B2 VISA-Muslim from UK. Please advise.

[F.Sheikh 0]

My fellow humans,

I had my interview at the US Embassy in London on 03/11/2016. I provided all the relevant information that was required including:

-ACRO Police Certificate [No Live Trace]

-Due to it being "No Live Trace", I completed the VCU-1 form based on the dates of my cautions provided by The Police.

I also had many other documents such as itinery for travel, wage slips, work authorisation to travel and confirmation of return to work and also addresses I would be staying at in USA. The lady who interviewed me did not ask for any of these.

After some questions like "Why did you visit Saudi Arabia?" And "why did you visit Egypt" which I answered. The lady told me I needed to get details of the crimes I had committed which I stated were on the VCU-1 form that she has in her possession. She then told me to give ACRO authorisation for them to be contacted by the US Embassy which again I confirmed I had already done so and had an email confirmation. She did not give a satisfactory response as it made no sense. The police confirmed that they already have my authorisation on file. she retuned my passport advising me to wait for contact from them at which point I will have to send my passport to them if approved. She gave me a letter which advised me to provide authorisation to the police to be contacted by the US Embassy.

On the CEAC site it states:

"Your visa case is currently undergoing necessary administrative processing. This processing can take several weeks. Please follow any instructions provided by the Consular Officer at the time of your interview. If further information is needed, you will be contacted. If your visa application is approved, it will be processed and mailed/available within two...."

The fact that it wasn't denied during my interview I am taking as a good sign.

My questions are:

1: Is this normal?

2: Do you think my name "Faisal Sheikh" and my travels to Muslim countries are the real reason behind the delay?

3: What happens next?

I hope someone can help/advise me further.

Regards.

[JFH 12,191]

1. Normal for your situation (Muslim name, convictions, previous travel to MENA countries, male and young?).

2. Yes.

3. You wait for an answer from them. Could take days. Could take weeks.

[mindthegap 2,599]

I can give you the benefit of my experience, having done my CR-1 visa with a single spent caution from more than a decade before.

As you have now found out, the ACRO certificate puts no live trace even for spent convictions/cautions. Having no live trace means the embassy will want to see exactly what is in your past.

You need to request a subject access report - note that this is NOT the same as the ACRO police check that you already have.

The subject access report will detail your cautions/convictions, right down to the serial number of your DNA samples. This is what they have asked for your permission to access - just cut out the middleman and apply yourself, then send it to the embassy with a letter or make another appointment if possible.

I handed mine over at my interview with my police certificate, they took a copy, checked that the name and details matched, and had no further issues. Approved on the spot.

Click here: https://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx

Edited November 7, 2016 by mindthegap

[F.Sheikh 0]

Thank you for your respones.

The problem is that I did not have enough time to obtain a SAR so I was advised to complete a VCU-1 form and note down dates and times of any cautions etc which would then be verified with ACRO etc. Even though this was done and I provided a completed VCU-1 at the interview and had already given ACRO authorisation to confirm any info with the US Embassy, I was advised to do it again! That's what made no sense to me. It's like asking me to do something I had already done and the proof was in her hand. All they had to say was that they would confirm my info with ACRO.

Hope that makes sense.

I personally believe it had nothing to do with the ACRO but they need to further look into my common Muslim name etc.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

It's both. They need to see what the cautions were for, too.

[KierenHby 899]

1: Is this normal?

2: Do you think my name "Faisal Sheikh" and my travels to Muslim countries are the real reason behind the delay?

3: What happens next?

It happens.

'Bad' groups apparently recruit heavily in your country, and your profile and travel pattern seem to fit several criterion certain groups desire in a recruit.

You wait.

[mindthegap 2,599]

I personally believe it had nothing to do with the ACRO but they need to further look into my common Muslim name etc.

A mixture of both, but I would say that is predominantly your no live trace that is causing the hold up - given she specifically asked you about this aspect.

The VCU-1 form is just that - a form that you have filled in, but the information still needs to be verified by them - this is an absolute prerequisite for any visa issuance for anyone with trace or no live trace.

My instructions when I did it were very clear that I needed to provide documentation showing any criminal past, which the subject access report did in full. Had you provided this at your interview, assuming no other issues you may well have been approved there and then.

As you are seemingly running into data protection issues now whereby they cannot access your data / computer says no, why not just apply yourself and give it to them? Its only a tenner, and I seem to recall paying extra for a premium service and I had it very quickly.

Regarding your ethnicity and/or travel patterns, the FBI will have run their own extensive checks in the background separately, independent of the visa or embassy process.

Edited November 7, 2016 by mindthegap

[F.Sheikh 0]

A mixture of both, but I would say that is predominantly your no live trace that is causing the hold up - given she specifically asked you about this aspect.

The VCU-1 form is just that - a form that you have filled in, but the information still needs to be verified by them - this is an absolute prerequisite for any visa issuance for anyone with trace or no live trace.

My instructions when I did it were very clear that I needed to provide documentation showing any criminal past, which the subject access report did in full. Had you provided this at your interview, assuming no other issues you may well have been approved there and then.

As you are seemingly running into data protection issues now whereby they cannot access your data / computer says no, why not just apply yourself and give it to them? Its only a tenner, and I seem to recall paying extra for a premium service and I had it very quickly.

Regarding your ethnicity and/or travel patterns, the FBI will have run their own extensive checks in the background separately, independent of the visa or embassy process.

I see what you mean. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to get hold of the subject access report and this is something I would have done since I have forked out much, a tenner would have made little difference. The good news is that today I spoke to ACRO and they confirmed that they have had contact with the embassy and confirmed the information as per the VCU-1 form. I'm hoping this would now speed things up.