Our case has been moving very quickly through the process; it now resides at the embassy in Nairobi.

I called last week to make an address change and casually asked if my wife could come and pick it up. No problem, just arrive at the embassy at 8:00 AM. Well my wife didn't get there until later in the morning, yet was still able to queue and eventually got packet #3.

While on the phone, I also asked what the scheduling was like and was informed there was no back log and that once my wife had gathered all of the information on the check list, to call the embassy and have an interview scheduled.

My wife was also given the same instructions when picking up packet #3.

I've read many other postings where packet #3 is mailed back and an interview date provided some time after receipt.

In Nairobi it appears that once the checklisted information is gathered and medical exam completed, just call up the embassy and make an appointment (I've heard from others going through Nairobi that they usually schedule the interview within the week of the call).

I was just curious if each embassy/consular office can adjust their processes to fit their needs.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to gather the information and call for an appointment; I was just wondering why other embassies seem to have an intricate system of setting interviews and some apparently just schedule on the fly.

Each consulate or embassy does have their own idiosyncrasies, depending on their circumstance and situation. I am not completely familiar with the various African nations but I do know with Canada, even the two consulates that process K-1s (for example) do things differently -- Vancouver allows the checklist to be faxed, Montreal does not, Vancouver asks for an extra form to be filled out that Montreal does not require, etc etc. That is why forums like this are invaluable at the consulate/embassy stage to document differences in the process, so that we can be aware and prepared.

And to answer your question, perhaps some embassies have a higher volume of cases, so a more detailed process is required to keep everything straight.