Ryan17

Just wanted to provide an update. My fiancee’s interview was January 23, 2024, and the consular officer said she was approved. Feburary 14, 2024 she was requested to file the DS-5535. With some help from a senator, we were notified today for her to submit an updated medical exam, photos, and her passport back to the consulate! So all involved in this nightmare, have faith, and don’t be afraid to reach out to your senator or congressman for help! Prayers all involved will hear good news soon!

Good evening, and congratulations for finding your partner in the US! I wanted to give you a heads-up as to how our immigration process has gone… When we did our research we saw that the “average” processing time was 10-12 months. Our initial application was received by USCIS June 23, 2022 - yes, well over 2 years ago. At about the 14 month mark, we found out (by looking at the website) that we fell into the RFE category. Had to wait about 30 days waiting on a letter of what we were missing. It never showed up. Followed the procedure to find out what document we were missing and got a canned response of they (USCIS) have 30 days to acknowledge the email, and an additional 60 to process it. So we waited the time and still no response. At that time we reached out to a Congressman who assigned one of his staff to make an inquirey. Within 24 hours the staff member sent me an email showing literally they needed the last page of my divorce decree that states “this page left intentionally blank.” I sent it off the same day, and we wait again… Finally we see that the application had been forwarded to the National Visa Center. They show this is a 60 day process. After about 75 days, we reached out to the Congressman, and again, within 24 hours it was headed to the next step. My fiancee found out that the only approved doctor for the medical exam was on the far west coast, then her interview was on the far east coast. At her interview (January 23, 2024) she was told she was approved and would receive her passport back with the Visa in about 7 days. February 14, 2024 she received an email requesting her to fill out the attached form, now known as the “Dreaded DS-5535”. We are still baffled by why they requested this, but many immigrating from Canada are sent into this rabbit hole. There is a whole thread on here about that. She has been able to travel to the US with just the usual secondary inspection in customs due to us filing the K-1 Visa Application. According to the tread on here, the DS-5535 average approval time is 15-16 additional months (since the date she sent the email). So now we wait again. We reached out to a Senator this time (due to the previous politican going out of office) with a response of “If we don’t hear anything by October 8, 2024 to contact his office again. We are hopeful, but skeptical, so we shall see. Sorry for the long read, but just wanted to provide some information as to what you could potentially be up against during your immigration. Please feel free to ask me questions, or provide any advise you might have!

I did the same for a Senator in my area. He did an inquiry & said to wait until October 8th, & if nothing is heard, contact him back. If enough of us reach out to congressmen & senators hopefully they see this is a problem!

We have no idea. 😞 Any idea what caused yours?

It most certainly is! My fiancee’s interview was Jan 23rd 2024. Consular officer said she was approved for her visa and kept her passport. 21 days later she gets an email requesting her to fill out the DS5535. No updates since

Just this past January.

We seem to get frequent CEAC updates, but nothing else - interview was Jan 23rd, 5535 requested Feb 14th.

I like the idea of a petition, but how about this? Everyone stuck in this black hole contact your local Congressman. I contacted mine (Trone in MD) earlier in the process and he got things moving. His staff member that I have been working with said, “Administrative Processing is frustrating to say the least,” but he inquires about once a month and is provided with a response. As you contact your Congressman, Senator, etc. quote how many others have done the same. As that list grows, sooner or later one of the politicians is going to see this problem, and they are the only ones who can fix it. The Department of State may be able to ignore one politician, but if a bunch of them gang up on the Department of State, they will be held accountable. This is free, and a very simple thing to do. Send me a message if you have any questions.

I have not changed my address since the process started, but thank you for the response!

I was expecting some form of communication when our application was processed by USCIS, but had heard nothing. I went online and saw that our application was processed on July 4, 2023. (NOA-1 June 22, 2022) The online instructions showed to wait until July 19 to request the RFE information be sent again. After filing the request for the RFE to be sent again, the instructions said we should expect a response by August 18, 2023. I know it's only the 19th, but 46 days have passed knowing absolutely no progress has been made. I noticed that a lot of RFE situations on here are usually moved to NOA-2 within 2 weeks, so hopefully once I know what they need, it will get moving again. Anyone else had a similar experience or any advice?