Tourist Visa needs approval from Washington DC

[man1976]

Hi,
I applied for US visa yesterday in US EMbassy in London. I have ILR. I was told by the visa officer that she is happy to give me the visa however my name has come up and they want to get an approval from Washington DC before issuing me a visa. ( I am a pakistani national in UK for 5 years)

They will contact me in 3 -5 weeks


Is this normal with Pakistani nationals or is it just with me

Hope some one will help

CHEERS

[Kayalami]

Visa applicants from seven countries (does not include Pakistan) deemed to be state sponsors of terrorism as a routine require security clearance. Any other applicant can also require clearance (administrative processing) if they are a security concern or if there is a hit/match on US security databases of someone with a similar name. The collection of (unique) fingerprints has eliminated such issues so you should be o.k.

Did you get your ppt back with a sec 214g stamp or did she keep it? I don't mean to cause you concern but admin processing can take upto 12 months (on the extreme). This has often caused problems for those proceeding to the US on H1B employment visas since the employer understandably can't wait this long. Hopefully your case will be in the fast processing category = about 14 to 28 days.

[man1976]

Thanks for your reply

I applied 7 years back as a student from pakistan and my visa was rejected. May be this is the cause.

I got my passport back with a sheet which says your visa requires addition administrative processing. They said they will write to me once the administrative processing has been done..

The officer said we will write to u within 3 to 5 weeks and then u just submit us ur passport and we will stamp the visa

Cheers

[canvis2004]

yes, i was issued a US visit visa (B1/B2) after 9 months "processing".

And my passport was Pakistani, and they had to get approval from washington.


But alas!! i lost my passport