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What do the CEAC statuses mean?

Key answer

The standard chain after the interview is Ready - Refused - Administrative Processing - Issued, and a Refused right after the officer says 'your visas are approved' is a normal technical step, not a denial. A prolonged check may after a year show a warning that the case will be closed for 'documents not provided' - a letter with proof of submission helps. An At NVC status means the consulate sent the case back to the NVC; a separate letter about the petition being returned to USCIS means the embassy no longer handles the case.

Community answers

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

  • After the interview, there will be some amusing statuses. The officer will say 'your visas are approved,' but the statuses will begin changing in the following order: Ready - Refused - Administrative Processing - Issued. Those who are not aware of these quirks in advance may clutch their hearts when they see Refused after leaving the consulate. But this is normal; it's just a standard algorithm.

  • Exactly one year from the interview date, my status updated on CEAC: the case will soon be closed because I supposedly failed to provide the requested documents. I sent them a letter with all the confirmations that I had sent the documents - they replied that they received it. The next day, the status updated again to Refused, and now we are stuck in administrative processing.

  • Regarding the status At NVC: we asked a question to the embassy, and they replied with a standard response. As we understood, our country has been added to the list of those whose citizens are no longer being issued immigration visas by the U.S., so the consulate does not keep such cases on file but sent ours back to the NVC until the situation changes.

  • I ended up in administrative processing after the interview in Tashkent, and soon received a response: the petition filed on your behalf has been returned to USCIS for review; after USCIS completes its consideration, they will notify you of their decision and provide the opportunity to address petition-related issues. Since the case has been returned to USCIS, the embassy no longer has jurisdiction over it.

The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.

Sources

All questions on: Consulate and interviewAll questions on: Process and timelines

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A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.

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