I was one of the few who got caught in the middle of this situation... and we got a call from Sydney stating that my wife's visa had been approved. We originally filed DCF and a week before the interview, Sydney said they can no longer issue the visa. They allowed my wife to keep her interview date a week after this new Adam Walsh thing took affect, while my I-130 was pending. I assume Sydney sent my info/name to Bangkok USCIS to get a background check... and of course it ran clear.

My wife who is here in the US at the moment will be flying back to Sydney to drop off her passport.

I'm just glad this stupid thing is DONE!!!

Thanks for everyone's support and info...

So they expect us to just sit around and not try to find out what's going on with our cases?

Where did you get the info. that CIS is processing Okinawa before Tokyo?

Ok, so Bangkok tells me they're handling it, Seoul tells me they're adjudicating and now this reply to you implies that they might be in California but processed separately? And they blame us for calling and emailing everywhere we can think of trying to find out what's going on?

There is the problem that if they spend time fielding all our calls, that's less time that they can spend actually processing the I-130s. Still you tend to feel that if they gave us at least a *little* information, like where our application is and how long they expect it to take to process, that we wouldn't feel the need to try to chase them down so much.




They don't actually say that California is doing it, they just don't disagree with redtape777's assumption that they were. Since they are obviously deliberately not giving us info about which office it goes to, they just didn't address the point, is my guess.

Honestly, the USCIS seems to know more of what's going on, even if they don't know very much. I'd certianly take their word for it over the Tokyo embassy's at this point. Tokyo has repeatedly been saying "look, we don't have a clue either."


Waiting and waiting. Incidentally, I wrote to my congresswoman in the US and got a response from one of her staffers, who does genuinely seem to be looking into it at least a bit. Write to your reps. They can at least start conversations going about what's going on.

If you read some of the posts, people, including mine and Sonya, are starting to get their new rescheduled DCF interviews. Calling them, I have found, gets you nowhere. They can only give you the posted message they were instructed. You cannot track you DCF application through USCIS, however, you can call DOS and give them your case number and they can tell you status of. But let me save you the wait on the phone, your application has been sent to the nearest USCIS office overseas for background check. It will be processed based on your priority date, example January 23rd is first. Our application was sent early feb and was processed two weeks later. I cant imagine anyone elses taking much longer. Rome might be longer because it handles more embassy's. Maybe < one more month and you will here of your new appointment. Calling them just, as mentioned above, tie up their resources. I talked to my senator and they said DOS, NVC, and USCIS was overwhelmed with 1000's of calls every day and they just were not prepared to handle. Also almost every state senator recieved mail and calls. So the mistake was very made aware to those involved, and they are working as fast as possible to process. I think its a great law and believe one month turn around on a new instruction is great. But I am more grateful that we were able to file DCF while others wait over 9 months to bring family to the US.

David - you were one of the MANY caught in this! Glad it's resolved for you. My husband's interview was rescheduled -- originally it was March 28, now it's April 11.

I get the impression that timelines vary widely by country (which of course isn't fair. But I think it's always been that way.)

I also have the impression that AT FIRST, they were considering sending paperwork back to the US to be processed, in the case of USCs who reside in the US. That's my case, and we were first told that our file would have to go to the US. But, then it turned out that, for Paris, everything got processed through Rome. My GUESS is that those dealing with Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, etc will not have stuff processed in California. Basically, I think you do just have to be patient and wait -- but I still recommend asking your US Senator and/or Congresspeople to help. They're supposed to! You might have to educate them (their staff) about DCF and Adam Walsh.

More news of Tokyo's stunning inefficiency ...
Looked in the mailbox today and got all excited to see a letter from the embassy. I naturally thought it was re-approval, especially since many people from other countries are already getting theirs. But it was just an update saying they've sent my petition to Seoul. This is a full 2 weeks after the Seoul office told me themselves they had the Tokyo petitions and a month after Tokyo actually sent them.

I too am one of those unfortunate souls in Japan who has had to deal with the miserable Tokyo Embassy. I mean, we never received an e-mail from them telling us that our interview had been canceled. So imagine our shock when we showed up on January 29 for the interview only to be told that we couldn't do anything! So that was a waste of money (we're in Osaka).

You have to pay to call or e-mail them. I called them twice, only to receive nondescript answers. All I know is that my paperwork was sent "to USCIS" on January 26. I don't know if it's in Seoul or Bangkok. I tried calling Seoul several times and was finally able to talk with a human. She said that she doesn't even know if they have my paperwork and that "if Tokyo says they sent it here, she presumes the Korean Embassy has it."

Yikes.

Anyway, our flight is in about two weeks and my wife doesn't have a green card. My apartment lease and job contract both expire at the end of this month, so staying here is not an option. We've already mailed most of our personal belongings and clothes to the US, so my wife couldn't stay behind. Her family lives too far away for her to move back. This whole situation is very depressing.

Our priority date is in early October of last year, so you would think that we would be one of the first cases to be readjudicated, but it turns out that some people with later priority dates are getting their stuff reprocessed faster, according to a Japanese blog site with a community group focused on this very problem.

I am so angry about the way this situation is being handled. I wrote a letter to the Tokyo Embassy explaining how I don't know what to do and they had the gall to write me back saying that "they no longer do visa inquiries by mail" and instructed me to use their pay service and e-mail services. They even cut my name and address from my letter and used that to address the envelope they sent back to me. Absolutely amazing.

Seriously, the Tokyo Embassy seems to be one of the worst ones out there. The Osaka Consulate is not much better. Everyone is telling us what we CAN'T do, but nobody can tell us what we CAN do.

The Tokyo people did say that we could enter the US on the VWP, but that we'd have to return to Tokyo for the interview. But why on earth can't our case simply be forwarded to a USCIS office in the US?! And we are not about to spend $2000+ for another set of plane tickets and hotel reservations. It is driving me absolutely crazy.

When I asked the Tokyo call center staff what we should tell the immigration officer at the airport, they said we should tell them we are coming as tourists. I then asked the staff if they were telling us to lie to the immigration staff, but they had no answer to that. And of course, she wouldn't give me her name or the name of her supervisor "for security reasons" even though I just want to have a point person should I need to cite where I got my information.

When this situation is finally resolved, I think the Tokyo Embassy staff should be the subject of a congressional investigation or something because this is ridiculous. There's no accountability here whatsoever.

I really hope we can get a waiver or some other visa after entering the US somehow. We have round trip plane tickets, but we were hoping we wouldn't have to use them...

Skain,
I know you're frustrated--you made a lot of plans hinging on things going as you envisioned. Things change. I can only advise you to go with the flow or you'll blow a gasket.

There is no transferring of this process into the US. Once in the US, you are probably welcome to file an AOS case. That will be starting from scratch with fees and forms.

There is no getting another visa from inside the US--visa are for asking to enter the US.

There is returning for her interview, after she waits in the US as a tourist. DavidA of Australia and his wife did that--Florida to Australia is surely not a cheap air ticket, but it was better for them than leaving her behind. Only the visa applicant need travel for the final interview.

Don't waste your time baiting the Embassy staff. Most of them will NOT know the details--it only affects a minute portion of the building's workday. Find a manager or USC staffer if you have to talk to someone (and I realise they've cut off that communication).

Hey MEAUXNA... speaking of which... yes... that definitely was an expensive ticket... especially since it barely lasted 3 weeks because Sydney ended up telling us that the visa had been approved! I wish they could have told us that it might take a couple weeks rather than months! Well, my wife flew back, and sent off her passport to get the visa placed in it and she recieved it back today. My wife is flying back for good this sunday... we are done...

want to read about it go here... Land Downunder

Congratulations David and Stephanie! Glad to hear the visa has been approved!

they are trying to make it harder and they mean the muslims people by that coz lots of american citizens getting married for muslims and they do not want muslims comes over there and this is true.

*backs away slowly*






*runs*

YAAAAHOOOOO!

I just read about it FIRST at LDU.. Congratulations!!!!
Murphy's Law on the plane tix.. if you hadn't a'done it, it probably would've been months I'm SO glad to hear it worked out!
Welcome home, Stephanie!

You ain't kidding! Anyone wanna take a stab at replying to that comment?

Not me.....

Well... if you mean the whole Adam Walsh Act law and resulting delays/end to DCF, then I don't think so. That really does sound like it's aimed at reviewing the USC petitioner for child abuse, sex crimes, etc., and doesn't have anything to do with the religion of the foreign beneficiary. And before you get paranoid, please remember that it's not just Muslims that have a hard time. People trying to come from countries like Mexico have incredibly long waits for interviews - adding a few staff members to Mexico City wouldn't exactly break the federal budget, so for whatever reason you want to imagine, it seems that the USA is only too happy to control that immigration flow, too.

But, Seka, I hear your pain. I've looked through some of the threads for people trying to get a visa from primarily Muslim countries, and it makes the troubles the rest of us have look like a little walk in the park. Many get APs, which applicants are told will delay their visa a week and then last for months and months or even years.... USC spouses and fiancees get grilled and regularly strip-searched by Homeland Security and humiliated with interrogations about the details of their sex life when they try to come visit you. Ridiculously long timelines for Adjustment of Status. A generally wretched, hostile, and Kafkaesque experience. I am really sorry about it, and I hope that things will improve.

I can confirm that the Tokyo I-130s were sent to Seoul (NOT BANGKOK). I contacted the Bangkok Embassy about my I-130 and received the following response:


----------

Mr. XXXXX

We have forwarded your email to the USCIS Seoul Office. The namecheck is pending with their office.

----------

This whole process really sucks because I have to piece together bits of information about what is NOT happening in order to figure out what actually IS happening.

I'll contact Seoul again this afternoon. You can call them with status inquiries between 2 and 4 every afternoon except Wednesdays.

My flight is in 12 days. My wife is depressed. And I am so angry about how this is being handled. How can a man tell his wife that this is a situation out of his control? I guess it's easy, but it just makes me feel so impotent and powerless when the stakes are so high...

Here's an update for the Tokyo Embassy:

The batch of I-130s that were sent to Seoul and were reprocessed there have been sent back to Tokyo and the embassy has been contacting the applicants in Japan for interviews. Interviews are given every Monday, so these lucky people were able to schedule interviews for March 19 and 26.

Seoul has not processed all of the applications yet though, but they said it would take 30-55 days from when they received them.

This is very good news, but it doesn't mean much if your application is still stuck in Seoul (like my wife's is).

Also, Seoul says they are processing the applications in the order in which they were received, which is different from processing them according to their priority dates. So some people who applied later than me and had interviews scheduled later than my wife's have already had their paperwork returned to them. Bah.

I guess I should be happy for those people, but I don't think this is very equitable. Some of these peoples' travel plans are flexible or don't even come into play until late April and May because they applied in December and January. Our flight is in 10 days and we applied in September...

Here's to hoping we get a call next week and can schedule an interview on March 26, the last possible day.

Does anyone know if you can still do DCF in Warsaw or if the whole DCF system has been cancelled? DIdn't see anything about Warsaw in these links.


Thanks

As of today, there is NO consular filing of I-130s.
USCs resident abroad may file with their USCIS Field Office.

At the moment DCF as it used to be in Warsaw is kinda sorta dead. If you have the time its possible that it will come back but there is no telling how long that could take. However there is another option which is U can mail your stuff to Vienna (or go there yourself in person but mail is fine). They will get your materials and do the first steps of the process. you basically need to send everything you would normally send in the first part of the application except for the proof of relationship. (dont forget to send the 190$ payment too). I would recommend calling the Vienna USCIS center to double check you have sent everything.

Anyhow once that gets apporved etc you can handle everything via Warsaw. This is where you will have to show the proof of relationship.

Fofire

Definitely contact Vienna USCIS for precise details and instructions just before you file. Each office has its own little variations and they're still sorting out the details. For instance, if you send a check to Vienna, they ask you to make it for $192.00 due to a local $2 check-cashing charge. You may eventually be able to give your petition directly to your local consulate and they'll forward it to Vienna, but if you're ready to file now, and you don't mind the FedEx fee, I wouldn't hold your breath on that. And remember that proof of residency (Vienna says minimum 6 months) is now required to file overseas.

I hope it goes well for you!

Update for Japan ...

My wife got a call from the Tokyo embassy today suddenly assigning her an interview date for 3/27, next Tuesday. Needless to say I'm happy about the sudden speed and decisiveness. One thing strange, though - In 2 separate letters from them they'd strongly suggested waiting to take the medical exam until further notice. It's a good thing we disregarded that and went for the medical 2 weeks ago, because otherwise there's no way we could get the results by next week. (The embassy didn't give her a choice for next Tuesday, it was take it or leave it. And it sounds like it might've been a looong 'leave it'.)

Do you know if the Tokyo office is accepting I-130’s?

I have heard that some consulates are but I have not heard anything about Japan.

Has anyone called them to ask?

Thanks!

The Tokyo embassy website still says to send I-130s to California, so I assume Tokyo still isn't accepting them.

Hi dbzman,

I'm in Osaka and had an appointment set for an I-130 submission in Feb that got cancelled by the embassy.

I called their 1,500 yen for 15 minutes visa hotline this week and the reply was the same.... Send the application to California.

Good luck.

Peter

Maiki: Glad someone got some good news out of Tokyo! We're still waiting. The Visa Information Line advised us to schedule an interview anyway even though we hadn't received clearance on Monday. When I called the VIL again today, they asked me why I set up an interview even though our paperwork hadn't yet been cleared. So I don't know what to think.

Anyways, congratulations on scoring an interview! Good luck!

Thanks, Skain.

Btw, looks to me like DCF is back. This was an update posted on the Tokyo embassy site:

Revised I-130 Petitioning Procedures for U.S. Citizens Resident in Japan (Mar 22 2007)
Effective immediately, consular offices in countries where there is no USCIS presence may now accept family-based I-130 petitions from American citizens who are resident in their district for at least the preceding 6 months.

Does that mean the Adam Walsh Act checks no longer apply?! Or does it just mean that you can only apply via the embassy/consulate if you've been living there (resident) for at least 6 months? In other words, the Adam Walsh checks still happen, but if you haven't been living in the area for at least 6 months, you must apply at a USCIS office in the US?

I guess it doesn't matter either way. The Tokyo Embassy still hasn't contacted me about my wife's file. Our flight is the day after tomorrow. She's going to have to fly back to Japan for the stupid interview. What a waste of money.

Very disappointing.

Hello everyone!

I just signed up to this forum last week as I am desperate already and am wondering if anyone has more clue about this than I do.

I have filed the I-130 with my husband at the Dublin Embassy upon invitation on September 11th 2006.

We have been married since 03 however he was a Perm Resident before and if we filed then it would take us Forever so we thought and figured it is better to file right after he becomes a Citizen which would make things faster.

I recieved an interview date for 26th January 2007. I was thrilled and on my way to Dublin on 25th January 2007 to spend the night and go to the embassy in the morning. I get a phone call from the U.S. Embassy with shocking news. My interview in cancelled and they do not know anything further. I will be notifed. It has been postponed inefinitely.

I was devistated!!

My husband called the state department they did not know anything at first and eventually were able to advise him of the law change. The embassy in Dublin advised him that the file will be going to London.

We were wondering why because initialy they had told us that all files that were filed after a certain date in July are going to be sent to The United States for review.

I sent over the DS 2001 and DS 230 part I. before getting the interview date as required but after the Dublin embassy quit onmy case stating it needs to go to London they advised me I actually need to send them filled out and signed forms G325a for both of us. I have gathered the documents and right before sending them off to Dublin called them to confirm where I should be sending them to. They advised me to not call the Dublin embassy anymore (quite rude staff they have there - unprofessional also) and that they sent the file incompleted to London.

Oh my!! Alright so I come home with all the paperwork and I luckily get mail from the London embassy stating my file is incomplete and they need the forms G325a and a marriage certificate.

I send it and 10 days later I get another letter - stating that they need a Marriage License this time. Geesh couldn't they make it clear on the first letter? Now the terrible thing here is that I cannot call the London embassy and can only write them. It takes 10 days for a letter to come from London to Ireland? Terrible.

So now I'm waiting..........

and waiting....

Does anyone have any idea how long am I going to wait? Or is my file actually gonna be worked on in London? or is it going to the States? What is going ooooooooon?!

*sigh*

I'd be glad if I get any input from you guys

hi,

I think ur file was sent to the nearest USCIS office for a petitioner backgroung, coz after jan 23 2007 embassy postpone all interview and i was one of them and my file was sent to Roma uscis... and it takes like almost 3 weeks to be reaproved ''walsh law''
I think ur uscis office is London.

When my file was in the uscis ofice in Roma i called and it was impossible to know if my file was checked or not , i got the info from Paris as soon my file was back there and they give me an another appointment.

i hope my info can help u

good luck

Your situation seems kind of odd to me, since Dublin should have had your complete I-130 petition with all the necessary marriage documents, G-325A, etc. paperwork in order to set a visa interview date for you in the first place. But each consulate had its own way of handling an I-130 petition before the whole Adam Walsh Law, I guess. Still... it seems strange.

Hmm is probably right - your incomplete petition was sent to the USCIS office in London to do a background check on your husband's name for the new Adam Walsh Law, and USCIS in London asked you for the rest of the information necessary for an I-130 petition. They should process it fairly soon, they'll let Dublin know that you're approved, and then you can move onto the next part of your visa process. Be very glad that it didn't get sent for a long wait in the USA!

You should be aware that there is now a new policy, since March 23, that consulates are once again allowed to accept the I-130 petitions, with the caveat that the petitioner (your USC husband) has been legally resident in the foreign country for at least the past six months. If London USCIS now has your husband's complete petition, you should be fine, but keep in mind that depending on where your husband has been living for the past six months you're in a sort of weird no-man's land right now, so try to stay sweet with the consulate in Dublin, since they could choose to make your life easy or hard at this point!

Good luck.

Hi LilQueen,

I also submitted everything to Dublin for my husband in November so it sounds like we are in the same boat.

Dublin seems to do things a bit differently and from my experience so far, they don't have any idea how to facilitate those of us caught in the middle of this Adam Walsh thing. The Dublin process never seemed to match up with the processes in other countries so you are totally in the dark from the beginning.

I was also advised to send a list of documents that did NOT include our marriage certificate, my Irish residence permit to the Dublin Embassy in January and they were going to forward them on to London. When I realized they didn't ask for the correct docs (as listed on the London website), I called them and said "London will contact you if they need anything" and hung up on me!

I honestly don't think they know what they are doing and they don't have any inforamtion. It is really unfair that we can't even get in touch with London ourselves except by writing to them.

I know it's not worth the energy but I am disgusted with this red tape and total ignorance. Dublin gave us the impression when we applied that it would be easy - "just call us when you're ready to go", they said. So we did. And now we are further behind than when we filed in November...

Thank you all for responsing! Well Malka you certainly did scare me there with the no mans land! I really feel it is terrible that we should be at fault for the Dublin embassy not doing their job properly! When we went there they told us no need for nothing, like Sholt said. I has filled out G 325a forms right there and a lot of additional stuff that I was reading online on different websites that will be needed for processing however Dublin did not take them saying they do not need them and even told my husband he is free to go back to the States it is all on me now.

My husband was here a bit over 3 months as a family emergency arose in the States (his fathers health severly dropped and was fighting for his life). We thought he needs to come for the interview in January but Dublin said there is no need for that and he does not have to fly over here for anything else.

So yeah, they make it seem so easy, do not have a clue about how to even assist with paperwork nor anything else and in the end we are paying for it

My husband has called the State Department to advise of the way the embassy in Dublin deals with U.S. Citizens and that the staff is very rude and they just ackowledged by saying Yeah, we do get a lot of complaints about that office and apologized.

I sure hope they do not make my life more miserable

I was told 3-4 weeks also but the way the Dublin embassy works it is taking forever and then the mailing system now also.

On 25th Jan Dublin calls me saying the interview is cancelled and they are sending my file to the U.S. My husband calls everywhere asking what is going on. He was finally told by Dublin the following week Monday that the case has been sent to London to wait 3-4 weeks and I will get another apointment for the interview. We were happy and after a week checked up on it again since we knew how Dublin is. Then they tell him oh your file is still here awaiting additional documenation - G325a forms for you and your wife. I thought I will go mad! We get the papers together and I call them as I stated in the previous post to send them out to them. They say London will call you etc very rude and all, but I manage to keep her on the phone a few secs more to tell me when was it sent to London. She tells me Feb13th. So almost 3 weeks it took them to clear all this mess they created and I was waiting thinking that my papers will be here already after 3 -4 weeks, but they were not even in Lonodn yet! And then the brilliance of Irish postal services - no express post anywhere outside of Ireland no more. Grand! I wait 2weeks for the post to go and come back to me.

So this is all the waiting, over 2 months down the drain. It is the end of March and I am still here with no knowledge of what on earth is going on and when am I going to have the interview so I can finally put my life on track and my husband and I can begin our life together.

Again thank you all for your comments!

So, to get an idea of the process, I get the interview date (hopefully), I attend the interview myslef with all supporting documents (do you have any tips as per what I should bring? to me its very clear were a married couple because we want to be but I am wondering if the consular officers cannot see that? I do not want them to doubt me just because I do not have pictures they want or joint accounts (cannot have that anyway) or any of those things - I have pictures of us together some of his family pics, telephone bills since we really Waste sooo much money on the phone But I have been reading that you need a lot ot stuff - join accounts mortgages rent so many things -whoa)
So once you have the interview you are either approved or denied there and then? Then if you are approved the visa is done? and if you are not they advise you which waiver you should use etc? and then that is it for this side?
So when you are approved you fly to the States, can you work? where is the interview I have been reading about when you are both present and the officer akss you all kinds of questions to determne if you are indeed married out of love? What is the adjustment of status process like?

Thanks lads!

Wow talk about you are lucky! 57 days altogether. I've been married 4 years in March and am still waiting. Lucky Lucky laady! Good luck with your new life in ATL!!

Thank you all for responsing! Well Malka you certainly did scare me there with the no mans land! I really feel it is terrible that we should be at fault for the Dublin embassy not doing their job properly! When we went there they told us no need for nothing, like Sholt said. I has filled out G 325a forms right there and a lot of additional stuff that I was reading online on different websites that will be needed for processing however Dublin did not take them saying they do not need them and even told my husband he is free to go back to the States it is all on me now.

My husband was here a bit over 3 months as a family emergency arose in the States (his fathers health severly dropped and was fighting for his life). We thought he needs to come for the interview in January but Dublin said there is no need for that and he does not have to fly over here for anything else.

So yeah, they make it seem so easy, do not have a clue about how to even assist with paperwork nor anything else and in the end we are paying for it

My husband has called the State Department to advise of the way the embassy in Dublin deals with U.S. Citizens and that the staff is very rude and they just ackowledged by saying Yeah, we do get a lot of complaints about that office and apologized.

I sure hope they do not make my life more miserable

I was told 3-4 weeks also but the way the Dublin embassy works it is taking forever and then the mailing system now also.

On 25th Jan Dublin calls me saying the interview is cancelled and they are sending my file to the U.S. My husband calls everywhere asking what is going on. He was finally told by Dublin the following week Monday that the case has been sent to London to wait 3-4 weeks and I will get another apointment for the interview. We were happy and after a week checked up on it again since we knew how Dublin is. Then they tell him oh your file is still here awaiting additional documenation - G325a forms for you and your wife. I thought I will go mad! We get the papers together and I call them as I stated in the previous post to send them out to them. They say London will call you etc very rude and all, but I manage to keep her on the phone a few secs more to tell me when was it sent to London. She tells me Feb13th. So almost 3 weeks it took them to clear all this mess they created and I was waiting thinking that my papers will be here already after 3 -4 weeks, but they were not even in Lonodn yet! And then the brilliance of Irish postal services - no express post anywhere outside of Ireland no more. Grand! I wait 2weeks for the post to go and come back to me.

So this is all the waiting, over 2 months down the drain. It is the end of March and I am still here with no knowledge of what on earth is going on and when am I going to have the interview so I can finally put my life on track and my husband and I can begin our life together.

Again thank you all for your comments!

So, to get an idea of the process, I get the interview date (hopefully), I attend the interview myslef with all supporting documents (do you have any tips as per what I should bring? to me its very clear were a married couple because we want to be but I am wondering if the consular officers cannot see that? I do not want them to doubt me just because I do not have pictures they want or joint accounts (cannot have that anyway) or any of those things - I have pictures of us together some of his family pics, telephone bills since we really Waste sooo much money on the phone But I have been reading that you need a lot ot stuff - join accounts mortgages rent so many things -whoa)
So once you have the interview you are either approved or denied there and then? Then if you are approved the visa is done? and if you are not they advise you which waiver you should use etc? and then that is it for this side?
So when you are approved you fly to the States, can you work? where is the interview I have been reading about when you are both present and the officer akss you all kinds of questions to determne if you are indeed married out of love? What is the adjustment of status process like?

Thanks lads!
[/quote]

LIL Queen,
You may want to check Captain Ewok's thread on DCF BAsics, as well as the new changes due to Adam Walsh Law. I didn't read in your post anything about you sending back your checklist (aka Packet 3) - without this, you cannot get an interview... maybe you already did I don't know.
BEst of luck my friend - there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Lil' piece of advise... NEVER, NEVER, NEVER respond to nastiness with nastiness - the Consulate will ALWAYS win. I know it takes a lot of patience and word swallowing, but it's better I think.
Cheer up!!!! L.

Lil'Queen, I didn't mean to scare you! People who filed their I-130 petition before the end of January aren't having any trouble so far with the new residency law, but since the Dublin consulate sounds a bit... uneven... maybe you should try not to give them cause to resent you. And remember, they were just as caught off guard as you were; most of the staffers of consulates and USCIS I've spoken with have expressed frustration to me over how clueless they were about how to implement the new law. A lot of the chaos you're dealing with probably isn't Dublin's fault. Meauxna has been wisely advocating honey over vinegar...

Can't tell you which documents to bring to your interview, since each consulate is different, but once USCIS in London has "passed" your husband's petition, Dublin should send you a packet with information. For a general idea, though, do read that helpful DCF Guide. Since Dublin doesn't sound very communicative, read as much as you can as you wait for London to process your petition, so you have an idea of what to expect and how to prepare.

You are technically allowed to work as soon as you enter the USA on an IR-1 visa (which is what you should get), but in reality many people have to wait a few weeks for their Social Security Card to arrive. There's an active thread in this section of the forum titled something like, "Work Authorization after Visa" with helpful information.

Good luck and don't panic... you're in the process!

...as far as I know from posts here.

OK perhaps I should clear my record by stating that I have not expressed any of this outrage at anyone at the Embassy in Dublin. I've been very patient, calm etc no no no I'm not trying to get myself in any deeper D*oDo* lol

On the serious note, I have mentioned on my first post that I went to the Embassy on Sept 11th - got all the documents- packet 3 it seems it is called which i sent back - that is what I noted - sent ds 2001 and ds 230 and got back the packet 4? interview date and second part of ds 230 plus medical exam info.

Well the medical stuff are done, everything is done, I'm just waiting now Hopefully there is mail in my box tomorrow. Whooooaaa..

I have read so much about this stuff I thought my head will burst. Have taken a bit of a break from it waiting to hear from London or Dublin or anyone.

Does anyone actually know who contacts you? In my case, London or Dublin?

And yeesss I do hope you are right and since I filed last year well before January 07 I will get some kind of a break and an easier sm00th path

Good night all!

Based on this post, and this one alone (of yours) I suspect that your interview will take place in Dublin, after they get the I-130 back from London. Other users have had good results by staying loosely in touch with their Consulate.. maybe you can check in every other week or so?

Who gave you the medical appointment, and where did you go? If Dublin, that is further evidence that your interview will take place there. That means that Dublin would contact you regarding an interview. They need to be your new best friends.

Dear all,

Could someone that already had an IR1 interview please enlighten me as per what I should expect? Is there anyone here that already had it in Dublin? I am just nervous and would appreciate all the input possible !

Thanks!

Oh, so I guess you got yoru interview appointment? yay!

The interviews are most frequently described as 'an anticlimax'. Not at all what you'd expect, they are reviewing your documents and making sure you physically are the person who matches them. The talking part generally takes about 15 minutes. The questions will all be ones you know the answer to.
You can find a lot of interview stories posted at www.kamya.com/interview--use the navigation tools to find your visa type and embassy.

There are also a lot of stories posted here, and if you go to the Embassy Review section (links at top of this page) you'll find even more!

Good luck & don't be nervous! It's probably not what you think it will be!