houstonlove

My husband's IR-1 interview was today. I had arranged ahead of time to accompany him to the interview and this was approved, but in the end I didn't. I have some important exams I'm studying for. When my husband didn't seem too bothered by me not accompanying him, I decided to not attend.

Probably the worst move ever!

From what I've been told, he was asked every conceivable question, no trick questions, but plenty of probing questions.

My husband is of North African descent.

He said that he was told that they had doubts as to the "legitimacy" of our marriage. Ugh! We've been married since 2012, and since 2012 I've been dying for the day I can return back to America.

I checked on CEAC and it says his application is undergoing "Administrative Processing." What does that mean? His passport and all our documents were returned to him.

Please tell me this is not a denial of the visa. I feel a river of frustration and tears welling up ...

sarahincos

Relax dear!! Administrative processing is what happens before they update it to "issued." They should have told him then and there whether he was approved or not, or if they needed more information they should have specified what they were looking for and told him to mail it to them within so many days. What's his recount of the interview??

JPROPS72

I had my interview today. There was a guy ahead of me who was denied but he was given a blue sheet explaining what he had to do. Did he get any papers?

ian-mstm

He was likely profiled for his ethnicity.


It means they are going to manually verify everything that's on the application, and everything he said at the interview.


This is normal when put in AP.


For the time being, it is a denial of the visa. However, once AP is complete he will likely get the visa. The problem, unfortunately, is that there is no way to know in advance, how long it will take AP to clear. It could be 3 weeks, 3 months, or a year. Sadly, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. You can't find out why you're in AP; you can't find out how far along in the process you are; and you can't find out how much longer it's going to take. All you can do is wait.

Ian

ian-mstm

With respect, you should likely read more, and post less!


Administrative processing is also what happens when further checks need to be made. That is the case here... as he was not asked to leave his passport! It could take a very long time for AP to clear in this case.

Ian

houstonlove

He doesn't recall being told if it was approved or not. He said the interviewer mentioned that they had "doubts" about our marriage, she left him and went to find someone else, he thinks that she didn't find who she was looking for (probably a supervisor or something), and then told him it's done, he can go home. Didn't say anything about being approved or denied.

All of our documents were returned to him, including his passport and some medical papers.

They also gave him a pink sheet for the courier which he brought home with him. (This is another story by itself and we've never been able to find a DS-260 number that works to set up the courier service.)

I was no nervous and disgusted with myself for not going, if for nothing else, to show my face and erase any doubts about our marriage being anything but legitimate.

Ugh! I won't be able to sleep now until I see an update posted on CEAC.

What is the "normal" process after you're interviewed? Do they usually keep your passport or give it back?

ian-mstm

If the visa is approved, they keep your passport and, once the visa is affixed, the passport is returned via courier. Between the time the visa is approved and the visa is issued, the online site usually shows "Administrative Processing" but after a few days changes to "Issued".

However, since his passport was not taken, "Administrative Processing" takes on a whole new meaning as I described above.

Ian

houstonlove

JPROPS72 he was not given a blue sheet of paper or any papers other than what I posted.

houstonlove

ian-mstm would it have made a difference if I had accompanied him to the interview?

ian-mstm

No, probably not. He was likely profiled from his name, his passport, where he's lived, his travel pattern... all before he ever approached the interview window.

Ian

JPROPS72

If he has had his passport back then I don't think he was not approved today. That doesn't mean he won't be approved after AP but if you're approved, they keep your passport and it's returned to you via courier.

Don't beat yourself up about not going. My wife did attend with me and she wasn't spoken to by anyone. You being there wouldn't have made on any difference in my opinion because they are not interested in talking to the USC spouse only the applicant so you wouldn't have been able to change the outcome either way.

houstonlove

Thanks for your kind words, everyone.

Still gutted, though!

Our situation is complicated because we got married in Austria, lived in Malta and then moved to the UK. Of course, this is all written on the application form. But if they are checking my US passport to see a record of my travels (to verify whether we have been living as husband and wife) they won't find any. I am a dual USA / UK citizen and used my UK passport to live in Malta with my husband. Same here in the UK. How would they verify something like that? Or am I off tangent here?

JPROPS72

Without an indication of where the problem lies. From what you're saying my guess would be the bone fides of the marriage or questioning domicile, but like Ian said, he could have been subject to profiling before he ever got to the window. I think all you can do is wait to see what happen on the CEAC status and follow up from there.

houstonlove

Ian, you're in Kentucky -- do you work at the visa center there?

ian-mstm

You're a US citizen... they don't care about your travel habits.


I'm also a dual US/UK citizen - and if I had moved about through Europe, I would also have used my UK passport... it's just easier - no visas, and able to live/work in most places.


In a nutshell, they need to verify he is who he says he is. There is a fair amount of visa fraud committed in Africa (not to mention terrorism) - so this was likely the officer's concern. For the US, it's a matter of national security... it'll take as long as it takes.

Ian