If you are from well developed country, they ask for background check only if they have a really good reason to do so. For all others, its hit and miss. A girl that used to work for my lawyer (Campbell Cohen), used to work for visa office in Buffalo for 15 years and she did not think that they will ask for it, but here I am now. So gooood luck, I wish you get your visa soon. BTW, I've checked some reports from other local offices, LA, NY, etc, and seams like whoever got thru them is getting his visa fast. The rest of us who are left with Buffalo are experiencing delays and delays to delays, and so on.