Flipping through the pages of my passport, the visa stamps feel like a replay of my life’s trajectory over the past decade or so. Every trip to the consulate for an interview, every wait for a “Clear” status—these moments connect the major milestones of my life, from studying and working to getting married and starting a family. From those early academic years to our current life, each of these small stamps marks a door that eventually opened.

A decade of US visa stamps: F-1, H1B, B-2, and the administrative processing checks in between

2013: A Slow Start and My First “Check”

That year, I was preparing to start my PhD, and I got my first lesson in “Administrative Processing” right out of the gate.

B Visa. I booked an interview immediately after getting my offer at the end of January, hoping to go for a campus visit. The check took a full month, and the campus visit didn’t happen—my first lesson that some timelines simply aren’t mine to set.

F Visa. In a race against time, I even took a car straight to the international airport just to intercept my DHL package containing my I-20 the second it arrived. I booked my F visa interview immediately after, and that one was checked for another month too. Everyone involved was doing their job carefully, and there was nothing to do but wait well. It was the first time I learned to hold a plan loosely and let a process take the time it takes.

2015 Winter: An Unplanned Month at Home

F Visa. I went back to my home country to visit family and was checked for a month once again. I spent that month watching the calendar, wondering whether the delay would set my studies back. It didn’t—and in hindsight, it handed me something I hadn’t had in two years: a long, unhurried stretch of time with my parents.

Those were also the years I was quietly wondering whether the PhD itself was the right path—a doubt I’ve written about in twelve years of national park travels. Waiting on a visa in a childhood bedroom, thousands of miles from the lab, turns out to be a reasonable place to sit with a question like that.

2016 Summer: A Thrilling Countdown in Europe

F Visa. The summer of this year was full of drama. I went to Europe for an academic visit, spending a couple of weeks in two different countries. I expected to return to the US smoothly after 4 weeks, but during my interview at a US Consulate in Europe, I was checked again.

The visa still hadn’t come through after the academic visit ended and I returned to the city where the consulate was located. My advisor kindly sent an email query, which helped bring the administrative processing to a close. After mailing my passport back, there was one more week of waiting. I picked up my passport, visa stamped inside, at the consulate entrance at 8:00 AM on the exact day of my scheduled return flight—it came through with hours to spare, and I made the flight.

2017 Summer: Independence Day Fireworks

Parents’ B2 Visa. Finally, a smooth experience. That summer, my mother flew to my university town by herself and stayed for three weeks. It was her first time in the US. We explored the local areas together and even went to see the fireworks on Independence Day. Watching her experience the culture made all the previous visa hurdles feel insignificant.

2019 Summer: My Wife’s Academic Journey

F Visa. My wife got her PhD offer and started her student visa process, and her application went through a month of checking as well. By then I knew the rhythm well enough to reassure her. The visa came through, she made it to the US as planned, and we began our life together in a new state.

2019 Winter: A Wedding, H1B, and New Chapters

The end of that year was incredibly busy. We went back to our home country to hold our wedding, marking a major transition in our lives.

H1B Visa. The very first thing I did after our wedding was head straight to the US Consulate for my visa. Like a routine procedure, I waited another two weeks for it to be issued.

In-laws’ Visas. Taking advantage of this trip home, I also took my parents-in-law to the consulate to apply for their visas. Since her research schedule couldn’t spare a long leave, she flew back to her university right after, while I stayed behind to accompany our parents and handle the remaining paperwork. Not the honeymoon anyone pictures, but it got everyone where they needed to be.

2026: The Calm of Passing Years

Parents’ 10-Year Visa Renewal. In a blink of an eye, it is 2026, and my parents’ 10-year visas were up for renewal. This time it was an interview waiver (dropbox) application. I initially booked my usual consulate location, but there were no available slots for the longest time. When I saw an opening at a different consulate, I decisively changed the location. After refreshing the system for a few days, I finally secured a dropbox appointment. Thankfully, everything went smoothly; we avoided the exhaustion of traveling for an interview and securely got the visas.

It is a quiet kind of progress: what once meant a month of waiting now resolves through a courier envelope and a few days of refreshing a booking page. The process has genuinely gotten better, and so has the yardstick I measure these things by.

Closing

Over ten years of visa history, filled with “Checks” and “Waiting,” have also witnessed my personal growth. Before I knew it, that young man sprinting anxiously through the airport for an I-20 has become a husband and a father to a baby boy. Life always pushes forward through moments of uncertainty and waiting, and as for us, our steps only grow steadier along the way.