Approved at Interview but still no visa - any advice?

[TabithaM 0]

Hi There,

This website has been such a great help through my own IR1 visa journey, that I haven't had to create an account and post anything until now.

On the 20th of May I attended my interview at the Sydney Embassy. I was told that my visa was approved and given a slip of paper that "Congratulations, your visa is approved/. You should receive your visa within...." (I'm sure those of you who have been through this know what I'm referring to.)

I was over the moon. I went back home to QLD, handed in my notice at my work and residence, and waited eagerly for my passport to arrive. After 5 days, I had no word, so I checked the CEAC website and saw my status was still showing at "READY" (for interview). I sent off an email to the SydneyIV email address and received a pretty generic response back to wait. At day #11 the status on the CEAC website changed to "Administrative Processing".

Another email to CEAC and I finally received a response on Friday 20th June that my visa had never been under administrative processing and was with a visa official for processing and adjudication. On the same day the status on the CEAC website changed back to "READY" (for interview".

Does anyone know what this means, how many more months I am likely to wait and why this has happened. I would have thought that if I was missing paperwork that they would have asked for something but in over a month I've received no word at all requesting anything additional.

Emotionally I'm pretty much at the end of my ability to cope with all of this, being here on my own with my husband overseas. I'm hanging in limbo over a visa process that I started back in February 2013, and this I just can't find any mention of this happening to anyone else. Any advice or information if you've gone through a similar experience would really be appreciated.

[Sukie 1,444]

Hi There,

This website has been such a great help through my own IR1 visa journey, that I haven't had to create an account and post anything until now.

On the 20th of May I attended my interview at the Sydney Embassy. I was told that my visa was approved and given a slip of paper that "Congratulations, your visa is approved/. You should receive your visa within...." (I'm sure those of you who have been through this know what I'm referring to.)

I was over the moon. I went back home to QLD, handed in my notice at my work and residence, and waited eagerly for my passport to arrive. After 5 days, I had no word, so I checked the CEAC website and saw my status was still showing at "READY" (for interview). I sent off an email to the SydneyIV email address and received a pretty generic response back to wait. At day #11 the status on the CEAC website changed to "Administrative Processing".

Another email to CEAC and I finally received a response on Friday 20th June that my visa had never been under administrative processing and was with a visa official for processing and adjudication. On the same day the status on the CEAC website changed back to "READY" (for interview".

Does anyone know what this means, how many more months I am likely to wait and why this has happened. I would have thought that if I was missing paperwork that they would have asked for something but in over a month I've received no word at all requesting anything additional.

Emotionally I'm pretty much at the end of my ability to cope with all of this, being here on my own with my husband overseas. I'm hanging in limbo over a visa process that I started back in February 2013, and this I just can't find any mention of this happening to anyone else. Any advice or information if you've gone through a similar experience would really be appreciated.

TabithaM, I am very shocked to hear of this. The Sydney Consulate has always been thought of as one of the easiest and most efficient.

It almost sounds like your file got placed at the bottom of a pile on someone's desk, or that your Case Officer had a medical emergency and somehow you slipped through the cracks. I've never heard of anyone who got the "Visa Approved" slip of paper (from Australia) going back until Administrative Processing.

I'm really sorry this has happened. If you cannot think of any reason that your visa would have been placed on hold, I'd be writing them every day. I know there is no longer a phone number for customer service for Immigrant Visas, unfortunately.

Best of luck - please let us know if things clear up!

Sukie in Oz