Applied for a B1/B2 visa and is in AP for 6 months, how to proceed?

[medusa228 0]

Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice in my situation. I am currently residing in Germany, I work here and hold permanent residence, and I am a Pakistani citizen. I applied for a B1/B2 visit visa for tourism, to visit my brother in the US who is a US citizen. I put the application at the Munich consulate back in November 2023. At the time of the interview, the consular officer asked me a few questions and then said, we have all the information for now but we need additional documents from your side. Then he handed me a white paper slip and instructed me to send the documents to the E-Mail address indicated. The documents included my CV, Employer certificate, bank statement, travel itinerary etc. I send them all on the same day.

Now it has been more than 6 months and no news of when I will get the visa. My plan was to travel in March of 2024 but that has now long gone. Whenever I send an E-Mail to the consulate they don't even respond.

 

In this situation what would you guys recommend? Just wait it out?

Additionally I wanted to ask, is it possible to withdraw my application and apply again? Would this be possible and have any consequences in the future if I want to visit? I am eligible for German nationality and have already applied and hope to get it within next year, so if I plan to travel using ESTA can I be put into AP again?


Your replies and suggestions in this regard will be appreciated. Thanks.

[SalishSea 17,639]

34 minutes ago, medusa228 said:

Hi everyone, I am looking for some advice in my situation. I am currently residing in Germany, I work here and hold permanent residence, and I am a Pakistani citizen. I applied for a B1/B2 visit visa for tourism, to visit my brother in the US who is a US citizen. I put the application at the Munich consulate back in November 2023. At the time of the interview, the consular officer asked me a few questions and then said, we have all the information for now but we need additional documents from your side. Then he handed me a white paper slip and instructed me to send the documents to the E-Mail address indicated. The documents included my CV, Employer certificate, bank statement, travel itinerary etc. I send them all on the same day.

Now it has been more than 6 months and no news of when I will get the visa. My plan was to travel in March of 2024 but that has now long gone. Whenever I send an E-Mail to the consulate they don't even respond.

 

In this situation what would you guys recommend? Just wait it out?

Additionally I wanted to ask, is it possible to withdraw my application and apply again? Would this be possible and have any consequences in the future if I want to visit? I am eligible for German nationality and have already applied and hope to get it within next year, so if I plan to travel using ESTA can I be put into AP again?


Your replies and suggestions in this regard will be appreciated. Thanks.

The extra vetting is because you are Pakistani.   Withdrawing and reapplying does not eliminate the reasons for the background checks.

 

If the B-2 is denied, you won’t be eligible for ESTA even if you obtain a new citizenship.   
 

How did your brother get his U.S. citizenship, and the green card before that?

[medusa228 0]

4 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

The extra vetting is because you are Pakistani.

My mistake, should have been careful not to be born Pakistani.

 

5 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

If the B-2 is denied, you won’t be eligible for ESTA even if you obtain a new citizenship.

But the B-2 is neither denied nor refused, its just stuck in AP for now. If it was directly denied, like for example under 214(b), then it would have been ok. This uncertain limbo is what I am not okay with.

 

Talked with many people in the same situation (German residents, Pakistani nationals) and it seems for us AP varies betwwen 3 to 11 months.

 

7 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

How did your brother get his U.S. citizenship, and the green card before that?

Went first time on F-1, then OPT, married a US Citizen, adjusted his status to get Green Card and then Citizenship. More details I don't know of, since I am not aware of the immigration process in the US.

[MaxP22 186]

2 hours ago, medusa228 said:

My mistake, should have been careful not to be born Pakistani.

 

But the B-2 is neither denied nor refused, its just stuck in AP for now. If it was directly denied, like for example under 214(b), then it would have been ok. This uncertain limbo is what I am not okay with.

 

Talked with many people in the same situation (German residents, Pakistani nationals) and it seems for us AP varies betwwen 3 to 11 months.

 

You can blame your fellow countrymen who due to their actions give your country a bad rep, hence more scrutiny.

 

Previous poster was not exactly correct, if your B2 is denied you most certainly can apply for ESTA in the future, but answering 'yes' to the question of ever being denied a visa will almost certainly mean ESTA denial too.

 

You mentioned withdrawing your B2 application, if you do it now then it will be marked as a refusal.

 

Basically forget about your future ESTA plan until this B2 application is sorted one way or another.

 

If you have already talked to people on the same situation and it can take 11 months, not sure what the point of this topic was.

 

This 'uncertain limbo' that you are not OK with... nobody cares, certainly not the US, so there is nothing you can do apart from wait.

[Boiler 45,125]

1 hour ago, MaxP22 said:

You can blame your fellow countrymen who due to their actions give your country a bad rep, hence more scrutiny.

 

Previous poster was not exactly correct, if your B2 is denied you most certainly can apply for ESTA in the future, but answering 'yes' to the question of ever being denied a visa will almost certainly mean ESTA denial too.

 

You mentioned withdrawing your B2 application, if you do it now then it will be marked as a refusal.

 

Basically forget about your future ESTA plan until this B2 application is sorted one way or another.

 

If you have already talked to people on the same situation and it can take 11 months, not sure what the point of this topic was.

 

This 'uncertain limbo' that you are not OK with... nobody cares, certainly not the US, so there is nothing you can do apart from wait.

 

This sounds like something I would have wrote, have a like.

[SalishSea 17,639]

11 hours ago, medusa228 said:

My mistake, should have been careful not to be born Pakistani.

 

But the B-2 is neither denied nor refused, its just stuck in AP for now. If it was directly denied, like for example under 214(b), then it would have been ok. This uncertain limbo is what I am not okay with.

 

Talked with many people in the same situation (German residents, Pakistani nationals) and it seems for us AP varies betwwen 3 to 11 months.

 

Went first time on F-1, then OPT, married a US Citizen, adjusted his status to get Green Card and then Citizenship. More details I don't know of, since I am not aware of the immigration process in the US.

So you’ll get extra scrutiny because he adjusted on a nonimmigrant visa.

[SalishSea 17,639]

9 hours ago, MaxP22 said:

You can blame your fellow countrymen who due to their actions give your country a bad rep, hence more scrutiny.

 

Previous poster was not exactly correct, if your B2 is denied you most certainly can apply for ESTA in the future, but answering 'yes' to the question of ever being denied a visa will almost certainly mean ESTA denial too.

 

You mentioned withdrawing your B2 application, if you do it now then it will be marked as a refusal.

 

Basically forget about your future ESTA plan until this B2 application is sorted one way or another.

 

If you have already talked to people on the same situation and it can take 11 months, not sure what the point of this topic was.

 

This 'uncertain limbo' that you are not OK with... nobody cares, certainly not the US, so there is nothing you can do apart from wait.

To clarify what I meant:   Just because someone from a non-VWP country obtains a new EU citizenship, doesn’t mean ESTA is a sure thing.   The reasons for AP for the prior B application are not “erased.”   And having a prior visa denial greatly diminishes the chance of ever being eligible for ESTA.

[medusa228 0]

On 5/26/2024 at 9:49 PM, SalishSea said:

And having a prior visa denial greatly diminishes the chance of ever being eligible for ESTA.

Does that even matter at this point? I already have a rejection (214b) for an F-1 visa that I applied from Pakistan back in 2016. It has been a long time but if what you are saying about ESTA holds true, then the outcome of this B visa would hardly matter in regards to me getting an ESTA in the future.

I am perfectly okay with running security and background checks, but there should be a timeline to be followed. The visa fee is paid to cover administrative costs for exactly this reason, for them to do their job in a timely manner. At the time of the interview, the consular officer ensured me that it would take a maximum of 3 months. Now its been more than that and I have not heard a response.

 

 

Also, if it is still relevant, I got a white slip and was not asked to fill and send the DS-5355 up till now. Not sure if this makes a difference in the processing time.

 

[appleblossom 2,204]

4 minutes ago, medusa228 said:

I am perfectly okay with running security and background checks, but there should be a timeline to be followed. The visa fee is paid to cover administrative costs for exactly this reason, for them to do their job in a timely manner. At the time of the interview, the consular officer ensured me that it would take a maximum of 3 months. Now its been more than that and I have not heard a response.

 

 

The US will do all that it can to ensure it's done in a 'timely manner', any delay is usually on the part of another country - in this case, presumably Pakistan where records aren't always great, and background checks can be very slow. The officer shouldn't have made that assurance, as it's not up to them how long it takes. 

[SalishSea 17,639]

1 hour ago, medusa228 said:

Does that even matter at this point? I already have a rejection (214b) for an F-1 visa that I applied from Pakistan back in 2016. It has been a long time but if what you are saying about ESTA holds true, then the outcome of this B visa would hardly matter in regards to me getting an ESTA in the future.

I am perfectly okay with running security and background checks, but there should be a timeline to be followed. The visa fee is paid to cover administrative costs for exactly this reason, for them to do their job in a timely manner. At the time of the interview, the consular officer ensured me that it would take a maximum of 3 months. Now its been more than that and I have not heard a response.

 

 

Also, if it is still relevant, I got a white slip and was not asked to fill and send the DS-5355 up till now. Not sure if this makes a difference in the processing time.

 

You can blame Pakistan for its lack of central criminal records and generally poor record-keeping.   It’s so bad, it’s one of the few countries the U.S. doesn’t require a police certificate from for immigrant visas- such certificates would be useless.