New Islamabad AP-Tracker, Part II

[Analyst 7]

Congrats Sam&Waq

[Cute Wife 0]

Congrats sam&waq really happy for you and thanks for the best wishes for all of us.

[Analyst 7]

When did you guys submitted last fresh medical and other docs ?

After 13 months and 1 week of AP, my husband's visa is issued today - Alhamdulliah.

We started our journey 25 months ago by filing the cr-1 petition. It took 8 months for the I-30 approval. VSC was really slow back then (not sure about now). We breezed though the NVC part because we had everything prepared in advance. I thought it would all be down hill from there. That was the hardest part of the whole process. Little did I know about the words: administrative processing. Someone here at some point stated that I wish someone had looked me in the eye and told me what to expect so I would have prepared myself for the hell I was going to be put thru.

After one year of the filing of the petition, my husband had his interview on March 8th of 2013. Everything went smoothly but of course he was put in administrative processing. Our case is/was straight forward. We are both young adults in our mid 20s. No age difference, same religion, same nationality, recent grads (no extensive work history), taxes well above poverty line hence no need of co-sponsor, etc. The only thing that comes to my mind that would be considered a red flag is that we went to Dubai for our honeymoon after two weeks of our wedding (which also sums up my husband's travel history outside the country). If I had known that this is something that could be used against us, I would have just opted to stay in Pakistan. Also, they asked my husband why I had stayed in Pakistan for such a short period of time (3 weeks after the wedding)? So he told them it was because of work. I went back within the same year (2012) for 2 weeks for his birthday and then a month in December (2013) just now.

After the interview on March 8, 2013, our case updated almost every day for a week until March 14th and then it stopped exactly for one year. No update for a year on it's own (unless I or a senator or whoever contacted them). My case was on hold collecting dust. How could no one touch our file for a year?! I always wondered if something was wrong with us and our case? Should have I stayed in Pakistan longer after the marriage? Should have I hired an attorney? Should have I done something different? If it weren't for this place and the people here, I can't imagine what this process would have done to me. The users MizzUSA and Raynj (their husbands) had their interviews two days before mine. And their cases always seemed stronger than mine. They had both stayed longer in Pakistan than I did and both have a kid. So then it might not be my case? Just keeping in touch with them and all the other wonderful people here helped so much.

After exactly one year of being in AP, my case updated on March 14 of 2014. That was the day when almost everyone had an update so I figured it was nothing. However, then it updated again on March 26 on American time and then Pakistani timing on March 27. Then the ball got rolling. We got asked for new documents. Got finger prints and oath date within a week. More updates followed while we waited. Husband went for his finger prints and oath on April 16. He submitted his medical report and did the finger prints. He was told congratulations and that he will receive the visa/passport in 7-10 days but the status still read AP. But if says issued today.

I'm excited for my husband and myself but it's also bitter sweet since there are so many deserving people here (and many that don't post here) who have been waiting for longer than I did. My prayers are with everyone. May Allah help each one of us and make things easier, Ameen.

P.S: I documented all of my updates (from the interview date to now). If anyone's interested in it, I will be happy to post it.

[bestluck 71]

Congratulations to all that got their visas issued this month!! pleae praying for me guys

[carolynhotstuff 252]

Congratulations Sam&Wag I know how happy and excited you both must be but also shocked to finally see issued. He will have his passport and visa packet very quickly.

After waiting so many years my husband couldn't believe it said issued. He didn't trust the embassy because they had made so many mistakes with our case. He didn't believe it until 2 days later when he had the visa in hand. We only had a visa that was good for 1 month so he put a move on and got to the United States in 2 weeks. He has been here 2 months and we are still waiting for his green card. His social security card came in 1 week but the Social Security Administration is a different agency than Department of State and USCIS. I think DOS and USCIS employees think they get paid to make mistakes. Anyway I called and they have a record of the payment for the green card but no record of anything else. They sent a service request to the Texas Service Center to find out what is wrong and I should hear back in 2 weeks. I thought we were finally finished with these people for 10 years or when my husband decides to file for citizenship.

So I am writing this to let you guys know that it's not over until you have the green card in hand also.

[Sam&Waq 3]

When did you guys submitted last fresh medical and other docs ?

Analyst, I submitted the DS-260 on April 5th of this months. I just emailed the embassy with the confirmation. We never submitted the medical and photos. They asked my husband to bring it with him at the finger prints and oath yesterday.

[Sam&Waq 3]

Congratulations Sam&Wag I know how happy and excited you both must be but also shocked to finally see issued. He will have his passport and visa packet very quickly.

After waiting so many years my husband couldn't believe it said issued. He didn't trust the embassy because they had made so many mistakes with our case. He didn't believe it until 2 days later when he had the visa in hand. We only had a visa that was good for 1 month so he put a move on and got to the United States in 2 weeks. He has been here 2 months and we are still waiting for his green card. His social security card came in 1 week but the Social Security Administration is a different agency than Department of State and USCIS. I think DOS and USCIS employees think they get paid to make mistakes. Anyway I called and they have a record of the payment for the green card but no record of anything else. They sent a service request to the Texas Service Center to find out what is wrong and I should hear back in 2 weeks. I thought we were finally finished with these people for 10 years or when my husband decides to file for citizenship.

So I am writing this to let you guys know that it's not over until you have the green card in hand also.

Carolyn, that's crazy. I was sort of relieved that I won't have to worry about the conditional green card issue now that it has been more than two years. I didn't realize that there was also a battle with the regular card. Thanks for letting us know. Now at least I will be prepared. I wish all these departments would get their act together and stop screwing with people's lives.

P.S: Thank you.

[Sam&Waq 3]

Thank you everyone.

This is something that I forgot to add but my husband said that there were 7-10 males yesterday (along with some families) at the embassy for finger prints and oath. They were all issued a visa. He said that he spoke to few of the guys...and in exception to maybe three...the rest of them claimed to have submitted the medical more than 3 times. It reminded me of some of the users here like soccer player, maabish etc. You guys are not alone. There are others too and some of those people got their visas. Inshallah you guys are next in the line. I don't know how the embassy works but there is hope. Chin up.

[maabish 2]

Analyst, I submitted the DS-260 on April 5th of this months. I just emailed the embassy with the confirmation. We never submitted the medical and photos. They asked my husband to bring it with him at the finger prints and oath yesterday.

Did you submit ds 260 on embassy request or at ur own.I submitted already ds230 shouldi submit 260 now or wait for their call

[Sam&Waq 3]

Did you submit ds 260 on embassy request or at ur own.I submitted already ds230 shouldi submit 260 now or wait for their call

No, the embassy emailed me on April 1st asking me to submit the DS-260 and prepare the medical and two photos. They told me to mail them the confirmation of DS-260 and inform them that the medical has been prepared.

Wait for the embassy to ask you.

[Mohsin786 23]

A hearty congrats to Sam&waq Inshallah visa will be in your hands soon, now you have to start the travelling preparations.

[Junaid 0]

After 13 months and 1 week of AP, my husband's visa is issued today - Alhamdulliah.

We started our journey 25 months ago by filing the cr-1 petition. It took 8 months for the I-30 approval. VSC was really slow back then (not sure about now). We breezed though the NVC part because we had everything prepared in advance. I thought it would all be down hill from there. That was the hardest part of the whole process. Little did I know about the words: administrative processing. Someone here at some point stated that I wish someone had looked me in the eye and told me what to expect so I would have prepared myself for the hell I was going to be put thru.

After one year of the filing of the petition, my husband had his interview on March 8th of 2013. Everything went smoothly but of course he was put in administrative processing. Our case is/was straight forward. We are both young adults in our mid 20s. No age difference, same religion, same nationality, recent grads (no extensive work history), taxes well above poverty line hence no need of co-sponsor, etc. The only thing that comes to my mind that would be considered a red flag is that we went to Dubai for our honeymoon after two weeks of our wedding (which also sums up my husband's travel history outside the country). If I had known that this is something that could be used against us, I would have just opted to stay in Pakistan. Also, they asked my husband why I had stayed in Pakistan for such a short period of time (3 weeks after the wedding)? So he told them it was because of work. I went back within the same year (2012) for 2 weeks for his birthday and then a month in December (2013) just now.

After the interview on March 8, 2013, our case updated almost every day for a week until March 14th and then it stopped exactly for one year. No update for a year on it's own (unless I or a senator or whoever contacted them). My case was on hold collecting dust. How could no one touch our file for a year?! I always wondered if something was wrong with us and our case? Should have I stayed in Pakistan longer after the marriage? Should have I hired an attorney? Should have I done something different? If it weren't for this place and the people here, I can't imagine what this process would have done to me. The users MizzUSA and Raynj (their husbands) had their interviews two days before mine. And their cases always seemed stronger than mine. They had both stayed longer in Pakistan than I did and both have a kid. So then it might not be my case? Just keeping in touch with them and all the other wonderful people here helped so much.

After exactly one year of being in AP, my case updated on March 14 of 2014. That was the day when almost everyone had an update so I figured it was nothing. However, then it updated again on March 26 on American time and then Pakistani timing on March 27. Then the ball got rolling. We got asked for new documents. Got finger prints and oath date within a week. More updates followed while we waited. Husband went for his finger prints and oath on April 16. He submitted his medical report and did the finger prints. He was told congratulations and that he will receive the visa/passport in 7-10 days but the status still read AP. But if says issued today.

I'm excited for my husband and myself but it's also bitter sweet since there are so many deserving people here (and many that don't post here) who have been waiting for longer than I did. My prayers are with everyone. May Allah help each one of us and make things easier, Ameen.

P.S: I documented all of my updates (from the interview date to now). If anyone's interested in it, I will be happy to post it.

dear many many congrats (i m more then 11 months APiet)

[rayanj 0]

Congratulation sam&waq

[APKartoos 2]

Analyst, I submitted the DS-260 on April 5th of this months. I just emailed the embassy with the confirmation. We never submitted the medical and photos. They asked my husband to bring it with him at the finger prints and oath yesterday.

Sam&Waq congratulation to you for receiving visa and welcome to USA.

My wife had also interview in March 2013. I think Embassy is working on older cases now. Our case was updated on March 13, 2014 then April 11, 15 and again today April 17, 2014. lf this trend continue, I hope my wife will receive call or email soon from Embassy to submit DS260 and other documents. My wife's medical expired in Feb. 2014. To date Embassy has not requested new medical any other document, such as DS260.

My question is, when Embassy request for submission of DS260 online. Can I go online and submit DS260 on her behalf or she has to do it online?

Today I called NVC the very first time. What a disappointment? NVC have no information about may case other than the case is in AP. This piece of information I know for the last 13 months.

[Sam&Waq 3]

Thank you Mohsin, Junaid and Ray. May Allah make things easier for all of you guys.

Sam&Waq congratulation to you for receiving visa and welcome to USA.

My wife had also interview in March 2013. I think Embassy is working on older cases now. Our case was updated on March 13, 2014 then April 11, 15 and again today April 17, 2014. lf this trend continue, I hope my wife will receive call or email soon from Embassy to submit DS260 and other documents. My wife's medical expired in Feb. 2014. To date Embassy has not requested new medical any other document, such as DS260.

My question is, when Embassy request for submission of DS260 online. Can I go online and submit DS260 on her behalf or she has to do it online?

Today I called NVC the very first time. What a disappointment? NVC have no information about may case other than the case is in AP. This piece of information I know for the last 13 months.

Oh, that's good that your case is getting the updates. As stated in my previous post, my case didn't update on it's own for an exact one year and then I got an update on March 14, then March 26. The update on March 26 was in American time and I feel like this one date cleared every thing for us. Everything happened just so fast that we were asked to submit new stuff and issued a visa within 20 days.

To answer your question about the DS-260, I read on this forum that you can sign in as the beneficiary and submit the DS-260 on behalf of your spouse and children abroad and it's okay. There is a part at the end of the DS-260 that asks who helped you fill out the form and you can fill out your information (I believe lawyers do the same and fill their information in that part). That being said, I was really scared and didn't want to risk anything so I filled out everything. You have the option of saving each step and reviewing and changing things. Once I filled and saved everything, I asked my husband to go online and just hit submit and that's what he did. It took him 5 minutes. Maybe you can do the same if you are not comfortable with the idea of signing your wife's name.

NVC is usually unhelpful since they don't give out a lot of information which can be frustrating. Just hang in there I guess. In the one year when I did not get my updates, I had written to both senators of my state (multiple times), congressman, David E. Donahue (Deputy of Assistant Secretary of DOS), Richard G. Olsen (ambassador) and the White House (twice) -- and they all told me what I already that the case is in AP and I will be contacted once it's done. So don't be discouraged. Things will work out inshallah.