J1 Administrative Processing (221g) — Program is in 2 weeks

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

Recently, I went for an interview — the sponsor told me that, as the program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, I would have a fast interview. So I thought so. I realized something was wrong when they started asking me too many questions, and it took around 5 minutes. (Like what is my major, where do I work, what about my articles are and etc.)

 

In the end, I got a yellow paper with “administrative processing” checked. The same day, I received an email with a questionnaire (in general, they ask about my employment and educational background, including a question about my articles).

Probably, I got into this clearance because of “AI,” which is harmless — my only research is about applying LLMs in education. But it looks like they decided to run me through a check.

The problem is that it’s June 15th and my program starts on July 2 — yes it’s late, my interview was late because of USAID’s recent pause, so after the program resumed, there was no time left.

 

In the end, after research, I found that administrative processing never takes less than 4–8 weeks, meaning I should not wait for approval — I won’t receive it in time. It just sounds weird — the U.S. government already spent money on me, and they just… put me into an administrative check black hole.

Isn’t there anything I can do? At least I filled the questionnaire the same day it arrived. And we filled congressional inquiry, which probably wouldn’t speed up things.

 

At first, I thought that if student interviews were paused, they would work on my case faster. But then I realized — nope, they’re too busy implementing new vetting, so probably my case will take even more time…

Any chances? My sponsor told me they’re unable to postpone the program.

[Boiler 47,199]

A lot depends on which Consulate 

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

8 hours ago, Boiler said:

A lot depends on which Consulate 

If it helps — Yerevan, Armenia. Are they known to be slow?

[carmel34 3,721]

6 hours ago, Alen Mindeyan said:

If it helps — Yerevan, Armenia. Are they known to be slow?

All J-1 and F-1 visa applications are now subject to greater scrutiny, which has slowed down the process in all countries.  I suggest that you contact the sponsor, explain the situation, and try for another program start date, maybe January 2026.  If they say no, you will have to look for other sponsors and programs and re-apply.  Many in your situation are now looking at other countries such as Canada, UK, and Australia instead of the US.  Good luck!

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

10 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

All J-1 and F-1 visa applications are now subject to greater scrutiny, which has slowed down the process in all countries.  I suggest that you contact the sponsor, explain the situation, and try for another program start date, maybe January 2026.  If they say no, you will have to look for other sponsors and programs and re-apply.  Many in your situation are now looking at other countries such as Canada, UK, and Australia instead of the US.  Good luck!

Thank you for the response! Yeap, I reached my sponsor — they told me that they notified US State of Dept and Embassy but don’t know what they would do.

 

Thank you for other countries suggestion — but I participate in this program mainly because they cover all costs, including airfare and stipend. In other countries it’s hard to get such offer, especially considering that I’m from Russia 

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

But I believe I got flagged about Computer Science major as they asked me many questions about it during interview, so maybe I triggered TAL list

[Boiler 47,199]

9 hours ago, Alen Mindeyan said:

If it helps — Yerevan, Armenia. Are they known to be slow?

I assume it is a very small Consulate, very rarely gets any mention here for any visa category, which can be good and bad.

[appleblossom 4,107]

5 hours ago, Alen Mindeyan said:

But I believe I got flagged about Computer Science major as they asked me many questions about it during interview, so maybe I triggered TAL list

 

That and being Russian is probably it. Is there an opportunity to reapply for next year's program maybe?

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

8 minutes ago, appleblossom said:

 

That and being Russian is probably it. Is there an opportunity to reapply for next year's program maybe?

Oh, next year I’ll probably get triggered for Computer Science administrative processing again… It turns out that if you passed it once, it won’t be waived next time. So next time I might get the same refusal for AP… And honestly, the second year applying, there’s always something happening. Last year it just got canceled. Ahh, never had luck with those exchange programs — always become a finalist and always get a problem at the end.

[appleblossom 4,107]

4 minutes ago, Alen Mindeyan said:

Oh, next year I’ll probably get triggered for Computer Science administrative processing again… It turns out that if you passed it once, it won’t be waived next time. So next time I might get the same refusal for AP… And honestly, the second year applying, there’s always something happening. Last year it just got canceled. Ahh, never had luck with those exchange programs — always become a finalist and always get a problem at the end.

 

Yes, you would likely get put in to AP again, but you'd have more time for that to be completed. So if it's possible then could you ask them to defer your place to the next year's program so you'd have a full year for processing? 

[Alen Mindeyan 0]

1 minute ago, appleblossom said:

 

Yes, you would likely get put in to AP again, but you'd have more time for that to be completed. So if it's possible then could you ask them to defer your place to the next year's program so you'd have a full year for processing? 

Oh, great idea — I also thought about them and reached to sponsor. Sadly, they told me that they can’t make it this way and I will need to apply again as any other new participant and take part in application process. And get visas next year with others. So for now I just decided to forget about it and maybe I will get lucky and get positive result… but after little googl-ing I understand more and more that it’s not possible to get AP results in 2 weeks.

[appleblossom 4,107]

13 minutes ago, Alen Mindeyan said:

Oh, great idea — I also thought about them and reached to sponsor. Sadly, they told me that they can’t make it this way and I will need to apply again as any other new participant and take part in application process. And get visas next year with others. So for now I just decided to forget about it and maybe I will get lucky and get positive result… but after little googl-ing I understand more and more that it’s not possible to get AP results in 2 weeks.

 

It is possible, but unlikely. AP can take months or even years. 

 

If you can reapply for next year can you do that asap, so that you can get the visa application in early maybe?

 

Best of luck, hope you can find a way to make it work.