Mongodbjs:
My IW Dropbox was 14th August 2024. I have an official trip to Europe with flight already booked for 14th September 2024. Till now it’s Application received. Application received 15th, 21st and now 27th August the latest until now that I’m typing this . I’ve been discouraged seeing some folks say theirs have taken more than 1 month , some even nearly 2 months . What are the chances I get my passport before 14th September . At this point if they can just return my passport with or without the visa I’ll be the happiest man alive . I’m freaking out so much mehn . I wish I didn’t submit this IW thing this time . I had no idea is now so messed up . The last time I did it in 2022 it took like 1 week . I pray for a miracle mehnnnnn

Ok just to update on this . Eventually application approved after 5 weeks . I missed by official trip already anyway . Guys if you have any trip within 2 months , don’t do IW Dropbox . I realized too little too late. It’s not like I needed the US visa renewal urgently o , I just felt like let me just renew it since the last time I did it in 2022 took only 1 week. I didn’t realize you have to prepare for possibility of longer time. So again please if you have any very important travel within 2 months of your IW submission please don’t submit o. And again I realized I couldn’t request for passport back if submission was via IW. That’s one of the weirdest things I’ve seen.
Anyway I’m happy with the approval but I lost a lot of money from not making this official trip and frankly applying for the US visa IW that led to the delay in having my passport wasn’t worth it at allllllllllllll. Could have been done at other times .

Ikebabay:
Hi.

I have no idea really. One can only speculate. Visa decisions are made by consular officers.

I really hope though, that your passport is released ahead of your upcoming trip.

All the best!

Ok just to update on this . Eventually application approved after 5 weeks . I missed by official trip already . Guys if you have any trip within 2 months , don’t do IW Dropbox . I realized too little too late. It’s not like I needed the US visa renewal urgently o , I just felt like let me just renew it since the last time I did it in 2022 took only 1 week. I didn’t realize you have to prepare for possibility of longer time. So again please if you have any very important travel within 2 months of your IW submission please don’t submit o. I’m happy my passport is back but I lost a lot of money from not making this official trip and frankly applying for the US visa IW that led to the delay in having my passport wasn’t worth it at allllllllllllll. Could have been done at other times .

Purpleplus:
My IW application status changed to "Approved" today, after submitting almost 2months ago. I submitted on the 12th of July with my husband his passport came back 10days after submission, mine has been on "Application Received" till this afternoon. This is just to encourage does that submitted around that time and still waiting.

Wao thanks for sharing . Looks like I’ve got to brace up for same fate . My last Dropbox I didn’t use the visa at all. I visited Canada , UK and several Schengen countries many times within the period but just didn’t have reason to visit the US from 2022 to 2024. Now it’s been almost one month of waiting since I submitted my passport. Guess we’re the unlucky ones in terms of fast processing times cos I’ve seen many that the whole process took like 2 weeks max .
Sad thing is I only realized too little too late that for interview waiver you can’t request for your passport until processing is done which makes absolutely no sense. I wish I could

Could my IW delay be connected to the fact that my last Dropbox visa approval was not used at all. But in the period I did a lot of travels in Europe Schengen , UK and canada , I just didn’t feel so interested in visiting the US during the visa validity period . In fact last December I was in Ottawa not so far from New York but somehow I just didn’t have a reason to visit the US . I’ve visited the US multiple times in the past. Could it be that the delay in IW is related to the fact that I didn’t use the last visa ? I’m just confused . I met someone at OIS today who submitted same day as me but his own is issued

Did your status change on the CEAC website to issued before you went to check ? Is there any possibility that the CEAC website shows application received but your visa has been processed? Just asking randomly if that’s remotely possible

thediva:
Thank you so much for this. I dropped my passport on the 10th of July, and have got no email, the ceac website keeps telling me it has no info. I tried the new website, opened a ticket, got an auto response to wait for 48hours same as others. I tried to book a pickup appointment last week, it did not work. After seeing your post now, I tried again and got an appointment to pick up for $0. Pickup location is Idowu Taylor. I still do not know for sure that it is there, but I will go. Thank you. Your post encouraged me to try it again.

My IW Dropbox was 14th August 2024. I have an official trip to Europe with flight already booked for 14th September 2024. Till now it’s Application received. Application received 15th, 21st and now 27th August the latest until now that I’m typing this . I’ve been discouraged seeing some folks say theirs have taken more than 1 month , some even nearly 2 months . What are the chances I get my passport before 14th September . At this point if they can just return my passport with or without the visa I’ll be the happiest man alive . I’m freaking out so much mehn . I wish I didn’t submit this IW thing this time . I had no idea is now so messed up . The last time I did it in 2022 it took like 1 week . I pray for a miracle mehnnnnn