How to submit documentation for administrative processing

[jgauthi242 35]

My wife had her interview in early May. The consular officer said she was approved, but that they would have to perform administrative processing. They kept her passport. She sent the requested documentation to the specified email three days later, but it's over two months later now, and we've heard nothing back.

 

I read on some other threads here that you may also have to upload the documentation to NVC / CEAC? Here, https://ceac.state.gov/IV/Login.aspx, after logging in. Is that true?

[EA and MK 48]

Follow the letter exactly. If the letter asked to upload documents to CEAC, then please do so. If no mention of uploading to CEAC, but simply to email to a specific email address then follow that. 

[jgauthi242 35]

Thank you for your response!

 

The letter said to email the documents to a @state.gov email address (associated with a US consulate abroad).

 

She emailed the documents there. She received an email response indicating that if your email was not formatted using VISA Navigator, it would be deleted without reply.

 

No link to VISA Navigator was supplied in either the printed paper she was given nor in the automated response. She then sent the documents again, formatting the email using VISA Navigator.

 

Given that none of the information provided was consistent, is it possible that the documents should have also been uploaded to CEAC?

Edited July 26, 2022 by jgauthi242

[SalishSea 16,825]

1 hour ago, jgauthi242 said:

Thank you for your response!

 

The letter said to email the documents to a @state.gov email address (associated with a US consulate abroad).

 

She emailed the documents there. She received an email response indicating that if your email was not formatted using VISA Navigator, it would be deleted without reply.

 

No link to VISA Navigator was supplied in either the printed paper she was given nor in the automated response. She then sent the documents again, formatting the email using VISA Navigator.

 

Given that none of the information provided was consistent, is it possible that the documents should have also been uploaded to CEAC?

Like the other poster said, follow the instructions to the letter.  If it did not say to upload to CEAC, then you do not need to.  Federal agencies, such as Department of State, are quite literal in their writing.

[EA and MK 48]

On 7/25/2022 at 10:19 PM, jgauthi242 said:

Thank you for your response!

 

The letter said to email the documents to a @state.gov email address (associated with a US consulate abroad).

 

She emailed the documents there. She received an email response indicating that if your email was not formatted using VISA Navigator, it would be deleted without reply.

 

No link to VISA Navigator was supplied in either the printed paper she was given nor in the automated response. She then sent the documents again, formatting the email using VISA Navigator.

 

Given that none of the information provided was consistent, is it possible that the documents should have also been uploaded to CEAC?

Huh, never heard of VISA Navigator. Usually, they don't care how it's formatted. I would send a follow-up email to confirm receipt. I, however, wouldn't upload anything to CEAC unless requested explicitly to.

[jgauthi242 35]

Thank you for your response.

 

VISA Navigator seems to be something that is specific to the Frankfurt consulate. It's very difficult to even find a link to it on their website. None of the emails or papers they send out mention it either and somebody else on this forum who went through administrative processing earlier this year did not have to use it. But, now if you send an email without using this tool, they say they'll delete your email without reply (that doesn't answer the question of whether they actually got your documentation though).

 

My wife sent an inquiry nearly two weeks ago asking them to confirm they've received the requested documents and they haven't even responded to that.

 

Status still shows as Refused on CEAC website.

 

We're escalating to Senator with the help of our lawyer on Monday. If we don't hear back, we'll file a Writ of Mandamus.

[Venus2mars 1]

The only way to get a case out of administrative processing (aka BS processing) is to file a mandamus 

[jgauthi242 35]

Figured I'd provide an update since it's been a month. Wife is still stuck in administrative processing. Consulate replied to Senator with boilerplate email indicating they could provide no estimate as to when it would be finished (i.e., it could last forever).

[jgauthi242 35]

Figured I'd provide another update since it's now been 4 months. No useful updates from consulate, just that processing is ongoing and that they don't need anything else.

 

It's not clear if any cases that aren't trivial (in their opinion) that aren't in the SQ-1, SQ-2, SQ-3, and DV categories are actually being worked on right now. Just to reiterate, my wife has cleared administrative processing three times in the last six years and nothing material has changed since then (became a supervisor at work, working on slightly different project, but in same domain).

 

Case was getting updated once a week or so up until August 8, then it stopped getting updated. The only time it gets updated is when I email them asking what the current status is, which they always respond with no useful information to.

Edited September 9, 2022 by jgauthi242

[Family 3,529]

9 minutes ago, jgauthi242 said:

Figured I'd provide another update since it's now been 4 months. No useful updates from consulate, just that processing is ongoing and that they don't need anything else.

 

Thank you for updating. Are they still holding on to her passport?

[jgauthi242 35]

13 minutes ago, Family said:

Thank you for updating. Are they still holding on to her passport?

They held onto her passport, but she retrieved it from the consulate a few weeks ago.