I find myself in AP, as a UK born, White male.

[Mike K D 1]

As the topic title might suggest, I find myself having been put into AP, despite being a british born, white male, with no criminal history, and thus far a perfect case of filing. Everything went through in a timely manner, despite having to restart the process due to a silly mistake. But 14 months after beginning this process I was given my interview at the US Embassy London, having been given only a days notice! I received my interview letter on the 11th of October, to be at the Embassy for 8am on the 12th! This was very doable, as I don't live far. The interview went very smoothly and the CO took my passport, notified me that I was approved and to pay the courier, 3-5 days, etc etc...

All of this went smoothly, and a week to the day after having been approved, I called DOS only to find that I had been put into AP. I have dredged my thoughts for a a reason, and know that the issue cannot be with myself. I was employed by a british police service for the past three years, and am an entirely clean and honest beneficiary in this process. My fiancee has never been in trouble with the law, and she too has no reason to flag any of the systems. Neither of us has a middle eastern or asian sounding name, however I do have a very LONG name, with three middle names. The only issue I can see being and issue, is that my father has a historic police record for drugs related offences, and if they were to have run his name through the database following viewing of my birth certificate [They already had his full details from several previous forms...], that this might has spurred the red flags to spring.

As I say, we've been going through this process for 14 months now, and the relief at hearing we had at long last been approved was indescribable. To have that snatched away, and to be launched into the swirling purgatory of AP has knocked both of us for six, and left us feeling downcast. We were looking forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas together, albeit closely missing her birthday. "But that was alright!" we thought, naively. "I'll be home soon!".

This is not the case. If anyone can shed any light on the situation, it would be greatly appreciated, as I have seen reports of AP spanning a week through 5 years. That is a timeframe thats hard to cope with. Having not found anyone on here yet in this same situation, I am stuck for answers, which I know are few and far between in the matter of AP.

Many thanks in advance for your help and advice!

Mike

[canadian_wife 1,822]

Being from the UK it is unlikely that you will be in AP for 5 years.

It may be that you have a similar name or same name as someone and they are doing additional background checks to verify. AP, although not totally common, does happen in the US, have you posted this in the regional forum?

Good luck

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

First off, it's only been 5 working days and others have taken 10. The words "administrative process" at DOS can mean shuffling papers, printing the visa, efc. ..just normal processing. If your dad's record is being investigated, hopefully it's all UK based so shouldn't take much time. It's when info must come from other countries that it slows down. So put your grief on hold for a week and see what happens. It might not be nearly as bad as it seems. I only know of one white Brit that went months with no clue as to what could have triggered the wait. The VJ name was Treehugger and she dropped out so we never heard how long it took or if she got her visa.

[TigerFlower 61]

Hope it's cleared for you very quickly, and only a matter of processing.

[Mike K D 1]

Thank you for the replies on this one folks! It really does make a difference to know that yes, I will miss the flight we overenthusiastically booked before having visa in hand... But that in all, the chances of this becoming a serious and extended issue, are statistically minimal. For any who are interested, we called DoS again today, with no movement on the status of the visa. However, the operator assured us that Administrative Processing can genuinely sometimes be just that, and isn't always the black hole it can come across as! Holding on to faith here and putting a smile on!

It'll give me a little while longer to do my goodbyes, too!

[Craazy 0]

goodluck hope it goes well ..

[TBoneTX 45,288]

Keep the faith, si man. It could simply be that they're checking all combinations of your names.

Your elegant British English is a pleasure to read, and you know how to turn a phrase. I'm especially struck by "launched into the swirling purgatory of AP." Such expressive literacy is refreshing to encounter on VJ, and if you're not an author, you should be, si man.

[Mike K D 1]

You know what? That really could have something to it. The name combination matter had never struck me, but makes perfect sense on second thought. My Fiancee also had a consultation with an immigration lawyer, who said that it may be down to the fact that we had filed before but were denied [as we didn't follow instructions properly, and sent NO evidence with the original form. That was a hell of a way to burn $360]. This could lead to duplicates on their systems, and a bit of clear up.

As for my writing, thank you! I dabble here and there with it, and would love to one day write professionally. However, for the time being, I do it for the love of the act.

[scotinmass 588]

It only goes to show that our American cousins aren't racist and don't just investigate those nasty foreign colored chaps!

[Mike K D 1]

For all who care at all, our AP got cleared today after two weeks. Beyond elated! Many thanks to you all for your support and clear, objective advice. It helped more than you could know.

[ca_babe 129]

For all who care at all, our AP got cleared today after two weeks. Beyond elated! Many thanks to you all for your support and clear, objective advice. It helped more than you could know.

Congrats to you, UK born, white male!

[TigerFlower 61]

Congratulations!!

[Pinkrlion 2,719]

As the topic title might suggest, I find myself having been put into AP, despite being a british born, white male, with no criminal history, and thus far a perfect case of filing. Everything went through in a timely manner, despite having to restart the process due to a silly mistake. But 14 months after beginning this process I was given my interview at the US Embassy London, having been given only a days notice! I received my interview letter on the 11th of October, to be at the Embassy for 8am on the 12th! This was very doable, as I don't live far. The interview went very smoothly and the CO took my passport, notified me that I was approved and to pay the courier, 3-5 days, etc etc...

All of this went smoothly, and a week to the day after having been approved, I called DOS only to find that I had been put into AP. I have dredged my thoughts for a a reason, and know that the issue cannot be with myself. I was employed by a british police service for the past three years, and am an entirely clean and honest beneficiary in this process. My fiancee has never been in trouble with the law, and she too has no reason to flag any of the systems. Neither of us has a middle eastern or asian sounding name, however I do have a very LONG name, with three middle names. The only issue I can see being and issue, is that my father has a historic police record for drugs related offences, and if they were to have run his name through the database following viewing of my birth certificate [They already had his full details from several previous forms...], that this might has spurred the red flags to spring.

As I say, we've been going through this process for 14 months now, and the relief at hearing we had at long last been approved was indescribable. To have that snatched away, and to be launched into the swirling purgatory of AP has knocked both of us for six, and left us feeling downcast. We were looking forward to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas together, albeit closely missing her birthday. "But that was alright!" we thought, naively. "I'll be home soon!".

This is not the case. If anyone can shed any light on the situation, it would be greatly appreciated, as I have seen reports of AP spanning a week through 5 years. That is a timeframe thats hard to cope with. Having not found anyone on here yet in this same situation, I am stuck for answers, which I know are few and far between in the matter of AP.

Many thanks in advance for your help and advice!

Mike

Congrats! Everyone regardless of what consulate goes through AP.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

The title and topic is witten by someone who doesn't understand what AP is.

Being white as you say and a male doesn't exclude you from security checks. Security check could be made because your name may have hit up against a security. Maybe your own country have you flagged.

[Mike K D 1]

The title and topic is witten by someone who doesn't understand what AP is.

Being white as you say and a male doesn't exclude you from security checks. Security check could be made because your name may have hit up against a security. Maybe your own country have you flagged.

Just to clarify; I wasn't saying that my gender, ethnicity or country of birth SHOULD have anything to do with whether or not I went into AP, but, unfortunately I know that it actually does. I was posting here in an attempt to understand or at least narrow down the possibilities as to why I would have been placed into AP. I'm truly sorry if I offended anyone with this, but it wasn't ever my intention.

As for my understanding of AP, you are correct, I didn't fully understand this part of the process, hence my posting here at VJ. I've seen just how valuable a tool this website can be, and was simply asking for help with further understanding my situation. Again, no offence, or presumption of knowledge was ever intended.