brkendream

Hi everyone! Quick update from me: was notified by the consulate this morning that my passport is being returned. My status on the CEAC tracker has changed to "Issued" as of an hour ago. Surprisingly quick for me. They're sending it back just 1.5 weeks after I sent it through - since others that interviewed around the same time as me are still waiting, I do wonder if my WoM had an impact... albeit much more slowly than it would've a year ago. 
 
Thanks again for all the support throughout the process and I hope to see more movement for everyone still waiting soon. 

Hi all just checked the CEAC website and it says ISSUED as of May 3rd!!! I almost cant believe it.... I still haven't gotten any notification that my passport was sent back... how long did it take for everyone who got it back?? 
 
thanks! 

Today 6th of  April mark  2 months since my case is in AP(Ds-5535) , I don't have any case last update yet on CEAC . I am going to email Islamabad  embassy (Pakistan) and will ask them  is going on , lets see what they answer "If they answer". I have also not receive any conformation email from  them about my Ds-5535(If they received it or not and was it up to the standards and correct) .
I waited 3 years for my interview (yes for interview) and my category is IR-1......In short this whole system under Ds-5535 is broken and pure cruelty on us Humans. Especially when millions of people illegally cross into US every year.

He was so upset ,,  This is not the first time I saw young persons under 15 getting Ds-5535,, This system is brook. If I am not wrong on this forum I saw a case where one daughter and father got Ds-5535 and rest of the family got visas. 
Students applying for first time as young as 18 years old getting Ds-5535 . 

Hello everyone,
I am here again from Pakistan , letting you all know what is happening on other side of the world. Today marks completion of 3 months me waiting  in AP under DS-5535 , Sent embassy email 1 months ago(after 60 days in AP) still got no answer , Not even a single change in last status update date on CEAC portal.
This whole thing is getting so stressful . I have a funny/sad/horrible  thing to tell you , In one of WhatsApp group one person from Pakistan told that his whole family went for interview , everything went well and all got cleared , 2 days later he got email and find out his 12 years old son is now in AP under DS-5535. Poor guy was so worried and so pissed , now he have to leave his 12 years old son and need to travel with rest of his family. This whole system is broke ...........
 

Hello everyone,
I am here again from Pakistan , letting you all know what is happening on other side of the world. Today marks completion of 3 months me waiting  in AP under DS-5535 , Sent embassy email 1 months ago(after 60 days in AP) still got no answer , Not even a single change in last status update date on CEAC portal.
This whole thing is getting so stressful . I have a funny/sad/horrible  thing to tell you , In one of WhatsApp group one person from Pakistan told that his whole family went for interview , everything went well and all got cleared , 2 days later he got email and find out his 12 years old son is now in AP under DS-5535. Poor guy was so worried and so pissed , now he have to leave his 12 years old son and need to travel with rest of his family. This whole system is broke ...........
 

Hello everyone,
I am here again from Pakistan , letting you all know what is happening on other side of the world. Today marks completion of 3 months me waiting  in AP under DS-5535 , Sent embassy email 1 months ago(after 60 days in AP) still got no answer , Not even a single change in last status update date on CEAC portal.
This whole thing is getting so stressful . I have a funny/sad/horrible  thing to tell you , In one of WhatsApp group one person from Pakistan told that his whole family went for interview , everything went well and all got cleared , 2 days later he got email and find out his 12 years old son is now in AP under DS-5535. Poor guy was so worried and so pissed , now he have to leave his 12 years old son and need to travel with rest of his family. This whole system is broke ...........
 

Today 6th of  April mark  2 months since my case is in AP(Ds-5535) , I don't have any case last update yet on CEAC . I am going to email Islamabad  embassy (Pakistan) and will ask them  is going on , lets see what they answer "If they answer". I have also not receive any conformation email from  them about my Ds-5535(If they received it or not and was it up to the standards and correct) .
I waited 3 years for my interview (yes for interview) and my category is IR-1......In short this whole system under Ds-5535 is broken and pure cruelty on us Humans. Especially when millions of people illegally cross into US every year.

1 month 5 days past since my interview and me in AP(Ds-5535 , I uploaded my form same day of my interview) , so far I don't  have any change in  last case update date on ceac website , not receive any email from embassy for any other action.
Heartbroken and stressful time . 

This is so frustrated ...... I live in a village , so I have society pressure equals Mount Everest on me....Let me tell you all a story ,  2 brothers from my area(3 villages apart) entered US illegally in 2019 and they both visited Pakistan in last few months (with Green card ) Yes illegal got the documents in 4 years and I am waiting for my Ds-5535 , waited 3 years for interview , There father was one of the guest in my wedding in 2016 ..... 
Come on man........ This is just too much . .. People reading this post with village background (especially India Pakistan) can understand what this means for me and my family. 
I fully agree with you , people applying throw legal channels are being affected the most. I waited almost 8 years just to get a visa under Ir-1 category . ........ 

This is so frustrated ...... I live in a village , so I have society pressure equals Mount Everest on me....Let me tell you all a story ,  2 brothers from my area(3 villages apart) entered US illegally in 2019 and they both visited Pakistan in last few months (with Green card ) Yes illegal got the documents in 4 years and I am waiting for my Ds-5535 , waited 3 years for interview , There father was one of the guest in my wedding in 2016 ..... 
Come on man........ This is just too much . .. People reading this post with village background (especially India Pakistan) can understand what this means for me and my family. 
I fully agree with you , people applying throw legal channels are being affected the most. I waited almost 8 years just to get a visa under Ir-1 category . ........ 

Tomorrow 5th April will be 2 months since my case is in AP(Ds-5535) , I don't have any last case update date yet on CEAC and I am getting panic about this no case status update . I am going to email Islamabad  embassy (Pakistan) and I will ask them politely what <DELETED> is going on . I have also not receive any conformation email from  them about my Ds-5535(If they received it  and was it up to the standards and correct) .
I waited 3 years for my interview (yes for interview) and my category is IR-1......In short this whole Ds-5535 thing is <DELETED> , especially when millions of people illegally cross into US every year.

Tomorrow 5th April will be 2 months since my case is in AP(Ds-5535) , I don't have any last case update date yet on CEAC and I am getting panic about this no case status update . I am going to email Islamabad  embassy (Pakistan) and I will ask them politely what <DELETED> is going on . I have also not receive any conformation email from  them about my Ds-5535(If they received it  and was it up to the standards and correct) .
I waited 3 years for my interview (yes for interview) and my category is IR-1......In short this whole Ds-5535 thing is <DELETED> , especially when millions of people illegally cross into US every year.

Tomorrow 5th April will be 2 months since my case is in AP(Ds-5535) , I don't have any last case update date yet on CEAC and I am getting panic about this no case status update . I am going to email Islamabad  embassy (Pakistan) and I will ask them politely what <DELETED> is going on . I have also not receive any conformation email from  them about my Ds-5535(If they received it  and was it up to the standards and correct) .
I waited 3 years for my interview (yes for interview) and my category is IR-1......In short this whole Ds-5535 thing is <DELETED> , especially when millions of people illegally cross into US every year.

If you don't mind telling your lawyer name and cost of the wom. Thanks a lot

They definitely will. No doubt there.
 
For the poster who asked: My interview was Feb, 2023. Filed a WoM in September of 2023, received 2 extension requests over the subsequent months, and then finally got hit with a Motion to Dismiss in Jan, 2024. We decided to fight it, and were eagerly awaiting the State Department's deadline to respond in early April. There'd been a number of unsolicited case updates on my file since mid-Jan, so we knew something was afoot. 

As for what got us over the hump, tough to say! Was the upcoming MtD deadline the catalyst? Could be, but then again, it's also possible that I was simply next in line. We'd been waiting a long time, so I wouldn't necessarily read too much into our unique sequence of events. 
 
 

I can tell you about Pakistan , In last 2 months (which I spent online on different forums , websites  and in different WhatsApp groups) according to information I collected since Jan - 2023 people who got Ds-5535 only 10% to 15% got clear and got visa ( almost 85% to 90% are waiting ) , Only encouraging  thing is that 98% of cases from 2022 and before are cleared. Only 2 % are stuck In Ds-5535 for more then 18 months(God knows why) in Pakistan. This is my guess based on people with Ds-5535 online , I don't know how many applicant with Ds-5535 never made it online to any forum or any group. 
So this means things are moving very slow , actually extremely slow , Why ? I have no idea. 

Same here , This whole thing is so painful and time consuming. I waited 3 years just for interview date , Now in AP under Ds-5535 , Only stayed in on European country (I provided the Police clearance certificate from that country) , Nothing wrong with my spouse or mine documents , never applied for US visa , never entered US before , never deported , no criminal record in my country In last 10 years I worked 7 years (2 years taken by covid) , even my name is not that religious , Only reason My mind can come across is I am male , Muslim from Muslim majority country. Thats it. 
My wife is sick and doctors still not able to know why she is sick , she is on medicine , Now she and I and our 3 years old son somehow have to go throw this mental torture of Ds-5535 , and WoM and money spent on WoM and not the pain and mental stress WoM process brings with it. 
Lol I had almost 9 years on my passport expiry , Now I have to renew my passport , this is how long this whole procedure already  took  for me and still no end in the eys................  

Same here , This whole thing is so painful and time consuming. I waited 3 years just for interview date , Now in AP under Ds-5535 , Only stayed in on European country (I provided the Police clearance certificate from that country) , Nothing wrong with my spouse or mine documents , never applied for US visa , never entered US before , never deported , no criminal record in my country In last 10 years I worked 7 years (2 years taken by covid) , even my name is not that religious , Only reason My mind can come across is I am male , Muslim from Muslim majority country. Thats it. 
My wife is sick and doctors still not able to know why she is sick , she is on medicine , Now she and I and our 3 years old son somehow have to go throw this mental torture of Ds-5535 , and WoM and money spent on WoM and not the pain and mental stress WoM process brings with it. 
Lol I had almost 9 years on my passport expiry , Now I have to renew my passport , this is how long this whole procedure already  took  for me and still no end in the eys................  

It is cruel, discriminatory, and an insult to human dignity. Sadly there is nothing we can do but to wait. It's completely out of our control.
 
No news of my WoM. We are waiting on the judge to decide the case.

This AP (Ds-5535) wait is emotionally hard and difficult , in one word this is "cruelty" , How hard it is for USA to conduct security check on a person in USA especially if the person never entered USA before(means no record whatsoever)! How hard it is for USA to ask other countries (first world countries) for the security  clearance of the applicant(keep in mind  applicant have already  provided police report).
What is the progress on WoM ? 

Have your spouse ever traveled outside of her country since 2018 till 2020 ? If not then marriage in other countries is out of question . This will help too . And even if she did travel you can get the record from that country that your spouse didn't marry there . 
All the best .

Given that you're a male from a 'special interest" country and you have a somewhat complicated travel history, they will scrutinize your background more, especially the time you spent in the U.K. You providing them a police certificate from the U.K means nothing. They will do what they have to do in order to verify and check everything with the U.K agencies. And fyi extensive background checks could take anywhere from 3-6 months to a year. Since you're a going with the visa process through the consulate, you're background and criminal checks are only initiated when you submit your fingerprints at the consulate on the day of your interview--that is the most efficient way otherwise you would be going back and forth to the consulate for fingerprints, interview and what not. If you were in the U.S applying for a green card through adjustment of status, they would capture your fingerprints and conduct background checks before your interview. Oh and who said they wont check your record in the U.S even if you haven't ever been there.

Hello Everyone, 
I am from Pakistan , Had my interview on 6th Feb 2024 , Category is IR1 (Changed from F21) , VO asked only 3 questions , Handed me white slip (221g) and yellow slip (DS-5535) And told me to fill the form , returned my Doc and passport,,,,,, I asked anything wrong with my doc he replied no , he didn't take any info from me and also didn't provide me any info  ,,, 
I have travel history (2 countries) , one is short term visa to KSA and one is long term stay in UK , (I uploaded police report from UK on NVC portal , also showed it to VO and it was clear ),,,, Me and my spouse waited 3 years for interview date (yes , you read it right) then after my status changed to IR only then i got my interview , no I am IN AP (God knows how long i have to wait) , My family (wife and my 2 years old son) waiting for me , these past 7 years were already  horrible for me and my family now this AP , On top of that my wife is sick and Doctors are not able to find out the cause of sickness ,, She need me the most now and I am in 221g White slip (yellow slip ds-5535) AP ,, Thats all about me .....
Mu questions are;
What is this White221g and  Yellow Slip ?
How long does it take ?
What can I do other then waiting ?
What can my wife do (us national) ?
Can my 2 years old US born son be any help ? 
Why USA didn't did background check before ? (when visa applicant is waiting for interview or when applicant fill DS-260) 
Can I request to speed up the AP (on bases my wife medical condition) ?
Thank you all for reading and for all those whom going to answer .. 

Hello Everyone, 
I am from Pakistan , Had my interview on 6th Feb 2024 , Category is IR1 (Changed from F21) , VO asked only 3 questions , Handed me white slip (221g) and yellow slip (DS-5535) And told me to fill the form , returned my Doc and passport,,,,,, I asked anything wrong with my doc he replied no , he didn't take any info from me and also didn't provide me any info  ,,, 
I have travel history (2 countries) , one is short term visa to KSA and one is long term stay in UK , (I uploaded police report from UK on NVC portal , also showed it to VO and it was clear ),,,, Me and my spouse waited 3 years for interview date (yes , you read it right) then after my status changed to IR only then i got my interview , no I am IN AP (God knows how long i have to wait) , My family (wife and my 2 years old son) waiting for me , these past 7 years were already  horrible for me and my family now this AP , On top of that my wife is sick and Doctors are not able to find out the cause of sickness ,, She need me the most now and I am in 221g White slip (yellow slip ds-5535) AP ,, Thats all about me .....
Mu questions are;
What is this White221g and  Yellow Slip ?
How long does it take ?
What can I do other then waiting ?
What can my wife do (us national) ?
Can my 2 years old US born son be any help ? 
Why USA didn't did background check before ? (when visa applicant is waiting for interview or when applicant fill DS-260) 
Can I request to speed up the AP (on bases my wife medical condition) ?
Thank you all for reading and for all those whom going to answer ..