In transit and interview wait times

[av8or1 246]

Hi y'all-

Ok so there's a bit of an update. My petition left the NVC on Wednesday and arrived (electronically at least) today, Friday the 15th. When I check the CEAC website I see the status of Ready. No email(s) from the embassy yet. One has said that you can schedule the interview when in Ready status, the other says you have to wait for AP. Ok, I will try with the Ready status and see if it allows me to schedule. If not, I'll wait for AP. What about completing the DS-160? I know that you need to do that and print it out. I don't have a printer in the apartment, but I presume that you can save off the completed form as a PDF and print it later in a copy center, yeah? More importantly, as I understand it, once you complete the DS-160 you are given a confirmation code and you must have that code in order to schedule the interview ... is that correct? I guess I need to get Elena to create an account on ustraveldocs.com so that we can try to schedule it.

Thanks, I'll stumble through and post with what I find.

[Ksenia1985 37]

Hi y'all-

Ok so there's a bit of an update. My petition left the NVC on Wednesday and arrived (electronically at least) today, Friday the 15th. When I check the CEAC website I see the status of Ready. No email(s) from the embassy yet. One has said that you can schedule the interview when in Ready status, the other says you have to wait for AP. Ok, I will try with the Ready status and see if it allows me to schedule. If not, I'll wait for AP. What about completing the DS-160? I know that you need to do that and print it out. I don't have a printer in the apartment, but I presume that you can save off the completed form as a PDF and print it later in a copy center, yeah? More importantly, as I understand it, once you complete the DS-160 you are given a confirmation code and you must have that code in order to schedule the interview ... is that correct? I guess I need to get Elena to create an account on ustraveldocs.com so that we can try to schedule it.

Thanks, I'll stumble through and post with what I find.

You will get the e-mail from the Embassy after your status changes into Administrative processing, and that is when you would be able to schedule your interview. But you can try of course

The first thing you need to do is pay the fee. Then fill out DS-160. You don't need to print out the whole form, just the confirmation page. But I print it out just for myself always. You can send the confirmation page via e-mail to yourself and print it later wherever.

To schedule the interview you will need the account on ustraveldocs.com and paid fee.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Ksenia1985

[av8or1 246]

Thanks Ksenia. Elena already had an account on ustraveldocs.com from when she did her tourist visa in late 2013. So we recovered her password and completed the DS-160 tonight. Boy was THAT ever a LONG AND TEDIOUS PAIN IN THE a$$! Contradictory, confusing questions and some that have no explanation and that are void of clear meaning. I ended up doing about 4 or 5 VJ searches just to figure out what information they wanted in certain boxes on that form. But I digress...

So the DS-160 is finished. I have the confirmation page via email and so I will print it out later. Not sure if I'll print out the actual form or not, but probably so.

Then I went to pay the $265 fee. The payment process went smoothly. However, beware that after you pay and you have your receipt number, you still may not be able to enter it when you attempt to schedule the interview. They even state that there might be a delay between when you pay and when you can proceed to schedule your interview. Uhhh-huh. And just how long will THAT be pray tell? Who knows. It's late on Saturday night in Moscow as I write this. Will I need to wait until Monday? Who knows, but my guess right now is 'yes.' We will see. That too is a pain.

Then finally, on the Moscow embassy website there are instructions on how to use the ustraveldocs.com website that state:

On the left column of the screen choose the option 'Schedule Appointment'. Choose ‘Immigrant Visa’, then ‘All Immigrant Visa Interviews Scheduling/Rescheduling Including Delivery Arrangement’. Select the appropriate Visa Class. Then enter the delivery information (mailing address or office for pick-up), choose the date of the interview, print out the final confirmation page containing a barcode and bring it to the interview.

Uhhhhh....no. If you select the 'All immigrant...' option then you will find no way to select K1 visa. So I went back and selected a different option, namely the one that said "Fiancee visa" or whatever it said. And you can still choose to have your passport sent to an address in Russia, which we did. Anyway, again, I got as far as the enter-your-payment-receipt-number page, but can't get past that. I will try again tomorrow.

Gonna wind down now...

[av8or1 246]

Ok so today I was able to enter the receipt number from the $265 payment that I made last night. Don't need to wait until Monday. Cool.

After selecting 'Continue' on the receipt number webpage, I see this:

Schedule Consular Appointment

Applicants for U.S. visas are required to appear in person for a visa interview at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Please schedule an appointment for an interview.

Your request to schedule an appointment has been received and will be reviewed. You will receive an email once your request is approved.

So I dunno. Based on Ksenia's feedback, I am guessing that she is correct and we will need to wait until my petition goes into AP before we can schedule the interview. Or so it would seem. Who knows? Maybe they'll see this tomorrow (Monday) and allow me to schedule it. But time will tell.

Based on Ksenia's and everyone else's feedback, I think that I have done all I can at this point. The only thing left to do right now is wait. Would you agree?

Thanks!

[Ksenia1985 37]

Ok so today I was able to enter the receipt number from the $265 payment that I made last night. Don't need to wait until Monday. Cool.

After selecting 'Continue' on the receipt number webpage, I see this:

Schedule Consular Appointment

Applicants for U.S. visas are required to appear in person for a visa interview at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Please schedule an appointment for an interview.

Your request to schedule an appointment has been received and will be reviewed. You will receive an email once your request is approved.

So I dunno. Based on Ksenia's feedback, I am guessing that she is correct and we will need to wait until my petition goes into AP before we can the interview. Or so it would seem. Who knows? Maybe they'll see this tomorrow (Monday) and allow me to schedule it. But time will tell.

Based on Ksenia's and everyone else's feedback, I think that I have done all I can at this point. The only thing left to do right now is wait. Would you agree?

Thanks!

Everyone gets this phrase at the end of the attempt to schedule the interview. They will see this on Monday and most probably tell you to wait until you get an e-mail from the Embassy with instructions. I think everyone waits until AP because it takes time to receive the hard copy of the case and also look at the documents-this is the procedure. Just like I was describing earlier Ready is the status when they get electronic copy from NVC at this stage.

Now you wait.

[vbtwo 54]

From what I've read Moscow requires you to wait until you get the email from them.

In Kiev you can schedule as soon as status says ready, as they don't really send anything except a letter in the mail to go to their site that takes forever to arrive.

[av8or1 246]

Ok, thanks. I have begun the wait. If I don't hear anything by week's end I plan to start knocking on doors, for what good it will (or won't) do.

[av8or1 246]

Ksenia, thank you specifically regarding the DHL procedure to track your package. I entered the information and found that a 1 piece package left the NVC in Portsmouth, NH on May 14th (last Thursday). It began the customs clearance stuff yesterday and went through additional customs cr@p this morning. So I don't know what the deal is there, but hopefully it'll get to the embassy by tomorrow.

[Ksenia1985 37]

Ksenia, thank you specifically regarding the DHL procedure to track your package. I entered the information and found that a 1 piece package left the NVC in Portsmouth, NH on May 14th (last Thursday). It began the customs clearance stuff yesterday and went through additional customs cr@p this morning. So I don't know what the deal is there, but hopefully it'll get to the embassy by tomorrow.

You are welcome. This way you at least know where your papers are and when to expect AP status, which is nice.

[ce2010 7]

Hi Everybody,

my fiancee Katya's ceac status says READY since 5/22 im trying to relax little bit from searching what to do .. im so glad i found this topic alot of information...

so as i saw few posts back, in ready status we cannot schedule appointment.. we gotta wait till system stattus goes to

AP .. im trying to gather every last bit of paperwork i need to take with me to be with katya at the interview..

i was kinda confused about if embassy wants any paperwork to be mailed to them before interview.. alot of people here said no... so im going with that answer

(of course everybody case is different from eachother)

please keep sharing information !! im about to go thru this stage.. !!!

Thank you

[av8or1 246]

Hey-

Glad that this thread helped you out; that was part of the reason I created it: to leave a breadcrumb trail to help others in the future.

I've been in READY status since 5/15, no change. I stopped looking at it because I also emailed the embassy. Told them that I had completed the DS-160, paid the fee and was waiting to schedule an interview. I explained that I am in Moscow now, that our son was born in late April and if possible, I'd like for us to return home together as a family, but that I had only so much vacation time from work. They basically told me to stuff it and wait, which I understood. So I am waiting. They specifically told me that we needed to wait for the email from the embassy that contained instructions on how to schedule the interview. Until then, nothing can be done.

As for sending in documents prior to the interview, HELL no, don't know where you got that idea, at least in Moscow. You take everything you need with you to the interview, that's it. It doesn't matter if everyone's case is different, the process is the same.

Keep us apprised of your progress!

[Ksenia1985 37]

Hi Everybody,

my fiancee Katya's ceac status says READY since 5/22 im trying to relax little bit from searching what to do .. im so glad i found this topic alot of information...

so as i saw few posts back, in ready status we cannot schedule appointment.. we gotta wait till system stattus goes to

AP .. im trying to gather every last bit of paperwork i need to take with me to be with katya at the interview..

i was kinda confused about if embassy wants any paperwork to be mailed to them before interview.. alot of people here said no... so im going with that answer

(of course everybody case is different from eachother)

please keep sharing information !! im about to go thru this stage.. !!!

Thank you

Once the beneficiary schedules an appointment she will receive an e-mail asking for scanned copies of documents, there will be a list, nothing special there: travel passport-page with photo, confirmation page from filling DS160, birth certificate, divorce certificate(if married before) and police certificate.

The rest you just bring with you to the interview.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Ksenia1985

[ce2010 7]

Hi Guys,

My fiancee is asking, if she needs to apostile (get it stamped) the police certificate and birth certificate ???

[av8or1 246]

Well first it's the translation into English of the police record and birth certificate that needs to be certified. The certification is done by whatever translation firm your fiancé uses. So you get back the translation and the certification in one step.

No need for apostle on either.

Edited May 26, 2015 by av8or1

[av8or1 246]

Boy Ksenia you were right when you said that it felt like forever before they put your petition into AP at the embassy. It's only been a week for me, but feels like ages and also feels like it ain't gonna happen anytime soon. FWIW, I received this snippet in one of my replies from the Consul section of the embassy in Moscow:

We are forwarding your inquiry to the Immigrant Visa Unit. Unfortunately, if you schedule appointment before you receive instructions from the Embassy, the interview date will be automatically cancelled.

Please also be advised that it may take some time for the file to reach the Immigrant Visa Unit, and for the information to be entered to the database. This is done on the first come – first served basis.

I dunno. If I can get the same 10 days that you got, I'll be quite happy with that. We'll see.