The dreaded DS-5535 thread for Montreal. Post here and support each other (PART 2)

[ShawnK 76]

19 minutes ago, Blue473 said:

Similarly, I received a 221g because of missing medical results (which arrived the day after the interview on December 19th) and CO kept my passport. She made it seem like it would be quickly approved once they got my results (and I didn't know any better).

 

The case was updated on the 19th and 21st of December. It was again updated when they responded to my email (2 weeks after it was sent) on January 11th. Here, they confirmed that they had received my medical results and that the case was in queue to being reviewed by a CO. 

 

I really wished I had come across this forum before - would have worked harder to get an earlier date for the medical exam. 

 

I'm really sorry to hear that folks have been waiting more than a year -- from a consulate that shares a border with the US! 

You'll be fine, if you got the email that a CO is looking at it or will, I would say you are good in Feb or March.

 

This process has been mentally excruciating. 

 

It's a Friday night and I'm stuck here posting on this forum. Stuck in the frozen hole that is Edmonton,  in another horrid Alberta winter. I could be with friends and family enjoying nice warm weather in Hawaii. At least my kids are warm. Oh well, what can you do.

 

 

 

Edited January 20 by ShawnK

[APRIL2023 48]

Got an unsolicited status updated on Thursday. Hopefully that’s a good sign. It has been a rollercoaster of 10 months waiting. 
 

I emailed my ds5535 info in after not hearing from them for three weeks post interview. I followed up to confirm receipt and they responded yes and provided date when info was entered into their system. 
 

For peeps who asked about emailing congressman for help. I tried before, congress, senate and even White House. No help. Congresswoman was a waste of time, her representative made it sound like they can help to influence process but literally ghosted on us after 4 months. We were referred to reps in DoS by the White House and got a “personalized” letter response… but pretty much saying nothing can be done. 
 

For those who received extension request after filing WOM, how much extra do lawyers charge? I inquired Goldstein but they cannot give me a straight answer. 

 

[Blue473 4]

17 hours ago, ShawnK said:

You'll be fine, if you got the email that a CO is looking at it or will, I would say you are good in Feb or March.

 

This process has been mentally excruciating. 

 

It's a Friday night and I'm stuck here posting on this forum. Stuck in the frozen hole that is Edmonton,  in another horrid Alberta winter. I could be with friends and family enjoying nice warm weather in Hawaii. At least my kids are warm. Oh well, what can you do.

 

 

 

That sucks for sure -- really sorry to hear that. I was hoping that I'd be experiencing a much warmer winter this year, too. But, I know nothing compares to an Edmonton winter. Hoping things resolve soon for you and your family.

[ShawnK 76]

1 hour ago, APRIL2023 said:

Got an unsolicited status updated on Thursday. Hopefully that’s a good sign. It has been a rollercoaster of 10 months waiting. 
 

I emailed my ds5535 info in after not hearing from them for three weeks post interview. I followed up to confirm receipt and they responded yes and provided date when info was entered into their system. 
 

For peeps who asked about emailing congressman for help. I tried before, congress, senate and even White House. No help. Congresswoman was a waste of time, her representative made it sound like they can help to influence process but literally ghosted on us after 4 months. We were referred to reps in DoS by the White House and got a “personalized” letter response… but pretty much saying nothing can be done. 
 

For those who received extension request after filing WOM, how much extra do lawyers charge? I inquired Goldstein but they cannot give me a straight answer. 

 

It's usually about $1-2K, not for an extension request, no charge for that. The extra is to respond to a motion to dismiss. I think Goldstein includes it in their full price, same with Hacking. Goldstein is also quite proactive and aggressive with responding.

 

I would say we do need to plan for this because there is no way to know if/when Montreal will do anything. Feb interviewers still haven't received any medical requests. This is a frightening blackhole they can keep you in forever.

 

They even argue this in court (judge thankfully rejected it in a recent case), basically saying it's a final decision and we don't have to adjudicate your case, you've been refused.

 

 

Edited January 20 by ShawnK

[Superluminal 73]

3 hours ago, APRIL2023 said:

Got an unsolicited status updated on Thursday. Hopefully that’s a good sign. It has been a rollercoaster of 10 months waiting. 
 

I emailed my ds5535 info in after not hearing from them for three weeks post interview. I followed up to confirm receipt and they responded yes and provided date when info was entered into their system. 
 

For peeps who asked about emailing congressman for help. I tried before, congress, senate and even White House. No help. Congresswoman was a waste of time, her representative made it sound like they can help to influence process but literally ghosted on us after 4 months. We were referred to reps in DoS by the White House and got a “personalized” letter response… but pretty much saying nothing can be done. 
 

For those who received extension request after filing WOM, how much extra do lawyers charge? I inquired Goldstein but they cannot give me a straight answer. 

 

Just for clarification, when you say unsolicited update, are you referring to the case last updated date on CEAC?

[Denokarter 0]

If they take your passport, does that automatically mean you’re approved? They told me I’m tentatively approved because the system is slow and he can’t give the 100% at the moment but they took my passport and said it will be mailed back with the visa…

[Gha 15]

Hi

@ak47 I am just asking do you receive case update after June .I know you received mail response 

Thank you 

[ak47 26]

2 hours ago, Gha said:

Hi

@ak47 I am just asking do you receive case update after June .I know you received mail response 

Thank you 

I have not received any update except for the template response everytime I send an email. 

 

Have completed 10 months since the interview so..not sure what's going on. 

 

It would be nice to know if any of the FEB interviewees received any response.

[Leo The Great 89]

11 hours ago, Denokarter said:

If they take your passport, does that automatically mean you’re approved? They told me I’m tentatively approved because the system is slow and he can’t give the 100% at the moment but they took my passport and said it will be mailed back with the visa…

yes - provided you are not flagged by the system that CO use to check for  SOA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Advisory_Opinionn) against your application

You may check the status of your visa issuance using following link

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?App=IV

Edited January 21 by Leo The Great

[EternalWait 72]

Some fascinating insights into the DS5535 vetting process:  https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/administrative-processing-backlog-of-66000-visa-applicants : 

1- "Among the revelations from the declaration, only 37 State Department analysts are responsible for the national security vetting of DS-5535 responses, causing a backlog to explode. Currently, 66,000 visa applicants are stuck in administrative processing."
2- "Secondly, Mr. Wu declares that “SAO requests can be neither addressed nor resolved in a first-in-first-out basis.” This revelation exposes the lie that government attorneys have been consistently telling federal judges across the US: that visa applicants in AP who are filing mandamus lawsuits are attempting line-skipping in front of others in a queue or line. There is no queue."

3- "generally, security vetting is concluded in 75 percent of visa cases requiring additional security vetting in approximately 120 days. Security vetting is concluded in over 90 percent of all cases requiring additional security vetting in less than 24 months."

I encourage ppl to read the report in its entirety.

Edited January 21 by EternalWait

[APRIL2023 48]

18 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Just for clarification, when you say unsolicited update, are you referring to the case last updated date on CEAC?

Yes

[APRIL2023 48]

35 minutes ago, EternalWait said:

Some fascinating insights into the DS5535 vetting process:  https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/administrative-processing-backlog-of-66000-visa-applicants : 

1- "Among the revelations from the declaration, only 37 State Department analysts are responsible for the national security vetting of DS-5535 responses, causing a backlog to explode. Currently, 66,000 visa applicants are stuck in administrative processing."
2- "Secondly, Mr. Wu declares that “SAO requests can be neither addressed nor resolved in a first-in-first-out basis.” This revelation exposes the lie that government attorneys have been consistently telling federal judges across the US: that visa applicants in AP who are filing mandamus lawsuits are attempting line-skipping in front of others in a queue or line. There is no queue."

3- "generally, security vetting is concluded in 75 percent of visa cases requiring additional security vetting in approximately 120 days. Security vetting is concluded in over 90 percent of all cases requiring additional security vetting in less than 24 months."

I encourage ppl to read the report in its entirety.

Thank you for sharing this. Probably the only place that I’ve read so far that explained fully what exactly happened with the whole 221g/AP/DS5535 bullshit. 
 

I more I read, the more angry I am. *vent alert*. I asked the CO what have triggered AP and he literally did a 🤷🏼 as he thought that my case was a straight forward case. #######

 

question - was fingerprint taken at the interview? I don’t recall mine being taken. By the CO or would it be with the first clerk you talk to who collected the documents?

[Leo The Great 89]

1 hour ago, EternalWait said:

Some fascinating insights into the DS5535 vetting process:  https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/administrative-processing-backlog-of-66000-visa-applicants : 

1- "Among the revelations from the declaration, only 37 State Department analysts are responsible for the national security vetting of DS-5535 responses, causing a backlog to explode. Currently, 66,000 visa applicants are stuck in administrative processing."
2- "Secondly, Mr. Wu declares that “SAO requests can be neither addressed nor resolved in a first-in-first-out basis.” This revelation exposes the lie that government attorneys have been consistently telling federal judges across the US: that visa applicants in AP who are filing mandamus lawsuits are attempting line-skipping in front of others in a queue or line. There is no queue."

3- "generally, security vetting is concluded in 75 percent of visa cases requiring additional security vetting in approximately 120 days. Security vetting is concluded in over 90 percent of all cases requiring additional security vetting in less than 24 months."

I encourage ppl to read the report in its entirety.

There is some hope in term of speeding up AP in 2024 for immigrant visas (Not sure if it benefits new applicants or applicants already in AP) in the following paragraph:

17. The Department has been actively involved in working with the National Vetting Center to shift security vetting of visa applicants from the KFE vetting system discussed above to the National Vetting Center. The Department transferred the national security vetting of nonimmigrant visa applicants to the National Vetting Center in October 2022, with immigrant visa vetting to follow sometime in 2024. The Department anticipates that moving security vetting to the National Vetting Center will create efficiencies in the vetting process that will ultimately benefit all visa applicants and also enhance border security by providing more robust screening of applicants.

Edited January 21 by Leo The Great

[Gha 15]

Hi

@ak47 thank you for response.i am in same boat .I did not got any response 

i am asking when you send a mail .your case update date change or not .because I am checking in sheet your last case update 1 June 

thank you 

 

[Leo The Great 89]

1 hour ago, EternalWait said:

Some fascinating insights into the DS5535 vetting process:  https://redeaglelaw.com/blog-1/f/administrative-processing-backlog-of-66000-visa-applicants : 

1- "Among the revelations from the declaration, only 37 State Department analysts are responsible for the national security vetting of DS-5535 responses, causing a backlog to explode. Currently, 66,000 visa applicants are stuck in administrative processing."
2- "Secondly, Mr. Wu declares that “SAO requests can be neither addressed nor resolved in a first-in-first-out basis.” This revelation exposes the lie that government attorneys have been consistently telling federal judges across the US: that visa applicants in AP who are filing mandamus lawsuits are attempting line-skipping in front of others in a queue or line. There is no queue."

3- "generally, security vetting is concluded in 75 percent of visa cases requiring additional security vetting in approximately 120 days. Security vetting is concluded in over 90 percent of all cases requiring additional security vetting in less than 24 months."

I encourage ppl to read the report in its entirety.

Some of the agencies mentioned in the blog may also be involved in screening (in addition to visa applicants) of  large number of immigrants (on priority basis) crossing borders illegally before registering them.

Edited January 21 by Leo The Great