Shahid1618

Hi everyone,

I'm stuck waiting for administrative processing to pan out, and I've been doing some research & analysis to find out WTH is going on and how long I can expect to wait. I collected the best information I could and wrote a post about it:

http://shahidhussain.com/me/h-1b-221...waiting-times/

A lot of you have way more experience than I do with this stuff - I'm just an applicant, not a solicitor - so, if you see anything here that you think needs changing, please let me know.

To everyone waiting for administrative processing ... good luck!

Shahid

ian-mstm

Since you ask...

First, regardless of what you've been told, your H-1B isn't approved until you clear AP. Second, the FBI is not the only agency involved in a background check. Third, we've had reports of AP taking up to 2 years... so 3 months is nothing! Fourth, the FBI portion of the background check is usually done within 2-3 weeks... and while other agencies may take a bit longer, the real problem is linking that information back to your case in a timely manner. Fifth, even after 90 days, there is "bugger all" you can do - for the US, it is a matter of national security, and there is nothing you can do *at any time* to find out where you are in the process or how much longer it'll take.

Ian

Shahid1618

Thanks for the notes Ian - I've made some changes based on your feedback.

So - if I understand you correctly, once my 90 days are over and I am able to contact the embassy, they still won't give me any information? Is that correct?

Noorah101

That is correct. They will tell you that your Admin Processing is still in progress.

Rene

Shahid1618

Thanks Rene, and - wow, that sucks.

E3only

9/11 - changed the world. Changed how immigration works.

Noorah101

They can only tell you what they know. The security checks are done by outside services, so the embassy has no clue how far along your checks are at any given date. They will only know when they are all complete and they have the results in hand.

Rene

Shahid1618

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the info in this thread.

I'm now past the 90 day mark, still no joy. I did call the embassy just in case, but as you predicted, they had zero information. It's been suggested that I can call the state department directly to ask them, and that it's *possible* that I can get some information if I'm lucky.

Has anyone tried this? Any experience with it?

Shahid

Noorah101

Dept of State won't tell you anything either. They will say "in progress".

Rene

ian-mstm

This post tells you everything you need to know. http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...06&postcount=2. AP will take as long as it takes and there is nothing you can do about it. Full stop. End of story.

Ian

Shahid1618

@Ian - yeah, I read that, but as you can imagine it's a serious disruption being stuck outside the US for months on end, so you'll forgive me if I continue to knock my head against it.

@Rene - you were spot on. I did get to speak to an actual person who took my passport number to check, but same reply, still processing and there's no other information they have.

I'll update this thread if anything else happens.

Ray

The longest delay I can remember was a Russian guy ..his AP took four years
he gave up after 3 years