The time shown on your plan is our commitment to check your file and file it with the US authorities. Standard is up to 72 hours, Priority 12 to 24 hours, Express 1 to 3 hours.
It is not a promise about when you will have your answer, because the answer is not ours to give.
What the clock covers
It starts when your file is complete, meaning we have your payment, your documents and your answers. It stops when we file your application with the US authorities.
Everything after that belongs to the authorities. Most decisions come back quickly, and can take up to 72 hours.
The two things that stop the clock
A missing or non-compliant document. Your file is put on hold and the countdown is frozen until we have what we need.
The decision itself, once your file is with the authorities.
This is why we do not give a completion time to a file that is still waiting on a document. Any date we gave you would be a guess, and it would depend on you, not on us.
If you are travelling soon
Send your documents the same day you pay. A file that has everything moves in hours; a file waiting on a photo can sit for a week.
If your departure is within 48 hours, tell us. We cannot make the authorities faster, but we can make sure nothing is sitting in our queue.
If your file seems stuck
Check your tracking area first. If your file is on hold, the reason is written on it and the answer is almost always a document you can send in two minutes.
If it is at awaiting decision, there is nothing to do but wait, for you and for us alike.
What we will never do
Give you a date for the decision, or promise an outcome. Anyone who does is inventing it.