james948

I have interviews for american colleges that begin on the 25th of February My visa appointment to get a B-1/2 to go attend these auditions/interviews is on the 6th February. I was once refused entry to the USA. Will they be sympathetic at all to the timesensitive nature of my predicament? I couldn't book the appointment earlier (or didn't believe I could) because I didn't have any auditions..

Has anyone had their visa expedited?

thanks in advance.
James

Bob

Probably not...them expedite a visa, usually for life and death situations...but good luck...

Lilyella

Someone should correct me if I'm wrong, but I would assume the interview will result in an on-the-spot yes or no to the visa -- if it's yes, they'll mail back the passport with the new visa in a matter of days.

What is 14 weeks in reference to?

james948

It states "Applicants who are advised at the visa interview that their application requires additional administrative processing should allow at least 60 days for this stage of the application to be completed. Applicants who tick yes to question 38 on the visa application form DS-156 can expect to wait a minimum of 14 to 16 weeks before being advised of the outcome of their application. "

Lilyella

Ah, OK. Still, it's possible that the person interviewing you won't deem that necessary; I recall your original situation, and it's not as if further investigation would yield them any more information with which to judge your case. It's gonna be down to the person you see at the embassy, and unfortunately you just won't know until you show up! There's nothing you can do in the meantime, it's just a case of fingers crossed.

james948

thank you lilyella.
My appointment is a week thursday.
I shall let you know how it goes.

Lilyella

Do so, and best of luck.

J. J. Farrell

On Jan 29, 2:27 pm, james948 <[email protected]>
wrote:
> I have interviews for american colleges that begin on the 25th of
> February My visa appointment to get a B-1/2 to go attend these
> auditions/interviews is on the 6th February. I was once refused entry to
> the USA. Will they be sympathetic at all to the timesensitive nature of
> my predicament? I couldn't book the appointment earlier (or didn't
> believe I could) because I didn't have any auditions..
>
> Has anyone had their visa expedited?

Your message is very unclear. What does the heading of "14
Weeks??????" refer to? It doesn't appear to relate to anything in your
message. What is your problem exactly? An interview on the 6th to be
in the USA by the 25th looks like fairly good timing to me, assuming
you don't get caught in a security check. Different Consulates have
different procedures though, so you need to specify which Consulate
you've applied to for a visa.

A previous refusal of entry will certainly make them check out your
case more carefully. How big a problem it might be depends on the
reasons you were refused entry and the circumstances.

You won't get very much sypathy for the timing, and I'm not aware of
any way to expedite the visa (though that may vary by Consulate). You
can sometimes get "emergency" interviews in short order, though, but I
don't know if they'll class this as an emergency; I can't imagine
getting one much sooner than 6th February now anyway.

laura08

Hi James,

I have read your previous posts and I'm myself in a very similar situation. While travelling on the visa waiver program, I was denied entry at a land border. I tried re-entering the US without a visa (the immigration officer never told me i needed a visa to re-enter) and was told that I would from now on need a holiday b-2 to travel to the US. They nonetheless allowed me to go on the promise that I would get a visa soon after my return.
My interview appointment is on the 17th of march and I also read on the website that those applications requiring further administrative processing took between 14-16 weeks while the regular ones took between 3-5 working days!
They mentionned something about the incident report reaching the consulate. Is that report sent to all the american consulates in the world or just the one of the country of nationality?
That seems to me like a very long waiting period...perhaps showing them your interview letters would help accelaterate the process.
I'd be interested to find out how your interview went.
I wish you the best of luck!

james948

Hi laura,
I will definitely let you know how I get on. My appointment is tomorrow.
That is extraordinary that they let you in anyway despite needing a b-2 visa. Sounds like you got a very understanding border person.
Hopefully he'll be taking my interview.
James

laura08

Hi James!
How did the interview go?

james948

Hi Laura,
Welllll.
My plane was cancelled due to snow!! I was flying to belfast for an appointment there (the london ones were too late). Very very frustrating. So I have rescheduled for wednesday. Happy Valentine's, eh!

I will definitely let you know how the next one goes (If i ever get there).

James

laura08

Hey James,

Hope you made it this time. No news= good news...
Are you on your way there already?

james948

Not quite.
Fingers crossed soon though.
I know all the information I can give you (and anyone else who finds this thread) is helpful so….
Not like I expected at all. After getting on a plane the Wednesday before without a cellphone and, as a consequence, being unable to phone the embassy to tell them my plane had been delayed I was damned if I was going to make the same mistake twice so I took my cellphone.
The security people at the embassy said this was no problem and I just left it with them. (Bear in mind this is true for Belfast but may be different in London.. In fact this applies to all of my experience).
Once in I followed directions to a room where I waited for my 'pre-screening' which is simply to make sure you have all the correct paperwork and aren't going to waste the interviewers' time. I gave the person there a lot of my paperwork and explained to her why I was there and why I had previously been not allowed entry into the USA. She seemed very understanding and I took a seat and waited for my name to be called. About half an hour later it was my turn. I walked into the interview room and she took some digital finger prints and we discussed my case. Briefly. Much more briefly than I would have thought possible. She had already read my information and I had a very clear letter from the lawyers who handled my case initially which I think helped to clear things up.
It seemed to me that it was her (my interviewer) who would be making the call rather than my case being passed up and down different echelons. Although I might be completely wrong. I told her I understood that it was pretty late in the day but that I really wanted to attend these auditions. She said that I hadn't given them much time but she thought she would be able to do me a temporary B2 visa to attend the auditions. Now, to me this was both good and bad news. Good in the sense that I was able to attend the auditions (or hopefully would be) but I had hoped to get a longer, perhaps ten year, visa to get me in and out. I did ask her about this and she seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. She said that in terms of going for interviews that was ok but just going there to 'hang out' (her words) would not be alright just yet and I would need to put some time between me and the 'incident,' before that would happen. On the whole this was good news. I was very impressed with the genuine advice she was giving me. I had expected something more along the lines of "well, you can apply for a visa but I have no idea whether you'll get it or not."
She said she would have to get the 'turnaround report' from the border before she could grant me the visa. She stated that she had to make sure the turnaround report corroborated my story. I stated, rather anxiously, that there really had been a massive miscommunication at the border and the turnaround report would, in all honestly, claim they believed I was working in the US. She said that she thought I had pretty much explained everything in the letters I had (I also had a letter from the border head honcho stating I wasn't a criminal and should be allowed access back into the states). I think she saw how nervous I was about all this and told me not to worry.
So, who knows. I am waiting. I have an interview on Saturday I may have to do by telephone and one on 8th March I'm hoping the visa, if it comes, will be here for.
She said that once I had come and gone for my interviews it would reflect well on me and show that I had 'behaved myself.' She also said I hadn't been flagged any other places in the system.
Basically a LOT better than it could have been. A few things off the top of my head.
Make SURE you have everything filled in. Sounds simple but I ws rushing round at the airport trying to get someone to print out another form I needed. Make SURE you bring a prepaid royal mail special delivery envelope. Arrive in good time.
As I say, I know if I went there simply asking for a B2 visa to hang out I would have been turned away but that's not to say you would, Laura. I think it's probably best to have something specific to go there for though. With dates etc.
I didn't end up supplying all this information (she didn't want it) but I had with me:
- a letter from my employer stating the dates I needed off and how important I am to the company
- a letter from the port director
- a letter from the law firm who represented me
- correspondence between the border and the theatre
- bank statements. Lots.
- an invitation to a wedding taking place in the UK in august
- invitations to the interviews in the USA
- the address where I would be staying ( the form asks for this anyway)
- Invitations to interview in the UK

Any information you have is going to support your application.
I will let you know if/when my visa arrives.
Have your fingers crossed for me… and feel free to ask any questions you want.

James

james948

I just called them . . .



APPROVED!!!!!

I feel like I should send them a thank you note for the INCREDIBLY fast processing...

though, this might not be appropriate.

thank you to EVERYONE on this forum for their help, advice and support.
I shall post here as and when I run into problems and I suggest others do the same.
Laura, please keep me posted on your story on this forum...