DS 5535 for B1 Visa. Processing time

[meriem1987 0]

Hi everybody,
I applied on September 20th for a Visa (typ B1) in Casablanca- Morocco. The interview lasted less than 5 min. I was very surprised, as I realized that the officier has finished the interview. he gave me my passport back and he said that I will receive an e-mail. the same day I got the e-mail with the form DS 5535. I filled it out and sent it back on September 21st.
my questions:
1) how long does the processing last ?

2) can they speed the process, knowing that I applied for a Visa for October
3) is it a bad sign to get the passport back ?
thanks in advance

[abdo1 40]

1 hour ago, meriem1987 said:

Hi everybody,
I applied on September 20th for a Visa (typ B1) in Casablanca- Morocco. The interview lasted less than 5 min. I was very surprised, as I realized that the officier has finished the interview. he gave me my passport back and he said that I will receive an e-mail. the same day I got the e-mail with the form DS 5535. I filled it out and sent it back on September 21st.
my questions:
1) how long does the processing last ?

2) can they speed the process, knowing that I applied for a Visa for October
3) is it a bad sign to get the passport back ?
thanks in advance

they are doing security check on you when they finish they will let you know..

[meriem1987 0]

@abdo1: I wonder how long time will it last till they finish the check. I read yesterday that it can take months, but in my case (typ B1 for a training in October), I wonder if it will be treated as other Visa types or not.

[Boiler 43,433]

No knowing how long it wil take.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

2 hours ago, meriem1987 said:

@abdo1: I wonder how long time will it last till they finish the check. I read yesterday that it can take months, but in my case (typ B1 for a training in October), I wonder if it will be treated as other Visa types or not.

As you will have seen, this form can take a long time. There is a DS5535 thread elsewhere on VJ, do a search so you can read through, my impression is that it is usually 2 months or longer but I haven’t read it in detail.

no the fact that you want to travel in October doesn’t speed it up, or they would have a bunch of people applying for B visas at the last minute to try get around the process. The security checks take as long as they take. The fact that they gave you your passport back is indeed a sign that they expect it to take a while, which is normal with this form. With hindsight you should not have waited till quite late in September if you wanted to travel in October.  Unfortunately all you can do now is wait, but I’d suggest you investigate when the next training session will be as you may not get your visa in time for the one in October. 

[Derik-Lina 230]

5 hours ago, meriem1987 said:

Hi everybody,
I applied on September 20th for a Visa (typ B1) in Casablanca- Morocco. The interview lasted less than 5 min. I was very surprised, as I realized that the officier has finished the interview. he gave me my passport back and he said that I will receive an e-mail. the same day I got the e-mail with the form DS 5535. I filled it out and sent it back on September 21st.
my questions:
1) how long does the processing last ?

2) can they speed the process, knowing that I applied for a Visa for October
3) is it a bad sign to get the passport back ?
thanks in advance

Security Measures that can take weeks, months whereas some have reached 15 months. Best of luck to you.

[meriem1987 0]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

As you will have seen, this form can take a long time. There is a DS5535 thread elsewhere on VJ, do a search so you can read through, my impression is that it is usually 2 months or longer but I haven’t read it in detail.

no the fact that you want to travel in October doesn’t speed it up, or they would have a bunch of people applying for B visas at the last minute to try get around the process. The security checks take as long as they take. The fact that they gave you your passport back is indeed a sign that they expect it to take a while, which is normal with this form. With hindsight you should not have waited till quite late in September if you wanted to travel in October.  Unfortunately all you can do now is wait, but I’d suggest you investigate when the next training session will be as you may not get your visa in time for the one in October. 

thank you for your reply.

I couldn't know about the travel earlier, this why I applied in September for a Visa for October.

I read just now that the processing took by a person last than one month. I hope it will be for me also so.

[meriem1987 0]

1 hour ago, Derik-Lina said:

Security Measures that can take weeks, months whereas some have reached 15 months. Best of luck to you.

as I told SusieQQQ, I just read that the process took by a person less than one month. I hope it for me too

 

[Derik-Lina 230]

34 minutes ago, meriem1987 said:

as I told SusieQQQ, I just read that the process took by a person less than one month. I hope it for me too

Being hopeful is all that one can do. I have a feeling you will wait days and not weeks nshlah 

34 minutes ago, meriem1987 said:

 

[meriem1987 0]

4 minutes ago, Derik-Lina said:

Being hopeful is all that one can do. I have a feeling you will wait days and not weeks nshlah 

Inchaa allah. thank you :-)

[meriem1987 0]

@SusieQQQ or someone else: concerning the signature: because I had to send the document in word format, I didn't sign it, but I sent them beside the word document (without signature) another PDF format with my signature. Now I read in another topic that my name can be a signature, so should I send them a new Email or what do you think ?

 

[meriem1987 0]

what is the shortest processing time you heard about ?

 

[meriem1987 0]

On ‎9‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 4:27 PM, meriem1987 said:

what is the shortest processing time you heard about ?

 

I read about a case that lasts 5 working days, another case 10 days, and two others around 20 days. but they were not in Casablanca

 

[joedib6 5]

how long did you end up waiting?

[Dinodee 2]

Visa Issue after DS 5535

Visa type - B1

Country - Ghana

Interview Date 24 July

After approval at interview, I was given a slip to collect passport in three days. 26 July received email with form DS5535. filled and sent back form on 29 July. Had my passport returned without visa on same date.

Sent two separate email enquiries but no status update.

Symposium organizers (host) sent a letter addressed to the Embassy on 5th September to fast track process.

17th September - Email from Embassy asking me to return passport through DHL

18th September - Status update on CEAC

19th September - Status changed to Issued on CEAC, received text message that passport is ready.

20th September - Went to collect passport

Close to 8 weeks in all

All praise to God. Let us not lose hope. The Bible verse I used as a prayer point for this fight is Psalm 24:1 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell' .

The whole world including the USA belongs to God and I as his child has a right to visit any where my father owes. They that dwell in it, including those working in the Embassy and NVC also belongs to God. He can quicken their work in our matter. Keep praying and hoping. All the best!