How long does it take the US Embassy/Manila to finish this ridiculous 221g administrative review?

Question

My wife and I have been waiting for our daughter's visa to be issued for over 6 months now. There was no mention of missing documents, but we were told that we would be contacted when the review/processing was completed. Requests by email, and by mail for status reports have been totally ignored. What's up with that? How long does this absurd process take?

Answer 1

I have been waiting over 7 months to bring my 40 year old wife and her two daughters 12 and 13 years old from  Phnom penh Cambodia. I was married   April 2006, April 2007 had interview at US EMBASSY. The consular thought we had met on internet. not so her cousin here in South  Bend Indiana  introduced us, my wife was divorced in 2001 but since she did not speak English that well and could not  tell consular  exact date of divorce   she was put in administrative review. For 7 months no answers to my e mails or phone calls, then finally my senator  Senator  Richard Lugar sent a e mail and within 3 weeks got a reply. a CYA  LETTER  stating  in CambodIA   the woman there are very good  at  FAKING  MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE PAPER. Now the kicker is  all her papers were found to be  genuine, and now finally they said will send a investigator out to her  neighborhood to just double check  that she is not living with her   EX  HUSBAND.

SINCE  CAMBODIA AND PHILLIPPINES, EMBASSIES  OPERATE THE SAME WAY, I SUSPECT YOU HAVE A FEW MORE MONTHS TO WAIT

Answer 2

I've personally seen it take as long as a year.  If they suspect fraud they'll assign the case to a field investigator.  The investigators are highly trained and experienced Filipino employees.  They normally wait until they've got a dozen or more cases from a specific geographic area before going out to work on the cases.

You didn't mention her age, but it's possible they suspect she's hiding a marriage.  Or they could suspect that you and your wife are not the true parents.  Believe me, they'll get to the bottom of things and if there's fraud they'll find it.

************Thanks for the clarification.  "Approval" from the NVC of the I-600 is meaningless.  All they do is check to make sure the forms are filled out correctly.  The only approval that counts is by the American Consul in Manila.

My guess is that they do not believe the child is an orphan.  The Philippine courts are corrupt to the core and the embassy isn't going to take their word for anything.  Hidden marriages and fraudulent adoptions are rife in the Philippines.  I'm sure the embassy has this case targeted for close scrutiny.

It's like I wrote earlier.  They will wait until they have enough cases from the area the child is from to justify dispatching a trained field investigator.  My personal experience is that the investigators are EXTREMELY through.

Answer 3

Since we have no idea what caused the case to be put on hold, there isn't much anyone can say. It's possible that the case is being investigated because there's some question about the documents you've provided or maybe there's a question about her eligibility for the visa.  Usually, if a case is put on hold, they ask you or the person being interviewed to provide some additional document. If they haven't asked you for anything, it's never a good sign. They think there's something wrong with the case and they'll get back to you when they've figured it out.  If you feel it's dragging too long, you can always write your congressman, but there's no guarantee that will have any effect. Or, you could consider hiring an immigration attorney to represent you in this matter and make inquiries on your behalf.