The dreaded Administrative Processing

[Joon 2]

So on 2nd May we received our NOA2 and files were forwarded on to the NVC. We were expecting our files to be heading to London any day now but when we've called up we've been put into Administrative Processing.

From what I understand this can be caused for a number of reasons. I'm not convinced it's a name check as my name isn't terribly common and I have no criminal record of any kind and the UK is not considered a high risk country.

We were expecting an RFE before getting our NOA2 but it never came, we were just approved outright by the CSC. Could it be that?

I know AP can take weeks or months, is there any data anywhere for the average AP times? If it were just missing paperwork, how long can we typically expect to wait?

I've read some posts on here from a few years ago and they seem to be sorted within a few days to a few weeks. Has anyone had a more recent experience?

I've read that there's no way to expedite AP. Is that 100% the case?

We're distraught. Any advice welcome.

Chris

[Joon 2]

Additional question... will it be ok if I still do my medical on Thursday? I have an appointment already and I no longer have the 3 days notice in which to cancel.

[no one 2 0]

So on 2nd May we received our NOA2 and files were forwarded on to the NVC. We were expecting our files to be heading to London any day now but when we've called up we've been put into Administrative Processing.

From what I understand this can be caused for a number of reasons. I'm not convinced it's a name check as my name isn't terribly common and I have no criminal record of any kind and the UK is not considered a high risk country.

We were expecting an RFE before getting our NOA2 but it never came, we were just approved outright by the CSC. Could it be that?

I know AP can take weeks or months, is there any data anywhere for the average AP times? If it were just missing paperwork, how long can we typically expect to wait?

I've read some posts on here from a few years ago and they seem to be sorted within a few days to a few weeks. Has anyone had a more recent experience?

I've read that there's no way to expedite AP. Is that 100% the case?

We're distraught. Any advice welcome.

Chris

Where did you hear it was in AP from? I thought you had to go to the interview before it could be put in AP. Once when I called DOS to check the status I was told it was in AP and nearly tossed my cookies until I realized it probably wasn't so. So I called DOS again later that day and have called once each day since and haven't been told that again. It seemed the first lady wasn't completely sure of what she was doing. Since then we have gotten regular updates an not once had a problem and we know exactly where our case is. You should ring DOS if you haven't already. They should be able to tell you for certain.

[Joon 2]

Where did you hear it was in AP from? I thought you had to go to the interview before it could be put in AP. Once when I called DOS to check the status I was told it was in AP and nearly tossed my cookies until I realized it probably wasn't so. So I called DOS again later that day and have called once each day since and haven't been told that again. It seemed the first lady wasn't completely sure of what she was doing. Since then we have gotten regular updates an not once had a problem and we know exactly where our case is. You should ring DOS if you haven't already. They should be able to tell you for certain.

Thanks for the reply.

We had called the NVC and after having been put on hold for a few minutes they told us we were in AP. If they sometimes mix this up it might be worth us calling back again later?

From what I understand it's not out of the ordinary for cases to be put in AP (sometimes at random) when they arrive at the NVC.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Thanks for the reply.

We had called the NVC and after having been put on hold for a few minutes they told us we were in AP. If they sometimes mix this up it might be worth us calling back again later?

From what I understand it's not out of the ordinary for cases to be put in AP (sometimes at random) when they arrive at the NVC.

Clearances run at NVC include clearances on the USC petitioner, just so you know.

Here's a link that explains how all security checks work. I'll add a caveat that I have no idea who this lawyer is. I used the link because it was a good explanation of the NVC process. Don't know this lawyer - don't know if he is a genius or a #######.

http://www.usaimmigrationattorney.com/SecurityNameChecksAndAdministrativeReview.html

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Administrative processing means doing paper work and is a generic term used by the immigration folks sometime. So don't panic unless a few more days go by and you're still told that. It could be just a backlog and AP only means they are still processing and it hasn't gotten shipped out.

The dreaded AP you hear about is the one after the interview. I have known a few cases that got hung up at NVC so it is possible to be delayed there but it's different. And I remember other mass delays for many people...CSC took a month after NOA2 to ship to NVC and a different period when NVC was slow moving out many K1s. RJs link is the same one I have bookmarked. It explains a lot if you are the only one on VJ not getting out of NVC.

You might ask Knightsbridge if they can hold your results until you notify them since you hit a snag. And use the time to get your shots (if you haven't already) so they will all be recorded by Knightsbridge and you can skip the civil surgeon for AOS.

[Joon 2]

Thanks guys.

We called the NVC again yesterday evening. We asked specifically if we were in AP. They told us that we were not. We were in another kind of processing and to check back in a week.

This is strange since when we called on Monday we were told that cases were leaving the NVC really quickly.

Who knows? We'll just keep calling.

[Joon 2]

Every time we call it's a different thing, "administrative processing," or "administrative review," or "additional processing," but whatever it is we still haven't had our files forwarded to London. They've had the files at the NVC for the last two weeks. We were approved in California a month ago. This is a strange kind of torture.

Chris

[Holly2234 66]

I hope they get it forwarded soon for you!

[Joon 2]

I hope they get it forwarded soon for you!

We called in this morning and they said it had been sent yesterday! 2 weeks to the day.