Case in Administrative Processing at Bangkok - Opinions?

[Whitesky 1]

My fiance had her K1 Visa interview on 22 July in Bangkok. We have worked very hard on this and had absolutely everything in order for the interview. The interview went very smoothly. We were formally engaged in Thailand on my fiance's parents farm. I spent 2 1/2 months there last year. So, we had copious photos, documantation of visits together, hotels, plane reservations, literally a book of phone and Skype records where we iterally spend hours connected with each other every day. There was only one sticky question, which raised eyebrows when answered, but which was quickly satisfied. The CO had misread something and expected a different answer. But, my finace's answer bore itself out as correct in the documentation. So, everything was fine.

The CO told my finace that she had passed the interview. But, he said one of her documents was not in order. Apparently, her birth certificate was not an official one or it didn't properly show the birth city. Apparently, she got a duplicate copy from the records department in Bangkok. Her father had lost her original years ago. The CO gave her a 221(g) and told her to get a certified copy of her borth certificate, to be sent via registered mail to the embassy with her passport and a copy of the 221(g) and he would promptly issue her visa.

Her father had to travel from the south of Thailand to Roi-Et twice to get the certified document. This was done on 2 August and mailed. Thai Post shows delivery of the package to the embassy on 3 August. We expected a wait of a week or two while things were processing. But, we are now finishing out our third week and still no visa or correspondence. We have visited the CEAC site and looked at the status several times and it just shows "Administrative Processing." Last night, eastern time here in US, it was showing a "Status Updated Date" of 19 August. But, this morning it shows 23 August. The heading still shows "Adminstrative Processing."

My question to the community, this seems like it should be pretty cut and dried. How long can we expect to wait for this to conclude? Is there any significance to the updated status date? I hope and pray that the "Administrative Processing" header doesn't mean some new problem. I have read in other posts that this is a normal heading any time a 221(g) is issued. What will happen with this status if it is approved? Does it change to approved? Any opinions, experiences, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

[Karee 4,189]

My fiance had her K1 Visa interview on 22 July in Bangkok. We have worked very hard on this and had absolutely everything in order for the interview. The interview went very smoothly. We were formally engaged in Thailand on my fiance's parents farm. I spent 2 1/2 months there last year. So, we had copious photos, documantation of visits together, hotels, plane reservations, literally a book of phone and Skype records where we iterally spend hours connected with each other every day. There was only one sticky question, which raised eyebrows when answered, but which was quickly satisfied. The CO had misread something and expected a different answer. But, my finace's answer bore itself out as correct in the documentation. So, everything was fine.

The CO told my finace that she had passed the interview. But, he said one of her documents was not in order. Apparently, her birth certificate was not an official one or it didn't properly show the birth city. Apparently, she got a duplicate copy from the records department in Bangkok. Her father had lost her original years ago. The CO gave her a 221(g) and told her to get a certified copy of her borth certificate, to be sent via registered mail to the embassy with her passport and a copy of the 221(g) and he would promptly issue her visa.

Her father had to travel from the south of Thailand to Roi-Et twice to get the certified document. This was done on 2 August and mailed. Thai Post shows delivery of the package to the embassy on 3 August. We expected a wait of a week or two while things were processing. But, we are now finishing out our third week and still no visa or correspondence. We have visited the CEAC site and looked at the status several times and it just shows "Administrative Processing." Last night, eastern time here in US, it was showing a "Status Updated Date" of 19 August. But, this morning it shows 23 August. The heading still shows "Adminstrative Processing."

My question to the community, this seems like it should be pretty cut and dried. How long can we expect to wait for this to conclude? Is there any significance to the updated status date? I hope and pray that the "Administrative Processing" header doesn't mean some new problem. I have read in other posts that this is a normal heading any time a 221(g) is issued. What will happen with this status if it is approved? Does it change to approved? Any opinions, experiences, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

Email the embassy at this address: visasbkk2@state.gov Make sure in the subject line of the email you put "IV Inquiry BNK2013XXXXXX" The BNK number is the case number you got from NVC. They're pretty good about getting back to people within 24-48 hours.

ETA: 221g can be a bad thing, but in your case it is not. In your case they gave her 221g asking for more info, once you give them that, she should get the visa. We got 221g in our case..

Edited August 24, 2013 by Karee

[Whitesky 1]

Thanks for your reply Karee!

I have written to the embassy twice, as well as my fiance has written twice. I wrote and asked them simply to confirm that they have received everything. We first used the address visasbkk@state.gov and then visasiv@state.gov. We received an autoresponse from the first address and nothing from the second. The second address was the one given when you call or look on their website. We put the subject line like you suggested. We wrote first about a week ago and once early this week. But, so far we have no responses. I will try the address you suggested if nothing changes by early next week.

I hope everything is ok. The interview went well and the CO said he only needed the birth certificate. How long did it take for you to receive your visa after they received your additional documents? This coming Monday will be three weeks since the first working day there after everything was received.

[Karee 4,189]

Thanks for your reply Karee!

I have written to the embassy twice, as well as my fiance has written twice. I wrote and asked them simply to confirm that they have received everything. We first used the address visasbkk@state.gov and then visasiv@state.gov. We received an autoresponse from the first address and nothing from the second. The second address was the one given when you call or look on their website. We put the subject line like you suggested. We wrote first about a week ago and once early this week. But, so far we have no responses. I will try the address you suggested if nothing changes by early next week.

I hope everything is ok. The interview went well and the CO said he only needed the birth certificate. How long did it take for you to receive your visa after they received your additional documents? This coming Monday will be three weeks since the first working day there after everything was received.

Use the email with the 2 in it. The one without it seems to be really unreliable as far as getting answers.

[Whitesky 1]

Thanks Karee,

How long did it take for you to receive your visa after you sent the documents requested?

[Karee 4,189]

Thanks Karee,

How long did it take for you to receive your visa after you sent the documents requested?

She got it the next day, but I think they do things differently now. I've heard they mail you the passport with the visa now.

[Karee 4,189]

Thanks Karee,

How long did it take for you to receive your visa after you sent the documents requested?

Any luck?

[Whitesky 1]

No luck so far. I sent an email to the address recommended. I also called the State Department visa information line today. The visa specialist there said everything looked in order. The notes said the interview went very well, but, even though Thai Post shows the documents were delivered on August 3, they have not been added to the record yet. My concern is that they may have been lost. There is no way to tell unless the visa unit will respond to my email and confirm their receipt.

[tommysanfran 5]

My fiancee had her interview on the 23rd in Jakarta. Told she was approved. We were sure stupid thinking that that was that. She quit her job and i bought her a ticket. Now its 26th of August and we are still in Administrative Processing with no end in sight. NO idea how we ended up there.

Its a Black Hole.

[Whitesky 1]

It's more understandable if we were missing some important financial documents, proof of relationship, or other items which need to be carefully examined. But, all we needed was an official copy of a birth certificate. The CO indicated this was just a formal requirement. What worries us is that there is no record of her passport and other documents even being received after almost a full month. Her passport, in particular, is a pretty important document. If this is lost it will be a big problem for us. We don't have reason to believe that has happened. But, it does seem they would promptly receive these documents and add them to her file and case notes.

On quitting her job, I am sorry you have this problem. My fiancé also did this. But, she teaches and had to renew her commitment for another three months as of August 1 or resign. She could have stayed and just walked out. But, professionally that's not proper. She owns her own car, condo, etc. If this doesn't resolve soon she will need to take another job to meet her obligations there. Though, relative to living expenses here in the US, things are cheap there, these costs are significant long term.

Sadly, this can go on for many months. On her Facebook group of friends seeking visas the longest was eleven months.

What I had asked here is of others who have had this experience in Bangkok how long does it usually take for them to pick up the file again?

[rrokitta 1]

Hi,

We are in almost the exact situation as you. They requested another document from us and everything was sent late July. They did not respond to our documents sent until last week, which they said was the wrong document. Whatever the reason, they claimed that the document sent was incorrect - even though we know it was the correct one. So my fiancé sent another document, recently acquired at local government office. Now we are waiting, again. This lack of insight is eating us up alive. My fiancé took her daughter out of school and had everything ready to leave Thailand since mid July. We're both living our lives in limbo … waiting without any idea of when it will end.

To add more pressure to it all, my fiancé is pregnant and is almost past the mark when she should not travel …. this is probably the worst situation we have experienced bc we are powerless and there is nothing we can do at this point. Argh.

So …. I feel your pain and I am so sorry to hear another is going thru the same situation. Hang in there.

It's more understandable if we were missing some important financial documents, proof of relationship, or other items which need to be carefully examined. But, all we needed was an official copy of a birth certificate. The CO indicated this was just a formal requirement. What worries us is that there is no record of her passport and other documents even being received after almost a full month. Her passport, in particular, is a pretty important document. If this is lost it will be a big problem for us. We don't have reason to believe that has happened. But, it does seem they would promptly receive these documents and add them to her file and case notes.

On quitting her job, I am sorry you have this problem. My fiancé also did this. But, she teaches and had to renew her commitment for another three months as of August 1 or resign. She could have stayed and just walked out. But, professionally that's not proper. She owns her own car, condo, etc. If this doesn't resolve soon she will need to take another job to meet her obligations there. Though, relative to living expenses here in the US, things are cheap there, these costs are significant long term.

Sadly, this can go on for many months. On her Facebook group of friends seeking visas the longest was eleven months.

What I had asked here is of others who have had this experience in Bangkok how long does it usually take for them to pick up the file again?

[Whitesky 1]

Hi rrokitta,

Thanks for your posting and information! So, it looks like it took them about a month to respond to you.

I called the Department of State here in the U.S. at 202-663-1225.... press 1 then 0. They have visa specialist there who can access your record with the case number. They can't answer questions like "when." But, they can read all of the notes on your file and tell you if something is wrong. In our case, they said everything looked OK and we are just waiting in the queue. They suggested calling back once a week and checking if there had been any change.

Of course, the problem is that you have no idea how long this queue is and how long it can take to navigate it, even if everything is in perfect order. Like you, many things are on hold or in a state of limbo. After all, pulling up roots and relocating to a new country is a pretty significant undertaking, especially considering that she will not be able to return to take care of any business for at least a year while her green card is pending or risk refusal for rentry (even if she was granted parole.) My fiance owns property there and intends to keep it. So, there is a lot to manage. I feel your pain with regard to the pregnancy. That is certainly something that won't wait. I suspect if the child is born, your fiance won't want to leave it with the parents for its first year, or more, and move to the U.S. So, if they delay until after the birth you will have a whole new raft of paperwork to be processed. Wow! Good luck!

I would like to find more readers who would comment on the processing time recently experienced between returning the 2219(g) requested documents and action. I guess most who have had a satisfactory resolution (ie got their visa already) are happy and no longer plying the waters of these boards, but rather happy and married to their significant others in the U.S. But, if you have first hand knowledge of the recent processing times we are discussing, I would really appreciate a reply. There are a lot of other people looking for this information, too.

[Whitesky 1]

Update:

My fiance called the embassy this morning to a number one of her friends who encountered similar problems gave her. While the lady on the other end of the line couldn't provide any status information, when my finace told her she had already emailed several weeks ago and hadn't received a response, she took her case number and said she would ask someone to respond to these emails. Surprisingly, we both received an email response today confirming they had received her documents. They also said these items were "under review" and we should have a response soon. They also updated the CEAC status to "Ready." This didn't make sense, as this says it means you are ready for your interview. Seeing this, I checked with State here in the U.S. to make sure we weren't missing something. I was told there that this was a mistake, it should still show "Administrative Processing." If this doesn't change my finace might call the embassy again tomorrow and inquire about this. I don't know if intermally they work off of paper packets being placed in someone's inbox, or if they use a computer queue to tell them who's case is next. We worry that if the status is incorrect in their computer they will be waiting for something from us and nothing will happen. So, it's probably better if the status is correct. We hope everything will be approved soon!

Edited August 28, 2013 by Whitesky

[Whitesky 1]

Today, we emailed the embassy to clarify the status as "Ready" on the CEAC website. They responded within about an hour as follows:

Please be informed that your visa is issued and will be mailed to the address provided at the interview which takes approximately 7 days.

So, for those looking for answers to how long it takes from submission of simple documents as a result of a 221(g) until they are reviewed and the visa should be issued, it seems to be just shy of a month at this time. I hope everything goes smoothly from this point forward! We are now considering whether or not we should make plane reservations several weeks out, allowing a little time for possible delays. Of course, the advantage of booking early are much better flight connections, lower cost and a nice choice of seats. These things all get worse if you wait until the last minute to book.

[tommysanfran 5]

Congrats to you guys !! AS for us we are still waiting. Case in admin processing since 24th July and shows no update since 25th July.

At least today i was able to get Orbitz to cancel her airticket . We will get a refund in 21 days , minus a charge of 75 dollars. At least that is better then losing the entire 1300 dollar ONE WAY ticket.

Now its a waiting game to see what is going on.

Is calling the State Department any good?