I got a fully funded PhD offer from Illinois Institute of Technology on last April. I applied for an F1 visa to enroll in for Fall 2016 semester. Even though I got an approval on my interview, my application status remained under administrative processing for almost six months. I had to defer my admission twice, regardless of my efforts and the university’s efforts to contact the embassy several times, since they were extremely indifferent and unhelpful. At the end I got really upset and sent the embassy a veeeeery long e-mail that contained literal sentences like “I can’t take this anymore”, “WHAT COULD I HAVE EVER DONE TO DESERVE THIS?” and “Even if I get cancer and the only cure is in the US, I will never set foot in your country” (I wasn’t drunk or high). At the end of the e-mail I requested the withdrawal of my application, which they instantly agreed to like they had been waiting for me to give up already.
My supervisor is trying very hard to help me and he is the coolest person on earth. So, I don’t want to let this chance slip away. My question is, what would happen if I tried to apply at the same embassy. %100 administrative processing again? refusal for life? Should I apply for this visa at a different country with a valid excuse (I might do an internship abroad). Any suggestion will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
To be clear, I didn’t threaten them, it was more like making a scene as a drama queen. I am not proud of it and I realize I might have ruined my life. I already started applying to schools in other countries. I just thought I should know if it is even worth a shot.
If you landed in administrative processing once, and the issue did not get resolved, you will likely land in administrative processing again if you apply for another visa. The most likely cause for extended administrative processing is that your name is a match to someone on a US government watch list. The US is currently a bit paranoid about Islamic terrorism and intelligence agencies are working hard to compile lists of anyone who may have been “radicalized.”
Another possibility is that your field of study raised concerns. If your field of study may expose you to sensitive technologies of interest to terrorist groups (e.g. chemical engineering or nuclear engineering), you may have to go through a lengthy vetting process.
Alas, your best option may be to re-orient yourself and make plans elsewhere. A friend of mine had an offer to do his PhD at Cambridge, but the UK refused to issue him a visa due to the strained diplomatic relationship between the UK and his country of origin. Nothing he or Cambridge could do about it. He ended up applying for PhD spots in other country and later got his degree from Stanford.
Thank you for your reply. I already started applying to other universities in other countries, but now I am worried that this thing may come up especially when I am applying to a FVEY country. Would this be filed as a serious crime?There was no insult or threat whatsoever.