Visa approved after the interview, but CEAC shows refused

[Abed Ahmed 0]

Hello, 

I did my interview for J-1 Visa 3 days ago, the officer told me that my visa is approved and you are welcome to US. I also was told that I'll get my visa in 1-2 weeks. I did not get 221(g) slip or told that I'm in Administrative Process.

 

When I check at the CEAC website the day after the interview it shows "Refused" with this message:

A U.S. consular officer has adjudicated and refused your visa application. Please follow any instructions provided by the consular officer. If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing. You will receive another adjudication once such processing is complete. Please be advised that the processing time varies and that you will be contacted if additional information is needed. For more information, please visit TRAVEL.STATE.GOV or the website for the Embassy or Consulate at which you made your visa application.

 

Is this normal? Does the website shows refused for everybody after the interview? 

 

Thanks a lot

[JeanneAdil 6,203]

This is the part u need to know as all visas are refused for administrative processing 

 

 If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing.

 

and u do not need to worry unless the CEAC site says denied 

Depending on how well your country keeps records will be the determination on how long the AP lasts which can be days,  weeks or months 

always good to state the country in your posts 

and to follow the portal for your country and read posts there

(Hit the word portal above and scroll down for your country)

 

and please do a timeline

 

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Many consulates list it as refused until a visa is actually issued (technically it is always undergoing administrative processing between interview and issuance). There isn’t anything in the CEAC system that allows them to say “pending” or similar. Unless they contact you with an actual problem they found I wouldn’t worry about it. Please do update here when you get issued.

[Abed Ahmed 0]

Update: today I received a DS-5535 form. 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

20 minutes ago, Abed Ahmed said:

Update: today I received a DS-5535 form. 

So you will remain in AP until it is completed, processed, checked…sometimes they are pretty quick with these forms and sometimes they take months.  ( There is a thread devoted to ds5535 somewhere on VJ if you want to search for it, sorry I can’t remember the exact location.) Good luck!

[Abed Ahmed 0]

16 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

So you will remain in AP until it is completed, processed, checked…sometimes they are pretty quick with these forms and sometimes they take months.  ( There is a thread devoted to ds5535 somewhere on VJ if you want to search for it, sorry I can’t remember the exact location.) Good luck!

Thank you for your response. I have a scholarship that starts next month, I hope they will respond quickly. I will search about the thread. Thanks again.

[Denokarter 0]

On 5/23/2022 at 11:33 AM, Abed Ahmed said:

Update: today I received a DS-5535 form. 

So wait they approved you, told you that you’re good to go and you then got a form DS-5535, so the interviewer clearly lied to you. Did they also take your passport during that time that you waited for your visa? 

[appleblossom 1,309]

3 hours ago, Denokarter said:

So wait they approved you, told you that you’re good to go and you then got a form DS-5535, so the interviewer clearly lied to you. Did they also take your passport during that time that you waited for your visa? 

Sometimes the interviewing officer says it’s approved only to have a more senior officer decide otherwise afterwards. It’s not a lie. 

[Inveigh 69]

12 hours ago, Denokarter said:

So wait they approved you, told you that you’re good to go and you then got a form DS-5535, so the interviewer clearly lied to you. Did they also take your passport during that time that you waited for your visa? 

Did you get 5535 as well?

[Crazy Cat 39,267]

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