No IV appointment letter today too... Disappointed We have only 3 weeks now for the interview

Loto,
I know what you mean with the "snail mail", it seems everything gets lost in the mail room. I never even received the package with the DS-230 coversheet, etc...A little concerning when it is required to have the letter when our SO goes to the medical exam and to the actual interview. I am not even sure they will allow us to set that appointment without the letter actually in hand. Lima is a 12 hour bus ride from where my wife lives so she is going to be spending the last 2 weeks with friends while she gets her exam and interview. My wife tried to set it today, but the office was closed. Trying again tomorrow. I hope they get a move on pushing those letters out. Do you know id the Packet III & IV (combined in the case of Peru) are sent by NVC or the embassy?

Arequipa4us, I talked to NVC operator 3 or 4 times regarding this letter. NVC mails out the interview appointment letter to both the petitioner and the beneficiary. Also, I was told it is regular mail. I just wished if they added another 10 or 15 bucks to $400 fee and courier this letter to at least to the beneficiary

That makes too much sense...but I will keep you updated as to when we receive the letter (either of us). Loving in CA, I might as well be in Antartica.

hey Loto,
did you got the appointment letter?? i had read in some thread you can email scanned copy to beneficary if he/she didnt received one from Nvc and NVC operator said they will accept at the enterance time.

I spoke to a NVC rep last night...

and she said my appointment letter was mailed out on JUNE 10 (the day we got our interview dates HAHA)

so for those who recently got their assigned interview date on june 10 keep a watch in the mail... and if ur beneficiary does not get it, the NVC and chennai operators told me to scan and send a copy to the beneficiary, so they can use it for their medical!


and my case was sent via DHL to chennai on JUNE 11.08 and they should receive it within 4 days..

so things are rolling

LOTO im sure u must receive the letter soon..

I received our appointment letter 3 days after I found out the interview date and my husband in Peru in 10 days.

Are you guys saying that the appointment letter is mailed by NVC to the beneficiary
and the petitioner, meaning to a U.S. address and overseas address the same time
and by snail mail? Lastly, the appointment letter contains appointment confirmation
( for those posts that are scheduled by NVC ) and instructions as to the particulars
of medical etc?

Just got off the phone with NVC operator, and they verified that the appointment has been sent out. Don't know if it is stuck in their mail room, but I will keep the faith that we will be receiving it soon.

Also confirmed that our case documents are being sent out today for Lima, Peru. So guys....Arequipa4us has left the building!!!!! Goodbye NVC, it was ??? Fun ???

yes, thats what i was told by the NVC operator ( i called 2 times and talked to 2 diff operators, both said same thing! there are new rules now, NVC wil do everything! )




yaaa AREQUIPA

mine left for india on june 11!!! im outtt .. it was fun in NVC !! very smoothh

Thanks Roza and Hyd!

To scan the copy, I do not have one. I have another 10 more days buffer before she goes for medical to Chennai

I'll update if I get one soon. Meanwhile, all of you can post here, if you get the same

That's great ! So there is no hard and fast rule for letter receipt

I can wait for another 10 more days until my wife goes to Chennai for medical.

Then we should print one - as outlined by James Shortcut barcode printing, just kidding

Loto; Miek had the same problem with the mail on Jamaica. I emailed the embassy and expressed my concern about him not geting the appointment letter in time for the medical and got a response to have him come to the embassy taking said email and they will have a duplicate packet for him to pick up. Maybe you can try emailing them with your concerns and see what happens in the next 10 days.

Good luck. and by the way even if they tell you they mail it out, it could be sitting in their mailroom. I was generated 3/24 but not mailed out till 4/7

Thanks clairern !

My wife visited VFS (It is needed in India for passport delivery after the interview) office today and here is her findings. Please note that, this is for Chennai (India) U.S consulate and it may differ to other consulates.

She has to come back to VFS on 06/17/2008 because they expect applicant not earlier than 15 calendar (not business days) days. VFS office is actually close to our home in India.

If interview letter is not received before 06/17/2008, VFS will give a receipt stating so. Then she needs to print out the July (her interview is on 07/03/2008) list of appointments from Chennai U.S consulate (where her interview happens) website to proceed for medical and interview. Also, she needs to download medical cover letter and social security information sheet from consulate website as part of packet 4.

Also, she needs to complete a new DS-230 form to submit to the VFS, in addition to the one submitted to NVC.

She also needs to pay Rs.365 for passport delivery charges and they will give the receipt for the same. They assured her she can get her passport back by courier in 2 business days after the interview (if visa is granted).

For immigrant visa applicants, there is NO counter collection of the passport after the interview. That's only for non-immigrant visa applicants.

Good luck guys!
Loto

Just a quick update...
I am keeping a watch on the mailbox, nothing yet. I will be out of town for the weekend, so I hope that today or Saturday the appointment letter will arrive. I will find out on Sunday when I return, and post to let you guys know. I called NVC this morning, and my AVR has changed to the message indicating that they forwarded everything to Lima. Whew!!!!!!!! What a relief!!!!! Know I have to track all our supporting documents that I mailed to my wife on the June 6th. As of this morning in had not cleared customs. I should have bit the bullet and sent it DHL, but I opted for the less expensive USPS. Who knows, it could have taken just as long. But once that package has arrived I will be much less stressed. The rest of this process is out of my hands. HELP US LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck Arequipa4us!

We had an email confirmation from consulate stating appointment letter is not needed for the interview, if we don't receive it before the interview. General monthly appointment list and VFS letter is more than enough with all the forms in Packet 4 downloaded from consulate site

yay loto u have nothing to worry about now!!!

good luck

Hyd, Good luck to you too

Here is the message from consulate Also she started the medical procedures at her hospital. I gave her all general list of vaccinations and doing the diagnosis. I am not that worried about her medical stuff
---------------------------------
Dear Sir ,

Thanks for your inquiry.

If the packet 4 does not reach you, you may also download the same from - http://chennai.usconsulate.gov/appointments.html . You can take a print out of the appointment date in lieu of the appointment letter if you don’t receive the letter by post. You will be let in with out the appointment letter.

Sincerely,


Visa Information Unit
American Consulate General
220, Anna Salai
Chennai 600 006
India
Phone - 91-44-28574000/28574242
Fax - 91-44- 28112020
Website - http://chennai.usconsulate.gov

thanks!! good luck,

i just tracked my case thru DHL and its in UK!!

it will reach chennai i belive by monday or tuesday..

That's great Hyd Your valuables are on the fly, huh

Great news Hyd!!!! You guys are almost there

my case reached CHENNAI just now.. but its the weekend there, so i will talk to them monday and confirm everything!!

Heeeeeeyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Based on the tracking at DHL, our paperwork seems to have gotten to Delhi today (10:27pm Saturday night there - 6/14/08) ...

I haven't received (nor has my wife) the interview letter yet ... but it was supposedly mailed out by the NVC on 6/10 ... Fingers crossed it comes SOON!

hey rajee glad ur case reached new delhi, mine reached chennai as well. but i got atext message from DHL sayin it was at chennai, but premises are close (sat night) lOL so they wil go back next business day LOL but thank god it reached!

and i just check my mail.. no interview letter for me either.. it was sent to us on june 10.. still waiitng!

have agreat weekend guys!!

Hyd and Rajee, Congratulations on reaching your originals safe

Forget about the IV appointment letter. Mine was mailed out on 05/28/2008 by NVC and not yet reached until today. But as per consulate and VFS, it is not a mandatory item, if we have VFS letter and consulate's monthly appointment list print out.

My wife's all medical vaccinations are completed by her parents. Now it is Chennai Medical team's turn

I got the interview letter for Neetu today!

It has a link that it tells you to go to in order to see what the procedure is, but it also has some other pages. It has a list of possible vaccinations you may need to get (already found by most of us on the website(s)) and also a list of documents needed for the interview (which are already sent by us to NVC). It says if copies were provided, then you have to produce the originals for the interview.

There's also a list of potential necessary documents and it says "yes" if they got it. So, I looked at all of docs in the list - they either say "not required" or "yes, received/completed" (or something like that - I'm typing this without the letter in front of me).

So it's pretty straightforward but Neetu will call the VFS to make sure nothing else is needed other than the courier fees.

That's great and Congrats Rajee So, you are all set !

LOTO congrats on the completion of MRS LOTOs vaccinations! good luck to her for the medical in chennai!

RAJEE congrats on receiving ur letter today!

i did not get anyting today maybe next week i hope...

we r rollin!!

Loto - Thanks for the congrats It does look like we're in the home stretch - time will fly now ... I hope ... I think your letter must be lost in the mail or misdirected somehow - I don't think NVC botched it up, but who knows since your timeline says it was sent over 2 weeks ago ... Mine made it in 5 days ... You can tell Mrs. Loto that she could (if she's close by enough) go to the embassy and have them print off a copy of the letter for her, also ... That's what I and Neetu heard from a panel doc in Delhi ... But I've scanned the letter I got for Neetu already, and I expect her to have her copy within the next 3 business days or so (I hope).

Hyd - Keep an eye out, I'm sure your letter is around the corner ... it's pretty smooth sailing from here ... I will keep things updated as to what Neetu hears in her conversation(s) with VFS/Embassy as to what else is expected from us other than courier fees.

BEST OF LUCK!

Thank you Rajee and Hyd ! Congrats Rajee on getting your IV letter so quick Now NVC process is totally completed and we need to deal with our country fellows

I had an email from the courier service who delivers NVC letters to India that they have recently received a mail from NVC (may be IV letter) and will be delivered it on Mon/Tue.

We are from Cochin and Chennai is far away for us. So, going to Chennai is not practical. She goes there are part of her medical and interview only. VFS is very closeby and they are giving us a substitue letter if we have not received the IV letter

That is great news Loto; I am so happy for you!!

You guys are all on your way to a fast interview. I wish you all good luck with the rest of this process and a fast reuion with your loved ones.

Clairern, thanks a lot Our interview is on July 3rd and my wife is joining me here in the U.S on July 11th (if she gets passport by July 10th back from consulate). We're almost all set and I am so excited to see her here Actually, I was with her for 2 weeks in this May too That was a personal cum business trip

Thanks, Claire!

Loto - It seems like we're just biting our nails waiting for the finish line now, huh? Best of luck with getting Mrs. Loto here ASAP as planned Neetu will be about one week behind lol

Yes Rajee, we are almost done Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh Laaaaaaaaaaaalllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

i still did now receive the interview letter from NVC!!

i saw Rajee received it and was hoping today i would get it but nothin..

so i called NVC spoke to an operator just now, and she said allow 2-4 weeks for itnerview letter to arrive.. but our interview is in 6 weeks!!

i hope we get ittt

Hyd, even if you don't get it, don't worry.

What we are doing is: get a letter from VFS, July Chennai list and the confirmation email from Chennai consulate. That's the substitution for the appointment letter. Good luck

well loto since we r not on the chennail july list ( since our case reached chennai after NVC changed rules) we wont have that list, but i already emailed NVC for our confirmation for our interview date, and i will email chennai also for confirmation.. i hope this is sufficient although we STILL have time to receive it.. but i like to keep this as backup..

i dont think we can get a letter form VFS? i did not quite understand what u said abou VFS??

Hey guys, you are all on a roll. The flood gates seems to have opened up for you all. That makers me so happy to hear that a whole group of VJers from the same country are rallying together for their interview in the same month. Again, I want to wish you guys all the best.

thanks! so sweet of u!!

hope ur journey and interview go well! good luck

Hyd, clairern is a well-wisher !

Me and Fathima wish you good luck

Just to update everyone - here's the latest with Neetu:

She called the VFS office and they weren't particularly helpful. She then called the Embassy helpdesk (where the gentleman has been pretty good) and asked a few questions about what she needed to submit to the VFS and what fees were still pending that she had to pay, etc etc ...

She was told that she only had to pay the courier fee at the VFS because she had already submitted all required original documents to the NVC - in fact, the gentleman said that despite the "rule" that you have to wait until 15 days prior, since she had already submitted her original documents and was only paying a fee, that she could even do that early ... He did tell hSo maybe she'll try that out ...

He did not tell her anything about another copy of the DS-230 or anything like that ... She also asked about taking her proof of relationship to the VFS and the gentleman recommended that she bring it to the interview ... However, she was told that CD's are not allowed (a lot of our pics and, of course, our wedding video, are on CD/DVD) - she will make due with photos, albums, and all other things that we have (letters, emails, phone records, receipt from Goa/other hotel) ...

As for the medical, she went to the Dr's office in the evening and got a physical exam using my scanned letter for her interview date (she hasn't gotten hers yet, but I would assume it'll be there before Saturday) ... The Dr said that she should come back for some labwork, 3-4 shots for vaccinations, and a chest xray on Saturday morning and that a report would be ready for her a couple days after that ...

Her last day of work is FRIDAY - so she's free after that ... Looks like she won't have much to do when she's at home - so she can enjoy her time with her parents and do some packing

Hope that's helpful, guys ...

Hey guys!!!
Been out of town for awhile and was hoping the interview letter would have been in my mailbox. NO SUCH LUCK! I called NVC and they "said" it was mailed on the June 10th. I think it got stuck in their mailroom, or it would have made it's journey to CA by now. I did track the DHL of documents down to Lima, and called the embassy yesterday. They have received everything and confirmed our interview date. My wife;s medical is all set. So starting a week from tomorrow all the significant dates land on a Thursday:

Thurs 6/26 - Medical Exam
Thurs 7/03 - Interview
Thurs 7/10 - Flight to San Francisco

The time for me seems to have slowed to a crawl, even though the finish line is so near. Thanks for the all the support.

hey arequipa4us i have not got my interview letter yet either! i called them and they said it was mailed out on the 10th but still havenot got it yet, and they said allow 2-4 weeks to receive it

i hope we get it soon..
good luck for ur spouses medical and interview and flight..

same with my huby hes all set, just waiting to get second dose of his shot in a week, then medical and then interview and then we both wil be comin back to US together!!

lets keep each other posted on our interview letter!

Hey guys - sorry to hear that you didn't get your letters yet. I haven't heard from Neetu that she got hers yet, either, but my scan worked to get the initial part of the medical done and she will finish it up on Saturday.

Will the VFS office be able to write a letter for you guys, as in the case of Mrs. Loto? That along with the interview list for next month at your respective consulate should be enough based on what Loto found out ...

My pertinent dates are as follows:

Saturday, June 21 - Medical (Part 2)
Wednesday, July 9 - Interview
Tuesday, July 15 - Tentative Flight to EWR (arrival 4:35am 7/16)

Good luck Aqua, Hyd and Rajee !!!

You're right Rajee, VFS letter and July list is sufficient. And a confirmation email from consulate that the interview is confirmed

hi guys,

i jsut got my interview letter in the mail!! so arequipa i think u should get it today also..

its a couple of pages, outlining:

vaccinations
documents that were received and reviewed NVC
interview date time and place..

they dont need anything from me, it was all checked off

i scanned it and sent it to my husband in india, so he can get his medical done!

wohoo im excited

That's great Hyd So, you are all set. No halla gulla at VFS

LOLLLLLLLLL yup no HALLA GULLA at VFS.. tomorrow my husband will be calling/going to VFS and confirming things he needs to submit, for sure the required 365RS fee and if they need anything else like u said ( ur wife had to give another ds230) we are planning to hand carry medical report and proof of relationship..

then after he gets his second vaccination july9th he will go to chennai for medical..