Cindy and Matt

32 minutes ago, Pooleyc881 said:

Have they given you the option to cha ge this?

 

My visa was issued 27th April. Still heard nothing with regards to tracking and anyone i speak to via the channels suggested can't tell me anything about when I should get tracking information. 

 

I'm due to move this weekend and am worried it won't be here! I thought 2.5 weeks was going to be enough time

Mine went from Issued to being in my hand in a couple of days. That;s not to say I didn;t have huge issues with the CSC.

More than 2 weeks prior I tried contacting them to change my delivery to a pick-up. Every email took over a day for a response, sometimes two. The first reply was confirming I had registered #facepalm1. I corrected them and stressed the points of my actual equiry and the last response was what address would I like to change it to #facepalm2.  The CEAC tracker went to issued a day later and the CSC started ghosting me. I then got a sms from the courier saying they would delivery to my (old) address that morning so I rush over there hoping to intercept for the web tracker to later update to tomorrow. I did eventually intercept the courier and got my passport thanks to their live tracker but the CSC is clearly not fit for purpose.

I would contact them as your delay sounds abnormal.

On 4/28/2022 at 1:14 PM, Cindy and Matt said:

3 weeks after sending my passport back to the embassy and my medical results arriving from VM I am still waiting for any hope I will get my passport back any time soon.

 

How long are people waiting after approval for their passports to be returned with their visas?

 

It used to be about a week, sometimes a few days, but I am slowly going nuts. First the 6 month wait for background checks and now this. On CEAC I see the 'last updated' date changing almost every day but I feel like I am being deliberately delayed now.

Well hold the mother-forking baked beans on toast! I felt something was amiss when the CEAC tracker went AP all morning instead of just for a an hour or so like it has on and off the past few weeks. This afternoon, status changed again but this time to ISSUED!  **** YEAH!

I am having problems with the courier as I have had my passport returned to me during the background checks (see my other thread on that balls-up) and now they cannot change my delivery preferences. I WANT to pick that mofo up but I cannot change it on AIS.

I don't trust anyone else at this point, least of all delivery drivers (sorry to anyone that works as one, been burnt there and I just don't).

Al...most....there...........

On 4/28/2022 at 8:08 PM, Wuozopo said:

Is it a new passport since your interview? Were your new trips to Spain and France in it? Did you send your old passport with it?

Yes, they said to only send the new one. No need for the old one and the new stamps wouldn't be a problem.

19 minutes ago, V1Rotate said:

Had my interview on Wed 27th April, CEAC shows 'Issued' on 28th April. I received a tracking email saying it will be delivered Tue 3rd May.

Nice one! Congratulations!

Also, pilot?

I have been offered a really good job and I need to get over there to do the drugs test, get my SSN, etc.

I cannot understand how I can get a brand new passport in 7 days and the issuance of a visa takes so long.

3 weeks after sending my passport back to the embassy and my medical results arriving from VM I am still waiting for any hope I will get my passport back any time soon.

How long are people waiting after approval for their passports to be returned with their visas?

It used to be about a week, sometimes a few days, but I am slowly going nuts. First the 6 month wait for background checks and now this. On CEAC I see the 'last updated' date changing almost every day but I feel like I am being deliberately delayed now.

So the embassy have had my medical paperwork and passport for 2 weeks now. Just waiting for them to insert the visa and send it back. The CEAC tracker updates almost every day but still shows refused. I am sure they do it just to F with me and my nerves!

Anyone recently gone through a similar process and know how long it takes. I am literally going nuts.

19 hours ago, Raft said:

Hi ,

I would say wait patiently .if you served in Afghanistan ,they might get your cleanace from USA Islamabad embessy . If you see normal immigrant AP is Islamabad you will get idea how long you might need to wait .honestly speaking normal AP in Islamabad is touching 12 month .

So sending emails wouldn't help I guess .you will be fine if you have previous UK clearance ,it's just procedural time you have to wait .I would suggest wait patiently for 2 more month .

Thanks  

Wait for what?

31 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

@Cindy and Matt

Well finally!!  
 

Have you left the country at all in the six months you’ve been waiting?  I recall a case where the applicant had been to a no-no country during the wait. When the embassy got the passport back, they noticed the new travel and started AP checks over. 
 

Also, there used to be a reduced price for the medical redo because it’s only the TB clearance that expires after 6 months. You might want to ask the clinic about procedures/prices for expirations.

I have been to Chicago, Spain and France. If they start the AP again I'll probably lose it as there was no instruction not to travel during AP.

I spoke to Visa Medicals and no, they want a full pound of flesh because they are the monopoly. They don't even keep a record of the vaccinations they gave me (which I believe could be an interesting CQC violation) so I have had to dig out my previous medical paperwork. Not easy to do when you are living in an RV and bumming around Europe.

Well well well..... email received a couple of days ago.

We are writing to you regarding your immigrant visa application.

As the administrative processing has been completed, we would like to proceed with your visa issuance.

However, please attend a new medical, as the previous one has expired. Please note, that this medical needs to be completed within the next 3 months, otherwise further administrative processing will be required.

Not sure if it was the nudge from the Congresswoman or not but the DS5535 background checks took just shy of 6 months to complete!!! I knew I'd be needing another medical, annoying as much as it is costly.

If anyone else is going through this and is curious, I was told to send my passport to the embassy via their courrier once the medical is complete. I do not need to go back to the embassy. I suspect I will just get the passport back in a week or two.

13 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Even a congressman can’t untie a long AP case, but their inquiry will require somebody to immediately look at your case. That might nudge them to review the status or put the rest of the pieces together if it was put on a back burner and forgotten about.

Precisely our thinking too. I think because of the amount of travel I have done it is on the 'too difficult' pile. I once temped for a govt agency and we'd have a list of case numbers to get through. We'd always look ahead through the actual files to see which were smallest to keep our KPIs up. I suspect something similar is going on.  I'm not a complicated case, but I am married to a flight attendant and I was in the Army so I have travelled A LOT  

Small update:

We wrote to our Congresswoman and asked if they could help. No response yet but the CEAC showed a change to the last update field yesterday, not change from 'Refused' though. It could just be someone logging in to our case to check where it is or the start of something else. I shall keep an eye on it over the next few days and report back.

Still no news from the Embassy. 4 and a half months now.

Has anyone ever tried the mandamus lawsuit route?

6 hours ago, Saqib-s said:

@Cindy and Matt

 

Have you had any further news on this? 

Nothing.  Getting more than fed up at this point.

16 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

Do you think the closure of the embassy in Kabul complicates retrieving information they need? I know they sometimes request file information from another post if it’s not in a database, but the Afghan embassy destroyed documents and computers before evacuating. 

I doubt it, I didn't have much interaction with Kabul and when I did it was the UK Embassy (one of several unbelieveable stories from that tour). I reckon there must be delays in the DOS.

1 hour ago, Uktous11 said:

Fingers crossed you hear back soon, I think it can be up to 3 months but looks like that's only a few weeks away for you?

Thanks, I have heard some go on as long as 6 months!

1 minute ago, Uktous11 said:

I think it would be more than just a job, did you also serve in military or spend time abroad in any high risk countries?

Yes I served in both Afghan and Iraq but under US/Joint command.  At one point my UK clearance was accepted for access to certain US systems.

From what I have read it is mostly to do with the Tech Alert List.  

I know, just having a little vent.

After my interview on the 16th September I am STILL waiting for any feedback from the Embassy.  I sent all the requested additional information on the 20th of Sept so that's 2 months now without a word.

I tried to email them after 2 weeks and I was pretty much told "don't call us, we'll call you".  I only did this because I was given the impression, nay told by them, this part should only take a couple of weeks.  I have my passport back in hand after asking for it so I could travel.

All this because I work in Cybersecurity 😡

If you ask they will send your passport back to you.  When I did this (also stuck in 221g but for different reasons) they said that my passport should have been returned to me.  I think either they are telling porky pies about this or not following their process properly.

I doubt my IR1 is going to come though before I travel in less than 2 weeks so I guess I'll have no visa conflict issue.  Even if the embassy does approve it I have my passport and they cannot issue the visa until they get it.

This is very handy, thanks.

I am in a similar situation but not with nationality rather my job.

Interview - 16 Sept - Refused for additional processing.  They kept my passport and military records.

Email received 17 Sept asking for CV, 15 years of travel history w/ source of funds dates etc, details on all siblings, addresses (even though I gave this in the IV form), all emails and social media accounts

Details sent - 20 Sept

The only updates on the CEAC tracker coincide with my emails to the embassy (including tracking down my passport which they lost and eventually found).  I was originally told these checks would only take 2 weeks so I asked for an update after 2 weeks and 1 day to be told "Dont call us, we'll call you"

Still waiting but going off your timeline it could be another month at least before it comes back.

19 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

a) I am almost certain this was done by someone in this forum some years back, but I wouldn’t count on it working out for you. 
b) Yes they will. Happens often.

 

And the rest of this is random thoughts that may lead you to more ideas or research.

 

My wife had to miss the closing on our former house because she was in the hospital 60 miles away. She was able to do it via a fax machine at the nurses station and a notary from the business office to witness her signature. Check into remote possibilities with the title company where the closing will be if you don’t have your visa.

 

You still have over a month. I’m betting your visa will be issued by then. 
 

Income tax: Have you worked out the pros and cons of filing a joint return with your wife for 2021 tax year. Your earned income (salary) can be excluded and the extra standard deduction for having you on the return amounts to $12;550 extra off taxable income. so that basically reduces her taxable income by $25,100 since your earned income will be excluded and not taxed anyway. It’s more of a plus the higher her income is. To file jointly, you accomplish nothing by selling your property prior to POE. It will be reported on a joint return.  I don’t have an answer to what is best but you might want to investigate both options to pick the best one. Is your Uk property your home? Do you qualify for the exemption on selling a home? I guess not if you already know you will owe taxes.
 

 

That's a really good point I hadn't considered.  I am not going to work at all in 2021 once I arrive stateside and I can opt to bring my entire global earnings in to purview of the IRs, right?  In which case Uncle Sam couldy owe us money. I pay a lot in the UK.

So I am in the additional processing phase with an unknown end date.  Working in cybersecurity means I need additional background checks and nobody can tell me how long that will take.

We have been house hunting in the states and my wife found a place she absolutely loves.  We put in an offer and it was accepted.  We are on track to complete 15th November.  Even though the transaction is on my wife's credit etc, they ahve said I need to be there to sign the deeds at completion.  I have no idea if I will get my visa by then or not but assuming the embassy will give me my passport back temporarily I can travel on my ESTA if not.

However, if they issue the visa before this date I would still want to travel on my ESTA because I am selling property here in the UK and I do not want to be liable for US taxes (I'm in the foreign mortgage currency transaction trap).  I cannot become a US person until the property is sold or I wil have about 13k USD to pay to Uncle Sam.  Tbf, I am not bothered if my background checks take months because I am a little burnt out and I'll be taking a few months off before looking for work again anyway.

Does anyone know if:

a) I can travel on my ESTA after the IR1 visa has been issued?

b) the embassy will play ball and release my passport temporarily to allow me to travel?

My French Police Cert was only available digitally, I provided a printout for a physical copy on the day.  No issues.

Wait, was my earlier post nuked?  I know it was long but I cannot find it.