SabrinaJerome

thanks . will let you know the outcome
 

Today I received an email requesting to submit passports. I will let you all know what happens next. I am currently abroad so need to wait 10 days until I am back. Hoping for the best.
 

With the Grace Of Allah my 2 younger brothers got their passports.
In few days they r flying... can someone tell me what kind of questions at airport (POE) officers ask normally? How long they take to clear for exit?
plz share ur experiances.
best wishes to All who r waiting...
thankx

http://www.soundimmigration.com/understanding-administrative-processing

We won't forget all of you who are struggling as we have.

We won't forget all of you who are struggling as we have.

I'm not quite clear about the "missing paper" incident but sounds like the reason you waited from February until now is the ds5535. That's what this thread is about and why we are here, waiting for months and months.
Also regarding the denial in December, my understanding is that any 221g administrative processing is a "temporary denial/refusal"... So anyone who gets one is denied the visa UNTIL the necessary actions are taken, either by them or by us.
 
At any rate, sounds like you're at the end now. So happy for you!

Okay so my husband is a bit superstitious and didn't want me to say anything until ... but I told him that we have to since everyone here seems so depressed. 
Yesterday we got a call from the embassy telling him that our case has been completed and that they are very sorry for the delay. They were asking for a new medical exam. So... I guess we're almost there. It's still surreal to us.
Anyway I just wanted to tell you all so you don't give up hope. The last thing we expected in August was a completed case but that's what's happened.
You never know. 
I hope those rumors are true! 😚😚

Okay so my husband is a bit superstitious and didn't want me to say anything until ... but I told him that we have to since everyone here seems so depressed. 
Yesterday we got a call from the embassy telling him that our case has been completed and that they are very sorry for the delay. They were asking for a new medical exam. So... I guess we're almost there. It's still surreal to us.
Anyway I just wanted to tell you all so you don't give up hope. The last thing we expected in August was a completed case but that's what's happened.
You never know. 
I hope those rumors are true! 😚😚

Just spoke to my contact at DHS again, he said there hasn't been progress in finding the root cause of the delay. Apparently in the last year things between departments within the government are discouraged from even contacting, so for him to inquire in an issue with the State department is raising flags. 

I spoke to someone from DHS this morning. He is a member of my mosque's extended community. He had my fiancee's case info and had already looked into it at the request of our Imam by the time we spoke. He was optimistic and is going to inquire his counterparts at the State Department and Consulate Services for answers. He did reiterate what we've all heard as well before that if they deny the visa, it is typically right away. So that is somewhat good news. But essentially he said everything looked good, my background looked good, my fiancee's did as well. Even noting that during the interview in Casablanca that the notes said she was "pleasant and nice". 

Then eventually the case just froze where it was after background check was finished. No red flags. No issues. No further processing. No missing paperwork. No unanswered questions. Nothing. Just sitting and open for months and months with no additional processing. It is, figuratively, sitting on a desk waiting for a stamp as everything has been completed.

And yes, I did explain that there were many people in the same situation. He noted because things will take time, it will be 2-3 weeks before he'll get back to me with update. If he is able to help, I will ask him if he is able to help others in this administrative processing blackhole... 

Also, he did make a comment about Congressmen as well. He implied they have little impact in the situation and can only ask for status and possibly help if a visa is denied. It doesn't hurt to have Congressmen inquire, but at the same time it has little impact other than a little note to the case that someone from congress asked about it. Which is a bunch of BS if you ask me that the officials I elected to represent me can't help when I need them to.... 

Hi Tangier,
Added mine.  I don't know how personal you want to get with the spreadsheet, but here are some other suggestions if you believe ACLU (or anyone) will listen?
- What embassy is handling your case?
- is applicant US citizen or LPR?
- is an applicant a Muslim?
- is beneficiary a Muslim?
- is beneficiary origin from a Muslim majority country?
- does beneficiary live in a Muslim majority country?
- what is beneficiary's country of residence department of state designation? (mine is 4 do not travel, but I do anyways, being a spouse)
- do you travel to his home country?
- can your spouse/relative enter US on any other visa?
I totally agree with you, we need more input for immigrant visa applicants with DS-5535. I see lots of Morocco in your spreadsheet. Nice country, been there (visa free for Malian hubby) in 2012, this year our first trip is Dubai (and if visa does not come before, then me back to Mali in Dec).
Thanks for spearheading this effort.   

Same here, I traveled to Morocco 6 times in one year and 8 months, and I am planning to travel next month. This will be 7 times in 20 month. Lots of cost and pain. I have a 5 month son. I am separated from my son and wife. This is lots of pain and distress.  I wonder if any one from the immigration reads this painful notes. All what we are asking is legally unit with our families. 

I really hope so...but our hopes are fading with each passing day.
Actually its much worse for H1b, after working in US for 8 years had to travel to home country for medical emergency and then you are stuck not knowing your future...no employer will hold jobs for 1 to 1.5 years and our apartment and car in US had to be disposed by friends and move all the stuff to storage.
 
Overnight our life had crashed and don't know what future holds for us...

I really feel for you AJ Singh. I fully agree that H1B can not wait for month and month. The employer will certainly look for someone else. The good news majority of American employer have great hearts, and usually wait for their employee to overcome these difficulties. I wish you best of luck. I am separated from my wife and son, but felt  deeply for you.

Dear all, today I received a long detailed response from my senator outlining the details of what we are going through. I am actually sharing very small part of the message to protect the rest of the information. Now I know where is our cases, and who handle them. Thank you to my GREAT senator. I am so happy that my voice was not lost in the crowd and there are someone who would listen. I encourage you to send detailed message to your senators. I will follow up with my senator EVEN IF MY WIFE received her visa, I will not stop until this unfair practice stop. Below is a small part of my senator message.
 
I believe that Congress has a fundamental responsibility to engage in vigilant oversight of the Departments of State and Homeland Security, and I will keep your comments in mind as I continue to monitor their actions. Your comments are important to me, and I will keep your views in mind as I work on the issues that affect (I deleted the name of the state) and our country.
Thank you again for contacting me about this issue. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. To sign up for my newsletter, visit Deleted this parts You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube
 
Sincerely,
 
United States Senator

I contacted my state's senator as you recommended. Hopefully, there is a change for all of us soon. My husband and I are also so frustrated  

Hi everyone. I think a lot of us are just feeling down about this. As for me, I'm happy to be with my husband this summer but we have to be outside of the US.
Waiting after the 5535 since January. 
Keep the faith everyone. Seems like people are waiting for a very long time but eventually they get it.
I still think we should have a spreadsheet to track how long it's taking.

I was told that after 9 months that Senators and Representatives can be of more help (potentially get a better idea of what's taking so long and maybe a time frame until completion) - not sure how accurate that is. I did speak to a Congressman and he said that it'll take 9 months and that he did hear that my fiancee's background check had cleared with no issues (that was around 6.5 months into AP)... at this point, i'm waiting for 9 months to be completed before reaching out to him again...

10 months complete in AP today and no sign of luck for me :/ 

I had an update on a Sunday and the same week I was contacted and told my AP has been completed that I should submit medical and passport. It has only happened to me once and at the end.. I have had more than 10 updates since I returned the DS5535 form. I have received my Passport with visa. Spent 10 months on AP

Hi guys my status changed to issued today... alhumduillah 

Visa was issued today! 

Sorry to hear that. Us too, Jan 18th.

Hi everyone,
 
I used to read this board a ton back in 2006/2007 when my husband was coming to the US.  My husband is Algerian but had been living in Spain at the time.  There was a big group of people who used to post a lot - some of the names I remember offhand were Doodlebug , Umm squekster, Jackie, Wife of Mohamed.  I am really curious to see if anyone knows what happened to any of these people!  I tired searching their names but it seemed they all eventually stopped posting.
 
As for me,  I've been married now for 10 years now to my Algerian husband and we have two beautiful children .  it's true when they say getting the visa is the easy part - we really really struggled when he first got here. What saved us was moving to an area (NYC) where there are other Algerians.  But to be honest some days it's still a struggle. And we still spend ALL our vacation time taking trips to Algeria.
 
Anyway, if any other old timers would like to post an update I would love to read them :-)
 
Christina