What do their emails REALLY mean?

[100% Al Ahly Fan 53]

Hello all and I hope everyone is well.

I just read that there was a thread about what the "final review" means and when you may expect the visa after receiving this email from the embassy. So this thread is along that lines, although I am wondering if anyone REALLY knows the difference between "pending" vs "final" review of the officer? I assumed pending means it's waiting to be reviewed (meaning it hasn't even been looked at and again I assumed it meant AP) and final means it's almost finished being looked at by the officer to possibly issue the visa. Yes....no???

I haven't emailed the embassy until this week because I had a question about something else, and the response I got was the generic,"The case is pending the officer's review. We will process the case to conclusion once that is completed" BLAH BLAH BLAH. Same khara, they tell everyone else. Although I am wondering, wouldn't they straight out say AP or should I assume that's what "pending" means? The DOS says we are in AP, although our case hasn't been updated since the interview. The women at DOS says that the embassy usually has more information then them. I don't know if that is true or not.

I am trying not to think about it too much, but I had to get others thoughts on this and then I hope I can leave it alone......at least for now I got a good 6 months to go according to what they told my hubby.

Any responses would be appreicated. Thanks in advance!

[illnevergetthis 5]

I think most of their emails are generic and the same ol' khara. But with that said, officers review is the CO looking over everything.

The embassy continues to email me that we are still in administrative processing. Matter of fact, the last one said that it might be awhile... (that didn't make me feel any better).

It sounds like you've moved a step ahead and that's good news. Hopefully you won't have to wait to long.

[NancylovesAhmad 1]

See Sharifah. I really feel that your case is moving right along and that you are out of AP. YAY!!!!

[mounir and suzie 0]

well i'm on the same boat but i will tell you what i understanding with this e mail ,, i kept e mailing the embassy after i done my interview which was on OCT 22,2009 at the beginning they were told me that my case is pending officer's review then they start saying now the case is under AP , i thought at this time they put it under AP cause they asked me on my interview for my wife's divorce certificate then after lots of time then e mailed me asking me to my passport then i warn them that they have it already then i got an e mail from them saying now the case is pending co review .. so when i asked about that lots of people all said its the last step now for them to issue the visa and means the case is out of AP and i know when you called the DOS will say you still on AP cause we got the same answer but DOS once the embassy put you under AP will keep saying that till the visa get issue ,, also i want to add something it might help a couple of days ago my wife contact her congresman and faxed them a form about all our case info ,, we heard with that you can at least get more info about whats going on and what the statue of the case going so far ,, so dont worry you out of AP and will hear good news soon inshallah , best of luck ,, have a great day .

[Nagishkaw 510]

What they really mean is:

Look, we don't give a #######. Get back in line. Next please.

[mounir and suzie 0]

What they really mean is:

Look, we don't give a #######. Get back in line. Next please.

lol Nagi i agree you right .

[Nagishkaw 510]

This is what happens to you if you try to go to the embassy to inquire about your case:

[And_Sam 44]

See Sharifah. I really feel that your case is moving right along and that you are out of AP. YAY!!!!

I feel what Nancy said, Sharifah. I know that getting to the interview date is one thing, but it is the long waiting AFTER the interview that makes us crazy!

[inGODShands 0]

Hey Sharifa,

From experience I can tell you EXACTLY what that means because we used to get the SAME MESSAGE when we were waiting for my husband's visa this past summer in Egypt. I e-mailed the Embassy in Cairo MANY times & thank God they were very kind when they would respond. We, too, had the same "pending the officer's review" message, even though they had told us at our interview that we WERE NOT under AP. See, what happened was that at the time of the actual interview we really were not under AP, but after they met with us & began to finish our K-1 process, we were placed under AP for a regular background check. It wasn't that bad because we were only under AP for a month, although with all the stress we were under it felt like they were taking an eternity! Anyway, after a month of waiting, we got ANOTHER message from the Embassy in Cairo that stated that my husband's AP was complete & that our case was now "pending the officer's final review". At that moment we freaked out & were TOTALLY confused because we that we had just gotten out of the review process, so I e-mailed them and asked for an explanation. They wrote back within a few hours & explained that when your case is pending the officer's FINAL review, that means that everything is being reviewed by the consular officer one last time before the visa is issued. After that e-mail, we received my husband's visa in the mail with-in a week & well the rest as you know is history & here we are now. Anyway, I read your post & I thought I should share our experience with you so you could feel better because I know we were feeling extremely confused, lost, & hopeless during our wait. Listen, everything will be okay. Things just take time. Some people, unfortunately, are stuck in the waiting process longer than others, but EVENTUALLY we are all finally able to move one & FINALLY be reunited with our loved ones. I know the same is in store for you, my friend. May your journey be short so that you may be reunited with your husband again very soon. I hope I was able to help you a little. Anyway, you I'm always here for you if you need anything. Take care & hope to hear from you soon. God bless!