What is an "AP" ?

[Cubioh 0]

Hello people,

I've been just reading posts (mostly because I don't want to cause more mayhem with my own stuff) and they've been very informative.

This may only apply directly to the Islamabad (Pakistan) embassy, so anyway, I've been reading this "AP" stuff (Administrative Processing ?) and that's got me wondering. Especially after I've seen it said here once or twice that "all male beneficiaries go through AP."

I did call up NVC (since, apparently it goes back to them anyway if it goes into AP) and the representative that answered said it's just some more processing, relatively rare in comparison to the number of cases that are cleared normally (which is true, considering how many cases there are in a given day) and there could be a variety of reasons for it, which the persons put on AP should be able to find out. He didn't say anything about all males definitely going into AP.

Now, I have every intention of going with my husband to his interview next month, and I've been here in this miserable excuse for a country, (no offense intended to anyone who actually likes Pakistan) with my life back home on complete hold, for far too long waiting for the Visa process to end, and I have been waiting patiently enough. We've filled out all forms ourselves and and been as punctual as we possibly could be. To hear this AP talk is depressing enough, and those on it have my prayers, to add to all the ones already, but I would like to ask if indeed every male beneficiary who posts here and has gone to the Islamabad embassy (with your American citizen wife or alone) was put on AP or not. So if it's no trouble, please do chime in, it would be appreciated.

[MMW 2]

AP is generally meant to explain something in a petition or paperwork that required a closer look. An example would be something that generated a "red flag" or something as simple as a certain document wasn't in depth enough for the person processing and they wanted to verify a fact or 2. It is not always something to worry about. My case was in AP at USCIS for a month and it had to do with a past return they wanted documents on from the court (divorce) showing i could claim a certain dependent on my taxes for that year.

[MumtazG38 1]

The reason for AP is anything that would cause a red flag needing to be checked out. Red flags can be caused by many things and one of those very many things can be cross name checks or names that match or are similar to names on any watch lists, criminal records or other records of the likes. Just because the beneficiary is a Pakistani male does not mean that they will experience AP.....actually the reason is a bit more complicated. Most Pakistani men have Muslim names like Mohammed, Ali, Ahmed, Usif, and the likes and these names can strike a red flag when they appear in the computers as matching names to terrorists basically....ofcourse everyone muslim or paki or not goes through some amount of AP, depending on whether their name matched any criminal records in the computers or any other red flag type reason really. But mostly muslim male names are very common in the records....very very common, especially since 9/11 and the extra terrorism awareness. The reason AP takes as long as it does is mostly due to the fact that when a common, or sometimes even an uncommon muslim name is entered into their computers it usually gets a lot of name matches...hundreds and thousands even. The USCIS, NVC or consulate or embassy do extra background checks like the COBRA and others to ensure that the beneficiary is ABSOLUTELY not one of those names in their records. They are making sure that this is not the same person, or even a person with a different yet similar name.....who could be using an alias.

The main reason for everyone mentioning extra long AP for pakistani males is not simply because the person is a pakistani male, but it is because pakistani and muslim names almost always strike red flags with matching names in their criminal type databases. I'm sure that if a christian pakistani male, who would most likely have a christian name like John, James or Anthony the AP would be far less lengthy because those names would not reflect as many red flags. Although, each file and each person is different that is.

This is not prejudice or racism in the very least! It's not the NVC's, USCIS's or consulate fault that the people names that are in the red flag databases come up ok.....it's just a fact we must all understand and live with for now that a vast majority of terrorist names are muslim. But this is not to say that if a persons name were actually Samual or Zack they would not get AP....they could if their names matched any names in the database....

Also, name matches are not the ONLY reason for red flags....so Sam and Zack could very well get much longer AP than any pakistani male for several other reasons or several other red flags that their files reflected.

Edited February 19, 2009 by MumtazG38

[Waheed and Kris 0]

Administrative Processing is a generic term that can mean anything and everything. Paperwork, additional documentation required, etc. etc. etc. Almost all pakistani males will be put on AP after interview. It is very rare to see a male not get AP. A person can remain in AP for a few weeks, months, and in rare cases years. There is no timeframe for it. And... you will be given no explanation for it either. People have written the embassy, called DOS, had legislators contact the embassy, and they will tell you absolutely nothing. The only option is to WAIT through it. We were told after interview that our case required additional processing. It is now 7 months later, and we are still waiting. Islamabad Embassy is very slow in processing. So that allows for checks, police certificates, and medicals to expire. Then they have to be done all over again, which further delays the issuance of the visa. To say this is not prejudice is a matter of personal opinion.

peace

~kris

[Cubioh 0]

Yea, I can relate, our case was delayed at the USCIS stage too, and from what I understand, there are background checks there too, so an AP at the Visa issuing point (the very end!) is just frustration.

Although our interview is yet to arrive, I'm already tired of the various delays (two of which were my fault because of vague instructions ). If you ask at the Islamabad Embassy (IF you can get to someone after waiting hours on the phone) about all males being put on APs, they say "Oh that, it's just lots of rumors going around, you should ignore them." heh, rumors I'm sure. Still, I'll be sure to get back to you all here about how it goes for us. God willing, there won't be any more delays.

Thanks for the clarifications guys.

Yea, I can relate, our case was delayed at the USCIS stage too, and from what I understand, there are background checks there too, so an AP at the Visa issuing point (the very end!) is just frustration.

Although our interview is yet to arrive, I'm already tired of the various delays (two of which were my fault because of vague instructions ). If you ask at the Islamabad Embassy (IF you can get to someone after waiting hours on the phone) about all males being put on APs, they say "Oh that, it's just lots of rumors going around, you should ignore them." heh, rumors I'm sure. Still, I'll be sure to get back to you all here about how it goes for us. God willing, there won't be any more delays.