F1 visa administrative processing

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hey guys,

I am a German student. I got a fully funded Phd position in US in aerospace engineering. My f1 visa case is under administrative processing for more than 140 days. My University Liaison sent two inquiries to the US Consulate through the Senator Office but both times we got the same response that the case is under administrative processing. I have heard that the US Consulate expedite f1 visa case after 150 days. Is it true? Furthermore I would like to know, whether there is anything I could do through my University for expediting the visa case.

Thank you very much.

2

The US consulate cannot expedite your visa application because that’s not where the hold-up is.

Most likely, your proposed area and level of study triggered a TAL (technological alert list) check. US law makes it illegal to give a foreigner access to sensitive information that may be used to make weapons, support a foreign military or attack critical US infrastructure, and the Department of State wants to investigate if that is about to happen here.

Working in aerospace engineering (including the research portion of a PhD) is tricky as a foreigner in the US. There’s so much information that cannot be shared with you. It’s such a big hassle that some aerospace engineering programs don’t admit foreign PhD students at all.

Alas, there’s probably nothing that you can do to accelerate your case. If the DOS reaches out to you or your university with a request for information, that entity should respond as timely and comprehensively as possible, after consulting with a lawyer who is experienced with these sorts of cases.

Meanwhile, I would suggest three things:

  • I would ask the aerospace engineering department what their experience is with foreign students being issued or denied visas in the past two years. Are you an outlier or are all foreign students having difficulty?
  • I would make a backup plan in case your visa does not get issued.
  • I would be patient. Almost all PhD programs start in the fall (August - September), so there's still plenty of time for movement on your visa application.