Immigration visa interview in Germany

[Mountain Man]

Hello. My wife recently had an immigration visa interview in Frankfurt (I have a green card here and our case is current). They took her passport and said she has to go through additional administrative processing. She was found "ineligible to receive a visa under section 221g of immigration and nationality act". Does anyone here have experience with such situation and if yes, what was the timeframe that it was resolved? They told her at the consulate it might take anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.
Thanks a lot.

[nipp]

Did they ask for additional documents? If not, it might be a AP/AR. That happens from time to time. Usually to families from Pakistan or Nigeria, but it can hit anyone.

There is a lot of resources on 221g.

[Mountain Man]

No, they did not ask for any additional documents. She has a Russian passport, but was applying in Germany because she has a permanent residence there or whatever it is called. Can this be the cause? What is AP/AR?

[nipp]

AR = Administrative Processing/Review. Causes are unknown. Usually, it is issued if some additional documents are required or something is missing. Sometimes, it is caused by "security clearance" - if your relative have a background in sensitive technologies, such as physics or computer cryptography, then state department put such cases on hold, until it's cleared by multiple agencies in DC.
Also, they can give 221g for a case, where they supposed found evidence, unknown to USCIS, that might had changed their decision to issue the approval. This is rare and it happens, when case have red flags in it. Like significant age difference between spouses, previous cases of immigration petitions followed by divorces, hasty marriages with short relationship history. List are long and it's available on google.

For your case, residence in Germany might be a cause. Good thing - they kept passport. If they plan to send case to US (long delay) they will return the passport. Call embassy in a week or, if you don't hear anything from them. If it continues more than 2 weeks, call State Department directly. They have a number for AP cases status.

[nipp]

Read this:

http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0323-ellis.shtm

[Mountain Man]

She also has a PhD in Biochemistry (I know, I know, it is a completely useless degree these days). May this be a cause as well?

[Oleg Co]

She also has a PhD in Biochemistry (I know, I know, it is a completely useless degree these days). May this be a cause as well?

С этого и начинали бы. Да, скорее всего это и причина. Может занять месяц.

[Alex_L]

The reason could also be that they want to receive security data from Russia and it is not that easy for German consulate.

Anyways, it's just a delay.

[Mountain Man]

Thanks for all the replies. She got approved, almost exactly one month of Admininstrative Processing. FYI, I only have a green card, and cut off date is still September 9. Our priority date was August 29 I believe. Surprisingly to me, I managed to file that stupid form right on time...