F1 visa administrative processing times

[MaryVic 0]

Hi all!

I had an interview at the US embassy in Cairo on May 30th. I am applying for an F1 visa as I want to pursue my PhD studies in the US. The VC asked me about my research background, the universities I applied to, etc. Then, he took my CV and told me that there is some administrative processing that needs to be done. He said it will take 1-2 months. It has been 2 months and 13 days now. Checking online forums, I understand now that this shouldn't necessarily be the case.

- I would like to know other people's experiences with administrative processing on F1 visa, more specifically how long it took.

- Secondly, my case status update date is the same as my interview (May 30th), is it true that if the update date is not changed for some time (3-5 months), then the case will be cleared and labeled as no record?

Thank you! and really appreciate your feedback!

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

****** Moving from K1 fiance visa to F1 student visa forum ******

[Hesham. 0]

My F1 AP case is under administrative processing for 98 days now. I made my interview on the 26th of July 2016 at the US embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Was your case resolved? if yes, how much time did you wait?

[MaryVic 0]

Hi Hesham,

I received an email from the consular office that my case was resolved about 80 days after I did my interview on May 30th. I sent my passport and then received it about one week later. Contacting the Aramex office yourself and asking if they got your passport back from the embassy can save you a few days when you are waiting for your passport. In my case, those few days were crucial.
Till that happened, there were no updates about my status or any contact from the embassy. I'd use this website for updates: (https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/) not the embassy one as that one still said 'AP' even after I got my passport back. I am not sure if that really influenced my case or not but I sent the consular office emails about my case and the date when I need to be in the US. I didn't manage to make it by that date though. But things thankfully worked as my department was understanding.

Hopefully, you will get it in the end. You just need to wait it out.

Best of luck!

[Hesham. 0]

Hi Hesham,

I received an email from the consular office that my case was resolved about 80 days after I did my interview on May 30th. I sent my passport and then received it about one week later. Contacting the Aramex office yourself and asking if they got your passport back from the embassy can save you a few days when you are waiting for your passport. In my case, those few days were crucial.

Till that happened, there were no updates about my status or any contact from the embassy. I'd use this website for updates: (https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/) not the embassy one as that one still said 'AP' even after I got my passport back. I am not sure if that really influenced my case or not but I sent the consular office emails about my case and the date when I need to be in the US. I didn't manage to make it by that date though. But things thankfully worked as my department was understanding.

Hopefully, you will get it in the end. You just need to wait it out.

Best of luck!

Thanks a lot for your reply. It is specially comforting to know that you got your visa from Cairo Consulate in the time frame between 2 and 6 months. Every case I know of was resolved in either less than 2 months or more than 6 months. I know someone who got her passport stamped with the visa in 2 days after the AP was concluded because she asked the consular office to deliver & receive her passport by hand in order not to miss her university deadline. I think I am going to ask for the same thing in case I ran short in time. I regularly email the consular office with my updates like when my university gave me a couple of extensions with new I-20s or when they deferred my admission to Spring'17. I also keep checking the embassy and the CEAC websites. After the 90th day however, the embassy's page showed this message:

You are kindly requested to send us an email on consularcaironiv@state.gov with the following format: [My case number ---- --- -- was submitted over 90 days ago and I have not received a response on it. Please, advise whether there is any additional information required of me.]

Ironically, when I sent them an email with the indicated message, I got the same reply that I always get: "Please note that your application is still undergoing mandatory administrative processing. There is no way to speed this up.... etc"

It was a huge mistake to decide to study in U.S. without prior knowledge of AP & visa delays. I actually went to study there a few years ago & the visa process was very smooth but now, It's so frustrating because I don't know any reasons for the delay & I have absolutely nothing to do about it. If the deadline for spring passed without my visa in hand, I will probably lose my scholarship & I'll have to cancel the whole thing and look for study opportunities elsewhere. I do wish to get my visa on time but if there is anything to learn from this experience, it will be to hope for the best and act for the worst.

[MaryVic 0]

Totally agree. Hope for the best and act for the worst. In my case, I had some guesses that it was because I was joining "the aerospace engineering department", though my topic had nothing to do with aerospace. So, they wanted to make sure that I am not a spy or anything. There is a whole list of fields under "TAL" (technology alert list). If the interviewer senses that you're doing something beyond his understanding, he/she just sends you for AP. Hopefully you get to make it in the spring. All the best.

[DCRI 0]

I know this is nearly 3 years old, but what eventually happened of your case @Hesham.? I'm in the same boat.. 56 days so far with no update, and I've already had to defer for one semester.

[Hesham. 0]

1 hour ago, DCRI said:

I know this is nearly 3 years old, but what eventually happened of your case @Hesham.? I'm in the same boat.. 56 days so far with no update, and I've already had to defer for one semester.

Just after the second semester started, I withdrew my visa application. A few days after that, they called me to tell me the visa was approved! They either did not really cancel my application or were just playing a mind game. I didn't care anyways as I have already taken the decision not go to the US.

[Ontarkie 14,221]

Zombie thread locked to further replies. Do Not Post in any more old threads  for your own questions.