administrative processing

[drmaloshfeha 0]

In April 2010 I got a tourism visa, which is valid for one year, so I traveled in July and met up with my cousins and ended up meeting my current wife during this trip. Then I went back to Saudi Arabia in August 2010.

I applied again in September for a tourism visa and I got it for 5 years this time. In the interview, I said that I am going to attend my cousin wedding. I did not mention that I would be visiting my girlfriend also because we had only been talking for 2 months at the time and I had no idea we would end up getting married.

I traveled in Jan 2011 and at this time I had been talking to my current wife for 6 months now. We decided to get married and did so in a mosque because we are Muslims. I only spent one week in America during this trip and we had a very small party in my cousin’s house and her parent’s house.

I traveled back to America 2 more times after that to visit my wife, once in July 2011 and once in October 2011.

I had my green card interview in Saudi Arabia 2 days ago. Of course, I attended without my wife since she is a student and works part time as a teacher in a college. Here is what happened in the interview:

Consular: You lied the second time when you applied for the tourism visa.

Me: No, I just mentioned the important part but I did not say that I’m planning to see if me and my girlfriend are going to like each other and get married since we had only been talking on the phone for 2 months. At the same time, would you like to convince me that if I said I want to do that the interviewer would accept giving me the visa?

Consular: I don’t know it is up to her, she is very professional. How would she believe you? I think you are professional at convincing people.

Me: She believed me because I did not lie and I said the truth.

Consular: Ibrahim, would you like to convince me that you did not plan for getting married so fast on purpose, in only one week?

Me: Yes, it was not on purpose. Can I ask you a question?

Consular: Sure.

Me: Did you plan to come and work here in Saudi Arabia?

Consular: No.

Me: If you had the choice to work here, would you come?

Consular: (he smiled) no.

Me: Saudi is a coincidence in your life. America is a coincidence in m y life.

Consular: Why didn’t you have a wedding party and why didn’t your family attend from Egypt? Especially since you are the oldest son.

Me: My family was a little bit sad about that, but they are very logical so they said instead of spending $10,000 on a wedding it would be better to save that money for you and your wife to help you when you move out until you find a job.

Consular: Why didn’t your wife visit your family in Egypt until now?

Me: Because she is a student and works at the same time, but she is planning to visit them this summer.

Consular: Anyway, you are so skillful and I can’t tell if you are saying the truth this time or not, printing out the visa takes from 4 to 6 weeks but in your case it will take a little bit longer, we will keep your passport with us.

Me: Can I keep my passport because I have a business meeting after 2 weeks?

Consular: Sure and when your visa is ready we will call you.

Then he gave me 221(g) on a white paper and all that is written on it is that they can’t give me a visa because they need to do some administrative processing. He gave me back my marriage certificate and birth certificate without asking me for any additional documents or giving me a token or paper to track my case.

Now, I have a valid tourism visa, is it okay to travel to America, then apply for a work permit there, and live with my wife or is the consular going to cancel my tourism visa?

Do you think there might be a second interview?

If he decided to return my file to the NVC would he tell me that?

[NY_BX 397]

You sound very intelligent and matter of fact. Good for you.

I do not know if this situation will cancel the tourist visa. However, I recommend not to come and stay while on AP. Remember, you weren't denied. AP is pretty much standard procedure for MENA males.

Maybe someone more experienced with this particular situation can give you better advice.

[drmaloshfeha 0]

how long does AP take

[NY_BX 397]

how long does AP take

It's hard to say, but it could be 4-6 weeks, just like to consular told you. Very straight forward simple cases may take 2 weeks. Extreme, complicated cases have taken years. I'd trust the Consular's words on this and follow-up after 4 weeks, if you haven't heard anything.

[drmaloshfeha 0]

do you know any member here, who is professional at that stuff?

can please snd me their names?

[sulhaq 59]

From your description of how the interview went it appears to me that your AP is not only the mandatory AP that pretty much all MENA males go through, but rather they are also confirming the validity of your marriage and checking for immigration fraud.

[kzielu 1,147]

do you know any member here, who is professional at that stuff?

can please snd me their names?

No one will be able to tell you how long you AP is going to last. But to answer your question - no, you can't go on tourist/bussiness visa to US and apply for work permit (green card) there - it will be a fraud and you'll have a pretty good change of being denied entry anyway.

[NY_BX 397]

do you know any member here, who is professional at that stuff?

can please snd me their names?

Professinoal at what? If it's about the visas, there are members here that may answer your question. If it's about AP, there's nothing you can do to stop it or rush it. Because you're now in the limelight I recommend not to use your non-immigrant visa for purposes of immigration. And also, just so you know, you may get a plane and travel to see your wife. They may deny entry once you land. I am not an expert by any means, but some members here are.

[drmaloshfeha 0]

you mean it may take longer

From your description of how the interview went it appears to me that your AP is not only the mandatory AP that pretty much all MENA males go through, but rather they are also confirming the validity of your marriage and checking for immigration fraud.

what do you mean?

[pushbrk 12,245]

In April 2010 I got a tourism visa, which is valid for one year, so I traveled in July and met up with my cousins and ended up meeting my current wife during this trip. Then I went back to Saudi Arabia in August 2010.

I applied again in September for a tourism visa and I got it for 5 years this time. In the interview, I said that I am going to attend my cousin wedding. I did not mention that I would be visiting my girlfriend also because we had only been talking for 2 months at the time and I had no idea we would end up getting married.

I traveled in Jan 2011 and at this time I had been talking to my current wife for 6 months now. We decided to get married and did so in a mosque because we are Muslims. I only spent one week in America during this trip and we had a very small party in my cousin's house and her parent's house.

I traveled back to America 2 more times after that to visit my wife, once in July 2011 and once in October 2011.

I had my green card interview in Saudi Arabia 2 days ago. Of course, I attended without my wife since she is a student and works part time as a teacher in a college. Here is what happened in the interview:

Consular: You lied the second time when you applied for the tourism visa.

Me: No, I just mentioned the important part but I did not say that I'm planning to see if me and my girlfriend are going to like each other and get married since we had only been talking on the phone for 2 months. At the same time, would you like to convince me that if I said I want to do that the interviewer would accept giving me the visa?

Consular: I don't know it is up to her, she is very professional. How would she believe you? I think you are professional at convincing people.

Me: She believed me because I did not lie and I said the truth.

Consular: Ibrahim, would you like to convince me that you did not plan for getting married so fast on purpose, in only one week?

Me: Yes, it was not on purpose. Can I ask you a question?

Consular: Sure.

Me: Did you plan to come and work here in Saudi Arabia?

Consular: No.

Me: If you had the choice to work here, would you come?

Consular: (he smiled) no.

Me: Saudi is a coincidence in your life. America is a coincidence in m y life.

Consular: Why didn't you have a wedding party and why didn't your family attend from Egypt? Especially since you are the oldest son.

Me: My family was a little bit sad about that, but they are very logical so they said instead of spending $10,000 on a wedding it would be better to save that money for you and your wife to help you when you move out until you find a job.

Consular: Why didn't your wife visit your family in Egypt until now?

Me: Because she is a student and works at the same time, but she is planning to visit them this summer.

Consular: Anyway, you are so skillful and I can't tell if you are saying the truth this time or not, printing out the visa takes from 4 to 6 weeks but in your case it will take a little bit longer, we will keep your passport with us.

Me: Can I keep my passport because I have a business meeting after 2 weeks?

Consular: Sure and when your visa is ready we will call you.

Then he gave me 221(g) on a white paper and all that is written on it is that they can't give me a visa because they need to do some administrative processing. He gave me back my marriage certificate and birth certificate without asking me for any additional documents or giving me a token or paper to track my case.

Now, I have a valid tourism visa, is it okay to travel to America, then apply for a work permit there, and live with my wife or is the consular going to cancel my tourism visa?

Do you think there might be a second interview?

If he decided to return my file to the NVC would he tell me that?

If he didn't revoke your visa, it's still valid but each and every entry to any country is an individual decision made by an officer upon your arrival. Sounds like you're in AP and if you and your story check out, you'll have the visa within a few weeks or months.