F1 / H4 Visa

[Esraa 0]

Good day everyone, 

 

I came home for the summer vacation to renew my visa, I brought my kids with me (3 Kids all US citizens), my husband is a temporary worker H1B Visa, So I went to the interview and it didn't go well apparently, he asked me punch of questions

and many of them were about my brother who was revoked at entering the U.S. 4 years ago, I was very honest answering all the questions, at the end he gave me the passport and said you have to fill out DS5535  and we will have to send it to Washington DC for clearance I don''t

wanna hold your passport we will contact you when we need it. I was shocked! I have done nothing wrong I don't even have a speeding ticket, always kept my status. My kids have schools Dr appointments, my little one needs to shots cause he was a premature, it's been almost 4 months now, I have contacted them 3 times and they say it's in Washington we have no control to administrative processing it's unpredictable, I even made another appointment in the main embassy and they said oh it's under ap it's not legal to issue you a visa since it's pending already!! I don't know what to do and how long will this take, it is so frustrating I can't sleep, my kids need their dad and he can't come cause he doesn't have a vacation and he will need to renew his visa too. Any advice? should I continue waiting when some people are telling me hay you will never get your visa  ? I don't think lawyers will be able to do much  

[Lil bear 4,218]

39 minutes ago, Esraa said:

Good day everyone, 

 

I came home for the summer vacation to renew my visa, I brought my kids with me (3 Kids all US citizens), my husband is a temporary worker H1B Visa, So I went to the interview and it didn't go well apparently, he asked me punch of questions

and many of them were about my brother who was revoked at entering the U.S. 4 years ago, I was very honest answering all the questions, at the end he gave me the passport and said you have to fill out DS5535  and we will have to send it to Washington DC for clearance I don''t

wanna hold your passport we will contact you when we need it. I was shocked! I have done nothing wrong I don't even have a speeding ticket, always kept my status. My kids have schools Dr appointments, my little one needs to shots cause he was a premature, it's been almost 4 months now, I have contacted them 3 times and they say it's in Washington we have no control to administrative processing it's unpredictable, I even made another appointment in the main embassy and they said oh it's under ap it's not legal to issue you a visa since it's pending already!! I don't know what to do and how long will this take, it is so frustrating I can't sleep, my kids need their dad and he can't come cause he doesn't have a vacation and he will need to renew his visa too. Any advice? should I continue waiting when some people are telling me hay you will never get your visa  ? I don't think lawyers will be able to do much  

The background checks need to be done. A lawyer will not be able to do anything that you can.. unfortunate you will need to wait out this process 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

“many of them were about my brother who was revoked at entering the U.S. 4 years ago, I was very honest answering all the questions, at the end he gave me the passport and said you have to fill out DS5535”

 

Why was your brother’s visa revoked? Sounds like security issues if they also gave you a ds5535. Anyway no-one can guarantee an outcome for you. What is your plan B if it’s an outright denial at the end of the process? 

[Esraa 0]

4 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

“many of them were about my brother who was revoked at entering the U.S. 4 years ago, I was very honest answering all the questions, at the end he gave me the passport and said you have to fill out DS5535”

 

Why was your brother’s visa revoked? Sounds like security issues if they also gave you a ds5535. Anyway no-one can guarantee an outcome for you. What is your plan B if it’s an outright denial at the end of the process? 

I don’t know why he was revoked at all they didn’t tell him anything as far as I know! What do I have to do with him being revoked if I have my own family? Why should I have plan B if they didn’t deny my visa and they told me it will take a while to get clearance from DC?? My whole life is there my stuff my car my degree my husband’s job 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

15 minutes ago, Esraa said:

I don’t know why he was revoked at all they didn’t tell him anything as far as I know! What do I have to do with him being revoked if I have my own family? Why should I have plan B if they didn’t deny my visa and they told me it will take a while to get clearance from DC?? My whole life is there my stuff my car my degree my husband’s job 

You understand the meaning of the term plan B, correct? You should have a plan B because on a non immigrant visa status, as an H is, you have no presumption of being guaranteed either visa renewal or re-entry. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that is factual. An H visa is not an indefinite right to remain in the US. However if you are sure you will get the visa and it’s just a matter of time, then in the meantime while you wait maybe it’s better to send your kids back to the US to live with your husband so they can resume school, doctors appointments etc.

Edited September 8, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Esraa 0]

3 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

You understand the meaning of the term plan B, correct? You should have a plan B because on a non immigrant visa status, as an H is, you have no presumption of being guaranteed either visa renewal or re-entry. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that is factual. An H visa is not an indefinite right to remain in the US. However if you are sure you will get the visa and it’s just a matter of time, then the meantime while you wait maybe it’s better to send your kids back to the US to live with your husband so they can resume school, doctors appointments etc.

As far as I read that if the ap is external it means they will check on your records in the US. It’s hard for me to think about alternative since they told me to wait, I can’t send them to their dad since he works nights. I’m situation is really complicated and I’m really confused. 

[designguy 1,179]

10 minutes ago, Esraa said:

As far as I read that if the ap is external it means they will check on your records in the US. It’s hard for me to think about alternative since they told me to wait, I can’t send them to their dad since he works nights. I’m situation is really complicated and I’m really confused. 

Always hope for the best but you need to have a plan in place for the worst. No one will be able to tell you how long the AP will take and no one can guarantee you a favorable outcome. As @SusieQQQ said you need to come up with a plan B now. MENA countries are known to have longer AP times (months to years) and applicants are more heavily scrutinized. The most important thing is to get your kids back into a stable situation. This could all be over in a month for you or it could be a year... Are there any relatives that they can stay with in the mean time? 

 

[Boiler 45,525]

H is a temporary work visa so the Plan B is whatever you intend to do after it expires.

 

I you just want to wait out the background checks then there is nothing you can do to speed them up.

[Esraa 0]

Thank you all for replying back. I’ll keep on waiting as they said till the end of this year and see what happens, hoping that patience solves everything