DS-5535 a bad sign?

[joanamber 16]

Hi! My husband was required by US Embassy Manila to submit the form DS-5535 four month after his interview. Has any of you had an idea on how long it usually take after this or will this take another long time of waiting? Please share your experience. Thank you!

[geowrian 22,337]

It's not a sign of a denial or anything like that, but it does tend to take a while to complete background checks after submitting that form.

 

Megathread on the DS-5535:

 

[Bayman 65]

44 minutes ago, joanamber said:

Hi! My husband was required by US Embassy Manila to submit the form DS-5535 four month after his interview. Has any of you had an idea on how long it usually take after this or will this take another long time of waiting? Please share your experience. Thank you!

 submitting form DS-5535, the consular officer may need additional time to complete background checks and review the documents you submitted. It’s next to impossible to speed up the review process and there is no expedite available once it gets to this stage. you just have to wait.

[Just Paul 4,594]

5 hours ago, joanamber said:

Hi! My husband was required by US Embassy Manila to submit the form DS-5535 four month after his interview. Has any of you had an idea on how long it usually take after this or will this take another long time of waiting?

After the DS-5355 is submitted, expect a few months to process it. 

[NikLR 13,227]

~~moved to Embassy discussion with other like topics from DCF~~

[Daughter&mom 1]

16 hours ago, joanamber said:

Hi! My husband was required by US Embassy Manila to submit the form DS-5535 four month after his interview. Has any of you had an idea on how long it usually take after this or will this take another long time of waiting? Please share your experience. Thank you!

I thought your husband was issued a visa already?

[MOSCOWRUSEMBASSY 1]

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. After learning what the purpose of DS-5535 is (potential threat to US national security?!), I am baffled as to why such scrutiny should be applied to my fiance, a 28 year old make-up artist from a small town in Russia, with no questionable social media history, and certainly no links to any groups that might be deemed dangerous. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examinations had no irregularities.

 

On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them.  In the past several months, our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has indicated that the Embassy is just "sitting" on our case and that they are not doing any real "processing." He now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. I am desperate to get a resolution in our case and be reunited with my family. 

 

Does anyone else have any experience with the MOSCOW (or other) embassy, or know why they might refuse to issue a judgement on such a case? Does anyone know why DS-5535 is being applied so arbitrarily? I have tried to describe our case in as much detail as possible. I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on how we could proceed. Thanks very much for your attention.

[geowrian 22,337]

28 minutes ago, abrahamlayman said:

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. After learning what the purpose of DS-5535 is (potential threat to US national security?!), I am baffled as to why such scrutiny should be applied to my fiance, a 28 year old make-up artist from a small town in Russia, with no questionable social media history, and certainly no links to any groups that might be deemed dangerous. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examinations had no irregularities.

 

On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them.  In the past several months, our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has indicated that the Embassy is just "sitting" on our case and that they are not doing any real "processing." He now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. I am desperate to get a resolution in our case and be reunited with my family. 

 

Does anyone else have any experience with the MOSCOW (or other) embassy, or know why they might refuse to issue a judgement on such a case? Does anyone know why DS-5535 is being applied so arbitrarily? I have tried to describe our case in as much detail as possible. I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on how we could proceed. Thanks very much for your attention.

Nobody knows precisely what triggers a DS-5535 being requested. There are certainly a number of factors in common (places lived/traveled, area of expertise, military experiences, etc.), but other factors may apply and how exactly is just speculation. Maybe somebody he knows or worked with came up as a hit on some list? We'll never know. It could be something as simple as somebody he's friends with or worked with - or somebody with a similar name - might be suspected of being a foreign agent. Again, it's complete speculation, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. Unless there is a valid challenge to the process taken to court and that challenge is won, I wouldn't expect this to change anytime soon.

 

The DS-5535 doesn't indicate a threat to US national security. It's a request for information to determine if there is a threat. Every visa applicant is scrutinized as a potential threat to national security. Some just have additional checks.

 

There's no way to expedite background checks. I'm skeptical that the embassy is just sitting on the case. They're likely waiting to hear results of a background check. They don't conduct certain backgrounds checks themselves...they submit a request and wait for the results.

There's nothing really to do except wait it out.

 

In extreme cases, a Writ of Mandamus (WoM) can potentially be filed with a court to force a decision. But the decision could result in a denial if they have not completed checks...a WoM does not guarantee a positive result. It also takes time and isn't cheap to try to sue, especially the DOS (see the doctrine of consular non-reviewability....any suit at this stage is difficult).

But note this is generally after one has waited an extended period of time after the interview. People wait over a year in AP and this likely isn't the best option still. I'm only mentioning it for completeness, not as a suggestion.

[Ayrasami 0]

On 2/19/2019 at 8:58 PM, MOSCOWRUSEMBASSY said:

On September 20th 2018, my fiancee, with whom I have a child(who has US citizenship and a US passport), had her interview for K-1 visa and K-2 for her daughter(from  previous marriage) at the US Embassy in MOSCOW. I was present for the interview, and She was given verbal approval for her visa at the end of the interview. The consular officer took the passports. We were told to wait 1-2 weeks and then we would receive the passports with visas in the mail. Within 24 hours we received an email from the embassy that we needed to submit form DS-5535, which we did four days later. After learning what the purpose of DS-5535 is (potential threat to US national security?!), I am baffled as to why such scrutiny should be applied to my fiance, a 28 year old make-up artist from a small town in Russia, with no questionable social media history, and certainly no links to any groups that might be deemed dangerous. 5 months later our case is still in Administrative Processing. We were approved every step of the way in the visa process, met every burden of proof regarding finances and the legitimacy of our relationship, and our medical examinations had no irregularities.

 

On December 21,2018, the Embassy returned the passports, ostensibly so that we could "travel' over the holidays, but they did not include instruction as to how to resend them.  In the past several months, our lawyer has made half a dozen inquiries to the embassy, most of which went unanswered. I live in TEXAS. I have contacted my state Senator, who made a generic information request, never informing us of the results. However, I was able to later learn that he was simply told that the case is in AP. I then contacted my local Congressman, who also made an inquiry on our behalf. He received a more detailed note from the Embassy, but the information was essentially the same, that the case was in AP. My attorney has indicated that the Embassy is just "sitting" on our case and that they are not doing any real "processing." He now suggested that I appear at the Congressman's office, with photos and a description of our case and the hardships caused by the unwarranted delays in adjudication, and to try to get a Congressional staffer to persuade the Congressman to take a personal interest in our case and to make a more personalized inquiry. I am desperate to get a resolution in our case and be reunited with my family. 

 

Does anyone else have any experience with the MOSCOW (or other) embassy, or know why they might refuse to issue a judgement on such a case? Does anyone know why DS-5535 is being applied so arbitrarily? I have tried to describe our case in as much detail as possible. I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on how we could proceed. Thanks very much for your attention.

I hope your problem is resolved, I am sorry I can't answer your question..because I have a similar problem. My husband received ds5535 after 3 months for his interview last year (Islamabad embassy) and I am also from Texas, with our daughter which he hasn't met..so same problem inquiry's from us and the senator are not working. Could you kindly let me know how you reached Texas congressman, I plan to do the same. Can you give me guidance on this? I hope for the best for  you and your family 

[F&S2018 31]

Anyone know who told it take to get visa after ds5535? My husband has his interview at Islamabad embassy they didn’t ask for much and Interview was very brief and they wanted to see pics of our wedding and of us together. They kept his passport and said everything is good and within 24 hours we received an email for filling out the questionnaire and emailing back. Everyday on ceac our last update changes daily but haven’t heard anything just curious to know about others going through the same issue 

[TBoneTX 44,787]

This thread is now closed in favor of the ongoing megathread:

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