Whitesky

Nid's visa was issued and she arrived at Washington Dulles Airport at 10:40 AM on September 12, 2013. It was one day short of being a full year since we first made application for her Visa. For me, it's unbelievable that she is finally here! I still feel like I should plan to call her on Skype when she wakes up. It takes so very long... I pray the next steps will be less painful, as we can remain together. I wish the best of luck to others stuck in this process!

I would suggest emailing the embassy, following the instructions they give on the embassy website with regards to putting your case number, etc. in the subject. Send the email to visasbkkiv@state.gov. Try to ask specific questions not just general status. If you don't receive a response call the embassy. My fiancé has a good number for this. They won't give you any information on phone, or let you speak with someone in the visa unit. But, they will suggest that you send email. When you tell them that you already have, and have not had a response, they will ask you for your case number and will tell you they will ask someone to look for your email and possibly respond. When my fiancé called like this, and provided this information, she received a email response within several hours. They also started looking at her case and it started moving again. If you need to do this, I can get the number she called and post it.

On calling state in DC, this is useful as they can look directly at your case and especially tell you if there is some problem. They can read all of the notes on the case file. If nothing is noted, they will just tell you to wait. I called them about once a week, as they suggested doing.

I hope this helps!

Today, we emailed the embassy to clarify the status as "Ready" on the CEAC website. They responded within about an hour as follows:

Please be informed that your visa is issued and will be mailed to the address provided at the interview which takes approximately 7 days.

So, for those looking for answers to how long it takes from submission of simple documents as a result of a 221(g) until they are reviewed and the visa should be issued, it seems to be just shy of a month at this time. I hope everything goes smoothly from this point forward! We are now considering whether or not we should make plane reservations several weeks out, allowing a little time for possible delays. Of course, the advantage of booking early are much better flight connections, lower cost and a nice choice of seats. These things all get worse if you wait until the last minute to book.

Update:

My fiance called the embassy this morning to a number one of her friends who encountered similar problems gave her. While the lady on the other end of the line couldn't provide any status information, when my finace told her she had already emailed several weeks ago and hadn't received a response, she took her case number and said she would ask someone to respond to these emails. Surprisingly, we both received an email response today confirming they had received her documents. They also said these items were "under review" and we should have a response soon. They also updated the CEAC status to "Ready." This didn't make sense, as this says it means you are ready for your interview. Seeing this, I checked with State here in the U.S. to make sure we weren't missing something. I was told there that this was a mistake, it should still show "Administrative Processing." If this doesn't change my finace might call the embassy again tomorrow and inquire about this. I don't know if intermally they work off of paper packets being placed in someone's inbox, or if they use a computer queue to tell them who's case is next. We worry that if the status is incorrect in their computer they will be waiting for something from us and nothing will happen. So, it's probably better if the status is correct. We hope everything will be approved soon!

Hi rrokitta,

Thanks for your posting and information! So, it looks like it took them about a month to respond to you.

I called the Department of State here in the U.S. at 202-663-1225.... press 1 then 0. They have visa specialist there who can access your record with the case number. They can't answer questions like "when." But, they can read all of the notes on your file and tell you if something is wrong. In our case, they said everything looked OK and we are just waiting in the queue. They suggested calling back once a week and checking if there had been any change.

Of course, the problem is that you have no idea how long this queue is and how long it can take to navigate it, even if everything is in perfect order. Like you, many things are on hold or in a state of limbo. After all, pulling up roots and relocating to a new country is a pretty significant undertaking, especially considering that she will not be able to return to take care of any business for at least a year while her green card is pending or risk refusal for rentry (even if she was granted parole.) My fiance owns property there and intends to keep it. So, there is a lot to manage. I feel your pain with regard to the pregnancy. That is certainly something that won't wait. I suspect if the child is born, your fiance won't want to leave it with the parents for its first year, or more, and move to the U.S. So, if they delay until after the birth you will have a whole new raft of paperwork to be processed. Wow! Good luck!

I would like to find more readers who would comment on the processing time recently experienced between returning the 2219(g) requested documents and action. I guess most who have had a satisfactory resolution (ie got their visa already) are happy and no longer plying the waters of these boards, but rather happy and married to their significant others in the U.S. But, if you have first hand knowledge of the recent processing times we are discussing, I would really appreciate a reply. There are a lot of other people looking for this information, too.

It's more understandable if we were missing some important financial documents, proof of relationship, or other items which need to be carefully examined. But, all we needed was an official copy of a birth certificate. The CO indicated this was just a formal requirement. What worries us is that there is no record of her passport and other documents even being received after almost a full month. Her passport, in particular, is a pretty important document. If this is lost it will be a big problem for us. We don't have reason to believe that has happened. But, it does seem they would promptly receive these documents and add them to her file and case notes.

On quitting her job, I am sorry you have this problem. My fiancé also did this. But, she teaches and had to renew her commitment for another three months as of August 1 or resign. She could have stayed and just walked out. But, professionally that's not proper. She owns her own car, condo, etc. If this doesn't resolve soon she will need to take another job to meet her obligations there. Though, relative to living expenses here in the US, things are cheap there, these costs are significant long term.

Sadly, this can go on for many months. On her Facebook group of friends seeking visas the longest was eleven months.

What I had asked here is of others who have had this experience in Bangkok how long does it usually take for them to pick up the file again?

No luck so far. I sent an email to the address recommended. I also called the State Department visa information line today. The visa specialist there said everything looked in order. The notes said the interview went very well, but, even though Thai Post shows the documents were delivered on August 3, they have not been added to the record yet. My concern is that they may have been lost. There is no way to tell unless the visa unit will respond to my email and confirm their receipt.

Thanks Karee,

How long did it take for you to receive your visa after you sent the documents requested?

Thanks for your reply Karee!

I have written to the embassy twice, as well as my fiance has written twice. I wrote and asked them simply to confirm that they have received everything. We first used the address visasbkk@state.gov and then visasiv@state.gov. We received an autoresponse from the first address and nothing from the second. The second address was the one given when you call or look on their website. We put the subject line like you suggested. We wrote first about a week ago and once early this week. But, so far we have no responses. I will try the address you suggested if nothing changes by early next week.

I hope everything is ok. The interview went well and the CO said he only needed the birth certificate. How long did it take for you to receive your visa after they received your additional documents? This coming Monday will be three weeks since the first working day there after everything was received.

I can't answer your question about the use of the mailing address, whether they will use native language or English. But, we were surprised to learn that with many embassies the full interview packet can be downloaded from links found on their website. In Bangkok there are links to these documents under the immigrant visa sections. You might try looking there on your embassy's website. I wish we had known this in advance, as we could have had everything ready when her application arrived at the embassy and filed the interview packet earlier.

I am also trying to make sense of the status on CEAC. My fiance's interview was 22 June. The CO told her she passed the interview and everything was in order. But, that her birth certificate was not an official one showing the birth city. He gave her a 221(g) and told her to return that, her passport and an official birth certificate copy to the embassy and her visa would be issued within a short time. She obtained the document and send everything requested via registered mail to the embassy. They were received on 3 August. Now, on CEAC it shows AP. The date changes from time to time. It moved from 19 August to 23 August overnight last night. Based on what the CO said, everything should be in order. BUt, it's been three weeks tomorrow since the paperwork was received. Of course, leaving your mind idle, you can only think something is wrong. But, maybe not... It's very frustrating!

My fiance had her K1 Visa interview on 22 July in Bangkok. We have worked very hard on this and had absolutely everything in order for the interview. The interview went very smoothly. We were formally engaged in Thailand on my fiance's parents farm. I spent 2 1/2 months there last year. So, we had copious photos, documantation of visits together, hotels, plane reservations, literally a book of phone and Skype records where we iterally spend hours connected with each other every day. There was only one sticky question, which raised eyebrows when answered, but which was quickly satisfied. The CO had misread something and expected a different answer. But, my finace's answer bore itself out as correct in the documentation. So, everything was fine.

The CO told my finace that she had passed the interview. But, he said one of her documents was not in order. Apparently, her birth certificate was not an official one or it didn't properly show the birth city. Apparently, she got a duplicate copy from the records department in Bangkok. Her father had lost her original years ago. The CO gave her a 221(g) and told her to get a certified copy of her borth certificate, to be sent via registered mail to the embassy with her passport and a copy of the 221(g) and he would promptly issue her visa.

Her father had to travel from the south of Thailand to Roi-Et twice to get the certified document. This was done on 2 August and mailed. Thai Post shows delivery of the package to the embassy on 3 August. We expected a wait of a week or two while things were processing. But, we are now finishing out our third week and still no visa or correspondence. We have visited the CEAC site and looked at the status several times and it just shows "Administrative Processing." Last night, eastern time here in US, it was showing a "Status Updated Date" of 19 August. But, this morning it shows 23 August. The heading still shows "Adminstrative Processing."

My question to the community, this seems like it should be pretty cut and dried. How long can we expect to wait for this to conclude? Is there any significance to the updated status date? I hope and pray that the "Administrative Processing" header doesn't mean some new problem. I have read in other posts that this is a normal heading any time a 221(g) is issued. What will happen with this status if it is approved? Does it change to approved? Any opinions, experiences, etc. would be greatly appreciated!