Visa approved - 10 minutes later RFE!

[shepherdsbush 0]

Hi people,

I just had my interview for my visa application at the US Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, last Thursday, 9 Feb 2012. I rang up a week before to ask if my case file had been received and if I needed to bring any other documents. A friendly guy told me everthing seemed to be ok. So off I go to Frankfurt on the train from Berlin and I leave my mobile phone in a lockup at the station (no electronic equipment allowed in the consulate) before going off to my 8am interview at the consulate (there is a night train from Berlin to Frankfurt). The interview goes fine and at 10.10 a.m. a nice lady tells me my visa has been approved and my British passport will be returned with a temporary Green Card stamp with the envelope that should be presented when I arrive in the USA in around 7 - 10 days. She ended with "enjoy your new life in California".

So you can imagine my surprise when i returned to Frankfurt main railway station to pick up my mobile phone and saw that i had received an email from the same US consulate in Frankfurt. The email was sent at 10.16 a.m., 6 minutes after I had been told of my visa approval, and asked for details of everywhere i had been outisde of the USA in the past 10 years (including addresses).

So it seems the US consulate has taken my British passport away under the pretext of supplying a US Immigrant Visa but actually still has no immediate intention of granting a visa until more information is provided.

Oh, did I mention I have an Islamic name?

[Shoot Em Straight 385]

I too proudly have an Islamic last name!!! Just give them your info they requested and collect your Visa!!!

Stay strong and focused

[himher 634]

They took it away? Wow because I thought I read between the lines that you voluntarily dropped it off.

If you have some triggered concern that your "passport has been taken" haul your a$$ back to the train station, go to the embassy, get it back, and watch how easy that is to do. Dont let the door hit you on the way out. You could happily settle in Germany or the UK and not worry about all this paperwork.

OR: Just give them what they asked for. There is obviously something in the passport itself (which they only see for the first time after you drop it off for interview) that they want or need information on.