Where does AP take place?

[Basbosa 4]

MANDATORY AP takes place at the Washington level. It is background checks.

the FILE Never leaves the embassy in Cairo

INTERNAL AP happens at the embassy level. This is where they can perform minimal background, name checks but extensive document review, relationship verification, spying, home visits

Mandatory AP can take a long time because if your name or birthday matches a terrorist or a friend of a terrorist then they have to manually trace your family tree and find out if you are somehow related. The FBI website states 90% of AP is completed by 2 months. Their website goal states that 99% will be complete by 5 months. and a tiny percentage of people names will never be cleared because they cannot verify that they are not related or friends with a terrorists

Also if you have left your country for work or vacation then they ask for your passport to see if you were meeting up with a bad guy in another country like the UK. So they have to verify that you did not spend the night in the same hotel as Bin Laden or someone. That is all done by hand. Phone calls to hotels and airlines....it can take a long time

OK, that makes sense! Thanks for the explanation. But, how do you know which AP you're stuck in?

[Just_Me00 15]

Our case has been in AP for 5.5 months. I have reached out to my Congressman, Senator, and spoke to a lawyer (a friend of a co-worker). Nothing helped and our case is touched on the DOS website only when my Congressman or my Senator inquired about it. I tried calling the embassy this past Sunday (as suggest by the lawyer) and was told that the Consular section does not accept phone calls ("new process"). Of course when I emailed the embassy to let them know that we are almost to the 6 month mark (as instructed on their website), I got the same copy-paste response:

"Please note that your case is currently undergoing mandatory administrative processing. The time needed to review an individual’s case is difficult to predict. Once this process is complete, we will notify you of the next step in your case."

I wish that there was a time limit for the AP process instead of a black hole of no status and information!

[Basbosa 4]

Man, that sounds so scary! Insh'Allah, AP will end very soon for you!! (And won't take that long for anyone else!) It is very nerve-wrecking to wait with no idea about the duration!! I can only pray for a quick end to this AP process, for you and all involved! Best of luck!

[together4evr 360]

OK, that makes sense! Thanks for the explanation. But, how do you know which AP you're stuck in?

When you call DOS you ask them ONE questions at a time

say

I would like a case status update please

she says---His visa is in processing

You say----Is it mandatory administrative processing?

She says yes

then you know it is at the washington level

OR

she says I do not know

ask is it Internal administrative processing

she says yes

But the main thing is they can put you in Mandatory AP then place you in internal AP for counselor review and the CO can send it back to AP again if they are not comfortable with the AP results or if they think something was missed or more travel or anything

so you can be placed in one and back and forth a few times before you ever get the visa

[Basbosa 4]

When you call DOS you ask them ONE questions at a time

say

I would like a case status update please

she says---His visa is in processing

You say----Is it mandatory administrative processing?

She says yes

then you know it is at the washington level

OR

she says I do not know

ask is it Internal administrative processing

she says yes

But the main thing is they can put you in Mandatory AP then place you in internal AP for counselor review and the CO can send it back to AP again if they are not comfortable with the AP results or if they think something was missed or more travel or anything

so you can be placed in one and back and forth a few times before you ever get the visa

That is sooo helpful!!! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it. We just had our interview last week (6/12/2013), so it might be too early to call? What do you think?

[relshamy 11]

When you call DOS you ask them ONE questions at a time

say

I would like a case status update please

she says---His visa is in processing

You say----Is it mandatory administrative processing?

She says yes

then you know it is at the washington level

OR

she says I do not know

ask is it Internal administrative processing

she says yes

But the main thing is they can put you in Mandatory AP then place you in internal AP for counselor review and the CO can send it back to AP again if they are not comfortable with the AP results or if they think something was missed or more travel or anything

so you can be placed in one and back and forth a few times before you ever get the visa

What if the embassy states it's mandatory Admin processing and then the lady at DOS states that it's taking place in Cairo?? That's exactly what's confusing me!!!

Our case has been in AP for 5.5 months. I have reached out to my Congressman, Senator, and spoke to a lawyer (a friend of a co-worker). Nothing helped and our case is touched on the DOS website only when my Congressman or my Senator inquired about it. I tried calling the embassy this past Sunday (as suggest by the lawyer) and was told that the Consular section does not accept phone calls ("new process"). Of course when I emailed the embassy to let them know that we are almost to the 6 month mark (as instructed on their website), I got the same copy-paste response:

"Please note that your case is currently undergoing mandatory administrative processing. The time needed to review an individual’s case is difficult to predict. Once this process is complete, we will notify you of the next step in your case."

I wish that there was a time limit for the AP process instead of a black hole of no status and information!

I have a feeling your case will be out of AP and visa in hand by the 6th month inshAllah Keep your head up high

[AYMAN_RINA 92]

Praying for all who are on AP get visa in hand soon ................AMEN