I had an interview with the Bangkok US Embassy regarding my Family-based F1 application, filed by my USC mother.

The consular officer said my case is fine but need to undergo an administrative review. What is it ? Any idea ?

Thanks

Admin review is a term they use when they want to delay issuing the visa. It can mean many things or nothing other than they are behind in their workload and need more time. They have as long as they want to keep you on admin review and are not bound by any rules other than their own.

Thanks, that helps raise the moral a lot. :P But seriously, does anyone knows what are the steps or procedures of an Administrative Review ? I'd like to know what is actually happening.

Thanks again,

How long since your interview? Were you missing any requested documents at your interview? Do you have any history with consulate that might raise a red flag? If it has been awhile since your interview, you may want to do a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) to see whats up. You can contact Consular Affairs in Washington and request a status, perhaps have them look at the embassy computer notes and give you some indication of what the hold up is. It could be benign, it could be a red flag, they may want to do a field investigation, check your references, employment hisotry, a number of things. It might be resolved in as soon as 4 months, it might be 7 months (our case took 7 and ultimately visa denied). Best thing is to be proactive with embassy requesting frequent status updates, contact Consular Affairs in Washington, and if the embassy is lacking any paperwork from you, make sure you get it to them. Check out FOIA at >> www.travel.state.gov

Julie, thanks for your comments. I'll answer your questions one by one here.

Q1) How long since your interview?
A1) The interview was completed on Dec 21, 2004.

Q2) Were you missing any requested documents at your interview?
A2) Nope, I had everything in perfect order. In fact, the consular officer even said my papers are all ok except that they need to conduct a "name check", which is supposed to take a couple of weeks to completed. But now it's well over a month.

Q3) Do you have any history with consulate that might raise a red flag?
A3) Nope, I've never been to the US.

However, you really terrified me by saying that the review could include a field investigation. This sounds awful lot like an FBI background check for obtaining a security clearance or something like that. Please tell me if it's NOT that serious. Come on, I mean, I'm just a small Chinese guy who had honestly and patiently played by the rules for all these years.

Well, you never know...

James, from my experience Administration review means something went wrong with either computer system or workload or Biometrics could not completed since machine was down. So in situation like that they give you 221(g) and another appointment so they can finalize your visa procedure. However each case is different and this is what I am telling from my recent experience at Mumbai Consulate. Good luck.

Thank you, vivek. Your information is valuable.

From the choices you mentioned, only two seem possible: biometric and workload. Why ? First, this is the first time I submit my two index fingers' fingerprints to the US authority. Secondly, my interview was done RIGHT BEFORE the Tsunami tragedy happened in southern Thailand. The disaster, I suppose, took away a better part of priorities for emergency assistants both at the consulate and DOS (in D.C.) levels.

You also made a sense about the "another appointment". The consular officer repeatedly tell me to wait for their call. I guess once they finish the review, they'll notify me to come in to finalize it. Oh man, I hope you and I are right about this.

How was your case, anyway ? Was it a successful one ?