Embassy of the United States

Interest in travel to America continues to grow, and we expect an extraordinary peak application period this summer. We therefore encourage you to plan ahead to allow us enough time to process your visa before your trip to the U.S. This summer, we recommend that travelers make their appointments early and interview at least three months before they plan to travel. This will ensure that we have plenty of time to conduct your interview, review your application, and determine whether we can issue a visa.

Why does it take so long to process a visa?

The average visa processing wait time is the number of working days after a consular officer decides to issue a visa, for the passport and visa to be returned to the applicant. The majority of visas in Shenyang are processed and returned to the applicant within several days.

HOWEVER, average visa processing wait time DOES NOT include the time required for special administrative processing.  U.S. government regulations may require special administrative processing for applicants in certain fields of study or with certain academic or professional backgrounds.  These procedures require additional time.

When administrative processing is required, the timing will vary based on the individual circumstances of each case. Visa processing wait times can change, so please check our website regularly for updated information on the time required for special administrative processing.

Administrative processing for students and exchange visitors is currently taking approximately 4 weeks.

Administrative processing for all other visas is currently taking approximately 3 months.

What is “Special Administrative Processing?” 

The U.S. government has implemented procedural changes to the process for secondary screening of visa applicants who wish to enter the United States for purposes related to certain scientific or high-technology fields, or who have backgrounds in such fields.   These changes will enable us to process applications for scientists, researchers, students and high-tech workers in about two weeks. The agencies involved in the process also are adding staff to increase capacity to screen not only visa applicants in the fields of science and technology, but those requiring other security-related screenings as well. 

This screening process is known as the “Special Administrative Processing” program.  The purpose of this program is to counter proliferation and the illegal transfer of sensitive scientific and technical information.  The program has been highly successful in barring entry to the United States of persons who may seek to obtain sensitive scientific and technical information and transfer it to countries that support terrorism or that are of proliferation concern.  However, increases in Mantis processing times over the last year have led to concerns that the program has become an obstacle to the legitimate sharing of scientific information.  

It is not our policy to reveal details of the program, but it’s designed to implement a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that makes an alien inadmissible when there are reasonable grounds to believe that he/she seeks to enter the United States to violate or evade any law prohibiting the export from the United States of goods, technology or sensitive information.

In FY 2008, some 8.7 million people worldwide applied for nonimmigrant visas to the United States. About 56,000 of those were subject to Mantis processing.  Under the new procedures, the vast majority of those applications will be processed in about two weeks. 

What additional materials should I bring to the interview? 

For students and exchange visitors, we recommend you bring the following additional information:

• Acceptance letter from your school or program
• Detailed personal resume, which includes a list of publications
• Detailed research plan
• U.S. advisor’s biography
• All other documentation necessary for a regular interview, which can be found here

For temporary workers and intra-company transfers (H1B and L1):

• Detailed personal resume, which includes a list of publications
• Job description
• Research plan
• U.S. advisor’s biography
• U.S. company description
• All other documentation necessary for a regular interview, which can be found here 

For all other visa applicants:

• Detailed personal resume, which includes a list of publications
• Invitation letter from U.S. company or person
• Detailed itinerary
• Description of the meeting you will attend OR
  o Description of the training you will receive OR
  o Description of equipment you will purchase or sell in the U.S., including your contract with the U.S. company and your export license number
•  All other documentation necessary for a regular interview, which can be found here
  

How long will my visa be valid?

As of March 2009, all A, B1/B2, J, L, and O visas subjected to special administrative processing are valid for twelve months, with multiple entries. 

H visas will continue to be limited to 3 months, with 2 entries, in accordance with the reciprocity schedule for China.

However, the Consulate reserves the right to limit the validity of certain visas subjected to additional administrative processing, on a case-by-case basis.

I think I might be need special administrative processing. What should I do if my visa won’t be ready by the time I intend to travel?

If you cannot adjust your travel itinerary to comply with current administrative processing wait times, we encourage you to contact the Visa Information Call Center immediately at 4008-872-333 (calling within China) or (86-21) 3881-4611 (either calling from China or from overseas) to book an appointment on a first-come, first-served basis. You should then send a fax to (86-24) 2323-1465 to request an earlier interview appointment. For more information on expedited appointments, please click here.

Click on the following link for general information on how to make an appointment http://shenyang.usconsulate.gov/visa/how2.html

For more general information about special administrative processing, please visit http://travel.state.gov/visa/a_zindex/a_zindex_4353.html.