If an administrative processing has been going on for more than six months, the question is: what happens next? In theory they should carry out a new IOM procedure. But does that mean you have to go back to the consulate for another interview? Has anyone been in this situation — how does it work in practice?
The medical exam is valid for six months — it was the same for us with the DV. There was this case: a letter arrived requesting a new IOM medical exam, a police certificate and photos, and the letter didn’t say at all that the AP (administrative processing) was over. So updating the medical exam doesn’t mean starting over — they’re just refreshing the data while the processing continues.
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A request for a new IOM is a data update, not a restart of the process — a new interview is not scheduled, and the review continues in parallel. This is standard procedure when administrative processing (AP) extends beyond the validity period of the medical examination.
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An MOM (МОМ) update during AP (administrative processing) is an administrative cycle — according to AILA discussions it can repeat every six months while the check remains open. They don’t reschedule the interview — a colleague’s AP lasted 14 months; MOM was requested twice, and both times it was just a letter with instructions on what to update. A separate question is what happens to the visa’s validity for entry when AP finally closes — that’s a different track.
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An IOM medical exam is valid for six months, and when AP drags on they just renew it — that’s standard. I heard from a friend who waited more than a year — they requested a new IOM twice, both times without a new interview, just a letter with instructions on what to bring. So a medical exam renewal isn’t a reason to panic — the screening is simply continuing.
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If it’s been less than 4 months — completely normal; up to 8–10 months is still the green zone. But if it’s over 12 months, it’s not so much a check as a formal reason to hold the review, that’s how the lawyer explained it to me when I was sorting it out myself. The IOM just refreshes things in parallel; nobody reschedules the interview. Hang in there )
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and after closing AP they check the stamp separately — that’s already the reciprocity schedule, not the AP track.
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The stamp is a separate story — if the visa expired while the AP was pending, the AP closing by itself doesn’t give the right to enter. I heard about a case where someone waited more than 10 months, the AP closed, and then it turned out the stamp had long since expired — they had to go to a new consular appointment just to get a fresh visa to enter. So there are two different tracks, and you need to keep both in mind.
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