Can't check CEAC for AP status for DV

[moamzia 0]

Hi all

I had my interview on 14th of July for DV 2015 program.

I feel like my interview went really weird and unexpected (compared to what I expected by reading forums here). First of all the officer didn't even ask for proof of funds and when I insisted to give him my docs, he refused and said I'll be fine.

The officer gave me the 221g form for further administrative process. And he told me I need to send him an email with all the questions in the red paper that has 221g AP attached to it. And then he gave back my passport and said I need to wait for them to do AP and then email me then I need to bring my passport to another location than the embassy and that I won't need to go to embassy again at all (I thought they'd hold on to the passport and just do the AP and then contact me when visa is ready).

I emailed him the questions' answers immediately that day and then he replied thanks.

Then after a week, I thought I should be able to check the status of my AP process online somewhere when I found CEAC official website that requires a case number with 3 letters in beginning (which is not the same as the case number we have for Diversity visa).

So I email the embassy and asked if they were supposed to give a new case number so I can check my status in CEAC, or I need to wait for CEAC to email me a case number. Surprisingly, they replied and said that "Unfortunately, DV case numbers do not have 3 letters in front, so you need to check the status by emailing us and your case is still in pending for further AP".

Is this normal?! I've seen many people talking about checking their visa application on CEAC. Has anyone been through or heard of such a case as mine? And could this in ANY way be a good sign that they don't want to do the loooong AP in NVC that takes months to finish?

Thanks in advance .

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Hi all

I had my interview on 14th of July for DV 2015 program.

I feel like my interview went really weird and unexpected (compared to what I expected by reading forums here). First of all the officer didn't even ask for proof of funds and when I insisted to give him my docs, he refused and said I'll be fine.

The officer gave me the 221g form for further administrative process. And he told me I need to send him an email with all the questions in the red paper that has 221g AP attached to it. And then he gave back my passport and said I need to wait for them to do AP and then email me then I need to bring my passport to another location than the embassy and that I won't need to go to embassy again at all (I thought they'd hold on to the passport and just do the AP and then contact me when visa is ready).

I emailed him the questions' answers immediately that day and then he replied thanks.

Then after a week, I thought I should be able to check the status of my AP process online somewhere when I found CEAC official website that requires a case number with 3 letters in beginning (which is not the same as the case number we have for Diversity visa).

So I email the embassy and asked if they were supposed to give a new case number so I can check my status in CEAC, or I need to wait for CEAC to email me a case number. Surprisingly, they replied and said that "Unfortunately, DV case numbers do not have 3 letters in front, so you need to check the status by emailing us and your case is still in pending for further AP".

Is this normal?! I've seen many people talking about checking their visa application on CEAC. Has anyone been through or heard of such a case as mine? And could this in ANY way be a good sign that they don't want to do the loooong AP in NVC that takes months to finish?

Thanks in advance .

CEAC can be a poor means to check, it relies on accurate and timely updates by overworked consular employees and is not always up to date.

Can you share what embassy you interviewed at, if it is in the same country as your country of chargeability, and what kind of questions they wanted answers for for the AP? There are many different types of AP so it's difficult to give a blanket answer.

[upkilo 6]

I'm not sure about the 3 letters you mentioned, you can check with you DV number I do it all the time ( here is the direct link https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=o/iS8zDpeAKjMWCuebHqOw==) I'm in AP too it's been 75 days now for me, but my case improved, I just contacted the consulate today and after 5 minutes the date changed to today date, it seems when even the case is opened the date is changed.

[moamzia 0]

CEAC can be a poor means to check, it relies on accurate and timely updates by overworked consular employees and is not always up to date.

Can you share what embassy you interviewed at, if it is in the same country as your country of chargeability, and what kind of questions they wanted answers for for the AP? There are many different types of AP so it's difficult to give a blanket answer.

I was interviewed in Malaysia and I'm from Iran.

The questions were very basic questions like parents name/birthday and such. There were 14 questions that only 11 or 12 of them were applicable to me. And most of them were already answered in the DS260 form.

I know as an Iranian probably I shouldn't be raising my hope at all as I have just 2 months left for my AP to get through along with visa printing process. But since my case seems a bit strange and different than other interviewees in this forum (even compared with other Iranians), I thought I ask you guys and see if there's any hope

[moamzia 0]

I'm not sure about the 3 letters you mentioned, you can check with you DV number I do it all the time ( here is the direct link https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?eQs=o/iS8zDpeAKjMWCuebHqOw==) I'm in AP too it's been 75 days now for me, but my case improved, I just contacted the consulate today and after 5 minutes the date changed to today date, it seems when even the case is opened the date is changed.

Hmm, are you referring to the ordinary Case number for DV that we all get? Because I'm pretty sure that starts with the year for the DV program and following with 2 letters referring to the continent you're in and then a number. Like 2015AS0000XXXX. And I have tried the link before, it keeps telling me my case number is invalid and that it needs to have 3 letters in beginning.

[upkilo 6]

Hmm, are you referring to the ordinary Case number for DV that we all get? Because I'm pretty sure that starts with the year for the DV program and following with 2 letters referring to the continent you're in and then a number. Like 2015AS0000XXXX. And I have tried the link before, it keeps telling me my case number is invalid and that it needs to have 3 letters in beginning.

you should remove the Zero's ( like this 2015AFXXXXX)

[guestgulkan 9]

Hmm, are you referring to the ordinary Case number for DV that we all get? Because I'm pretty sure that starts with the year for the DV program and following with 2 letters referring to the continent you're in and then a number. Like 2015AS0000XXXX. And I have tried the link before, it keeps telling me my case number is invalid and that it needs to have 3 letters in beginning.

Yeh take out the zeros and try again.

[moamzia 0]

Yeh take out the zeros and try again.

you should remove the Zero's ( like this 2015AFXXXXX)

Got it! Thanks a lot guys!

But one question regarding the whole process. As I wrote in my first post, the officer didn't take my passport. He returned me my passport and told me I don't need to go to the embassy again after AP is processed. He gave me a business card which has just a URL to www.ustraveldocs.com/my/ telling me I should bring my passport "there" which I'm not sure where. I didn't ask him as I didn't check the card at the time of interview since I was nervous, I thought it has an address on it and that's where he meant I should take my passport to. But there's no address on the card nor the website.

Have you guys heard of any scenario like this? If... just IF my AP finishes before 30th of September (fingers crossed), what do I do?

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Got it! Thanks a lot guys!

But one question regarding the whole process. As I wrote in my first post, the officer didn't take my passport. He returned me my passport and told me I don't need to go to the embassy again after AP is processed. He gave me a business card which has just a URL to www.ustraveldocs.com/my/ telling me I should bring my passport "there" which I'm not sure where. I didn't ask him as I didn't check the card at the time of interview since I was nervous, I thought it has an address on it and that's where he meant I should take my passport to. But there's no address on the card nor the website.

Have you guys heard of any scenario like this? If... just IF my AP finishes before 30th of September (fingers crossed), what do I do?

Sounds like the courier company they use to return passports to applicants. Did you go on the website and see if they either list an option that sounds suitable for you, or alternatively have a phone or email contact to ask for help? If you're not sure what to do I think you should call or mail in advance to find out rather than potentially waste time in getting your passport back to them later.

[moamzia 0]

Sounds like the courier company they use to return passports to applicants. Did you go on the website and see if they either list an option that sounds suitable for you, or alternatively have a phone or email contact to ask for help? If you're not sure what to do I think you should call or mail in advance to find out rather than potentially waste time in getting your passport back to them later.

Hmm.. that is true. I just emailed them and explained the situation. I'll write their response here in case someone else had the same case as me.

[moamzia 0]

Alright, this is what happened:

I emailed www.ustraveldocs.com/my/ support email provided in the website explaining my situation and what the officer in interview did and told me. They replied that they can't help me because they don't handle Immigrant visa types and that I need to contact the embassy directly myself.

So I email the embassy and explained again and ask them what's the procedure after the AP is done. They just replied that once my AP is done they'll give me instructions for drop off location and such.

idk, but I'm getting this feeling that they think my AP won't finish in time so it doesn't worth the effort to keep the passport and all.. And the fact that they didn't even ask for my financial support also makes this feeling stronger ..

Anyways, I'm just hoping it can finish on time.

Thanks for all replies guys.

[guestgulkan 9]

Got it! Thanks a lot guys!

But one question regarding the whole process. As I wrote in my first post, the officer didn't take my passport. He returned me my passport and told me I don't need to go to the embassy again after AP is processed. He gave me a business card which has just a URL to www.ustraveldocs.com/my/ telling me I should bring my passport "there" which I'm not sure where. I didn't ask him as I didn't check the card at the time of interview since I was nervous, I thought it has an address on it and that's where he meant I should take my passport to. But there's no address on the card nor the website.

Have you guys heard of any scenario like this? If... just IF my AP finishes before 30th of September (fingers crossed), what do I do?

The Australian embassy use the same website. I suspect you misunderstood / misheard what he said since it doesn't make sense..