Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 14

Thread: Washington DC processing time

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default Washington DC processing time

    I lodged my application for residency with the Washington DC branch just about exactly 3 months ago. From what I have read, processing times are 3-6 months for the embassy in Washington DC. I had to call them to request that my documents not be mailed back to me because I had to move recently. I told them that I would instead come to Washington DC to pick them up with I get the notification from them.

    The lady I spoke to asked if I had a case officer, which I do not yet. She found my application and saw that it has not been allocated to a case officer yet, then she said that they were swamped with student visa applications and they would get into the residence visa apps once they were finished with student visa processing.

    I keep thinking that no news is good news, but they apparently haven't reviewed my application yet. I assume that someone at least opened it because she looked my name up in their system to locate my application. When applications for residence are received, do they give it a quick run through so they can send it back immediately if the application is going to be declined or do they generally not review it at all?

    My other question is in regards to the 3-6 month processing time estimate: Is it 3-6 months from the time the application arrives at the embassy, or is it 3-6 months from the time someone actually reviews it and a case officer is allocated?

    I would like to get to New Zealand sometime in May, but I don't know if that is going to be possible!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,822

    Default

    Hello.

    Oh, dear, welcome to the wonderful world of INZ.

    When applications for residence are received, do they give it a quick run through so they can send it back immediately if the application is going to be declined or do they generally not review it at all?
    We sometimes hear that an applicant is told, shortly after their ITA goes in, that some document is not there, and this happens before a CO has been assigned, but in other cases, it evidently doesn't, so I don't think there is one general answer, not even speaking about one particular INZ office. The 'quick run through' would NEVER make a decision to decline - that's uniquely the responsibility of the CO, only to be taken after s/he has worked the whole case, including verifying the evidence, and would be checked through by a colleague also. So you can't draw any conclusions at this early stage.

    As other people will tell you, and you will see from dozens of past threads on here, mentions of time from INZ are more like hopeful guesses than definite statements. When going through the application process, there is an awful lot of 'hurry up and wait'. All the INZ officials are dealing with many cases as well as your own, and delays can arise from factors affecting others of those cases.

    Everything at INZ works by managed queues. When your ITA was received, it would join the end of the queue of other ITAs, according to the date order. Each Case Officer has a certain workload - a number of cases that are theirs to deal with. The newly arrived ITAs have to wait till one of the COs has finished with some of their cases, and can take on some more. When an ITA is eventually assigned to a CO, it will again join the back of THAT queue for the CO's attention, as s/he takes the top file, does what s/he can actively do, puts that file to the back, works everything s/he can on that case, goes to the next, and so on.

    There is no way to tell how many other people's ITAs were in the queue to be assigned already, on the day yours arrived. There is no way to tell how easy or difficult the cases already being worked in the office are turning out to be, which affects the time passing until COs are ready to take more files into their personal allocation. There is no way to tell if three experienced COs in that office might leave and need to be replaced, with the new COs needing training. There is no way to tell if there could be a flu epidemic affecting the whole building. This is why INZ cannot promise anything about timings.

    But it's not good to hear that a rush of student applications is delaying processing of the residence ones in the USA at the moment.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    42

    Default

    THis is an intriguing post for me... I didn't even realize that people in the USA could apply to an office in Wash DC. Somehow our EOI was automatically sent to the London office and we end up dealing with the london office... Is this based on the kind of visa? We had applied for residency in the skilled immigrant category... how about you (then150)?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
    Posts
    472

    Default

    Yes, US skilled migrant appications are sent to London and are not processed via Washington (while Family Stream are processed in the US). I know they are usually very busy with student applications through March, sometimes April.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Sorry for the late reply. I have applied under the Partnership Policy as my wife is a NZ citizen. I read somewhere that applications lodged under one of the family categories are given priority when it comes to processing. Does anyone know if this is true?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
    Posts
    472

    Default

    Yes, I believe they are given priority, especially if the returning NZ citizen has been out of the country over a certain period of time (assigned a CO within 10 days). How long has your wife been out of New Zealand? You can see the DC processing times for me in my signature (less than two weeks)... My wife is a NZ citizen and was out of the country for over a decade.
    Last edited by G-Mo; 6th February 2013 at 12:38 PM. Reason: Extra info...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Good to hear that I may have some kind of priority over the other applications. As I said in the first post I made, when I talked to someone at the embassy they indicated that they were very busy with student visa applications and it also sounded like there were quite a few residency applications too. I imagine that the student visa applications should be just about finished now.

    My wife, and our son who is a NZ citizen by birth have been out of the country for close to 2 years. Hopefully that helps them assign me a CO soon and get this process started!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
    Posts
    472

    Default

    Only 2 years out of the country won't give you any extra priority over other family stream applications. I believe it's 5+ years for fast track.

    (That said, I'm sure the volume of family stream residence applications going through Washington is significantly less than in London or in NZ.)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
    Posts
    472

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by G-Mo View Post
    Only 2 years out of the country won't give you any extra priority over other family stream applications. I believe it's 5+ years for fast track.
    I was wrong. It's 5 years together for your residence application to possibly be changed to permanent residence... It's "AT LEAST TWO YEARS" absent from NZ prior to the date of application for "the purposes of prioritising."

    Screen Shot 2013-02-10 at 9.11.53 AM.jpg

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by G-Mo View Post
    I was wrong. It's 5 years together for your residence application to possibly be changed to permanent residence...

    Screen Shot 2013-02-10 at 9.11.53 AM.jpg


    Does this mean that if my wife and I were together for 5+ years that I would possibly be given permanent residence right off the bat as opposed to the residence visa that is conditional for 2 years?

    Speaking of the conditions, what exactly are they? From what I understand, for the first two years I have to fulfill the requirements of residing in New Zealand to show my commitment to a life there. Are there any other conditions that I will have to fulfill in order to qualify for the returning residence visa after 2 years?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •