Form DS-5535 'SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONS FOR VISA APPLICANTS'

[99balloons 12]

Monthly visa statistics for visas issued are here:

 https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-statistics/immigrant-visa-statistics/monthly-immigrant-visa-issuances.html

You can search by visa post or nationality. Each include visa types. Updates post each month.

 

And our latest US travel map from DOS is here: https://travelmaps.state.gov/TSGMap/?extent=-0.879381859,47.401628436,20.397707357,54.42135931

 

And here is the assessment of my spouses country, from which I returned in Dec (5th visit, we are married almost 4 years now, 4th anniversary is April). https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Mali.html  As usual our friends and DOS got it somehow wrong, it is a large country and the capital Bamako is even safe for our embassy... Ok whatever. This American of Northern European ancestry will continue to travel there every 6 months from now on, just because. The problem I have we are adjudicated by another U.S. embassy in neighbor country that does not have anyone to answer the phone, will answer email whenever they wish or not at all, does not have a drop box to give them routine documents (221g can be marked with anything). I often wondered if there was a medical or political emergency there, who is the embassy serving? Certainly not U.S. citizen. I am 55 years old. The nonsense I am being put through is if me and my spouse were 12 years old and lived in our parents basement.  Never mind that I am a successful IT professional for over 3 decades and my spouse is a world class musician.... Sorry I just had to vent. If you had to live through what DOS makes you go through, had a career when you wake up at 6 am to be in the office by 8:30 and not to have a meltdown because of what you read in the news and see that you need to draft your will to have a marriage?  While you spend the month of vacation you have to overseas to be with your spouse and family, hardly having a day off to take if sick, or even have a week off just to relax and take care of home remodeling?  Wow. I am thinking our next vacation should be Darfur, Somalia or whatever other red country DOS marks on the map.  I seriously doubt if we'd ever get an apology for being put through 4 years of hearbreak and thousands of dollars spent on Air France.... It is what it is. Everyone here is on the good humor of the embassy that is interviewing you.  Count your lucky stars if the CO is fair... Which brings me to another topic. Why does Bangladesh approve so many spouse visas in any month, while the country of Mali (my husband's) had US embassy only issue 510 immediate relatives (including spouses, parents and children) and 727 people in total for immigrant visas? That being 2014-2017 statistics!   4 years.  That folks, is the broken US immigration process. I wish someone in USG or some agency would take interest in this process and it's sorry statistics. Unfortunately, not a single politician  has any interest to do so. 

[Munazza 31]

7 hours ago, Saeed khn said:

Hello All!

Good to see the group is growing.

i have already post about the stuff I am personally coming across.

a brief description is.

that my parents went through an Interview at Islamabad (Pakistan)

january the 3rd 2018. They kept their passports and were approved.

my father received DS5535 the next day and we submitted the form on 8th of jan.

My father got his visa on 29 th of January.

however My Mom is still pending even after 6 weeks.

she wasn't asked for any documents or Ds5535.

and still in process. The CEAC website was saying AP till 29th of January.

Now it say READY for Interview ( which to my understanding is a glitch in the system ) 

the web inquiry says still in AP.

my question is..

WHICH KIND OF AP IS THIS?

AND HOW LONG IT COULD TAKE?

Because my father VISA is going to expire in 3 and a half months time.

please help if you have come across and have heard about a situation like this...

 

MY FATHER GOT CLEARED FROM DS5535 in 3 weeks .

so don't worry about the form this wouldn't last for years as some of the members are worried about the time frame..

thanks for your time...

 

 

 

She will get it soon, dont worry. Thanks for the sharing 👍

[MO&RA 22]

12 hours ago, Nextlevel said:

Its okay guys the key is not to lose faith, it will happen and when it does you probably won't be reading this forum anymore . Please do! do not leave the rest of us

 

On the other hand, administrative processing is within the consulate/embassy they are the one to decide when to look at the case and make a decision. Some cases go to Washington for an opinion (security check) but the final decision is made at the embassy

 

You all made it this far, do not look back. It is very close now.

 

Last thing: do not feel shy to follow up as it is your right to. What I do is every 30 days I send an inquiry to the embassy. Depending on how your local embassy works phone/email/contact us page may be the best way to get in touch with them

 

 

They told my husband that everything looks great and your file is very organized, But we need to get the final answer from Washington! 

 

 

Thanks for being positive. We sure need to update each other about our cases.  

[NLZZLN 6]

On 2/23/2018 at 2:44 AM, YoungPadawan said:

Oh wow, I'm sorry to hear that. Well,  getting ceac updates after submitting the form is definitely a good sign then. At least you know they've gotten it. And yes,  an update usually means that  somebody touched your file...  at least. But since you've said that you were already approved a year ago, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. It could take a few weeks,  but your visa is on its way :).  Were you asked to submit a new medical exam along with your passport? 

No not yet

[Mohammed1406 2]

No update since 10 DEC 2017 for F1 student visa (non immigrant ) I sent many emails I got almost the same answer

[Nextlevel 18]

anyone who gets an update please post it here and don't lose hope it will happen eventually

 

2 hours ago, Mohammed1406 said:

No update since 10 DEC 2017 for F1 student visa (non immigrant ) I sent many emails I got almost the same answer

What I understand is 60 days after the interview date if you contact them through the page you use to check the status (not the ceac website) theres the local embassy one like abudhabiniv.net there is a "contact us" on top if you applied in abu dhabi try sending them a message through there it was effective for someone I know personally who applied for a non-immigrant visa. After 60 days from the interview he messaged them through the contact us and he was told to schedule the second interview 2 days later

 

I hope it works out for you. I will continue sharing whatever information I get to make it easier. 

 

Sometimes its great to just hear from you even if there is no update

 

 

[Mohammed1406 2]

15 minutes ago, Nextlevel said:

anyone who gets an update please post it here and don't lose hope it will happen eventually

 

What I understand is 60 days after the interview date if you contact them through the page you use to check the status (not the ceac website) theres the local embassy one like abudhabiniv.net there is a "contact us" on top if you applied in abu dhabi try sending them a message through there it was effective for someone I know personally who applied for a non-immigrant visa. After 60 days from the interview he messaged them through the contact us and he was told to schedule the second interview 2 days later

 

I hope it works out for you. I will continue sharing whatever information I get to make it easier. 

 

Sometimes its great to just hear from you even if there is no update

Thanks bro for the information I sent to them a lot of emails I got the same answer so I have to wait

15 minutes ago, Nextlevel said:

 

 

[NLZZLN 6]

15 hours ago, Nextlevel said:

anyone who gets an update please post it here and don't lose hope it will happen eventually

 

What I understand is 60 days after the interview date if you contact them through the page you use to check the status (not the ceac website) theres the local embassy one like abudhabiniv.net there is a "contact us" on top if you applied in abu dhabi try sending them a message through there it was effective for someone I know personally who applied for a non-immigrant visa. After 60 days from the interview he messaged them through the contact us and he was told to schedule the second interview 2 days later

 

I hope it works out for you. I will continue sharing whatever information I get to make it easier. 

 

Sometimes its great to just hear from you even if there is no update

 

 

I emailed them like many times but reply. My case is at abu dhabi 🙁

[YoungPadawan 21]

Is the ceac website down today? 

[Munazza 31]

27 minutes ago, YoungPadawan said:

Is the ceac website down today? 

No.. It is working fine but i guess our lucks are down 🙁

[Nextlevel 18]

1 hour ago, NLZZLN said:

I emailed them like many times but reply. My case is at abu dhabi 🙁

keep the hopes up it has to happen eventually

[Waiting17 4]

Hello Everyone,

 

Guys whats the average processing time for DS 5535 form in pakistan? I have applied for a non immigrant visa in pakistan, Consular did approved my visa and its more than 5 months and the case is still in AP with no status updates at all. I reached out to the consulate couple of times but the only response i get is to wait. How long would this take if anyone have anything to share, please do so. Thank you

[yousef5 4]

11 minutes ago, Khan1985 said:

Hello Everyone,

 

Guys whats the average processing time for DS 5535 form in pakistan? I have applied for a non immigrant visa in pakistan, Consular did approved my visa and its more than 5 months and the case is still in AP with no status updates at all. I reached out to the consulate couple of times but the only response i get is to wait. How long would this take if anyone have anything to share, please do so. Thank you

Brother my wife’s interview was 10/29/2017 and we sent the Ds5535 November first until now the case on AP with only one time update which was nov 20 ... we all waiting and I hope we all get answer soon. What I heard from her the most time is from 10 days to 6 months but I’m not sure.

[Aziza 0]

On 2/25/2018 at 8:08 PM, Mohammed1406 said:

No update since 10 DEC 2017 for F1 student visa (non immigrant ) I sent many emails I got almost the same answer

Hi , my brother have same situation, his interview was on 4 Feb and no update or change since then.

 

[Waiting17 4]

Thanks yousef5 for responding. I hope and pray we all hear good news soon.