Did you have your interview on the 27th December 2024? You're definitely an outlier if you've been approved so quickly. When did you get the email to send in your passport, and when did you send it? I'll update the sheet.

It'll be interesting to see when you get your passport back if you actually got a waiver, or if you've been sitting in administrative processing all this time.

actually, my interview was on the 19th Jan 25! And yes, I know what you mean, it has surprised me too how quickly (in comparison) it has come back.

I received no email to send my passport in, but the US DOS portal updated on the 31st March and stated that I should send my passport. I didn’t see this initially, and I finally sent it on the 22nd of April. They have had the passport since then.

the status changed in the CEAC site from refused to ‘application open’ about 3 weeks ago. Then to approved yesterday and issued today.

I admit it is a bit strange, but I don’t really have any answers, as all of the emails I have sent them have been ignored.

I would hope it is a sign of improvement, but just one case doesn’t really point to that unfortunately.

Did the consulate actually tell you that you were ineligible for a visa? Based on your timescales, you've been in Admin processing only, so never went for waiver.

Ignore the above question - I checked your first post :-) When you get the passport back, do let us know if there is an annotation in the visa which starts 212 (small d).

Absolutely, will do.

I’ve looked at your posts and I see I expressed confusion at one point. Part of my confusion was I was wondering what the ground of inadmissibility was in the first place. It strikes me that in the process of recommending a waiver, the consulate had to evaluate the factors on the seriousness of the facts underlying inadmissibility. This evaluation can sometimes lead to a determination that there is nothing to waive so visa can be granted. It happens.

Thanks for your thoughts, perhaps you’re right? I am very interested to see what sort of visa I have been issued, as you say, it’s hard to imagine it went through the waiver process in that time?

thanks again, I will update here when I collect the passport.

Hi All,

Just to add to conversation about wait times for Visa issuance in London: I dropped my passport off at Mail Boxes Holborn on the 24th April and I am still waiting for the status to change from Refused. Like other's, I since received an email confirming that my visa documents were received and have been forwarded for processing but my usvisa-info page still says "Send documents".

Info for the spreadsheet:
B1/B2
Second waiver
Interview- 24th June 2024
Email to send passport - 22nd April 2025
Passport sent - 24 April 2025

Thanks to all that have contributed to this thread - it's helped maintain my sanity through a process that lacks transparency!

jackotekk

Hi jackotekk

Thank for being here and sharing your information. I have added your data to the spreadsheet. Do let us know when you get your passport back.

All the best

jools

Thank you for posting this, interesting! Sounds odd that 5 people with ineligibilities were all lined up in front of the same consular officer, I was the only one in my line up last year with an ineligibility, Bob15s comments make it sound like all ineligibilities get sent to one officer. (unless I misinterpret 'everyone else before me got given the same response'). The FAM shows no updates that indicate a pause in waiver submissions or any other changes to that process, but who knows-only time and new applications will tell.

I will follow up with him (if he doesn't appear here himself) and ask him to confirm. But his initial feedback was that all ahead of him required waivers and were refused.

Update re visa waiver requests at London, to comply with moderator request:An individual attended a B1/B2 visa interview in London last week, anticipating the possibility of being recommended for a waiver of ineligibility. However, during the interview, they were informed that the U.S. authorities are currently not pursuing or issuing such waivers. As a result, the visa application was denied. It was clarified that this decision does not permanently prevent entry into the United States, and the applicant is welcome to reapply at a later time. For context, the individual has a single Class A drug possession charge from 2021 involving a small quantity, which resulted in a fine. The individual noted that 4 other applicants were told the same thing prior to him, in the same queue.

Pheew , Thank you for that information, I have dropped mine on 9th of May at Holborn however I am yet to receive any confirmation whatsoever - tomorrow will be my second week. Hoping to get it back before end of June . And I emailed [email protected] to confirm the delivery --- they advised they are looking into it to see if it has or not...Waiting!!

Dropped mine on 2nd May. Still waiting. Not sure how long they can hold your passport for.

I am receiving more feedback from London interviews. It appears that NO waiver recommendations are currently being made by the consulate.

Individual reported deeply frustrating experience. He attended an interview this morning, and like the others before him, was quickly dismissed without much consideration. The interviewer showed little interest in hearing his side of the story. Despite having only one conviction—an incident involving a fight from 20 years ago—it seemed to be the sole focus. The entire interaction lasted just 2 to 3 minutes; the interviewer typed on his computer, handed him a letter stating he was ineligible, and mentioned he could try again if he wished.

Hi Jools, Interesting. The 2 instances we have heard about involve violence and drugs. I wonder if this is the new rule. Anything involving those type of issues is refused? We know Trump is clamping down on both.