Yet another Administrative Processing Question

[XPRSURSLF 0]

Dear All,

I am glad I found this forum. I would appreciate your valuable feedback regarding my query. Here is a brief background regarding my case.

I had my CR1 interview at US embassy in Bahrain 3 weeks ago and everything went smooth. My wife was with me and as expected I received the infamous white slip which stated "Administrative Processing". This is nothing new to me since I am from Pakistan and I have a very common Muslim name. I went through similar processing when I went for H-1 B stamping in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) couple of years ago. The only difference is that last time they took my passport and returned it after more than a month with the visa. This time they did not keep my passport so I am assuming they will be doing some additional checks..who knows? Either way, the consulate personnel were helpful but had the standard reply regarding Administrative Processing and how they will contact us once they are done.......They told us it can take 6 months or more. I am not in a position to wait for 6 months without travelling due to my job.

Therefore, my question is:

1) Can I travel to other countries e.g. (Canada, Singapore, Pakistan etc) while my AP is still in progress? The reason being that I read somewhere that if I travel while AP is in progress the process starts all over again. I am not sure how true this is but any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on checking this with the embassy itself but I have to wait for the standard time period before I can start making some phone calls/emails to them. Perhaps, someone has similar experience to share in this regards.

Also,I have read a lot about Administrative Processing cases but I would like to know more from people who have been to US multiple times on different visas, people who have been through AP more than once & whose fingerprints are already in FBI/INS database (special registration for certain nationalities). Perhaps their timeline can offer more details in terms of what I can expect? Does it even matter or not? I was in US for about 11+ years on F-1 and H-1B and have received FBI fingerprint clearance multiple times for immigration and background check purposes. Not sure how this helps my case.

Thanks once again for your reply.

[EAbbas 213]

Dear All,

I am glad I found this forum. I would appreciate your valuable feedback regarding my query. Here is a brief background regarding my case.

I had my CR1 interview at US embassy in Bahrain 3 weeks ago and everything went smooth. My wife was with me and as expected I received the infamous white slip which stated "Administrative Processing". This is nothing new to me since I am from Pakistan and I have a very common Muslim name. I went through similar processing when I went for H-1 B stamping in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) couple of years ago. The only difference is that last time they took my passport and returned it after more than a month with the visa. This time they did not keep my passport so I am assuming they will be doing some additional checks..who knows? Either way, the consulate personnel were helpful but had the standard reply regarding Administrative Processing and how they will contact us once they are done.......They told us it can take 6 months or more. I am not in a position to wait for 6 months without travelling due to my job.

Therefore, my question is:

1) Can I travel to other countries e.g. (Canada, Singapore, Pakistan etc) while my AP is still in progress? The reason being that I read somewhere that if I travel while AP is in progress the process starts all over again. I am not sure how true this is but any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am planning on checking this with the embassy itself but I have to wait for the standard time period before I can start making some phone calls/emails to them. Perhaps, someone has similar experience to share in this regards.

Also,I have read a lot about Administrative Processing cases but I would like to know more from people who have been to US multiple times on different visas, people who have been through AP more than once & whose fingerprints are already in FBI/INS database (special registration for certain nationalities). Perhaps their timeline can offer more details in terms of what I can expect? Does it even matter or not? I was in US for about 11+ years on F-1 and H-1B and have received FBI fingerprint clearance multiple times for immigration and background check purposes. Not sure how this helps my case.

Thanks once again for your reply.

From what I've seen regarding the traveling while in AP........ I've seen it take longer because they have to investigate those countries for you as well.. and I've seen the embassy also tell the beneficiary they can't return the passport until AP has cleared...

as for the other question.. hopefully someone that knows more about this will come and share their experiences....

[XPRSURSLF 0]

From what I've seen regarding the traveling while in AP........ I've seen it take longer because they have to investigate those countries for you as well.. and I've seen the embassy also tell the beneficiary they can't return the passport until AP has cleared...

as for the other question.. hopefully someone that knows more about this will come and share their experiences....

Thanks for your reply. Since they haven't kept my passport with them I reckon I can travel anywhere I want without impacting the timeline?

[XPRSURSLF 0]

Got reply to my first question so I thought I might share. I called the Consulate and they told us that we can travel anywhere we want while AP is going on. Just when they call us for passport submission it should reach them in 48 hrs (not sure why). Otherwise, if we plan on moving to another country, all we need to do is submit them a FEDEX/DHL/UPS prepaid envelope and they would mail the required documents to the US consulate in that country. Not sure how it will impact the timeline? Is there anyone here who has similar experience where their case was transferred while they were on AP?

Btw, can anyone tell me how you came to know whether your case is in Internal Administrative Processing or Mandatory? I called the consulate today and was told they cannot disclose that information. Called DOS and got the same reply. Its really frustrating. When is the right time to involve Congressman/Senator. Do we really have to wait 6 months to do that? Please share your experience (I will update my timeline soon.. Stuck in AP for more than a month now )