shiversaint

Posts tend to be more frequent here when the queue/wait is longer than people are anticipating, so given the quiet recently, a 4-5 month timeline is probably what you can expect.

Sys

My visa which i got for a year after being referred for visa waiver expires in Mar I have already travelled to SFO and back for a 10 day trip in oct and plan to go again later in the year how close to the visa expiring should i apply for another visa

shiversaint

March of this year? Apply now. You will have a gap, I would think.

Sys

would they not see this as a negative me applying again even before my first visa expiring

shiversaint

Possibly, but doubtful. It's common to re-apply before expiry. Everyone knows of the waits involved.

beedee87

I have read through many pages of this forum to avoid duplicate questions, but I can't find anything that specifically tackles my query.

18 years ago I committed a serious crime. I would rather not go into the details too much, but it resulted in a few convictions all related to the same incident. That said, although the crime is very serious, my case was very mild, and I was issued with just a fine and a conditional discharge. The pertinent point is that it could have resulted in many years inside, and my understanding is that immigration officials view the severity of the offence through the prism of what the maximum sentence could have been, rather than the actual sentence imposed.

I left as long as possible before applying for a Visa (18 years) with the acceptance that the crime may prevent me from obtaining a waiver regardless of how long ago. However, to my delight, I was recommended for a waiver. I realise now that whilst subjective discretion is in the hands of the consular officer, they are bound by objectivity as well and the leniency of my sentence perhaps helped.

My questions are therefore as follows:

- although the CO viewed my case favouribly, is there any likelihood that the ARO will apply more subjectivity to the nature of my crime and pay less regard to the amount of time passed? I note that the ARO approval rate is north of 90% for waiver recommendations, but there must be a reason that the others are rejected beyond just administration issues; is the CO's judgement called into question or is it technicalities that cause refusals?

- assuming that I fall in line with statistics and the ARO approve my waiver, does anyone have any experience of people with waivers being denied entry at the border? Again, as the border officers have ultimate discretion to permit or refuse entry, what is the likelihood of me being turned away after completing so many hurdles? The nature of the crime is again what worries me, and I would hate to have gone through all the hurdles just for someone to look and refuse me on the spot simply because of what I did, regardless of waiver.

Ps. I note that the most recent Belfast processing update PDF now shows expected lead times of just 1 month (previous ones have shown 4 and 6 months in line with people''s experience at the time). I applied in London, but nonetheless the timescale they are reporting in Belfast seems very low compared to historic standards. Is anyone currently in the chain that has received news earlier than expected?

shiversaint

Appreciate you don't want to go into it too much, but the most accurate responses come with a clear explanation. Trafficking 98 kilos of cocaine for example, might be viewed pretty differently to GBH. Both serious, but represent quite different things about you.



We don't know exactly why rejections happen but for the few cases that have made it here, it seems to be cases where the CO was too lenient. You can expect DHS to do some background checking, and if your case was particularly bad/in the press/culturally significant or whatever, they're obviously going to get the full downlow around what happened. Read into that what you will, the facts of the case may benefit you here.

Extremely low. I have never heard of it happening, and if it does, it's likely because the visa holder has done or said something untoward when speaking with the CBP. When you do get to immigration, be prepared that because you have a waiver, you'll be going into secondary inspection every, single time. They may ask you a few questions, it's extremely boring, but it's completely normal.

There was another post a week ago of someone hearing back in a month. It seems the timelines have really shrunk lately. I reckon Belfast has historically only been quicker just because they get the info off to DHS quicker than London are able to do, by virtue of the quantity of cases that London deal with. I think it's a reasonable expectation that the decision will be pretty quick.

18 years is a long time, and if the CO was positive towards you, that's a very good indicator. I suspect you will be fine.

Do report back, please! Info on these cases helps us advise future applicants.

scrubbedexpat099

I have heard of somebody with a waiver being refused admission, just the once and I think it was a K1 not a B.

shiversaint

Do you know the reason why?

scrubbedexpat099

Some time back, I think that the POE considered there were issues that had not been waived, I seem to also remember that the POE was correct.

Usually you can find one example of any given situation, never mind how unusual it would be.

Carl33

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone could answer a few questions for me please ?

i received a waiver in 2015 for 1 year and I am planning on visiting the States again later this year,I have booked an appointment and completed the DS-160 and wanted to know if

a) I need to get another ACRO police Certificate (last one dated 2015 and no further incidents)

b) How long are the current wait times

c) Will the visa be granted for longer then a year (if successful)

Thanks in advance
Carl

scrubbedexpat099

Yes

6 months?

5 years would be the norm

AP82

Hi Jay,

Just wondering if you have received your email yet?

My dad had his interview on the 19th November but hasn’t heard anything yet.

Jay1976

no nothing I contacted the embassy as my status just reads appointment and was told it's under review in Washington.

AP82

Thanks for the update Jay, keep us posted with how you get on & I’ll do likewise really frustrating having no way to get an update If interviewed in London unlike Belfast who provide weekly updates, they are working through case at end of January at minute