K1 application under "Administrative Processing" but no 221(g) letter

[johnpaulringogeo 0]

My fiancee had her interview at the embassy in Manila on August 11. Everything went fine with the interview, but some of her documents had expired (we originally filed the application in May, 2013, but she had to go through the whole TB treatment process for six months). They had her turn in her and her son's passports and said she should receive them back within three weeks to thirty days. So then she went to the NSO and they told her that the necessary documents would be delivered to the embassy that Friday.

After thirty days had passed and not a word from the embassy, I started to get anxious. The CEAC Status website still listed our application status as "Ready," as in "Ready for the interview" with all the interview instructions below -- the exact same way it's looked for months. I tried to the call the embassy, but couldn't get through using the numbers listed for the Immigration Visa department. So I tried e-mailing, but three weeks later, I still haven't received anything from them other than the auto-reply e-mail. Frustrated, I wrote to the office of one of my senators. Her office couldn't get a hold of anyone at the embassy, either, so they called someone in D.C. who looked it up in the system and said that our application had gone under "Administrative Processing," but there was no way to know why or how long it would take. My senator's office subsequently told me that there was nothing more they could do.

Having done some research on this mysterious "Administrative Processing," it seems that a 221(g) letter should have been mailed to my fiancee stating that our application had been flagged for this processing, but she has not received any letter. She went to the embassy in person to ask what in the world was going on, but they turned her away and just told her to call the phone numbers we've both been calling for weeks now with no success.

Has anyone else here gone through this process? Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm really starting to go crazy not knowing what the problem is or when we can expect it to be resolved. I greatly appreciate any help!

[Al422 221]

Administrative processing can mean a lot of things. The term has gotten a lot of bad press because one of the things it means is when there is a problem that takes some time to resolve.

But most administrative processings don't mean that. What they mean instead is the normal post interview handling. Every time someone touches your file, they must scan it in, and an entry is made on the computer. That is why you see multiple Ready, AP, Ready, etc. Seeing these things change regularly is good news because that means your file is being worked on and not just sitting in a pile.

As to your specific issues, you mentioned expired documents. Were you given instructions on how to resolve this problem? DId you send them replacement documents EXACTLY how they instructed you to do so (usually 2Go)? Assuming you did all this and you see your status change regularly, just sit back and wait. The frequent changes show your file is being moved along, and to call them or send email will slow you down as they will now have to pull your file out of an active pile. You don't want that. Let them keep working on it.

When you see your file sit in a pile for over a week, that is when the tme has come to email or call, but no sooner. And this is only after you complied with all instructions for sending replament documents. New paper showing up at their door takes a week just to find its way into the proper file. You just have to give it time.

[Hypnos 6,576]

Administrative processing can be weeks, months, or (rarely) years.

[Hank_ 9,171]

My fiancee had her interview at the embassy in Manila on August 11. Everything went fine with the interview, but some of her documents had expired (we originally filed the application in May, 2013, but she had to go through the whole TB treatment process for six months). They had her turn in her and her son's passports and said she should receive them back within three weeks to thirty days. So then she went to the NSO and they told her that the necessary documents would be delivered to the embassy that Friday.

After thirty days had passed and not a word from the embassy, I started to get anxious. The CEAC Status website still listed our application status as "Ready," as in "Ready for the interview" with all the interview instructions below -- the exact same way it's looked for months. I tried to the call the embassy, but couldn't get through using the numbers listed for the Immigration Visa department. So I tried e-mailing, but three weeks later, I still haven't received anything from them other than the auto-reply e-mail. Frustrated, I wrote to the office of one of my senators. Her office couldn't get a hold of anyone at the embassy, either, so they called someone in D.C. who looked it up in the system and said that our application had gone under "Administrative Processing," but there was no way to know why or how long it would take. My senator's office subsequently told me that there was nothing more they could do.

Having done some research on this mysterious "Administrative Processing," it seems that a 221(g) letter should have been mailed to my fiancee stating that our application had been flagged for this processing, but she has not received any letter. She went to the embassy in person to ask what in the world was going on, but they turned her away and just told her to call the phone numbers we've both been calling for weeks now with no success.

Has anyone else here gone through this process? Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I'm really starting to go crazy not knowing what the problem is or when we can expect it to be resolved. I greatly appreciate any help!

There is a USA number for the embassy listed in my link below.

A 221g is not necessary for an applicant to be in Administrative Processing (AP). So you got a new CENOMAR from NSO and a new NBI send to the embassy?

[johnpaulringogeo 0]

Administrative processing can mean a lot of things. The term has gotten a lot of bad press because one of the things it means is when there is a problem that takes some time to resolve.

But most administrative processings don't mean that. What they mean instead is the normal post interview handling. Every time someone touches your file, they must scan it in, and an entry is made on the computer. That is why you see multiple Ready, AP, Ready, etc. Seeing these things change regularly is good news because that means your file is being worked on and not just sitting in a pile.

As to your specific issues, you mentioned expired documents. Were you given instructions on how to resolve this problem? DId you send them replacement documents EXACTLY how they instructed you to do so (usually 2Go)? Assuming you did all this and you see your status change regularly, just sit back and wait. The frequent changes show your file is being moved along, and to call them or send email will slow you down as they will now have to pull your file out of an active pile. You don't want that. Let them keep working on it.

When you see your file sit in a pile for over a week, that is when the tme has come to email or call, but no sooner. And this is only after you complied with all instructions for sending replament documents. New paper showing up at their door takes a week just to find its way into the proper file. You just have to give it time.

Thanks so much for your reply!

As to the expired documents, they told her to go to the NSO and have the NSO send over the documents. She did this and the NSO informed her that the documents were delivered to the embassy on August 15.

It's nice to know that administrative processing can just be a normal occurrence, but 45+ days strikes me as an excessive amount of processing time.

Thanks again for your help!

[johnpaulringogeo 0]

There is a USA number for the embassy listed in my link below.

A 221g is not necessary for an applicant to be in Administrative Processing (AP). So you got a new CENOMAR from NSO and a new NBI send to the embassy?

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, both a new CENOMAR and a new NBI were delivered to the embassy over 45 days ago.

I appreciate the link -- that's helpful. I called that U.S. number a couple weeks ago, but the lady I spoke with was only able to say that our application was still being processed -- she couldn't tell me what was taking so long or when we could expect it to be resolved. I was hoping to speak with someone who actually worked in the Immigration Visa department, but she said she couldn't transfer me and the Philippine numbers listed for the department have both proven useless.

Thanks again for your help!

Administrative processing can be weeks, months, or (rarely) years.

Weeks I can handle. Months would stress me out. Pretty sure I would flip out if this process dragged out for another year.

Thanks for the info, though!

[Hank_ 9,171]

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, both a new CENOMAR and a new NBI were delivered to the embassy over 45 days ago.

I appreciate the link -- that's helpful. I called that U.S. number a couple weeks ago, but the lady I spoke with was only able to say that our application was still being processed -- she couldn't tell me what was taking so long or when we could expect it to be resolved. I was hoping to speak with someone who actually worked in the Immigration Visa department, but she said she couldn't transfer me and the Philippine numbers listed for the department have both proven useless.

Thanks again for your help!

Weeks I can handle. Months would stress me out. Pretty sure I would flip out if this process dragged out for another year.

Thanks for the info, though!

You will not be able to talk to any one "in the know" at the embassy, heck even your congressman doesn't get to do that....

Patience is all I can suggest...

[Al422 221]

It looks like things are moving along, just not as fast as you would like them to. Unfortunately, USEM is not too fast at resolving sitations like this where documents had to be replaced. The system does work, just kind of slow.

Like Hank said, all you can do is wait. Just keep looking at your status. As long as it changes regularly , your file is being worked on.

[van&neil 1]

Just want to share my experience, had my interview July 18. They required aka NBI, I submit it August 5. As of now October 6 my status still A.P. I have no idea why after complying with the document they required still my status is AP. This waiting games drives me crazy!

[Hank_ 9,171]

Give the embassy a call, have your fiance call also.

[johnpaulringogeo 0]

Just want to share my experience, had my interview July 18. They required aka NBI, I submit it August 5. As of now October 6 my status still A.P. I have no idea why after complying with the document they required still my status is AP. This waiting games drives me crazy!

Thanks for letting me know that we aren't the only ones facing this issue. The weird thing is that I haven't seen our CEAC status actually change to A.P. at any point in time.

[van&neil 1]

I just called the embassy today but nothing I can get from them, they just said keep waiting , I ask how long , NOBODY knows sigh!

[Hank_ 9,171]

I just called the embassy today but nothing I can get from them, they just said keep waiting , I ask how long , NOBODY knows sigh!

If the embassy found something that is cause for more investigation (AP) they will do just that, it can be something about your fiance, it can be about you. They don't need to issue a 221g unless they are requesting documentation.

Being patient is all you can do. You can call once a week just for the heck of it, other then that ... be patient.

[van&neil 1]

I check my status now went from AP to Ready. I hope it's good sign....

[Hank_ 9,171]

I check my status now went from AP to Ready. I hope it's good sign....

Normally that is a good sign. Hopefully soon.