josef_k

EAD AND AP ARE A COMBO CARD . They will not process until RFE's are completed.

Alright, thanks.

They received the requested evidence on November 12. Do you know (in the case they don't ask for more evidence) if it will take another 90 days to get the combo card?

I moved to the US on a K1 visa. I sent my I-131 (advance parole) and I-765 (EAD) when filing for adjustment of status. All the forms and payment was received July 23. In August I got the letter to get my biometrics done. Later in August I got a "request for initial evidence". There was one little number wrong in the affidavit of support. We corrected that but in the beginning of November we got another "request for initial evidence", also in regards to the affidavit of support. This is all annoying because in the second request they wanted information that they did not ask for in the first place and one would think they would ask for everything at once instead of delaying it further.

Anyway, on October 23 I was worried because I hadn't heard anything about the EAD and advance parole and on the USCIS website it said that after 90 days (the normal time limit) one could file an inquiry.

Since then I have talked to five different people at the customer service center, and they all say very different things, so I'm posting here to see if anyone has been through the same thing or knows what's actually true:

- First person said that my EAD was tied to the I-485 and since that process has been delayed, so has the EAD. He said that the advance parole document was separate, but late because the Missouri center was a month behind.

- Second person said that the EAD was completely independent of the I-485, but sent a request to the USCIS, that eventually got back to me and said that it was in fact dependent on the I-485. Second, third and fourth person (I resigned to the fact that the EAD will be late but I kept calling about the advance parole) all said that the advance parole was probably just late.

- But today I spoke to a representative that said that the advance parole and the EAD are essentially the same document, or printed on the same card, so both are delayed because the request for initial evidence.

I can almost appreciate the irony in that they refuse to give me a work permit until they know I have someone to support me, but I really need the advance parole document before December 20.

Does anyone know if the two are in fact printed and sent out together? It sounds unlikely since they are totally separate things, right?

I don't think the printer or computer has been broken 3 weeks. Here's a few that hang out in this forum who recently interviewed.

vicks http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=20060

Mar 3, Visa Received Mar 10

Shana http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=193735

Mar 5, Visa received Mar 17

EN http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=191680

Mar 10, printed Mar 12. She did her timeline wrong and didn't put date received.

Aubrey http://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=188807

Mar 19, printed Mar Mar 25

Calling on the phone almost always gets the non-immigrant visa persons. They give answers to a different process and that is sometimes confusing or misleading. If you used the online contact form, there is the Immigrant visa choice to pick so hopefully you did that and got the correct department that is processing your visa. If yours was a security check AP, they will reveal nothing about that, even to a senator.

Yes, I did e-mail them, using the immigrant visa contact form. They said the processing times can vary and I just have to be patient. However, they did get back to my boyfriend's nearly identical inquiry and said the delay was caused by a "computer issue", and later the broken printer. Which is obviously not the cause since they've probably issued and printed thousands of visas since then. Also, from what I've understood, they don't keep your passport at the embassy if they expect to conduct a prolonged security check AP.

i hear you, delays of any kind are a bit off putting, and not very nice.

however. if your Interview was on the 2nd, 15 working days after that is the 23rd, so last thursday isnt a date you should have been worried about. ideally tuesday the 24th would have been THE date to start the process of enquiries.

and tbh it is a privilege to get a visa, if it was a basic right i dont think it would be as hard to get as it is.

im not agreeing with the bad attitude you received. thats the worst. but i do think there was a smidge of impatience on your part

I started the "process of enquiries" because I read on this forum that several people who had had their interviews after me had gotten their visas issued and sent to them within a week after the interview. So it was physically possible for the embassy to do so. I also read here, and other websites, about the "administrative processing" status and how that can last for weeks or months if you end up being suspected of potential terrorism threats because your name, or anything else, that needs some kind of security clearance. That is why I started e-mailing in the first place, to see whether the delay was a mistake or an actual security administrative process. As it turns out though, it seems like it was a mistake on their part although they'd rather it on blame a broken printer.

So, I honestly don't think I have been impatient.

Had my interview March 2. Visa was approved and the consular officer told me I should receive my documents within two weeks. My CEAC status had gone from "Ready" to "Administrative Processing" on March 3, and the case last updated on March 4. Since the website says it can take 10-15 business days I didn't start to worry until last Thursday. I called the call center four times and talked to five different people, of which one was a supervisor. They all told me to have patience (one even told me that the case was now in the hands of the National Visa Center. #######?). I submitted e-mails via the embassy website contact form. "Dear applicant. Wait and see". I told them, over phone and via e-mail, that I had to leave the country on March 31st and asked if they could tell me why they kept my passport if they estimated the process would take longer. "It's up to the consular officer. Wait and see". I gave them my full name, passport number and case number and they said they checked it.

My boyfriend managed to get a person from his senator's office as well as a congress woman to call, since they could get hold of someone who was physically at the embassy. They were told that the visa was issued March 5 and they had no idea was it had not been sent to me. Today my boyfriend got a reply to one of the countless e-mails he had submitted via the website. Apparently there had been "computer issues" regarding my case but they would try to issue the visa no later than tomorrow. Today my CEAC status turned from "AP", back to "Ready" and then back to "AP". Just now my boyfriend called back a supervisor from the call center with the USA number to whom he had spoken yesterday, and she said that the printer that prints the visas was broken. I AM NOT KIDDING. So for three weeks there had been a "computer issue", which they failed to inform me about, as well as a "broken printer".

I understand that technical difficulties can cause delays, but the fact that they didn't inform me about them makes me think they just forgot my case in the bottom of a pile of paper. And them being condescending and assuming that the problem was me being impatient instead of just looking into my case doesn't help either. My boyfriend was told by the incredibly rude woman on the call center that it was not my right to receive a visa, but a privilege. What a privilege to live in a country that can't get a printer to work over the course of three weeks.

Yes, that is the contact form I used, although I picked the third one down, about K or immigrant visa application.

I will try again on Monday, because then it has been exactly fifteen business days after the interview. Even if they have put me through some high security processing (which would be absolutely ridiculous), are they really allowed to hold on to a person's passport indefinitely, without giving some kind of revised timeline?

Oh, that's very helpful. My worst way out would be traveling to Sweden, wait for the visa to be issued. Pay for a temporary passport and a return ticket to the UK just to pick up the visa. Which would be ridiculous both financially and environmentally.

My (new ≈ after "ready") CEAC status was created March 3 (day after interview) and updated March 4. It says "non immigrant" on top. My boyfriend's theory is that they meant to change to "issued" but somehow it was not registered and kept on saying AP. Could it be that silly?

Thank you for responding.

I have waited for this visa for nearly ten months, the petition alone was not approved until after six months. So I don't find it strange for them to take a long time to clear/issue the visa. But can they really keep my passport for 4-8 weeks without giving me some kind of revised timeline? It sounds absurd. And the website also says that if the consular officer thinks the issuing might take longer than 15 days, they should let you know when being interviewed.

I am from Sweden and I called the Swedish embassy today and they said I can leave the UK with only my national identity card, but not re-enter.

I arranged for it to be collected in a depot i Scotland where I live. So if I just give my ID card to a friend, they can collect it? Almost sounds too easy...

Hello. I had my interview at the London embassy March 2. I was told that my K1 visa was approved and that I would get the visa and my passport in two weeks. When I check my CEAC status is still says AP nearly three weeks after. I know that it can take up to 15 business days but seemingly most are issued way faster than that, which means that they are capable of making it happen. I have "no trace" on both of my police certificates and my medical was cleared.

Does anyone know why this could be the case? I have tried calling the deeply unhelpful and rather incompetent people at the call center, as well as sent an e-mail through the embassy's website.

I am not a UK citizen and need to go back to my home country (in the EU) next Tuesday. I feel that it is preposterous that you hand over your passport without getting any kind of receipt, and then they can't even tell you when they will give it back to you, or if there are any problems regarding your case.

My second question: does anyone know if there is a way to change the courier pick up place although the website says that one can't?

If I leave the UK without my passport I will not be let back in because of lack of Schengen agreements and it would solve all of my problems if my visa+passport could somehow be sent to my home country. If not, could one of my friends pick it up for me?

Thanks