Tartoora

Hello all!
I am a US citizen and my husband is in the UK waiting to come join me! I have a question for individuals who sent in their passport to get to the Marriage Visa stamp stamped into their passport in order to travel to the US.

My husband had his interview in 04/13/10. He was asked to fax his cv/resume and then he will receive a letter from the US embassy to obtain the visa. He received the letter and the courier came on 05/28/10 and picked up his passport. He was given a tracking number and told it will take 5 business days.

It has been 10 business days and nothing yet! The tracking number doesn't work because it hasn't been sent. He e-mailed them twice with no response.

How long did it take for you to get your passport back? Should he be worried at this point? What can we do?

Any help is much appreciated!

ian-mstm

We have had periodic reports of it taking as much as 3 weeks or more to receive the passport back. In addition to the summer rush for visas/passports, you're also dealing with summer holidays for the staff. If the tracking number isn't yet active, the passport is still waiting to be processed. I know it's hard, but I would wait a bit longer yet. The good news is that this has nothing to do with actually getting the visa... only in having it processed and put in his passport.

Ian

sys_sagar

Hi Tartoota,

I dont understand why US embassy asked for CV/Resume

-S

Tartoora

Thank you Ian for your reply. I guess we will wait another 2 weeks and see what happens... If anyone else has been in the same boat, please share.

Sys-sagar, I do not know why they wanted his cv/resume. I guess they wanted to see what countries he has worked in? Not really sure.

Tartoora

UPDATE***

After e-mailing the US Embassy they responded with the following:

"Embassy records show that on receipt of your passport the Immigrant Visa Unit determined that new information, which had developed since we had requested your passport, necessitated additional processing of your application.

We recognize that applicants may experience inconvenience if their application takes longer to process than they expected. However, it is difficult to offer any time frame for visa processing in such cases. Please be assured that as soon as the review is complete, you will be contacted.

If you would like your passport to be returned while your application is being processed, please notify the Embassy of this. You will need to return your passport to the Embassy when requested and may be subject to additional processing upon doing so."

We are so frustrated and upset! We do not know what this "new" info is or how long this will take. Any help or suggestions are welcome...

ian-mstm

Does he have an Islamic name or come from one of the "T" countries? If so, he is likely now in "administrative processing"... and that can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 years - and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to speed that up or find out what's going on.

Sadly, all you can do now is wait... and wait. If he needs his passport to travel, he can request it back.

Ian

Tartoora

Thanks for the quick response.

He does have an Islamic name. My husband has a perfectly clean record, law- abiding and educated in the UK (Master's). Could this delay really be over his name? This is is the worst news ever... up to 2 years!? How can they do this to a married couple?? All of our plans of him coming to the states has come to a full stop and now I don't know what the future will hold for us. As you said, all we can do is wait and we are left with no other option.

I will share any updates if I have any....

Noorah101

Yes, it could very well be his name. There is something called Admin Processing which many people with Muslim names or Middle Eastern / Islamic heritage have to endure. This is especially common among people from Pakistan or Pakistani heritage.

Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how long the Admin Processing will take. Hang in there.

Rene

Tartoora

Thanks Noorah. I appreciate your time to write to me. He is not Pakistani but of Middle Eastern origin from the "T" country list. Anyway, we will try to be patient and wait this thing out. I will keep you all posted....

meauxna

Yes, this can really be over his name, and this is probably why his CV was requested. There is no estimated wait for these checks to complete, and no timeline for AP.
Hopefully the checks will clear in a reasonable time; I'm sorry this is the first you've heard of it.

jeffreyhy

T,

You know that your husband has a perfectly clean record. As far as you know, anyway.

However, I'm sure you are aware of a Pakistani-born US citizen, who previously had a clean record, who decided to blow up Times Square in NYC not too long ago.

The US immigration authorities want to be as confident as you are that your husband does not pose a threat, and so they will check him out very carefully.

Regards, JEff

Tartoora

Jeff,
I do know about that story and I understand the US Embassy's decision to conduct AP on all people they consider may be a potential security threat to the the US. However, I do think these additional checks should be conducted within a reasonable time frame. Waiting up to 1-2 years is excessive in my opinion. I will continue to have positive thoughts and hope things move as quickly as possible.

Thanks all for your input.

ian-mstm

With respect, the US government does consider 1-2 years to be a reasonable time frame. That said, most APs clear within a couple of months, most others within another 2-3 months after that - but, sometimes, it does take longer... much longer. The problem here, is that they must manually verify who he is - and that takes a lot longer than a simple bit of electronic data carving.

Ian

Tartoora

Hi everyone,
Visa was received on September 20! Thanks all for your help! I just have some new questions for those that have been through this process. After my husband gets here, what do you recommend he do first to get things started? I know he will need to apply for a SS#, Driver's Licence, bank account etc. But is there a particular order anyone recommend? Any help/suggestions is much appreciated. Thanks again!

Weeze

Hiya
We could open bank account without SS# but couldn't sit driving test until cards came through.