Visa application on hold

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What does this mean?

It means one of two things...

  • The entire queue has been paused for administrative reasons. There were no official Belgian holidays last week and none this week, but July and August is typically a time of short-handed staff. There are no news stories indicating an embassy lock down or similar threats, and they would never reveal an audit for suspected corruption. Their system could be down and they will not reveal this type of incident either. You did not tell if other applicants in the same pipeline are getting a similar result so there's nothing more to infer on whether or not their web reporting has been hacked or otherwise broken down... OR
  • Your application in particular has been separated from the main pipeline and is awaiting either specialist treatment or a clarification from you. If they need something and a single clarification can save the application, they will contact you.

Is it a bad thing?

No. It cannot be immediately interpreted as a bad thing. If they need a clarification, any time you are permitted to engage with visa officers is a brilliant opportunity to reinforce that you are a bona fide applicant. Look forward to those events and make the most of them when they arise.

Given that only 3 calendar days have elapsed since your submission, it is likely that you are having 'post-submission anxiety'. It means anything and everything can induce elevated fears and cause people to post unsettled and vaguely composed enquiries on the net. It's very normal for applicants who are new to the whole visa application process. You did not disclose enough information for a precise determination of 'post-submission anxiety', so this is speculation on my part.

Note that 'post-submission anxiety' is included in the tag definition for 'application-status'. There's are fascinating threads about it here and here and here and elsewhere. You can also see lots of references to it in our archives.

All I am asking is what does "On Hold" mean?

It means your application has been received and is awaiting some further activity. It also means your options at this point are two-fold...

  • brass it out; or
  • ask the Belgian embassy to cancel your application if a decision has not yet been made

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