mohsin002

1 minute ago, Hamza86 said:

they asked for my resume aswell. I am also an engineer.

Right, Almost all engineering specializations are on the TAL. The actual TAL is confidential but this will give you an idea:

https://www.bu.edu/isso/files/pdf/tal.pdf

The system flags candidates for administrative processing and DS-5535 if you're on TAL, a male from certain countries and otherwise. Not much we can do about that. That said, I noticed that you have applied for a F2-A visa. Generally, immigrant visas take longer to process. The uncertainty really drove me nuts as well. Best to wait and pray for a quick positive decision. 

1 minute ago, Hamza86 said:

Did they ask you for your resume?

Yes, they asked for my I-20, SEVIS and resume. They also invalidated my old visa which was valid till June. 

I found this website very helpful as I waited for my case to be processed. That said, I have noticed that most cases listed here are for immigrant visas which tend to take longer than non-immigrant visa. Also, I wasn't able to find any relevant cases pertaining to F-1 (Student Visa) and DS-5535 . Here are the details of my case and my two cents:

+ I'm a PhD student and I visited Pakistan for a family event. My visa was set to expire in a month so I decided to renew it before I leave.

+ Interviewed on 4/22/2019. I was given a white 221G form for administrative processing at the end of the interview

+ Got an email to submit travel history and other information 2 hours after the interview (DS-5535) - (4/22/2019)

+ I submitted my filled DS-5535 via email reply on 4/23/2019 but status on website did not update. Neither did I get a confirmation email. 

+ No status changed till 5/10/2019. Case last updated showed: 4/22/2019. 

+ Status updated once on Friday (5/10/2019) - Still showed administrative processing

+ Status updated again on Monday (5/13/2019) - Still showed administrative processing

+ Status updated one final time on Tuesday (5/14/2019) to issued

+ Got collection email 3 hours after status update (5/14/2019)

Total processing time was 3 weeks from interview date. I have been on an F-1 visa in the US for around 9 years so I have a very extensive travel history as well but thankfully that did not slow down the process.

Hopefully this post shows that DS-5535 can be cleared in almost 3 weeks. It really depends on the visa type and varies from person to person. My degree focuses on Chemical and Biomolecular engineering so the 3 times i have applied for an F-1, I have always had to go through administrative processing. Hope this helps everyone and more particularly F-1 students who have gotten DS-5535 after getting 221-G/AP.