Administrative Processing at the London Embassy

[Moda25 51]

My husband attended his CRI visa interview at the London embassy on November 16, 2023 and was placed on AP. He was asked to submit the original copy of my divorce certificate/decree. The embassy received it on November 24 and the case updated on November 30. It stayed like that until he sent an inquiry on Jan 8, 2024. This morning, I checked and the last update was January 16, 2024 with the case still showing refused. I’m so frustrating and don’t know what to do or who to contact. I don’t know the London embassy to be having backlog so I’m wondering why ours is taking this long. They still have his passport. Has anyone been in this situation before specifically with the London embassy? My entire Christmas break was a mess due to this situation.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

Could still be doing background checks.  Was your spouse born in UK? 

[Moda25 51]

@Crazy Cat No, he is a Ghanaian living in the UK.

[Crazy Cat 41,984]

48 minutes ago, Moda25 said:

@Crazy Cat No, he is a Ghanaian living in the UK.

Could be additional background checks....Just have to let it play out at this point.  Maybe soon.

[Moda25 51]

@Crazy Cat Thank you!

[M and Mike 25]

On 1/19/2024 at 1:52 PM, Moda25 said:

My husband attended his CRI visa interview at the London embassy on November 16, 2023 and was placed on AP. He was asked to submit the original copy of my divorce certificate/decree. The embassy received it on November 24 and the case updated on November 30. It stayed like that until he sent an inquiry on Jan 8, 2024. This morning, I checked and the last update was January 16, 2024 with the case still showing refused. I’m so frustrating and don’t know what to do or who to contact. I don’t know the London embassy to be having backlog so I’m wondering why ours is taking this long. They still have his passport. Has anyone been in this situation before specifically with the London embassy? My entire Christmas break was a mess due to this situation.

Which divorce certificate did you use??

It the Divorce Absolute you use??? Secondly, if they have your passport it a good sign. Maybe very soon. Good luck 

[Moda25 51]

@M and Mike I had an absolute divorce decree which I submitted. I submitted an inquiry to the embassy and they responded that our application is going through a review. At this point, I think it’s more than just the divorce decree/certificate. The embassy said they can’t tell how long the process is going to take so we requested for the passport so whenever they’re ready to issue the visa, we’ll send it back to them.

Edited February 13 by Moda25

[M and Mike 25]

8 hours ago, Moda25 said:

@M and Mike I had an absolute divorce decree which I submitted. I submitted an inquiry to the embassy and they responded that our application is going through a review. At this point, I think it’s more than just the divorce decree/certificate. The embassy said they can’t tell how long the process is going to take so we requested for the passport so whenever they’re ready to issue the visa, we’ll send it back to them.

I'm sorry to hear that but the good thing they have your passport and you ask for it. You should have leave it with them that should have put some pressure on them. Did you send the final as they are not taking the Divorce Absulate I understand. It has to be stamped or legalised. I hope you get something positive soonest. 

[Moda25 51]

@M and Mike They having the passport doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen instances where they keep the passport for over a year. My husband needed it for other purpose so we had to request it back. I’m positive if they’re ready to issue the visa, they’ll let us send it. They still have our marriage certificate and the divorce decree. When we submitted the inquiry, they said they don’t require any additional documents and we don’t have to do anything again. But as at the time, the review on our case is still ongoing. I have a feeling they’re trying to confirm the authenticity of our marriage or marriage certificate since we did not get married in London but our home country. Thank you 😊 

Edited February 13 by Moda25

[M S Khan 11]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:28 PM, Moda25 said:

@M and Mike They having the passport doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen instances where they keep the passport for over a year. My husband needed it for other purpose so we had to request it back. I’m positive if they’re ready to issue the visa, they’ll let us send it. They still have our marriage certificate and the divorce decree. When we submitted the inquiry, they said they don’t require any additional documents and we don’t have to do anything again. But as at the time, the review on our case is still ongoing. I have a feeling they’re trying to confirm the authenticity of our marriage or marriage certificate since we did not get married in London but our home country. Thank you 😊 

Any updates? 

[Moda25 51]

@M S Khan Yes, visa was issued last month May 23. Thanks for asking.

[M S Khan 11]

On 6/13/2024 at 4:16 AM, Moda25 said:

@M S Khan Yes, visa was issued last month May 23. Thanks for asking.

Ohhh wowww, it took almost 6 months for them to respond? My wife had her interview on June 10th. They requested for her to submit additional documents such as more photos, chat history, travelling history and financials together.. We submitted those the very next day. We are still waiting to hear from them. So for nothing.. They have her passport and our wedding album. Did they ever say that why did they take forever to issue a visa to your husband? Is your husband UK national? 

[Moda25 51]

@M S Khan My husband is not a UK national, he’s a Ghanaian with a UK resident permit. They never told us but we believe they went to Ghana to check if our marriage certificate was genuine. They kept only that and his passport and returned everything else to him. We asked for the passport back after 3 months of waiting though. Is your wife in the UK as well? Is she a national? Did you get married in the UK or US. I’m asking because the consular asked my husband why we didn’t marry in the UK but went to Ghana and my husband told her both our families are in Ghana and our marriage requires both families to be around.

Edited July 5 by Moda25

[M S Khan 11]

4 hours ago, Moda25 said:

@M S Khan My husband is not a UK national, he’s a Ghanaian with a UK resident permit. They never told us but we believe they went to Ghana to check if our marriage certificate was genuine. They kept only that and his passport and returned everything else to him. We asked for the passport back after 3 months of waiting though. Is your wife in the UK as well? Is she a national? Did you get married in the UK or US. I’m asking because the consular asked my husband why we didn’t marry in the UK but went to Ghana and my husband told her both our families are in Ghana and our marriage requires both families to be around.

My wife is not a UK citizen. She is there on a visitor visa. The consular officer didn’t ask her why we didn’t get married in UK since she wasn’t in UK before we got married. They have her passport and wedding album. Did they ever say, your husband is in administrative processing? I heard if you are in AP, it takes about 60 days. I am now worried that my wife will be stuck

in UK for next few months..

[Moda25 51]

@M S Khan Yes, she checked the Additional Administration part of the green paper. Even though, they say it takes 60 days when you’re in AP, it all depends on your case and what they’re doing with it. It could be less than 60 days or more. As you can see ours took almost 6 months before we heard back from them and my husband had to redo his medical exam. It all depends on what they’re doing with it. If they have to go to wherever you guys got married to verify, as we believe they did with ours, then it’ll take time. I know someone at the same embassy they placed in AP on Wednesday and issued her visa the following Monday. You can never tell with them.