Sorry ... I have too much information in my head at the moment and now I am way too confused . I know I've read it somewhere here but...

Anyhow, my questions are -

(1) Where do we get a copy of our appointment letter? email or will it be sent through courier?

(2) Who will get it? the petitioner or the beneficiary?
- I read they no longer send us a packet instead we'll just download it on their website.

(3) How do we know if our case already reached USEM?

Looking forward to see your replies. Thanks.

timcass_12

1. your appointment letter will be sent to you together with you packet through courier

2. it's the beneficiary who will receive the packet/appointment letter but they the uscis will send a copy of the appointment to the petitioner too.

3. u may track your case in uscis website or call...


goodluck...

With their new system at USEM (according to others here who recently scheduled interviews), you will need to call the embassy for the interview appointment. The packet 4 is no longer being sent out - you need to download it to their website - and the appointment letter itself will be sent thru e-mail to your fiancee. For you to be able to know if your case is already at USEM is by contacting NVC and inquire if they sent out your papers. If they did, it takes at least 1-2 weeks for it to arrive at USEM.

--Mae

P.S. Again, this info is from what I have read here and not from my own experience so don't use this against me if you don't agree with me. I just noticed that there are some here who will pick on you and try to challenge you because they think you are misinforming the OP. BTW, here's the link for you: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=116793

Great! Thanks for the replies Now the process of getting the appointment letter is clear to me.

Hi Mae - Yep, I heard about the changed in the process and that the packet is no longer sent out to the beneficiary. I supposed that this will speed up the process given that we no longer have to wait for the packet, but I dunno, maybe or maybe not since interview appointments are no longer pre-scheduled and from what I've read there are only limited interview dates to choose from.

Just FYI....I too have read other posts that say they have gotten the appointment letter via email. However, for us, in 3 conversations with 2 individuals at the Manila Embassy, both told me that they do not/can not do that. The last conversation I had from them 2 days ago was, "you don't really need it anyway", just show the embassy guard the screen printout of from the Interview Lookup page on the embassy's web site.." Now....i fully expect to have some stress when I show up at the embassy guard and he asks for it and I say I dont have one, but....blah blah.... We will see.. anyway we will get in one way or another - that I guarantee.

OK: WARNING!! HUGE VENT COMING..........

All I can say is that I am hugely UNIMPRESSED TO DATE at each interaction with SLEC and USE Manila. I thank God that I am here with TinTin to go through this together as she would be losing her mind by now with all of the BS, misinformation being slung out by SLEC and the Manila USE.

Whoever takes over for Gonzales needs to just drop a bomb on the whole visa Beaurocracy Machine and start from scratch! (Yes I know that DOS does not report to USCIS, etc, etc..). It's a BIG PICTURE sentiment...

I see. Thanks for the FYI. If they are not capable to send us an email confirmation then the screen printout from the interview look-up page should be deemed acceptable because unlike before, packets with the actual hardcopy of the appointment letter is being sent to the beneficiary.

I've read somewhere here that the printout copy of the appointment letter from the look-up site plus a copy of the letter from NVC confirming our assigned case number will do as that will show the name and other pertinent details of our petition. If I don't get any appointment letter then that's what I'm gonna do. Anyway, please let us know what your interview experience will be. I've seen your timeline and you're scheduled to have your interview next Friday, April 4. Good luck to you and your fiancee. God Bless.

timcass_12

When I called the USEM I rcvd a conformation email with the appoitment date and time they said show it at gate 2, I had them send it to my email then forwarded to my fiancee so I have copy incase she needs again. It was sent like 5 mins after i got off the phone with them, just letting you know.

Thanks for your information. Im happy that you were successful. THis is yet another example of how things are so bad here. The process is completely opaque and non reproducable from 1 person to the next. Ughh.....!

Happy for your success, though!

Warm Regards,
Samby


[quote name='timcass_12' date='Mar 28 2008, 01:42 AM' post='1702504']
I see. Thanks for the FYI. If they are not capable to send us an email confirmation then the screen printout from the interview look-up page should be deemed acceptable because unlike before, packets with the actual hardcopy of the appointment letter is being sent to the beneficiary.

I've read somewhere here that the printout copy of the appointment letter from the look-up site plus a copy of the letter from NVC confirming our assigned case number will do as that will show the name and other pertinent details of our petition. If I don't get any appointment letter then that's what I'm gonna do. Anyway, please let us know what your interview experience will be. I've seen your timeline and you're scheduled to have your interview next Friday, April 4. Good luck to you and your fiancee. God Bless.
timcass_12

Will do and thanks for the good wishes!

Warm Regards,
Samby

my fiance went last week and used an email the embassy sent. It wasnt an appointment letter. They also told me its not needed and St Lukes can just look it up online by using my case # and that the email should be enough. In the end she passed her medical but some people there told her she needed an appointment letter but it was resolved. I think the embassy has just changed some policies and St. Lukes hasnt updated yet. I called the embassy 3 times and each time they told me I dont need an appointment letter. My fiance went early so most of the other people there had appointment letters because they just changed things this month. They should be up to speed soon though because im sure there will be a lot of people coming in without appointment letters in the next few weeks.