Why would my immigration visa status changed from " issued " to "administrative processing"?

[CQY 0]

Hi anyone who has experience with this... I got "Congratulations, your visa has been approved" on July 1st, 2024. I started contacting the consulate after 4 weeks not receiving my passport. Finally I got a reply saying that my visa was in "Final processing" on Aug 6th. My visa status was "issued" on the website, however 2 days later, it became "administrative processing" on Aug 8th. 

 

I have a flight on Aug 13th... now I am really at a loss on what's happening. Has anyone experienced something like this? Everyone else seems to get back their visa and passport within 2 weeks. 
 

Thank you for your insights in advance. 

[Vickys_Mom 223]

This is you first post, so I'm going to make assumptions because I don't know anything about you.

 

Until you have your passport in hand with a visa in it, never make any plans.  Don't buy non-refundable airline tickets, don't sell all your furniture, don't give up your housing or lease.  We've seen examples on here of people who do their interview, are told their visa is approved, and then get stuck in Administrative Processing.

 

People can spend days, weeks, months, or even years in Administrative Processing.  It's individualized based on what they think they need to approve your visa.  You can use what happened to others as a guideline, but it's just that.  Your case can (and appears to) be different.

 

You need to start thinking about what you're going to do if you don't get your passport and visa back before August 13th.  At the very least, you may have to change your departure date.

 

No one can tell you how long you will be in Administrative Processing.

 

Regards,
Vicky's Mom

[appleblossom 2,434]

37 minutes ago, CQY said:

Hi anyone who has experience with this... I got "Congratulations, your visa has been approved" on July 1st, 2024. I started contacting the consulate after 4 weeks not receiving my passport. Finally I got a reply saying that my visa was in "Final processing" on Aug 6th. My visa status was "issued" on the website, however 2 days later, it became "administrative processing" on Aug 8th. 

 

I have a flight on Aug 13th... now I am really at a loss on what's happening. Has anyone experienced something like this? Everyone else seems to get back their visa and passport within 2 weeks. 
 

Thank you for your insights in advance. 

 

It's perfectly normal, everybody goes through Admin Processing to some extent. For some people that's for just a few hours or days whilst final checks are done, for others it's months or even years if extra background checks are needed. That's why the consulates say to never make plans until you have your visa in hand. 

 

Hard to even guess at the reason without knowing what visa you've applied for, whether your occupation is on the TAL list, and/or your country of residence or birth (generally it's longer for those from certain high risk countries, or even if you've just visited one of those countries in the past). It can be for all sorts of reasons, or it may just be standard AP and you'll have your visa back in a couple of days - unfortunately no way to know and you just have to wait it out. 

 

Good luck.

Edited August 8 by appleblossom

[CQY 0]

Thank you for your response. Additional information, this is a family based immigration visa my sister sponsored. The country is China. I am a retired accountant, having worked in small places only. 

 

I have nothing special in my background, not involved in any sort of political parties, maybe a couple of parking tickets might come up if anyone runs me through the system. 

 

The only reason I made arrangement to travel is because my son is admitted in a University in the U.S and I would like to travel with him to the U.S before his school starts and I am planning to come back after a month or so to make other arrangements. Otherwise I would not have any need to rush.   

[nastra30 2,284]

17 hours ago, CQY said:

Hi anyone who has experience with this... I got "Congratulations, your visa has been approved" on July 1st, 2024. I started contacting the consulate after 4 weeks not receiving my passport. Finally I got a reply saying that my visa was in "Final processing" on Aug 6th. My visa status was "issued" on the website, however 2 days later, it became "administrative processing" on Aug 8th. 

 

I have a flight on Aug 13th... now I am really at a loss on what's happening. Has anyone experienced something like this? Everyone else seems to get back their visa and passport within 2 weeks. 
 

Thank you for your insights in advance. 

We always advice people not to book flights until they have passport and visa in hand, and checked to make sure everything is correct.

When did your sister petitioned for you?

[carmel34 3,620]

19 hours ago, CQY said:

The only reason I made arrangement to travel is because my son is admitted in a University in the U.S and I would like to travel with him to the U.S before his school starts

Your son may have to travel to the USA on his own, so be prepared for that possibility.  I assume that he has his own visa (F-1), or other status to enter the US without you, correct?

[CQY 0]

3 hours ago, carmel34 said:

Your son may have to travel to the USA on his own, so be prepared for that possibility.  I assume that he has his own visa (F-1), or other status to enter the US without you, correct?

Yes, he is on F-1. The visa status just got changed back to "issued". Still the system still doesn't have the status of my passport. 

[CQY 0]

5 hours ago, nastra30 said:

We always advice people not to book flights until they have passport and visa in hand, and checked to make sure everything is correct.

When did your sister petitioned for you?

She filed the application back in 2007. 

[nastra30 2,284]

19 minutes ago, CQY said:

She filed the application back in 2007. 

When in 2007 or What's the priority date?

[nastra30 2,284]

26 minutes ago, CQY said:

Yes, he is on F-1. The visa status just got changed back to "issued". Still the system still doesn't have the status of my passport. 

Oh I see status changed back to issued. Disregard my previous message. Congrats, though I doubt you get passport back before the 13th. All the best.

[CQY 0]

2 minutes ago, nastra30 said:

When in 2007 or What's the priority date?

Somewhere around July 10th, 2007 give and take a few days...

[nastra30 2,284]

3 minutes ago, CQY said:

Somewhere around July 10th, 2007 give and take a few days...

You are good; I was trying to check if your priority date was current and it is. Seems visa has been issued but you just have hope you get your passport before 13th. Otherwise, you need to rebook. All the best.

[CQY 0]

50 minutes ago, nastra30 said:

Oh I see status changed back to issued. Disregard my previous message. Congrats, though I doubt you get passport back before the 13th. All the best.

True, things are just too unpredictable with the consulate. My other sister got message on her passport the same day her visa changed status to "Issued" while it is a totally different story for me...