet in a third country — usually Turkey or Armenia.

"People generally think that you can get a whirlwind wedding or get engaged and get on a plane and it's nothing like it, unfortunately," says Gottinger.

He says they've had to put together "a huge packet as thick as a Bible" of documents that show their relationship is genuine. "Every flight we've taken to meet each other, every receipt, every hotel reservation, hundreds of pictures."

The application in, the couple were told to wait.

Then came the news this week that the Supreme Court has upheld President Donald Trump's immigration and travel restrictions, which bars people from six mainly Muslim countries from entering the US for the next 90 days.

Mahsa Abbasi and Paul Gottinger are pictured. Credit: Courtesy of Mahsa Abbasi and Paul Gottinger

According to the new rules, people from Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen can't enter the country unless they have "a credible claim of a bona fide relationship” with someone in the US. The term "bona fide" has created some confusion.

The administration said that parents, a spouse, child, son or daughter-in-law, and siblings, including step- or half-siblings are in. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, in-laws, extended family and grandchildren are out.

Initially, it said fiancés or fiancées do not fall under the "close relatives" or "bona fide" term. Which meant that Abbasi would not be able to enter the US.

Abbasi and Gottinger went to bed on Thursday night worried and confused.

Then, the rule was updated to include fiancé.

"We went to bed thinking that my fiancée is banned from the country," says Gottinger, "and I got up at six in the morning, after a restless night of sleep, to find out that, that was no longer the case."

They're relieved but nervous that something similar would happen before the visa is issued and that it would stop them from starting a life in the US.

"Every time there is a ban, I feel like I'm having a heart attack," says Abbasi, "because I don't know if I can start my life with the person that I love."

The couple says they have already had to postpone their wedding, because of the delay in the visa. They had booked a venue, a Japanese garden in Minnesota, for June, but they had to postpone twice.

So, for now, they are waiting.

"We are kind of trapped between two countries, and we can't really make plans," says Gottinger. "We're just trying to get a life started; we feel like we can't get our wheels spinning."