Pam&Mbaye

While waiting out this AP looooooooong moment in time, I was up on the web trying to find out just why this process is taking so long and I found a website that explained it very well and I wanted to share it with all those in this proces:

http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2006/May/04-878088.html

Cut and paste and enjoy the read. The last statement on the website I found to be very interesting:

Every USCIS District Office performs regular reviews of the pending caseload to determine when cases have cleared and are ready to be decided. USCIS does not share information about the records match or the nature or status of any investigation with applicants or their representatives.

From what I gather it does no good to ask questions really because they do not share information on the nature or status of any investigation with applicants or their representatives. Meaning sit back relax continue on with life as usual and some day you just might get that call saying the visa is readyif all checks out well.

Have a nice day all

Created: 03 May 2006 Updated: 03 May 2006

Thanks,

You are probably right. My husband was interviewed in Saudi Arabia, and that may have something to do with it like you said.

I need some help sorting this out. I contacted my Congressman concerning the delay of our visa being issued. My Congressman sent me the letter that was sent to him concerning our case from the embassy and it stated that my husband was approved for his visa and that the Embassy initiated security clearance of the case as required by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The clearance is still pending.

I was fine with this until I checked with the US State Department to see if the Embassy had finally put information concerning our case in the registry and the answer I received was the case was under administrative review. I then asked if this meant that they were waiting for the security clearances to come back and I was told no, that it meant that the case was being reviewed at the Embassy in Riyadh.

Meanwhile, I have done some research online and found out that administrative review is not a good thing because it means either the Visa Petitioner or Beneficiary FAILED TO PASS the security name check or background check, or because the Consulate or State Department or Homeland Security NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE some issue or matter in the case more closely.

Has anyone had to go through this after your visa was approved? Or has anyone had to go through this at all and how long did it take? I was reading that it can take up to two years.

Please let me know the good and the bad.

Thanks!

I can understand how frustrated you must be.

I would definitely call and find out what's happening, being as they have your husband's passport and they've had it for 8 weeks.

Good luck.

I've called and my husband has called the embassy and they have told us both that they will contact us when they are ready to issue the visa, until then they said they don't know how long it will take. This is so frustrating to me because they still have his passport and he is a foreign national in SA...and get this...because he has not returned his passport to his employer they have frozen his salary and will continueto do so until he returns the passport. Should he return his passport to his employer they will not give it back to him, and also keep in mind that if he goes to the embassy to get his visa they will want it back as soon as possible. One other thing I forgot to mention, the embassy is fully aware that his salary has been frozen. So as you can see this is a HUGE mess. He can't continue to do without a salary indefinitely and should they not call him in shortly to pick up his visa he will have no other choice but to ask for his visa and then everything will stop prematurely. I've contacted my congressman and he is looking into the matter but I don't know if that will help or not.

Still no Visa and I am tired of this whole process. I guess I still haven't been able to make sense of how the Embassy can keep my husband's passport and tell him his visa should be ready in two weeks and now we are going on the eighth week and still no visa and the embassy says it is still going through administrative processing with no 221g issued, and to make matters worse US state department has him listed as a "no show" for his interview with no notes listed in the database by the embassy in Saudi. Absolutely amazing how this is acceptable treatment.

Just me venting I suppose.

CR-1 cases have to have all the clearances done since their visa does not have an AOS processing once in the states. I feel for you and know of one person that went thru another embassy and had the same problem with them holding his passport. I know you cannot rush AP and the emails are canned responses. Nothing I can say but I will be thinking of you both during this time. Take care.

A lightbulb just went off in my head, you gave me a different way of looking at this. I really hadn't thought about the AOS, and the fact that he will have his GC when he gets here, I seem to overlook that fact! Thanks for the reminder I needed it and thanks for your thoughts. Sometimes all it takes is a reminder and to hear the words from someone else. It would make things easier if he were here with me.

Thanks again!

You are not the only one who has experienced this. Please stay strong, you will hear the good news soon. Mary experienced it first hand, so her advices would be the best one you can get here. We are here for you as friends.

Simple, thanks for the encouragement and it's really nice knowing that there are people like yourself and others who are there to listen and give advice, I really do appreciate it. Thanks again

CR-1 cases have to have all the clearances done since their visa does not have an AOS processing once in the states. I feel for you and know of one person that went thru another embassy and had the same problem with them holding his passport. I know you cannot rush AP and the emails are canned responses. Nothing I can say but I will be thinking of you both during this time. Take care.

A lightbulb just went off in my head, you gave me a different way of looking at this. I really hadn't thought about the AOS, and the fact that he will have his GC when he gets here, I seem to overlook that fact! Thanks for the reminder I needed it and thanks for your thoughts. Sometimes all it takes is a reminder and to hear the words from someone else. It would make things easier if he were here with me.

Thanks again!

Kjan I am waiting right along with you. It gets to be a bit much and very frustrating and even overwhelming. All, I can do is take it a day at a time and try not to look ahead other then saying eventually this to will pass. Hang in there and if the depression is getting to you definitely go talk to your physician and let him know what you are going through. It may not be depression it may be stress which by the way can make you sick.

Take care!

Administrative Processing does not have a time frame. I know in Islamabad most cases are 6 -9 months unless they have a common name, name hit or other reasons for them to check further. Almost all cases are given either one or two form letters that states they are in AP after their interview but a few persons have reported no papers were issued at the time. I would personally contact his company and give them a copy of your email from the embassy/consulate and tell the company that his passport is still with them for processing.

Embassies/consulates usually keep the passports to keep a person from traveling while in AR/AP since the movement will void the checks in process since it would require new security checks for the new travels. Good luck.

Mary

Thanks Mary but I have already told the embassy about the situation about his passport and I was told that they are here to serve me the American citizen and there is nothing they can do about his situation other then put a note on his file. The thing is before they took his passport my husband stated to them that there would be a problem if it was kept for a long period of time and he was assured it shouldn't take longer then two weeks to get his visa, they had approved him. He did explain the situation to his employer and gave them documentation from the embassy and they did not care , so you see it seems to me the embassy isn't worried about it and his employer doesn't care. I find it odd he was told he was approved for his visa and not given a 221g if they were putting him in administrative processing and this is where my confusion lies.

As most of you know my husband is from Kenya and interviewed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where he works. Long story short he interviewed, they kept his passport and was told he could collect his visa in two weeks, he was never given a 221g or issued anything that stated he was under administrative processing. He was given a card which would allow him to collect his visa at the embassy once he was contacted. I sent the embassy an email after one month had passed and this was the reply I received:

Thanks for your inquiry, regarding your husband's immigrant visa case. Your husband's case is still under administrative processing and I have no idea how long will take to complete. As soon as his case is approve for processing immigrant visa, I will notify him. Regards,

GK

Sorry to sound ignorant of the facts but is this administrative processing that could take months even years to process? Oh and by the way the embassy can't tell me what administrative processing is because I asked the question and was told administrative processing is "administrative processing". I do know his passport is still at the embassy and haven't gone anywhere. Oh yeah and by the way to make this story even more interesting, his employer has frozen his salary until he returns his passport back to the company, so next month they will freeze it again if he doesn't present his passport to his company.

Has anyone had anything like this happen before? It would be a great help if I can get some responses to my email because at this point I don't understand how administrative processing work when you don't have a 221g issued. I thought they at least had to give you a 221g.

Thanks!

Who says you have to own a home. Would you believe some people are happy to rent??? Now that is a thought

Just recieved my(2 YEAR) Permanent Resident Card in the Post today!!!!!!

YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPIIEEEEEEEEE SKIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPYYYYYYYYY

Getting ready for my Interview @ Home Depot B) at 5pm Massachusetts Time (TODAY)Friday

I Hope everyone is feeling as good as I am AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME !!!

CHEERS

PAUL

A BIGGGGGGG Congrats to you and all the best on your interview

Congratulations on your marriage. All the best to you both

sounds like a real mess! I am sorry for the trouble you are going through. We kind of encountered an unfortunate situation ourselves. My husband was approved for visa and was told he would receive it within a few weeks. Well two weeks no visa, after calls and emails to embassy, they assured us that it was mailed out. Still no visa. My husband just went to the embassy to speak to somebody and he did talk to a worker there and after 2 hours of waiting in the embassy, they found his passport sitting under a pile of paperwork! Hopefully, your husband can make a trip to the embassy and speak to someone face to face. I hope that you both are reunited very soon!

You are right this is a HUGE MESS!! My husband is planning on making a trip down to the Embassy to talk with someone about this. It's a shame that this process is not transparent and everything seems to be such a big freakin mystery. I don't know how in the world a government entity like this one can survive. If the whole of USCIS, NVC, and the Embassies were ran by the private sector and not the government, their would have been a shake up in management and restructuring of the companies. So much for government efficiency!

Thanks for your kind words Mary

Pam

Pam,

I was sorry to read about your experience and the feelings of helplessness you are going through now.  You are not the only couple that has been told the visa would be ready in such and such time frame and have it come and go and no visa in hand.  It sounds like your husband is in Administrative Processing since he coming on a CR1.  All checks have to be done prior to the issuance of this visa since the AOS processing is done before he enters the USA.  A congressman or senator cannot expedite the checks and all I can suggest is that you take the journey one day at a time.  The embassy/consulate keeping the passport keeps him from traveling and his security checks from being void if he is moving around after they have cleared his status.

Take care and hopefully they can get the checks done soon and issue his visa.

Mary

Hi Mary,

Thanks for the support and I would agree with you about Administrative processing except for the fact that they have my husband listed in the system as a no show for the interview when in fact he was given an interview, and the fact that he was not issued a 221g and given a purple card which is what is given when you are coming back to the embassy to collect your visa. Also, the person he spoke with over the phone said if he was in administrative processing he would have gotten a 221g and the purple card means that his passport was taken for visa issuance. I guess time will tell and if in fact he is in Administrative processing then they should let him know that as well.

Pam

My visa journey is getting worse by the minute. I wrote a little while ago that my husband had not been contacted to pick up his visa after being told he would be contacted in two weeks and given a purple card to collect his visa once it was ready. It has now been a month on Friday since they told us it would take two weeks. My husband is a foreign national working in Saudi who now has had his salary witheld because he has not returned his passport due to the embassy having his passport to issue him a visa. Both my husband and myself have been calling the embassy like crazy starting the second week of waiting and could not reach anyone. Finally my husband spoke to someone in the office this past Wednesday and he told them about the situation of the timetable he was given to pick up his visa and was given the general reply of be patient and then he told the person he spoke with on the phone that his salary was being witheld and his contract was ending soon with the company he works for and he would have to leave the country immediately. The person that he spoke with on the phone was surprised about this developement (even though my husband told the officer who interviewed him that he they could not keep his passport for a long period of time because he had to return it to the company, he was assured by the CO it would be two weeks and everything would be okay). The person he spoke with on the phone said she would put a note on the file explaining the situation and to contact them back in another 10 days. In the meantime I called the US State Department in Washington DC and was asked did my husband have his interview and my response was yes and she said are you sure? I said yes I am sure and that he was told his visa would be ready in two weeks and given a purple card, she then informed me that in the system they had him listed as a.....get this....NO SHOW!!!!! OH MY GOD I hit the roof, I was livid to say the least. She said that the officer hadn't even put the notes in the system and that they must be very busy in Riyadh. Well, I call it incompetence! She told me to send the US Embassy in Riyadh an email and told me exactly what I should say, and if by the 9th of June nothing is done to call and ask for her and then she can begin an investigation concerning our visa.

I don't know why I am amazed that people don't give a rat's behind ( and I am being nice) about the games people are playing with your life. It's one thing to receive a 221g and have to play the waiting game which I know has got to be a hell in itself, it's another thing to be told you will receive your visa and given the card to pick it up and play the waiting game again. I have surgery I have been putting on hold because I am waiting for my husband to arrive to help me since I will need care once I am out of surgery. I have no family here in the state I am in. I will have to go ahead and schedule the surgery and hope that someone in my family (I live in Ohio and my family live in California) can take leave from their job to help me once I come out of surgery, If not I will have to go into a nursing home to recuperate. I can't put the surgery off any longer and here I am still playing the waiting game.

I thought about contacting my congressman, but then my husband told me to hold off on that because it might make things worse for us since they have us over a barrel. I think we have a lot of incompetence at the Embassy. How freakin long does it take to stamp a visa in the passport after you have been approved for a visa? This nightmare is dragging on and on, so pray for me because I sometimes feel like I am going to lose my mind with all of this waiting around and having people lie to you constantly, tell you one thing and do another, and I believe purposely try to break up marriages because of all the stress they put on your marriage. This is what happens when you do the right thing and file your paperwork and pay your fees and follow the rules you get screwed, if you do the wrong thing and walk, crawl, dig, lie to get across the border somehow you are welcomed with open arms, to hell with the people who have been waiting years for a visa to join family members, too bad for those who file fiance visas with all your evidence of a bonified relationship that will lead to marriage and especially to bad for all those who marry and file your I130, too bad you followed the law, now isn't that freakin amazing??

Thanks for allowing me to vent and any suggestions or words of encouragement would be appreciated.

one livid woman in Ohio!

well i know all situations are different but my husband is from jordan and he was approved for visa and was told that his passport will be mailed to him, well after two weeks, we contacted the embassy and they kept saying it has been mailed so my husband went directly to the embassy and inquired about his passport and still they insisted that it wasnt there. The embassy called Aramex (mail courier) and was informed they have not received a package) so after two hours of searching in the embassy, guess what they found????? my husband's passport. To top it off, the embassy did not even reimburse my husband the aramex fee that he paid for them to mail his passport to him. The embassy forgot to mail it and kept the money for the shipping charges! Maybe your husband can just go directly to the embassy and have them make an effort to look for his passport. Best of luck to you both and a speedy reunion!!

Thanks for the suggestion. The problem with us is that my husband paid the fee for the passport and it had already been paid earlier so they told him that he should go to the embassy to pick up his passport instead of having it mailed to him so they can give him back the money he paid by mistake. It's a real problem going to the embassy without an appointment in Riyadh. It is such a mess. I don't know if it's time to write my Congressman on this issue.

Pam

I am hoping that someone out there can help me out because right now I don't know what to think. My husband went through his interview in Saudi Arabia with no problem, they took his passport and said they would be calling him to come and pick it up in two weeks, and so far no call, we are now going on the 4th week. I called the embassy no one picks up the phone, or they tell you to leave a number and they never return your call. I called a number in the US that was on the travel.state.gov website and spoke to someone there and they said everything looked fine from what they could see in the system. They said since my husband didn't get a 221g it is a matter of waiting until the embassy finish their processing. Does anyone know about how long this takes? I know each case is different but it would help to hear other experiences that are similar to mine. I was really happy after the interview and now I am starting to feel down again. It seems like this circus will never end.

Thanks

Wonderful news All the best to you!

I am so happy for you BOTH a big CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

I called the NVC yesterday and the AVS said the case was completed on 23 March 07. Does anyone know what happens from this point since the NVC will be the one scheduling our interview for the country that my husband will interview in? Also is there a link I can go to, to read about the process?

I am happy but calm I don't want to get too excited just in case there is a hiccup

Thanks!

It is what it is

I have a final paper to write for my Demand Management and Forecasting class and here I am on the computer in VJ and surfing the web for some clothes. I think I better get started, the paper is due today hehehehehe

Here's a thought. Go to the nearest beauty supply store and purchase an Afro-wig and next time he tells you to put on a wig, whip out the Afro-wig and tell him to join in on the fun.

To be honest and I am being brutally honest, your man sounds like he has serious issues. Your hair is part of the beauty that make up you. Why anyone would want you to take on a false identity is beyond me. Be proud of the African queen that you are. The last thing you need is for someone to try and make you into something you are not. There's enough pressure in American society to subscribe to a white, boney, big #######, blonde idea of beauty, to have this added to the list of incredibly stupid requirements is another impossible feat to force on a diverse population of women throughout the world who would never live up to this crazy standard and would not want to!

Wear your hair as it is, be proud of it and don't give it a second thought. As for his wanting a woman with long silky caucasian hair that's his problem not yours

I have never been superticious, but our case was completed on a Tuesday 13th. I´m a now a believer. Exactly six months after sending I-130.

It was strange how I find out on my case from the NVC. I´ve been calling them every other day for about two weeks to check on our status, and I´ve spent ( as many of you already know) about 10 minutes on average to be assisted by an operator. Well, today it was different. It was 8 am EDT when I called, but instead of being prompted by the recorded voice message, I got a live voice... very rare indeed. And that´s the way my phone crusade with NVC came to a close. Ten more days for the case to arrive at Managua. I inmediately called my wife and woke her up to share the news.

My next update will be after my wife receives Instruction Packet.

-Justo.

01-28-06 - Wedding

I- 130

09-13-06 - Mailed I-130

09-18-06 - CSC received

09-25-06 - NOA1 mailed

09-28-06 - NOA1 received

12-11-06 - RFE mailed

12-13-06 - RFE received

12-14-06 - Mailed RFE (Birth Certificate)

12-21-06 - RFE received

12-27-06 - Petition approved!!!

12-28-06 - NOA2 mailed / E-mail notified

01-04-06 - NOA2 received

NVC

01-05-07 - Assigned case number

01-15-07 - DS-2032(Choice of Agent Generated)/AOS I-864 bill generated

01-17-07 - E-mailed Choice of Agent

01-20-07 - Mailed AOS I-864 payment

01-29-07 - AOS application and IV Bill generated

02-05-07 - AOS (I-864EZ) application sent

02-05-07 - IV Bill received

02-07-07 - IV Bill sent (Overnight)

02-07-07 - AOS (I-864EZ) received at NVC

02-08-07 - IV Bill received at the Saint Louis Center (12:32pm)

02-12-07 - IV Bill entered into NVC system

02-19-07 - DS-230 package generated

02-20-07 - DS-230 sent

02-23-07 - DS-230 received at NVC (8:17am)

02-26-07 - DS-230 package entered into NVC system

03-13-07 - CASE COMPLETE

Great news and congrats!