Officer makes decision before visa interview?

[Boiler 45,349]

11 minutes ago, janet3 said:

I actually find this topic very distressing....okay, it's down right scary....

What if your fiance is in a "high fraud" country?

I plan on attending the interview....

Will being there for the interview have any effect on the outcome of the interview? 

(Or am I just whistling Dixie and should plan on moving to Algeria)

It is the combination, on VJ we seem to see High Fraud Consulates and shall we say unusual relationships going hand in hand, as long as you do not have that combination then unlikely to be an issue.

[janet3 1,170]

9 minutes ago, Boiler said:

It is the combination, on VJ we seem to see High Fraud Consulates and shall we say unusual relationships going hand in hand, as long as you do not have that combination then unlikely to be an issue.

Thank you.

I just find myself freaking out a bit.....constantly (especially about what they will think is "unusual"......I am 5 years older than my fiance) And I am concerned I have already been judged before getting to the embassy.....

 

 

[S*UK 543]

2 hours ago, Hq1987 said:

 

Not true. If that's the case with background checks then why is there Administrative Processing?

The AP is surely done before you are called to the window. 

If you thought I was referring to USCIS, I wasn't. Please see my other posts as nowhere did I mention USCIS. 

[Scandi 4,149]

1 hour ago, S*UK said:

The AP is surely done before you are called to the window. 

If you thought I was referring to USCIS, I wasn't. Please see my other posts as nowhere did I mention USCIS. 

You can end up in Administrative Processing for months after the interview. Everyone goes through AP after the interview but often it's just for a few hours or a few days.

[geowrian 22,337]

22 minutes ago, S*UK said:

The AP is surely done before you are called to the window. 

If you thought I was referring to USCIS, I wasn't. Please see my other posts as nowhere did I mention USCIS. 

That's not how it works. There is a background check at USCIS before approving the I-129F. There's additional checks after the interview (as part of the AP that everybody goes through) before the visa is actually approved.

[S*UK 543]

2 hours ago, Scandi said:

You can end up in Administrative Processing for months after the interview. Everyone goes through AP after the interview but often it's just for a few hours or a few days.

 

 

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

That's not how it works. There is a background check at USCIS before approving the I-129F. There's additional checks after the interview (as part of the AP that everybody goes through) before the visa is actually approved.

 

So when you are at the interview and the officer says 'congratulations, your visa is approved' the visa is not actually approved?

[geowrian 22,337]

2 minutes ago, S*UK said:

So when you are at the interview and the officer says 'congratulations, your visa is approved' the visa is not actually approved?

Correct. The CO can recommend an approval, but a visa is not actually approved until AP is completed (at which point it will show "Issued" on CEAC).

Edited August 6, 2017 by geowrian

[S*UK 543]

1 minute ago, geowrian said:

Correct. The CO can recommend an approval, but a visa is not actually approved until AP is completed (at which point it will show "Issued" on CEAC).

That's pretty misleading for people then. Since probably 90% of people are told at the interview that their visa is approved 

Edited August 6, 2017 by S*UK

[geowrian 22,337]

Just now, S*UK said:

That's prettt misleading for people then. Since probably 90% of people are told at the interview that their visa is approved 

Let me scale what I said back just a bit. I don't want the thread to go OT over what "approved" means.

 

I guess it's really a matter of the wording...being "approved" doesn't mean the visa will be issued. The case will still go through AP, and some of that includes checks (background checks, paperwork checks, etc.). Once AP completes successfully, the visa can be issued. There's cases of visa refusals (both 221g "soft" refusals pending paperwork/verification, and "hard" refusals) after being approved at the interview, but it's not common and certainly not something to expect. Something can turn up in or during AP that makes somebody ineligible for the visa (even something the CO missed or paperwork they forgot to obtain). I hope this clarifies what I meant above.

[doggieandsam 765]

i find this topic very interesting. i can see @ConOfficer's point. but my personal opinion and based on first hand accounts from friends, i do suspect that an approval or denial is somehow already all but made even before you come to the window and that the face to face interaction is merely verification. however this is not to say that an opposite decision cannot be reached during the interview especially if there are glaring cues that the CO picks up on. during my interview the CO looked at my paperwork a good 10-15 minutes before calling me to the window so at that time, they will have already formed an opinion about my case. i also saw that they already had a copy of my I-129F packet in my file and that my case was "updated" the day before my interview so i think they opened my file and reviewed it beforehand. 

[Boiler 45,349]

The CO can approve the visa, the visa does not guarantee entry to the US perhaps that is where the confusion is.

 

My Visa was issues on the day, I assume since then more extensive systems come into play, AP takes longer even for those from non T countries. But everybody goes through it.

[trudi 1,317]

6 hours ago, S*UK said:

 

 

 

So when you are at the interview and the officer says 'congratulations, your visa is approved' the visa is not actually approved?

When I had my interview the officer told me I was approved and so long as I hadn't robbed a bank in Brazil or anything my visa would be issued in a few days - I took that to mean they still had checks to make...

[Love To Teach 161]

In our case, it was obvious they were going through the motions, that their minds were already made up. The first guy was nice to my hubby. But he was sent to another room with two people, one of whom was a Pakistani who obviously was the intimidator. The Pak guy then spent the next few minutes smirking and trying to intimidate my husband. It was obvious what they were doing. As my husband left the interview, the Pak guy said, "A visa to the US isn't everything." Nice guy...NOT! I'm still po'd about the entire thing. I think my husband is one of the few honest people left in Pakistan. He refuses to pay a bribe or lie to get ahead there.....and believe me, he suffers for it.

[Fr8dog 312]

During my interview I noticed that every Dutch person there was in and out in 5 to 10 minutes top. There was on Person from Nigeria who took about 30 minutes and left with a denial.

[Boiler 45,349]

17 minutes ago, Fr8dog said:

During my interview I noticed that every Dutch person there was in and out in 5 to 10 minutes top. There was on Person from Nigeria who took about 30 minutes and left with a denial.

Consulate shopping is not recommended.