G221 Letter in Dakar, administrative processing, marriage certificate, medical certificate and nickname

[meghanbangoura 0]

My husband had his interview this morning at the Embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

• They looked at his passport and checked it in the computer.
• They asked him the following questions: What is your wife's name? Where does she live? They asked about his nickname, "Sana Vincen," which I included as a nickname in the IV application because all our correspondence via Facebook is under his account with that name. He also uses that name for email. How did you meet your wife? In what year did you meet? What is the date of your marriage?
• They viewed the originals and took photocopies of both his birth certificate and police record.
• There was a problem with the marriage certificate because I mistakenly thought that he also had an original, but he only has a certified copy, which he showed to the CO.
• He was then given a 221G letter with the following items circled: marriage certificate, with the notation "original," medical certificate (even though he had visited Dr. Hassan and had an exam, blood taken and chest x-ray done in the days preceding the interview), as well as the item at the bottom that indicates that the case requires additional administrative processing. The item that says the embassy will contact you for your next interview or appointment was also circled.
• They did not keep his passport.
• They asked for a phone number where he could be reached.
• They did not ask to see any of the pictures or other evidence of our relationship that he had with him.

Does anyone know what we can expect in the coming days and weeks? Here are my thoughts and concerns:

• He has a pretty common last name from his country of Guinea and he has the nickname--perhaps additional background checks have to be performed. His name is also Muslim.
• Did we get admin review simply because he didn't have the original marriage certificate?
• He went back to the clinic after the interview, showed the 221G and they said to wait for a call from the embassy.
• I've heard people say that administrative processing AP is common at the Dakar Embassy.

Trying to stay calm, but it's disappointing after envisioning seeing him very soon.

Thanks,
Meghan

[janetusman 33]

There are various reasons that people get AP. One of those for you was probably the additional documentation required. AP is very common at the Islamabad embassy where my husband has his interview and almost all the males there go through it. It can take weeks, months, even years and its a very frustrating process. It will test your relationship in many ways. My advice is to find a thread for your embassy to hear about similiar AP experiences for your embassy. For Islamabad months and years of AP is not uncommon (ours was 20 months). They run background checks, do field investigations, etc. No one knows what they do in AP and there is no way to find out what they are doing or where they are in the process. I don't mean to depress you, but I wish someone had been honest with me about the reality of the wait in AP.

[meghanbangoura 0]

Ok, thank you. I have been trying to find the "administrative processing" thread, but I cannot find it. Any tips? I just want to see my husband so badly--can I visit him in the meantime? I am an English as a Second Language teacher, so I could live and work in his country for a while. Can our visa application remain in process if I visit or move to his country?

[meghanbangoura 0]

My husband had his interview this morning at the Embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

• They looked at his passport and checked it in the computer.
• They asked him the following questions: What is your wife's name? Where does she live? They asked about his nickname, "Sana Vincen," which I included as a nickname in the IV application because all our correspondence via Facebook is under his account with that name. He also uses that name for email. How did you meet your wife? In what year did you meet? What is the date of your marriage?
• They viewed the originals and took photocopies of both his birth certificate and police record.
• There was a problem with the marriage certificate because I mistakenly thought that he also had an original, but he only has a certified copy, which he showed to the CO.
• He was then given a 221G letter with the following items circled: marriage certificate, with the notation "original," medical certificate (even though he had visited Dr. Hassan and had an exam, blood taken and chest x-ray done in the days preceding the interview), as well as the item at the bottom that indicates that the case requires additional administrative processing. The item that says the embassy will contact you for your next interview or appointment was also circled.
• They did not keep his passport.
• They asked for a phone number where he could be reached.
• They did not ask to see any of the pictures or other evidence of our relationship that he had with him.

Does anyone know what we can expect in the coming days and weeks? Here are my thoughts and concerns:

• He has a pretty common last name from his country of Guinea and he has the nickname--perhaps additional background checks have to be performed. His name is also Muslim.
• Did we get admin review simply because he didn't have the original marriage certificate?
• He went back to the clinic after the interview, showed the 221G and they said to wait for a call from the embassy.
• I've heard people say that administrative processing AP is common at the Dakar Embassy.

Trying to stay calm, but it's disappointing after envisioning seeing him very soon.

Thanks,
Meghan

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[meghanbangoura 0]

I found the Waivers and Administrative Process part of the website. Thanks!

[janetusman 33]

Yes, you can. In fact it strengthens your case as its proof of an on going relationship. I visited my husband 4 times over the course of our waiting. I have seen many couples who move and have extended stays with their spouse while waiting.

[Jawaree 717]

They'll check what they have to then give him a call

on the meantime gather all the other stuff they asked

for to be ready & re-do medical...no one can say how

long it will be.

[Ontarkie 13,883]

~~Duplicate threads merged. Please only make one thread for the same topic.~~

[pappisco 0]

Hello,

It seems Administrative Processing is now commonplace in Dakar. My wife had her interview back in October, and we've been in AP ever since. They did not ask for any additional documentation from us, they just said that some additional administrative processing was necessary. It's a very frustrating process and all you can do is wait.

Hopefully yours doesn't take as long as ours.

Good luck!

[meghanbangoura 0]

Hi Newbie,

Thanks for your reply. I'm so sorry that you and your wife are still waiting. Administrative Processing as a step was a complete surprise to me. I really expected to see my husband about 10 days after his interview. So the surprise makes it even worse! I have sent off our marriage certificate. He should have it by next Tuesday.

The way medical has gone has been confusing to me. My husband saw Dr. Hassan Bahsoun last Monday the 13th. He had a physical exam on that day and then went for his chest x-ray on Tuesday. He was told that he had finished everything on Tuesday, but they didn't give him any documentation to bring to the interview. They also did not give him any vaccinations. They told him to go the interview, that the embassy would give him a paper to bring back to the clinic. I wonder if his results just weren't ready in time before the interview. He did get a paper after the interview--the g221 letter asking for the marriage certificate, medical certificate and indicating administrative processing and the don't call us, we'll call you message. He brought that back to the clinic and they said that when the embassy calls him, he should come back to the clinic right away to pick up his medical certificate. My husband called the clinic again yesterday and they reiterated the same message. Any thoughts on this anyone?

I also called my senator's office. A woman who I had worked with previously to try to get an expedite due to Ebola spoke with me. She has worked on helping constituents with immigration for the past four years. When I told her about how everything went, as in my original message above, she said it all sounded very normal to her. She did say that AP is essentially a background check and the average time someone spends in AP is 90 days. I do feel glad that I have the support of the senator's office. I know people on this site have said that senators cannot speed up AP, but it seems that they can at least help get some answers. Newbie, did you contact any of your elected officials?

Meghan

[janetusman 33]

That does seem odd that they did not give him his medical. Usually you are to take one to the interview. I did use the services of my state representatives office. They can sometimes find out more information, but they can't do anything to speed up the process.

[Bimolovekim 6]

Our I 601 waiver was approved on January 16 ,my husband submitted all required documents including passport on March 18 but ceac still saying AP knowing no second interview took place ,so pls let me know is this right ?we are dealing with us casablanca consulate

[ZaakirahM 28]

Seeing this post and seeing another acquaintance of mine on here from The Gambia, went to the same Dr. and they did not give her fiance the package...

It makes me want to go to the new female doctor that is on the embassy list hoping for the best that this won't happen.

My case is slightly different with an expedite, so I have not gotten an interview date yet. But I am not sure if they will actually give my husband 2-week notice to get to Senegal to get the medical exam done.