Interview Completed- Now put into Administrative Processing

[SallySally 5]

Hi everyone- we finally had our interview at the US Embassy Cairo for my husband. Surprisingly the staff were actually somewhat pleasant compared to my other interactions with them. We arrived shortly before 7:30 am when we were told to be there and we were processed in through security. After about 45 minutes we were called to submit our original documents and to have his fingerprints taken. They didn't ask for all of our original documents which I was surprised about. They only asked to see his police clearance certificates from Palestine and Egypt as well as our marriage certificate (the original not the translation). They didn't even ask to see the one we had from Israel (which is required for Palestinians.) Nothing else was asked for. Not even our Affidavit of Support. We were told to return to our seats. At 12:30 (after all the other Immigrant Interviews were called) it was out turn. The Immigration officer was nice and pleasant. She asked about my husband's job (she kept asking him his job title even though she had his CV on the screen- I could see from my vantage point.)  She asked about where we were going to live. She brought another lady over to ask me questions in Arabic (lol I am US native) about my past marriage and about my husband's past marriage. Then she asked several questions about my husband's time as a political prisoner in Israel. 

She never asked for our Affidavit of Support (which we had filled out using me and my husband's assets) she only said we need to have a joint sponsor who is living in US. (I live in Egypt with my husband). After that she told us our case was being put into administrative processing which would take a minimum of 2 months. We were also given a list of questions to complete and email back to them in a word document. I found out these questions are referred to DS 5535. 

So here we are in administrative processing wondering how long this is going to take. 

[payxibka 10,044]

Unpredictable 

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

36 minutes ago, SallySally said:

So here we are in administrative processing wondering how long this is going to take. 

It could be a few weeks, months, or even more than a year.......it is open-ended......and it can not be waived or expedited......unfortunately....

[Karry 9]

Doesn‘t every case go through administrative processing? I thought i read that the case will always get reviewed after the interview and that AP ist just a normal process for any type of visa?!

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

2 minutes ago, Karry said:

Doesn‘t every case go through administrative processing? I thought i read that the case will always get reviewed after the interview and that AP ist just a normal process for any type of visa?!

Yes, every case goes through some form of administrative processing.  However, since cases and countries are different, the processing time can be hours, days, weeks, months, or even years (rare)........

Edited August 7, 2019 by missileman

[Karry 9]

2 minutes ago, missileman said:

Yes, every case goes through some form of administrative processing.  However, since cases and countries are different, the processing time can be hours, days, weeks, months, or even years (rare)........

But it is normal that it shows AP online after the interview?

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

Just now, Karry said:

But it is normal that it shows AP online after the interview?

Some cases show "Administrative Processing".......some do not..........but, yes,  it is normal to have a status of AP after the interview.

[Karry 9]

1 hour ago, missileman said:

Some cases show "Administrative Processing".......some do not..........but, yes,  it is normal to have a status of AP after the interview.

What if you have not been given a 221g or any instructions/letter at the interview from the CO (because it was approved) but still changed to AP?

Edited August 7, 2019 by Karry

[steveblue 12]

11 hours ago, SallySally said:

Hi everyone- we finally had our interview at the US Embassy Cairo for my husband. Surprisingly the staff were actually somewhat pleasant compared to my other interactions with them. We arrived shortly before 7:30 am when we were told to be there and we were processed in through security. After about 45 minutes we were called to submit our original documents and to have his fingerprints taken. They didn't ask for all of our original documents which I was surprised about. They only asked to see his police clearance certificates from Palestine and Egypt as well as our marriage certificate (the original not the translation). They didn't even ask to see the one we had from Israel (which is required for Palestinians.) Nothing else was asked for. Not even our Affidavit of Support. We were told to return to our seats. At 12:30 (after all the other Immigrant Interviews were called) it was out turn. The Immigration officer was nice and pleasant. She asked about my husband's job (she kept asking him his job title even though she had his CV on the screen- I could see from my vantage point.)  She asked about where we were going to live. She brought another lady over to ask me questions in Arabic (lol I am US native) about my past marriage and about my husband's past marriage. Then she asked several questions about my husband's time as a political prisoner in Israel. 

She never asked for our Affidavit of Support (which we had filled out using me and my husband's assets) she only said we need to have a joint sponsor who is living in US. (I live in Egypt with my husband). After that she told us our case was being put into administrative processing which would take a minimum of 2 months. We were also given a list of questions to complete and email back to them in a word document. I found out these questions are referred to DS 5535. 

So here we are in administrative processing wondering how long this is going to take. 

I found this today and it’s actually pretty helpful and explanatory. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Advisory_Opinion

[Teacake 76]

I just wanted to chip in because I’m in a similar boat. 

9 hours ago, Karry said:

What if you have not been given a 221g or any instructions/letter at the interview from the CO (because it was approved) but still changed to AP?

I checked my status earlier today and it was updated but still “Ready”, and now it’s in AP. Reading all the wide discrepancies between the amount of time people spend in AP is disheartening, but I’ll update here if you could kindly do the same!

 

I was also not given a 221g. The CO told me I was approved and to expect my visa in 2 weeks. It’s now been 9 days since my interview.

[Mikepeter 21]

22 hours ago, SallySally said:

Hi everyone- we finally had our interview at the US Embassy Cairo for my husband. Surprisingly the staff were actually somewhat pleasant compared to my other interactions with them. We arrived shortly before 7:30 am when we were told to be there and we were processed in through security. After about 45 minutes we were called to submit our original documents and to have his fingerprints taken. They didn't ask for all of our original documents which I was surprised about. They only asked to see his police clearance certificates from Palestine and Egypt as well as our marriage certificate (the original not the translation). They didn't even ask to see the one we had from Israel (which is required for Palestinians.) Nothing else was asked for. Not even our Affidavit of Support. We were told to return to our seats. At 12:30 (after all the other Immigrant Interviews were called) it was out turn. The Immigration officer was nice and pleasant. She asked about my husband's job (she kept asking him his job title even though she had his CV on the screen- I could see from my vantage point.)  She asked about where we were going to live. She brought another lady over to ask me questions in Arabic (lol I am US native) about my past marriage and about my husband's past marriage. Then she asked several questions about my husband's time as a political prisoner in Israel. 

She never asked for our Affidavit of Support (which we had filled out using me and my husband's assets) she only said we need to have a joint sponsor who is living in US. (I live in Egypt with my husband). After that she told us our case was being put into administrative processing which would take a minimum of 2 months. We were also given a list of questions to complete and email back to them in a word document. I found out these questions are referred to DS 5535. 

So here we are in administrative processing wondering how long this is going to take. 

thank you for sharing your experience. the Administrative process shouldn't take too long time like 2 months usually it is up to 4 weeks bot each case is different . My in-laws had the same experience one year ago and they were in Administrative process for 5 weeks then they finally had the visa issued.  also some had the experience that the moved from Administrative process to issue then back to Administrative process. just keep tracking on the web site.

just I have some questions when NVC approve your case and sent to the embassy? how long it took to get the appointment email ? and how far was the interview from the appointment email?!

thank you!

[Crazy Cat 39,187]

11 hours ago, steveblue said:

I found this today and it’s actually pretty helpful and explanatory. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Advisory_Opinion

Do you realize how old that article is?

[Cathi 5,609]

No one can even venture to guess with any certainty how long you will be in AP. 

[Karry 9]

23 hours ago, SallySally said:

Hi everyone- we finally had our interview at the US Embassy Cairo for my husband. Surprisingly the staff were actually somewhat pleasant compared to my other interactions with them. We arrived shortly before 7:30 am when we were told to be there and we were processed in through security. After about 45 minutes we were called to submit our original documents and to have his fingerprints taken. They didn't ask for all of our original documents which I was surprised about. They only asked to see his police clearance certificates from Palestine and Egypt as well as our marriage certificate (the original not the translation). They didn't even ask to see the one we had from Israel (which is required for Palestinians.) Nothing else was asked for. Not even our Affidavit of Support. We were told to return to our seats. At 12:30 (after all the other Immigrant Interviews were called) it was out turn. The Immigration officer was nice and pleasant. She asked about my husband's job (she kept asking him his job title even though she had his CV on the screen- I could see from my vantage point.)  She asked about where we were going to live. She brought another lady over to ask me questions in Arabic (lol I am US native) about my past marriage and about my husband's past marriage. Then she asked several questions about my husband's time as a political prisoner in Israel. 

She never asked for our Affidavit of Support (which we had filled out using me and my husband's assets) she only said we need to have a joint sponsor who is living in US. (I live in Egypt with my husband). After that she told us our case was being put into administrative processing which would take a minimum of 2 months. We were also given a list of questions to complete and email back to them in a word document. I found out these questions are referred to DS 5535. 

So here we are in administrative processing wondering how long this is going to take. 

I can totally understand you. This process is really nerve wrecking. All you want is to be done with it. There is no one really to talk to and you‘re pretty much on you‘re own. The people here should watch out for one another. Support and build each other up since this is really frustrating. It‘s said pretty fast and easy that you JUST HAVE TO WAIT... it is hard to go through when you don‘t know if this is the end or if they come around wanting something else.. and if so, when. I wish you the best of luck!

Edited August 8, 2019 by Karry

[steveblue 12]

1 hour ago, missileman said:

Do you realize how old that article is?

It's somewhat old, but I found a recent article reiterating the same points. Also, the explanation on the original link is exceedingly clear.

 

If you would like to see the more current discussion, it's a lawyer telling other lawyers how to deal with the immigration issues which arise in visa applications; it's not particularly easy to read for someone whose native language is not English, or for someone who doesn't understand what audience he is speaking to and all the acronyms and weird government terminology:

 

https://www.soundimmigration.com/understanding-administrative-processing/