ImaToadstool

I'm happy to report we've finally received our visa and my husband arrived in the states on Thanksgiving morning! I did come to the states without him and visited my state representative who opened a Congressional Inquiry on our behalf. The embassy called my husband two days later and told him to resubmit a medical exam as his was due to expire soon and that they would issue his visa after receiving it. He submitted the new medical exam and received his visa in hand 6 days later. He had no more problems or delays after the Congress person helped us. His border crossing was quick and painless and he was treated with respect the whole way through. Alhumdullilah for everything!

Anyone with any updates? Nothing to share here, everything's the same still. I am now stateside and I have an appointment to see my state representative this week. Hoping he will be able to do something to help.

We're still sitting here with no new updates. The embassy has not ever responded to the email from the national visa center for any updates. That was sent from the NVC on Sept. 8th. We're buying my plane ticket to head back to the states in the morning. I'm so sad that I'm traveling alone after 20 months of paperwork.

No luck asking my Congresswoman for help or from the OIG. I filed a Hotline report weeks ago but have had no follow up, and the Congress people are unwilling to help me because I have been away from their state for over a year and they don't consider me a constituent, but I kind of expected that as my area of the country isn't too keen on immigrants. I will be moving back to my parents home in a couple of weeks and leaving my husband here until he receives his visa, which is so sad for me after all this time. The only reason I am still here is because we want to be together and get this done. We want to travel together, but that isn't going to happen apparently. He is convinced that once I am in the states that the visa will be freed up for him. It has to be unusual for them to hold his passport now for over 3 and a half months with no visa issuance!

No updates for us from Cairo yet, 16 weeks and counting, still AP with no explanation further and no response from emails from us or from the NVC on our behalf.

Week 14 and still nothing. Still sitting on the same Administrative Processing that we've been on now for what feels like forever.

Anything new with you?

It's 13 and a half weeks now and still counting. The last email I sent the embassy bounced back as they've changed their email address, but it included a set of FAQs that said that Administrative Processing usually takes 5 months and that they won't answer any questions about it until 6 months have passed. It also says that AP takes place in Washington DC and that it cannot be waived or expedited.

I did speak to a nice lady at the NVC who kept apologizing and telling me there's nothing I can do as I've not been denied the visa, so there's no way I can "fight it" with or without an attorney. If we get an official denial then we can fight with an appeal. She said that the AP was completely in the hands of the embassy and that they have complete jurisdiction over the case after the interview. She said she would send a request for a status update and that I should call the NVC back in two weeks to see if the embassy had responded to then yet.

So now I don't know who to believe, the embassy's FAQs or the lady from the NVC.

We're still in AP. It has been 12 weeks now since our Cairo interview and our "approval" letter was given to us. We got the same letter that says wait two weeks... Our interview was JUNE 14th, and still we are waiting. To my knowledge, all the others from June interviews who were from the Cairo Embassy have all received their visas and are stateside, and we are still sitting here waiting.

Hoping yours is faster than Cairo... I'm sitting on 8 weeks now since our interview and our approval letter. Several of us with our interview back in June are still waiting.

How many people are still waiting to receive their Visa after they interviewed in June, and were affected by the computer glitch? Our interview was June 14th in Cairo, we received the approval 'Congratulations' letter at the interview, but we're still waiting to receive our visa. I know many were affected by the computer glitch, but it seems like most countries have caught up already - except Cairo. Are we the only ones still waiting for our visas or are there other embassies that are also this far behind on issuance? We keep getting a new update date in our CEAC case status page, but our case remains in AP (last update date was today Aug 2). Our emails are not getting any response and our calls to the call center are completely not helpful as all the tech on the phone will tell us is what we can already look up online ourselves, and they have no more information to help us.

Are we the only ones waiting still?

Toll Priority decided to leave my visa package without signature outside my apartement....

After a few frantic hours of trying to find out where it was and why it was left out in the open at the front door to my apartment complex, it was re-picked up by Toll and is on its way back to the depot. I am planning on being there after work to finally, after the whole saga, have the package in my hands.

Thinking of calling the police to escort me home with it safely lol

I cannot believe they left your package without signature!! That is so illegal! I hope you picked up your package tonight without issue. Congratulations!

Hi!!

Please can you tell me, exactly what web site is that one for travel doc? I've been looking all over but can't find the choice of looking into my case.

Thank you!! and congratulations!!

The TravelDoc site is where you can track your Passport once the VISA has been issued. You go to http://www.ustraveldocs.comthen click on the continent of your embassy, then click on the country. On your country's page it will have an option in the list of links to "track and retrieve my passport" or such. Click on that and it will get you to a page that will allow you to type in your passport number and it will tell you where your passport is currently at, if the visa has been issued.

To check your case status if there is no status updated for tracking your passport go to https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?and put in your information to see your case status.

Hope that was the information you were looking for!

~Toady

Congrats to kimmygeee and to Zirq!

Good luck on the rest of your journey!

The horror story isn't about the wait, lol. I understood the computer glitch and all that. Our attempts to speak to anyone at the Embassy were unproductive as the guy on the phone only kept directing us to the CEAC website address where we can check for ourselves. I was referring to the treatment we, personally, received at the Embassy in our interview. That was one of the most unpleasant men I have ever spoken with ever.

Thanks for chiming in, Maharosa. I am just feeling concerned that they changed their mind and gave us that congratulations letter at the interview by mistake. I will follow your timeline, as you had your appointment just before ours. In shaa Allah, we will all be done with this soon.

Anyone else waiting from the Cairo, Egypt consulate?

Our interview was June 14th, told we were approved, but CEAC status went to Administrative Processing on 24th June and again on July 1, no further updates I would like to hear anyone else from the Cairo embassy and their stories. Anyone else have a horror story from the Embassy to tell? bleh...

~Toady

We are in Egypt, but in the same situation. We had our interview and were given our "Congratulations!" letter at the interview and told we were approved, but still waiting for anything more to happen since 14th of June. Our updated status says we are still in "Administrative Processing" since July 1, 2015 (we were in AP before that from June 24th). I feel very frustrated and depressed.