Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Maybe it will slow down first before it speeds up. But with layoffs and reshuffles, offices may end up with inexperienced and overworked staff...don't think that will increase efficiency...

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

I would just hope like anything that Brianlloyds comes in within the next few days rmart and hopefully its a snowball pattern.

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Anything before end March for Bryanlloydx would be ok for me. fingers are firmly crossed.

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

I've been waiting for 310 days with no updates. The applicant who had an interview just seven days before mine received their email about 25 days ago. Something seems off at the ARO office.

joolsjools blackcat27 Wales44 Do you know why your waivers were delayed compared to other applicants near your interview dates?

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

That is why I was thinking different visa types have different approval processes. Bluefishfinger had an interview for a B1/B2 visa 10 days afer you and has had approval (although in Sydney).

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

I think the point to make is that they are not "delayed" any more or less than any other waiver request. The tracker shows only a tiny % of all the ? tens of thousands of waiver applications being handled at the ARO. No one here knows what checks the ARO performs, and what processes it follows - multi agency reviews, international checks, etc. for every single applicant, only the ARO knows what it does.

The US Embassy website has not helped by only stating "up to x months", and not updating this figure regularly with more accurate data. And "9-12 months" as an average range still means that some lucky individuals will get there's in less than 9 months, while others might take a whole lot longer.

As I have commented before here, expect to wait for a year and be surprised and happy if you get the email sooner!!

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Apologies for being a bit selfish but for those with a B1/B2 application in London.

I have just gone through the database (back to Oct 2023). Processing in Oct 23 maxed at 328 days (this was a first application), The lowest processing time was in January 2024 at 249 days. The average processing time is 285 days since October 2023.

The average processing time from January 2024 to date is 281 days.

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Im also going off the 290 mark, thanks for this

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

A more sensible approach would be to set your expectations on the midpoint of 9-12 months, i.e. 10.5 months or around 319 days, with a range of around 45 days on either side (274 to 365). If you receive it any time within this period, you will be falling with the average period.

Doing short-term averages on the very limited data we have means that our results can be heavily skewed by single data points.

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

Fully understand your point on being cautious but I can't see anyone having waited 365 days on the database, unless I have missed something?

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

I think for myself, Im just trying to be positive 😂

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

joolsjools Clearly, the majority of applications received around the same time as yours took less than 300 days. Yours took close to 330 days. Can you think of any particular reasons why your application took about a month longer than others?

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

No one in our dataset has had to wait 365 days (yet), but the range quoted by CBP for waivers is 9-12 months, hence the largest group of applicants currently receive a result between 274 and 365 days. Lots of applicants may still get a result in a shorter time, and many might take more than a year.

In our tiny dataset we might have a number of applicants who were lucky enough to get quick decisions, and who will hence pull our average down.

Don't rely on our average, the dataset it too small.

Re: Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver of Ineligibility Application
 

The "majority" in our sheet is not necessarily representative of the hundreds of waiver requests that might be submitted worldwide around the same time as our applications. There seems to have been a substantial increase (2-3 months) from October 2023 compared to previous periods.

I think of myself as one of the unlucky ones who's request might have sat in someone's in-tray for a week or too longer than usual, an email from one agency to another went unread when the official took a couple of day's sick leave, etc... all the usual things that happen in a bureaucracy. My application was pretty straightforward - approved for waiver request on the day of interview, no request for additional documents, historical offense (30 years).

As I have noted previously, if you fall within the 3 month range, then you are within the average.