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DV 2015 AP Related Cases

Sm1smom

Sm1smom

Super Moderator
As requested by one of the forum members, this thread is intended for AP related cases. Please post here if you've attended your interview and you unfortunately ended up in AP. Also feel free to post AP related questions/issues/concerns you may have, even if you're yet to attend your interview. Hopefully everyone can learn and benefit from it, and above all provide the needed support and guidance to those stuck in AP.
 
My AP short story:
I attended my interview on October 1st in a third country. Everything at the interview was normal and typical like other many stories published here previously. Nothing special to mention. At the end of the interview, I was told by IO to bring a new passport because mine was damaged. It took me almost 2 months to fix the passport issue. After that, I submitted my passport and 221g paper in the first week of December. I got a call from the Embassy at the same day informing me that the passport was approved and it would take 2-3 days to print the visa. Two days after, I got another call from them, they ask me to send a copy of my PhD and all my research contributions besides my CV. I knew at that point that I was put under AP and the most reasonable cause is TAL due to my phD field. I got 5 soft LUDs in the last 2 weeks. But professionals here told me not to pay a lot of attention since it might be regular system updates.
 
Hey friends,
First of all, I hope and pray that none of you go through the pain of Administrative Processing. If any of you does fall into that black hole, then no worries, there is a way to get out of that black hole. Patience is the only way of getting out of that black hole. Just be patient and hopeful, everything will be all right. If you are a good person, with good and clean background, then you will get the visa no matter what, nobody can deny you that visa. I am an example of that. I was patiently waiting, and got myself the visa at the end. Patience has a sweet fruit you know, and I am enjoying that sweet fruit nowadays. You can discuss your AP experiences in this thread, and hopefully I can keep encouraging you guys.

Best of luck to all of you!!!!!!
 
gabam said:
Hey friends,
First of all, I hope and pray that none of you go through the pain of Administrative Processing. If any of you does fall into that black hole, then no worries, there is a way to get out of that black hole. Patience is the only way of getting out of that black hole. Just be patient and hopeful, everything will be all right. If you are a good person, with good and clean background, then you will get the visa no matter what, nobody can deny you that visa. I am an example of that. I was patiently waiting, and got myself the visa at the end. Patience has a sweet fruit you know, and I am enjoying that sweet fruit nowadays. You can discuss your AP experiences in this thread, and hopefully I can keep encouraging you guys.

Best of luck to all of you!!!!!!
Click to expand...


I moved the thread Gabam because Mom already has the thread here.

Things have changed since DV2013. If you had been on AP in DV2014 you would not have got your Gren Card. Thousands of people missed out whilst stuck on AP. People had even ended their AP and were waiting for a visa slot that never came. Whilst your story had a happy ending, the game has changed. DV2015 will have similar stories to DV2014- so people need to do all they can to avoid AP in the first place.
 
Britsimon said:
I moved the thread Gabam because Mom already has the thread here.

Things have changed since DV2013. If you had been on AP in DV2014 you would not have got your Gren Card. Thousands of people missed out whilst stuck on AP. People had even ended their AP and were waiting for a visa slot that never came. Whilst your story had a happy ending, the game has changed. DV2015 will have similar stories to DV2014- so people need to do all they can to avoid AP in the first place.
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I got really sad to know that dear. I thought AP's all have happy endings, that is exactly what happened during my time. All the AP's got cleared and received their visas. I will pray for my friends to get their visas.
 
Nahar333 said:
My AP short story:
I attended my interview on October 1st in a third country. Everything at the interview was normal and typical like other many stories published here previously. Nothing special to mention. At the end of the interview, I was told by IO to bring a new passport because mine was damaged. It took me almost 2 months to fix the passport issue. After that, I submitted my passport and 221g paper in the first week of December. I got a call from the Embassy at the same day informing me that the passport was approved and it would take 2-3 days to print the visa. Two days after, I got another call from them, they ask me to send a copy of my PhD and all my research contributions besides my CV. I knew at that point that I was put under AP and the most reasonable cause is TAL due to my phD field. I got 5 soft LUDs in the last 2 weeks. But professionals here told me not to pay a lot of attention since it might be regular system updates.
Click to expand...
What is TAL and LUDs?
 
Sammy967 said:
TAL is technology alert list. It's a list of certain fields that due to national security sometimes entail extra background checks on applicants seeking US visas.
LUDs = Last update date. It's basically the last status update date that shows when you track your visa status on USCIS website.
Click to expand...
Thank you Sammy
 
Hello guys,
I just want to share my story with you... My boyfriend has been selected last year and had his interview appointed in December. We were in a relationship for one year till that and didn't want to separate, that's why we got married before his interview (which is, as I heard, very common to happen to DV lottery winners cause being selected is not something that you can plan). As you guess, we attended the interview together and everything was going well, we were asked common questions about our relationship.. But we told that we don't live together which is truth and we didn't want to lie. The officer asked if we plan so and we answered that we will probably live together after New Year (but we've also known that this is not probably possible cause we had a plan to go to States a month or two after the interview). He also asked for a wedding and we told that we also plan to make it in spring or in autumn 2015. He was very polite all the time and in the end we were told that everything seems fine, it's just that my husband has to send a new birth certificate to the embassy. We got a white paper named as 221(g) and beside was written Birth.Cert. We sent it the same day.
A week after nothing happened and than one day my husband called me and told that the officer WAS AT his HOME! We were shocked, cause we haven't any idea that something like this can happen cause we were honest all the time and didn't expect that we will be checked. Also, I have never hear that living together is something that is needed... Like what?! Does it mean that their policy is: if a couple live together - they are truly married, if don't - they are not?! DV lottery winners can be students or young people in their 20s so how do they expect us to live together if we don't have our own money yet?! I am really disappointed in all this procedure because I thought that being honest is something they appreciate, but obviously you should lie and say things they want to hear... After couple minutes they also visited me and asked the same questions related about living together and our future plans.
It's been a second week now and nothing happened. In a meanwhile, my husband moved into my apartment where I live with my parents and siblings.

So, If somebody can tell me if something similar happened to you or somebody you know. And what should we do: contact embassy and inform about our case and mention that we live together now or just wait on their mail... We don't want to force them, but also we are very worried and don't know what is the best to do.
 
epiglotis said:
Hello guys,
I just want to share my story with you... My boyfriend has been selected last year and had his interview appointed in December. We were in a relationship for one year till that and didn't want to separate, that's why we got married before his interview (which is, as I heard, very common to happen to DV lottery winners cause being selected is not something that you can plan). As you guess, we attended the interview together and everything was going well, we were asked common questions about our relationship.. But we told that we don't live together which is truth and we didn't want to lie. The officer asked if we plan so and we answered that we will probably live together after New Year (but we've also known that this is not probably possible cause we had a plan to go to States a month or two after the interview). He also asked for a wedding and we told that we also plan to make it in spring or in autumn 2015. He was very polite all the time and in the end we were told that everything seems fine, it's just that my husband has to send a new birth certificate to the embassy. We got a white paper named as 221(g) and beside was written Birth.Cert. We sent it the same day.
A week after nothing happened and than one day my husband called me and told that the officer WAS AT his HOME! We were shocked, cause we haven't any idea that something like this can happen cause we were honest all the time and didn't expect that we will be checked. Also, I have never hear that living together is something that is needed... Like what?! Does it mean that their policy is: if a couple live together - they are truly married, if don't - they are not?! DV lottery winners can be students or young people in their 20s so how do they expect us to live together if we don't have our own money yet?! I am really disappointed in all this procedure because I thought that being honest is something they appreciate, but obviously you should lie and say things they want to hear... After couple minutes they also visited me and asked the same questions related about living together and our future plans.
It's been a second week now and nothing happened. In a meanwhile, my husband moved into my apartment where I live with my parents and siblings.

So, If somebody can tell me if something similar happened to you or somebody you know. And what should we do: contact embassy and inform about our case and mention that we live together now or just wait on their mail... We don't want to force them, but also we are very worried and don't know what is the best to do.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your story. I am going to be blunt with you to make some points - not that I think you are a bad person or a cheat - but just to open your eyes a little and maybe others who can learn from your mistake.

So - you married your boyfriend, but did not live together. You had not had a wedding celebration and there are probably family or friends that don't even know you are married. You probably shared no common aspects of your life, like shared responsibilities. Married people do all these things. Married people can't imagine living apart (well recently married people anyway) and they find a way to overcome the difficulties.

The US government is VERY accommodating about various forms of marriage, but you were obviously not really "married" in the true sense of the word. You are most likely in a true love relationship and I have no reason to doubt that you would have followed through on your plans to have a wedding and so on. However, that was clearly something you planned to do in the future - and there was a solution to that - which was your boyfriend sponsoring you once you were officially married. You tried to take a shortcut.

Now - what does it matter - well there are laws that cover this and genuine marriage during the process is no problem. However, think about this. The amount of visas is finite. Each time a person with a low case number gets married, someone with a higher number loses their visa. Gone - plain and simple. So - whilst that is OK for people who have genuinely married, that is not fair if it is not a genuine marriage - and there are plenty of people that try and cheat the system. If you had done that the right way, the finite DV allocation would not have been affected, i.e. you would have got your Green Card after waiting a while and the one other person would not have lost their DV place. So - I whilst I am sympathetic to your case because you seem genuine, I think it is a good thing that they conduct the home visits etc to see who is genuine.

Now - your case could go either way. I don't know what to suggest for the best. I think it might be worth contacting the embassy and explaining you now live together BUT they may just see it as a desperate "show". So - hopefully you have already made them believe your relationship is real and the reasons for you living apart was genuine.
 
epiglotis said:
Hello guys,
I just want to share my story with you... My boyfriend has been selected last year and had his interview appointed in December. We were in a relationship for one year till that and didn't want to separate, that's why we got married before his interview (which is, as I heard, very common to happen to DV lottery winners cause being selected is not something that you can plan). As you guess, we attended the interview together and everything was going well, we were asked common questions about our relationship.. But we told that we don't live together which is truth and we didn't want to lie. The officer asked if we plan so and we answered that we will probably live together after New Year (but we've also known that this is not probably possible cause we had a plan to go to States a month or two after the interview). He also asked for a wedding and we told that we also plan to make it in spring or in autumn 2015. He was very polite all the time and in the end we were told that everything seems fine, it's just that my husband has to send a new birth certificate to the embassy. We got a white paper named as 221(g) and beside was written Birth.Cert. We sent it the same day.
A week after nothing happened and than one day my husband called me and told that the officer WAS AT his HOME! We were shocked, cause we haven't any idea that something like this can happen cause we were honest all the time and didn't expect that we will be checked. Also, I have never hear that living together is something that is needed... Like what?! Does it mean that their policy is: if a couple live together - they are truly married, if don't - they are not?! DV lottery winners can be students or young people in their 20s so how do they expect us to live together if we don't have our own money yet?! I am really disappointed in all this procedure because I thought that being honest is something they appreciate, but obviously you should lie and say things they want to hear... After couple minutes they also visited me and asked the same questions related about living together and our future plans.
It's been a second week now and nothing happened. In a meanwhile, my husband moved into my apartment where I live with my parents and siblings.

So, If somebody can tell me if something similar happened to you or somebody you know. And what should we do: contact embassy and inform about our case and mention that we live together now or just wait on their mail... We don't want to force them, but also we are very worried and don't know what is the best to do.
Click to expand...
wawww!! your story is pretty weird. I don't get it that how VOs could make sudden unplanned visits to check if you were saying the truth. By what authority?! As far as I know, these kind of checks are usually made by THE HOST COUNTRY's AUTHORITIES when you apply for a citizenship or residence of the host country based on a marriage of a citizen from the same country.
 
epiglotis said:
Hello guys,
I just want to share my story with you... My boyfriend has been selected last year and had his interview appointed in December. We were in a relationship for one year till that and didn't want to separate, that's why we got married before his interview (which is, as I heard, very common to happen to DV lottery winners cause being selected is not something that you can plan). As you guess, we attended the interview together and everything was going well, we were asked common questions about our relationship.. But we told that we don't live together which is truth and we didn't want to lie. The officer asked if we plan so and we answered that we will probably live together after New Year (but we've also known that this is not probably possible cause we had a plan to go to States a month or two after the interview). He also asked for a wedding and we told that we also plan to make it in spring or in autumn 2015. He was very polite all the time and in the end we were told that everything seems fine, it's just that my husband has to send a new birth certificate to the embassy. We got a white paper named as 221(g) and beside was written Birth.Cert. We sent it the same day.
A week after nothing happened and than one day my husband called me and told that the officer WAS AT his HOME! We were shocked, cause we haven't any idea that something like this can happen cause we were honest all the time and didn't expect that we will be checked. Also, I have never hear that living together is something that is needed... Like what?! Does it mean that their policy is: if a couple live together - they are truly married, if don't - they are not?! DV lottery winners can be students or young people in their 20s so how do they expect us to live together if we don't have our own money yet?! I am really disappointed in all this procedure because I thought that being honest is something they appreciate, but obviously you should lie and say things they want to hear... After couple minutes they also visited me and asked the same questions related about living together and our future plans.
It's been a second week now and nothing happened. In a meanwhile, my husband moved into my apartment where I live with my parents and siblings.

So, If somebody can tell me if something similar happened to you or somebody you know. And what should we do: contact embassy and inform about our case and mention that we live together now or just wait on their mail... We don't want to force them, but also we are very worried and don't know what is the best to do.
Click to expand...

I'm also going to be blunt and direct with you, (which you may not like), you guys will most likely not be approved. There's nothing out of line in what the embassy did. Yes, you did the right thing by not lying and telling them upfront that you guys aren't living together. However, such an arrangement is bound to look shady to the CO, married people, especially newly married couples are expected to be living together considering the fact that they both live in the same city. Not living together might have made sense to them if, for instance, one party was living in a different city/country due to work commitment.

I don't doubt the fact that you guys were/are in a genuine relationship, but the fact remains that you guys only got married after his selection (which ordinarily is not a reason for denial on its own), but you plan on having a wedding ceremony later on and are not living together. Where there family members present when the marriage took place? Is this documented in the form of pictures? Did you have pictures/other evidence of you guys being a couple prior to the marriage? Did you attend the interview with all these evidence?

Yes DV selectees may be students in their 20s, but honestly speaking if they're not able to live together and support themselves in their home country, how are they going to support themselves in the US where there's no family network to fall back on? What's to stop them from becoming a public charge in the US which is greatly frowned upon?

Unfortunately, I don't believe contacting them to let them know you guys are now living together will change the likely outcome of a denial. It's bound to seem like a desperate attempt at convincing them your marriage is genuine. However, I hope I'm proved wrong, for your sake and you guys get approved at the end of the day.
 
Sm1smom said:
I'm also going to be blunt and direct with you, (which you may not like), you guys will most likely not be approved. There's nothing out of line in what the embassy did. Yes, you did the right thing by not lying and telling them upfront that you guys aren't living together. However, such an arrangement is bound to look shady to the CO, married people, especially newly married couples are expected to be living together considering the fact that they both live in the same city. Not living together might have made sense to them if, for instance, one party was living in a different city/country due to work commitment.

I don't doubt the fact that you guys were/are in a genuine relationship, but the fact remains that you guys only got married after his selection (which ordinarily is not a reason for denial on its own), but you plan on having a wedding ceremony later on and are not living together. Where there family members present when the marriage took place? Is this documented in the form of pictures? Did you have pictures/other evidence of you guys being a couple prior to the marriage? Did you attend the interview with all these evidence?

Yes DV selectees may be students in their 20s, but honestly speaking if they're not able to live together and support themselves in their home country, how are they going to support themselves in the US where there's no family network to fall back on? What's to stop them from becoming a public charge in the US which is greatly frowned upon?

Unfortunately, I don't believe contacting them to let them know you guys are now living together will change the likely outcome of a denial. It's bound to seem like a desperate attempt at convincing them your marriage is genuine. However, I hope I'm proved wrong, for your sake and you guys get approved at the end of the day.
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I conquer with you @Britsimon,I have a case in mind where the officer unexpectedly moved to the selectees lawyer office and request to peruse their file,they also moved to the initial school where the selectees claimed was schooling,its at this point the selectees admitted anomalies in his case an opted to forgo his dreams.
 
Nahar333 said:
wawww!! your story is pretty weird. I don't get it that how VOs could make sudden unplanned visits to check if you were saying the truth. By what authority?! As far as I know, these kind of checks are usually made by THE HOST COUNTRY's AUTHORITIES when you apply for a citizenship or residence of the host country based on a marriage of a citizen from the same country.
Click to expand...

Absolute rubbish.

If someone applies to the US embassy for a visa (immigrant or non immigrant) then the US embassy are entitled to take whatever steps they like to decide the case. They don't have a right to enter the house, but they can knock on the door and ask to come in. If refused entry they can obviously deny the visa - so the applicant can decide for themselves what to do. THe applicant is doing the asking - not the other way round.

Now - if the embassy decides someone might have broken a law - then that would be a matter for the local authorities.
 
Britsimon said:
Absolute rubbish.

If someone applies to the US embassy for a visa (immigrant or non immigrant) then the US embassy are entitled to take whatever steps they like to decide the case. They don't have a right to enter the house, but they can knock on the door and ask to come in. If refused entry they can obviously deny the visa - so the applicant can decide for themselves what to do. THe applicant is doing the asking - not the other way round.

Now - if the embassy decides someone might have broken a law - then that would be a matter for the local authorities.
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knowing much more than us in some subjects doesn't give you the right to speak like that! "absolute rubbish" thank you for your kindness!!
 
Nahar333 said:
wawww!! your story is pretty weird. I don't get it that how VOs could make sudden unplanned visits to check if you were saying the truth. By what authority?! As far as I know, these kind of checks are usually made by THE HOST COUNTRY's AUTHORITIES when you apply for a citizenship or residence of the host country based on a marriage of a citizen from the same country.
Click to expand...

The US has long done things like this especially to check if marriages are genuine. Including questioning neighbors etc to see if the supposed spouse does actually live there. I don't understand your objection as you talk about applying for residence - well that is what you do in a DV application and the US will be the host country... If you don't want them doing background checks on you then you should not go ahead with the process.
 
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