b2 B2 Visa application, approved in London, but in Administrative Processing

[Hemson 1]

My country isn't member of the VWP, a national of Brazil.

[Boiler 43,363]

I would have thought ILR would be relevant.

[Hemson 1]

Any advice on what to do next?

[Hemson 1]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

I would have thought ILR would be relevant.

Any advice on what to do next?

[Boiler 43,363]

5 hours ago, Hemson said:

Any advice on what to do next?

Holiday somewhere else?

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

8 hours ago, Hemson said:

 

Oh yes, I was giving back my passport. So what are the expectation of the process, nothing good will come out of it the Administrative Processing

If they expect to issue you a visa they keep your passport.

 

 

8 hours ago, Hemson said:

 

Before the second reapply, I contacted the embassy by email of  new evidence of documents that were not included in the first interview, such as traveled history, used to live in Germany for 6 years, certificates of marriage, kids, personal business documents and also employment contract. Try to show it to the consular but he didn’t look at the documents just replied that I have seen your documents are right before me on the screen.

As I linked above, if there was no material change in your circumstances between the visa applications, simply adding documentation generally does not change the case outcome. And yes, of course the officer will have reviewed what was in your file before the interview, they always do, so if you sent them in advance and he said he’d looked at them, believe him on that.

[Hemson 1]

 

Thanks for the advice, I will Holiday somewhere else in Australia. Just for a heads up when do you think it is appropriate to lodge another application?

[Boiler 43,363]

Not knowing your circumstances difficult to comment, couple of years?

[Hemson 1]

Definitely after 6 months!

[Hemson 1]

 

Season greetings to all,

 

I would like to share my visa application refused under section 214(B) As previously informed, your visa request was refused in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which vests the authority to issue or refuse visas in consular offices abroad.  Section 214(b) explicitly presumes every visitor visa applicant to be an intending immigrant and places the burden of disproving this presumption on the applicant.

 

You may reapply for a visa at any time.  We assure you that any future application will be given every possible consideration consistent with U.S. immigration law.

 

We trust this information is helpful.

 

Sincerely,           

 

Consular Section, U.S

 

 Supreme Member Boiler, any advice, appreciates your heads up greatly.

 

Maybe, just guessing my financial situation with the bank in relation of my business, but a piece of advice will be grateful to future application.

[Boiler 43,363]

I do not remember being asked for financial information, pretty sure it is not part of the application. If this was something you were asked about then an improvement will no doubt help.

[Hemson 1]

Just analyzing the fact, but to be honest, I really don't know the cause for the refusal of my visa application. Accept the refusal, but want to prevent future  application outcome.

A piece of advice will be grateful to future application outcome.

[Boiler 43,363]

Your situation is whatever your situation is, obviously I know very little, Consulate knows a lot more.

[RoyalBlue 0]

For those who are worried that they were told that their Visa would be granted and to ‘expect it within five days’, only to then find it has been placed into ‘Administrative Processing’;   currently this appears to be happening quite a bit at the London Embassy.

 

Whilst this situation is obviously extremely worrying and distressing for the applicant (I’m not sure the officials realise  just how much),  from our experience and anecdotally, it usually isn’t a problem,  other than resulting in a further 3-5 day delay over and above the usual processing  time of 5 days ( + 2 days for the courier) stated on the ‘US Embassy and Consulate in the UK’ website.

 

The applicant that I know (application was for an F1 Visa but I suspect in terms of this topic/thread, this case is still relevant) was asked just two questions before being told that their interview had been successful and to expect their Visa to be delivered within five days. When five days had elapsed, without any sign of the Visa appearing, they checked the status of their application on line and were alarmed to find out that, the day before , it had been put into ‘Administrative Processing ‘.

 

The worst part about this situation is that there is absolutely no way that the applicant can find out any more information, other than what is available on the website for the US Embassy and Consulate in the UK. So the applicant is left wondering whether there is a problem with their application or that an administrative error has led to their passport and application getting lost in the system somewhere.

 

My  applicant then had a nervous wait,  dreading the arrival of  a letter from the embassy requiring  further information. When this didn’t arrive, we began researching further through contacts and social media. We learned of many similar cases where applicants at the London Embassy had been told their Visa had been granted,  only to find their application placed into Administrative Processing. This had led individuals facing the additional expense of changing/cancelling  flights (yes, I know the Embassy advise not booking flights until a Visa is received but in real life that is often easier said than done)  plus a great deal of worry.

In all of the cases we came across, there had been a short delay of 3-5 working days (over and above the typical processing  time) and then the Visa had appeared.  This was exactly what happened in my applicant’s case – 4 days later than the worst case expected, the Visa arrived.

 

We, and those we spoke to (including people who arrange a lot of visas for things like  youth leaders for summer camps, sports coaches etc.),  suspect that the relatively recent relocation of the London Embassy has resulted in longer processing  times and that, rather than notify the public of this, the officials are placing applications into ‘Administrative Processing ‘  status, until they are able to enter the Visa into the applicant’s passport.  This would be fine but for the definition of ‘Administrative Processing’ on the website, which very strong implies that further checks are being undertaken and that these could lead to delays of 60 days or more and/or refusal of a Visa.

 

So my advice to applicants would be:

 

If you have to book a flight, make sure it is at least 5 working  days beyond the seven working days that the Embassy suggest it normally takes to process a Visa. In the current situation,  it might even be worth paying more for a fully flexible ticket (we ended up over £1,000 out of pocket due to the delay). If your application is put into ‘Administrative Processing’, after you had been told during your interview that your Visa had been granted, try not to worry. The odds are that there isn’t a problem, you will still get your Visa but there  will be a short additional delay of 3-5 working days.

Edited July 1, 2018 by RoyalBlue

[Boiler 43,363]

AP can take a LOT longer than a few days, I would stick with the general advice not to buy a ticket until you have the visa in your hand.