AP going through London

[KamLondon 13]

Hi VJ

I thought it would be useful for other people to be aware of Additional Processing (also known as Administrative Processing or just AP). I had a smooth process for the K1 filing. There is a fantastic guide on here that tells you EVERYTHING you need to do in order for your K1 visa petition to go through first time (http://www.visajourn.../content/k1flow). The key thing is follow every single step of it to the word. I did this and sailed through the first part of it.

Ok, so I sailed through the first part of the K1 visa process, so what happened you may be wondering? My petition came back in 3 and a half months, earlier than the 5 months we expected. In this time I had already obtained my police certificates from 2 countries and my military records, as well as filled out all of the necessary forms that I would need to send to the embassy, once they asked for them (found these online). I was prepared like you would not believe. Everything went smoothly, I attended my medical and when I arrived for my interview at the US Embassy in London on April 16th, the first person was appreciative for my well organised pack, which made her job a lot easier (i just put the paperwork in a logical order. Anything to help).

The next step of the interview was to answer some questions. This person wasn't as friendly as the first and asked me lots of questions about our relationship. These went fine and then it went down hill.

I was told they didn't need anything else from me and that my case just required some additional processing which would take 2-3 weeks. I thought "fair enough" and took the blue piece of paper they gave me and walked out. When I looked at the blue piece of paper when I walked out, it said that I had been refused a visa and that my case was under additional processing. This was a shock to me because the lady at the embassy said nothing to me about a refused visa, she indicated everything was fine. Now, for those of you in Additional Processing, this is where my experience may help you.

I got home and immediately googled what this all meant. The message boards were all negative, horror stories of things taking over 6 months to be sorted out etc. I didn't panic too much though because my application was all neatly assembled, with more evidence than they needed, not a single mistake on the forms, so I must have been different.

At the end of the 3 week period, I called the London Embassy to find out what was happening, as I had not heard back. The call was not helpful at all. The operator was unfriendly, unsympathetic and just told me that my case was in additional processing, they can't talk about my case, and it will take anywhere from 2-3 up to 16-22 weeks. This wasn't good. I wasn't given this impression at the embassy and this totally screwed up many plans we had made.

We tried many things. I called the embassy a couple more times, including Washington to see if they could tell me more. Nothing good came of it, I got the same message, time and time again. My fiancee contacted her Congressman who enquired on our behalf, with his office also contacting members of the Department of State they knew. Again, they got the same response as us. The case is in AP and we just have to wait.

Further research showed us that you are most likely to be put in to AP for the following:

- You didn't submit documents (don't panic too much, this is a quick AP process for you guys)

- They don't believe your story (so they'll inform you of this and tell you they are sending the pack back to USCIS to do further checks)

- You have a surname that originates from a country, predominately in the Middle East and North Africa (doesn't matter if you've never lived in those countries, it's just the name)

- You have a background in Science, IT or other special interest areas that the US feel could be a threat

- You have served in a foreign military other than the US

There are probably other reasons for finding yourself in AP but they are the most common. From my understanding, when your paperwork is shown at the first window at the embassy, they gather it all, go through it and one of the final steps is to run your name through several security systems. if there is a potential name match with a person of interest (muslim names are obviously common in the current climate) the system prevents the visa being approved and manual checks have to be carried out by people back in the US. How long this takes depends on the agency/departments dealing with it.

If I had known about this before this whole process had started, I would have factored more time in to my plans (so my hopes didn't get dashed) and prepared myself mentally for the fact that it could take up to 22 weeks. I'm writing this post so that others can pre-empt this and prepare emotionally. I didn't know and it made my life hell. PLEASE, if you feel you have any of the above things that could put you in AP, just prepare yourselves for the fact that it could happen to you.

So, why do I care about your emotions. Well, the first reason is because as you'll find out, the embassy doesn't give a damn. You can't blame them really because they need to take emotion out when they are dealing with serious matters. In saying that, there is a line between distancing emotions and treating people with respect and understanding when calling for updates on their case. I had a dealing with an embassy rep just 2 weeks ago and just being polite on the phone and explaining things to me, it made a huge difference. I was actually happy when ending the call, not angry and frustrated like previous times.

Anyway, I digress. The next reason I am typing this is to tell you what you will go through if you do not prepare for AP:

- A whole lot of not knowing. This was the worst thing for me because I had played the game, filled in their lengthy forms and done everything right, so why was it taking so long. My advice, don't take it personal. It's just a process that you unfortunately may have to go through

- Depression. I am one of the most confident and easy going people you will meet. I am able to cut off my feelings so I don't get hurt....until it came to this. I think because the love of my life was waiting for me and they were playing with my life now, it got to me more than anything has before. I lost all motivation to do things, found it hard to work out and had a constant negative attitude towards things. This was not me and this is the biggest reason i'm writing this post. Just accept you'll be waiting in this process and plan for the full 22 weeks. It's the only way to stay sane.

- Calling the embassy and contacting your congressman etc....it does not work. Save yourself the time, money and future dashed hopes when you hear nothing back and just wait for the visa to come through. If you have nothing to hide, you have a genuine relationship, all will be fine. This remember is a bureaucratic process that you unfortunately got caught up in. It's not personal, it's just that a system forced manual checks to take place.

- Don't think your individual circumstances can change things, they can't, I tried. My frustration came with the fact that the I not only served in the military during 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, but I was also security cleared with the NSA (National Security Agency of America). Yes, if they can trust me with sensitive information, surely that should speed up a visa security check, right? WRONG!!! It does not matter. Although you see yourself as special and unique, you're not in this process. You're just in line and you have to.....yes, you're getting it now I'm sure.....WAIT!!!!

- I was told not to travel to the US because I would get turned away due to the visa having been refused. Although the embassy do not class this as a visa refusal (so why give us a refusal form?), the Border and Customs people do. If you can't give a reason why you got refused, they just won't let you in, simple.

- Leading on from the above point, I was unable to travel to the US to see my fiancee. This was really hard, so what we did was we brought our honeymoon forward and had a pre-wedding honeymoon. Hey, we can't leave the country for 3 months after we're married until I get Advance Parole, so we figured we'd do this. It worked for us because it was a much needed time where we forgot about everything bad and focussed on us.

There are probably more things but this post is dragging on a little now. You'll be glad to hear (I don't mean to rub it in people's faces) that yesterday (15 weeks and 5 days after going in to AP) that I received an email from the embassy telling me to send in my passport so they can issue the visa. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the happiest days of my life. Having felt so low to finally knowing we can carry on with our lives, it was an amazing feeling.

So, to sum up, here are my steps to surviving AP if you find yourself in it:

- Just wait and do not call the embassy, it does not help and just costs you money

- Do not call your congressman, it does you no good

- If you have a muslim sounding surname, expect to be in AP for up to 16 weeks or so and add this to your plans (better to be safe than depressed, believe me)

- Try and carry on with your life (it's easier if you already know you may be put in AP)

- Have a strong support network around you who can keep you busy and not thinking about this

- Set yourself things to aim for. The worst thing of this for me is that I felt like my life was on hold and I was powerless in moving forward. Take the time to take up a new hobby, where you do something maybe 3-4 weeks down the line. Goal setting will help.

- Last of all, just accept that this process has many flaws, the embassy aren't there to be your friends and lastly, it's not personal. They system forces checks and if you end up in it, your'e just unlucky.

I hope this helps those in AP, prepares those who could get put in to AP and makes those that didn't go in to AP realise that you were so damn lucky haha.

This is just my view, from my experience and from the information I came across. All cases are different and we can only speculate as to what happens inside the embassy and their processes. This is my best effort at trying to make sense of it though.

Feel free to comment and especially if you are in AP and are finding it hard, please feel free to comment or message me. If I can help just 1 person feel slightly better, this post will have served its purpose.

Thanks

Kam

[EAbbas 213]

That's very sweet post and informative for sure... you should visit the islamabad tracker as we have several of us waiting a year or more in AP. YEs, we also sailed thru USCIS and NVC without any RFE and without any issues. Got to the embassy and had interview and were told our case was fine and we had nothing to worry about that it needed background checks... and then BAM... hit the wall and here we stay.

I was beginning to plan a trip to visit my husband for our 2nd wedding anniversary in OCtober but my daughter got sick with a brain tumor that takes up over a third of her brain and i can't leave for fear that any moment she shows signs of a stroke. So we did get the senator involved to send the medical info to the embassy and they gave us a real answer this time instead of the canned answer as before. However, we are still here a month later. Just patiently trying to plan a future patiently waiting to see the end to all this and our happy ever after begin.

We knew going into this that we could be in AP for quite some time but we were prepared for 6-9 months not over a year. I know for us its the country he's from and so we continue to make a normal life out of our distance the best we can.

AP is a horrible thing to experience but we pray daily for us and all those suffering thru it!

Nice post!!!

Edited August 3, 2012 by EAbbas

[teg 6]

Hi VJ

I thought it would be useful for other people to be aware of Additional Processing (also known as Administrative Processing or just AP). I had a smooth process for the K1 filing. There is a fantastic guide on here that tells you EVERYTHING you need to do in order for your K1 visa petition to go through first time (http://www.visajourn.../content/k1flow). The key thing is follow every single step of it to the word. I did this and sailed through the first part of it.

Ok, so I sailed through the first part of the K1 visa process, so what happened you may be wondering? My petition came back in 3 and a half months, earlier than the 5 months we expected. In this time I had already obtained my police certificates from 2 countries and my military records, as well as filled out all of the necessary forms that I would need to send to the embassy, once they asked for them (found these online). I was prepared like you would not believe. Everything went smoothly, I attended my medical and when I arrived for my interview at the US Embassy in London on April 16th, the first person was appreciative for my well organised pack, which made her job a lot easier (i just put the paperwork in a logical order. Anything to help).

The next step of the interview was to answer some questions. This person wasn't as friendly as the first and asked me lots of questions about our relationship. These went fine and then it went down hill.

I was told they didn't need anything else from me and that my case just required some additional processing which would take 2-3 weeks. I thought "fair enough" and took the blue piece of paper they gave me and walked out. When I looked at the blue piece of paper when I walked out, it said that I had been refused a visa and that my case was under additional processing. This was a shock to me because the lady at the embassy said nothing to me about a refused visa, she indicated everything was fine. Now, for those of you in Additional Processing, this is where my experience may help you.

I got home and immediately googled what this all meant. The message boards were all negative, horror stories of things taking over 6 months to be sorted out etc. I didn't panic too much though because my application was all neatly assembled, with more evidence than they needed, not a single mistake on the forms, so I must have been different.

At the end of the 3 week period, I called the London Embassy to find out what was happening, as I had not heard back. The call was not helpful at all. The operator was unfriendly, unsympathetic and just told me that my case was in additional processing, they can't talk about my case, and it will take anywhere from 2-3 up to 16-22 weeks. This wasn't good. I wasn't given this impression at the embassy and this totally screwed up many plans we had made.

We tried many things. I called the embassy a couple more times, including Washington to see if they could tell me more. Nothing good came of it, I got the same message, time and time again. My fiancee contacted her Congressman who enquired on our behalf, with his office also contacting members of the Department of State they knew. Again, they got the same response as us. The case is in AP and we just have to wait.

Further research showed us that you are most likely to be put in to AP for the following:

- You didn't submit documents (don't panic too much, this is a quick AP process for you guys)

- They don't believe your story (so they'll inform you of this and tell you they are sending the pack back to USCIS to do further checks)

- You have a surname that originates from a country, predominately in the Middle East and North Africa (doesn't matter if you've never lived in those countries, it's just the name)

- You have a background in Science, IT or other special interest areas that the US feel could be a threat

- You have served in a foreign military other than the US

There are probably other reasons for finding yourself in AP but they are the most common. From my understanding, when your paperwork is shown at the first window at the embassy, they gather it all, go through it and one of the final steps is to run your name through several security systems. if there is a potential name match with a person of interest (muslim names are obviously common in the current climate) the system prevents the visa being approved and manual checks have to be carried out by people back in the US. How long this takes depends on the agency/departments dealing with it.

If I had known about this before this whole process had started, I would have factored more time in to my plans (so my hopes didn't get dashed) and prepared myself mentally for the fact that it could take up to 22 weeks. I'm writing this post so that others can pre-empt this and prepare emotionally. I didn't know and it made my life hell. PLEASE, if you feel you have any of the above things that could put you in AP, just prepare yourselves for the fact that it could happen to you.

So, why do I care about your emotions. Well, the first reason is because as you'll find out, the embassy doesn't give a damn. You can't blame them really because they need to take emotion out when they are dealing with serious matters. In saying that, there is a line between distancing emotions and treating people with respect and understanding when calling for updates on their case. I had a dealing with an embassy rep just 2 weeks ago and just being polite on the phone and explaining things to me, it made a huge difference. I was actually happy when ending the call, not angry and frustrated like previous times.

Anyway, I digress. The next reason I am typing this is to tell you what you will go through if you do not prepare for AP:

- A whole lot of not knowing. This was the worst thing for me because I had played the game, filled in their lengthy forms and done everything right, so why was it taking so long. My advice, don't take it personal. It's just a process that you unfortunately may have to go through

- Depression. I am one of the most confident and easy going people you will meet. I am able to cut off my feelings so I don't get hurt....until it came to this. I think because the love of my life was waiting for me and they were playing with my life now, it got to me more than anything has before. I lost all motivation to do things, found it hard to work out and had a constant negative attitude towards things. This was not me and this is the biggest reason i'm writing this post. Just accept you'll be waiting in this process and plan for the full 22 weeks. It's the only way to stay sane.

- Calling the embassy and contacting your congressman etc....it does not work. Save yourself the time, money and future dashed hopes when you hear nothing back and just wait for the visa to come through. If you have nothing to hide, you have a genuine relationship, all will be fine. This remember is a bureaucratic process that you unfortunately got caught up in. It's not personal, it's just that a system forced manual checks to take place.

- Don't think your individual circumstances can change things, they can't, I tried. My frustration came with the fact that the I not only served in the military during 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, but I was also security cleared with the NSA (National Security Agency of America). Yes, if they can trust me with sensitive information, surely that should speed up a visa security check, right? WRONG!!! It does not matter. Although you see yourself as special and unique, you're not in this process. You're just in line and you have to.....yes, you're getting it now I'm sure.....WAIT!!!!

- I was told not to travel to the US because I would get turned away due to the visa having been refused. Although the embassy do not class this as a visa refusal (so why give us a refusal form?), the Border and Customs people do. If you can't give a reason why you got refused, they just won't let you in, simple.

- Leading on from the above point, I was unable to travel to the US to see my fiancee. This was really hard, so what we did was we brought our honeymoon forward and had a pre-wedding honeymoon. Hey, we can't leave the country for 3 months after we're married until I get Advance Parole, so we figured we'd do this. It worked for us because it was a much needed time where we forgot about everything bad and focussed on us.

There are probably more things but this post is dragging on a little now. You'll be glad to hear (I don't mean to rub it in people's faces) that yesterday (15 weeks and 5 days after going in to AP) that I received an email from the embassy telling me to send in my passport so they can issue the visa. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the happiest days of my life. Having felt so low to finally knowing we can carry on with our lives, it was an amazing feeling.

So, to sum up, here are my steps to surviving AP if you find yourself in it:

- Just wait and do not call the embassy, it does not help and just costs you money

- Do not call your congressman, it does you no good

- If you have a muslim sounding surname, expect to be in AP for up to 16 weeks or so and add this to your plans (better to be safe than depressed, believe me)

- Try and carry on with your life (it's easier if you already know you may be put in AP)

- Have a strong support network around you who can keep you busy and not thinking about this

- Set yourself things to aim for. The worst thing of this for me is that I felt like my life was on hold and I was powerless in moving forward. Take the time to take up a new hobby, where you do something maybe 3-4 weeks down the line. Goal setting will help.

- Last of all, just accept that this process has many flaws, the embassy aren't there to be your friends and lastly, it's not personal. They system forces checks and if you end up in it, your'e just unlucky.

I hope this helps those in AP, prepares those who could get put in to AP and makes those that didn't go in to AP realise that you were so damn lucky haha.

This is just my view, from my experience and from the information I came across. All cases are different and we can only speculate as to what happens inside the embassy and their processes. This is my best effort at trying to make sense of it though.

Feel free to comment and especially if you are in AP and are finding it hard, please feel free to comment or message me. If I can help just 1 person feel slightly better, this post will have served its purpose.

Thanks

Kam

Great way to sum it all up. Made it through the AP and also the extra call for evidence now waiting for the second interview. This process will have taken over two years to accomplish! I agree to set some goals to work on and achieve during the long depressing months that pass with no notice. Also at my husband's interview, he never received a paper saying they were requesting further investigation on our relationship. I never knew this site was available and I am kind of glad I didn't find it until the end of my 200 day wait for Administrative Review becasue I think it would have been harder to deal with, and ignorance is bliss!!! it makes the time go by faster any way not knowing a time frame.

[syeda1120 0]

I think you post is something everyone feels but can't put into worlds. And for those what are starting out a realistic view of what might be ahead of them. My husband had his interview on the Aug 13th and my worse fear came true and he ended up on AP. Just getting to the interview look us about 1 year. During this year everything was done right on our part but yet we were stopped and questioned for through out this whole process for silly things. Our I-130 took 7 months to get approved then NVC took over a month to get us a case number and NVC would send us emails saying they didn't get certain paperwork but then when I would call then they would say "Oh, sorry we have that ". So when we got to the interview I thought at least this point things should work out for my favour. But I was wrong...my husband ended up on AP. I know that this process is for the countries best but just having a Muslim make should be the determining factor. On top of that just to say "you case is pending" when you call or send emails. I feel at least we deserve to know at what point our case is at. I know we just started out AP journey and I should have more of a positive outlook and I'm trying to be positive but the thought of making one more trip back home to America without my husband is heart breaking. I just feel the the 1st couple of married life which should to the must beautiful time has been put on hold and we don't know when this well end. Thanks for the great post. I have a better understanding up what to expect and what steps I should take.

[Adnan&Liane 8]

Thanks for posting Kam - I never saw this when you first posted - very informative and I agree w/everything you've written - but it truly is not fair that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing we can do - something should be done for extreme cases and people stuck in complicated and unfortunate circumstances...

Today is our 300th day in AP - it may be futile - but if we hit over a year in AP - I will make sure every elected official and agency knows our story - something has to be done to fix this broken immigration system - we need CHANGE!

Syeda1120 - I am sorry to hear about your husband's AP - it is truly unfortunate that we are suffering in these circumstances only due to ethnic and relgious backgrounds...

[KKalan 0]

Thanks for posting Kam - I never saw this when you first posted - very informative and I agree w/everything you've written - but it truly is not fair that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing we can do - something should be done for extreme cases and people stuck in complicated and unfortunate circumstances...

Today is our 300th day in AP - it may be futile - but if we hit over a year in AP - I will make sure every elected official and agency knows our story - something has to be done to fix this broken immigration system - we need CHANGE!

Syeda1120 - I am sorry to hear about your husband's AP - it is truly unfortunate that we are suffering in these circumstances only due to ethnic and relgious backgrounds...

I just want it to let everyone know that my sister and her family (3 kids& husband) went through AP processing in Morroco and they all got the visa for 5 years. They were put in AP Processing only for two months and they are from Pakistan.

[Cathi 5,748]

This is an amazing and very true post. My husband was put into AP a month ago, and even though we knew ahead of time it was a possibility, and we tried to prepare ourselves as best we could, it was and is still a shock when you hear those words from the consulate officer(I attended the interview with him). If anything I hope this makes those people who complain about having to wait 5 or 6 months to get their SO here and how horrible of a process it is, to stop and think, even if only for a moment how lucky they are for not having been put in AP for an indefinite amount of time, having to deal with the fact that AP can last a very long time, and to consider themselves lucky...VERY lucky they don't have to endure the torture of not knowing when the process will end. With that being said, good luck to all of those who have been in, are in it now, or to those of you in the future who will have their whole lives and futures put on hold by administrative processing!!!! I pray for us all daily...

[carolynhotstuff 252]

I disagree with some advice given in this post. It is always better to be proactive with your case. The advice about not calling the embassy is wrong. DOS sometimes gives information that is incorrect and the embassy has the most current/correct information.

Many times the embassy will not return emails to the petitioner or beneficiary but they will return emails to a Congressman or Senator.

Writing to the Ambassador of her embassy got one friend's husband out of AP and he got his visa.

I have a friend that is going through the embassy in London. She sent an important email and they didn't respond. She had to call them to find out information about her case.

[Cathi 5,748]

I disagree with some advice given in this post. It is always better to be proactive with your case. The advice about not calling the embassy is wrong. DOS sometimes gives information that is incorrect and the embassy has the most current/correct information.

Many times the embassy will not return emails to the petitioner or beneficiary but they will return emails to a Congressman or Senator.

Writing to the Ambassador of her embassy got one friend's husband out of AP and he got his visa.

I have a friend that is going through the embassy in London. She sent an important email and they didn't respond. She had to call them to find out information about her case.

The one thing I did not agree with was not contacting as senator to put in a congressional inquiry after being in AP. I believe that you should contact a senator, if there is an inquiry done at least the consulate knows that the case is being followed up on by someone other than the petitioner and applicant.

[Darnell 8,478]

Thanks so much for posting this . AP in London is rare, but your experience mirrors the other experiences I've read about.

Thanks for writing it all in 'one post' as most of the others' experience was posted in a disjoint fashion, over a long period of time.

I hope others will read your post and have a better understanding from A to Z about it.

Thanks !

Hi VJ

I thought it would be useful for other people to be aware of Additional Processing (also known as Administrative Processing or just AP). I had a smooth process for the K1 filing. There is a fantastic guide on here that tells you EVERYTHING you need to do in order for your K1 visa petition to go through first time (http://www.visajourn.../content/k1flow). The key thing is follow every single step of it to the word. I did this and sailed through the first part of it.[snip]