Getting your interview after I-864 & DS-230 NVC approval

[US math guy 0]

Based on a discussion I had with two NVC CSR's last night, here is my compilation of some notes on getting your interview date if your are going for a CR-1 / IR-1 visa and both the I-864 and DS-230 have both been approved by the NVC. Thought others might be interested or can tell me if some of the notes are wrong.

1. For the consulate at which the interview is due to occur, the name of the beneficiary is put on the list of those requiring an interview.

2. Having an earlier priority date can get you higher up on the list, but that is not the only factor in placement.

3. The interview is never scheduled for the month in which you get final NVC approval (except in China).

4. Rather what happens is as of the start of the second week of the month in which approval occurs, NVC contacts the consulate/embassy doing the interviews to find out how many slots they will have for CR-1/IR-1 visa interviews for the following month. So if for example your approval occurs in the first week of June, conceivably your interview could be scheduled for the month of July. In contrast if approval occurs in the third week of June, your name will not appear on the interview list until July, meaning the earliest possible interview month for you would be August.

5. The earliest possible interview month will not necesarily be the month for which you are scheduled. There may be for example be too many requests for a month relative to the slots that are available, meaning you will have to wait for a later month. It also means your notice of the interview date will likewise be delayed.

6. Anyway, once the NVC works it out with the consulate and has a specifc interview date and time, they should be e-mailing this information both to the benefiary and the petitioner. If for some reason you do not receive the info and you think you should have received such an e-mail; they said to wait until after the 15th of the month before calling the NVC.

7. I am pretty sure the interview is never scheduled on a U.S. Federal holiday or a holiday of the country with the consulate. Other than that, apparently it can be any weekday in the designated interview month, regardless of your priority date.

8. The notice of the NVC date is sent by e-mail to both the petitioner and the benefiiary shortly after it is assigned. Along with the notice you will received detailed instructions on what to bring to the interview and what else you must do beforehand, such as a medical exam. The time frame on when those items should be done I understand is also indicated.

9. If the benefiary cannot make the date and time that the NVC scheduled, the beneficiary has the option upon receiving the e-mail of requesting a different date and time. The NVC said for this purpose you should contact the consulate directly, not the NVC.

10. Often it would appear that the medical exam is done in the same city as the consulate doing the interview, but not always. See the following web site for an advance copy of the detailed medical instructions. Note towards the bottom of the web page is a drop-down where you enter the enter the first three letters from your NVC number to pull up the interviewing consulate (e.g., CDJ). Then you click on the Panel Physician link to pull up the relevant instructions.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3739.html

11. If you pass the medical exam and the interview, I believe they courier you the visa. So you do not get it the same day as the interview.

[OBX 51]

Great info for those waiitng for an interview. Well done

[Julie & Juan 0]

Thanks for the info! So much I did not know. Keep them coming. It is truely a help.

[mikey78 6]

Thx for the info. It's really interesting. As for " if your are going for a CR-1 / IR-1 visa" I guess it is the same for family-based preferences (F1, F2A, etc). It seems like at the NVC stage all the cases are processed in a similar manner (correct me if I am wrong on that).

I also heard that some consulates have quotas for different categories but quite often interviews are are scheduled on a first-come-first-served basis (I read it in a press release from last year's information session for the media)

[dvrjwh 0]

Based on a discussion I had with two NVC CSR's last night, here is my compilation of some notes on getting your interview date if your are going for a CR-1 / IR-1 visa and both the I-864 and DS-230 have both been approved by the NVC. Thought others might be interested or can tell me if some of the notes are wrong.

1. For the consulate at which the interview is due to occur, the name of the beneficiary is put on the list of those requiring an interview.

2. Having an earlier priority date can get you higher up on the list, but that is not the only factor in placement.

3. The interview is never scheduled for the month in which you get final NVC approval (except in China).

4. Rather what happens is as of the start of the second week of the month in which approval occurs, NVC contacts the consulate/embassy doing the interviews to find out how many slots they will have for CR-1/IR-1 visa interviews for the following month. So if for example your approval occurs in the first week of June, conceivably your interview could be scheduled for the month of July. In contrast if approval occurs in the third week of June, your name will not appear on the interview list until July, meaning the earliest possible interview month for you would be August.

5. The earliest possible interview month will not necesarily be the month for which you are scheduled. There may be for example be too many requests for a month relative to the slots that are available, meaning you will have to wait for a later month. It also means your notice of the interview date will likewise be delayed.

6. Anyway, once the NVC works it out with the consulate and has a specifc interview date and time, they should be e-mailing this information both to the benefiary and the petitioner. If for some reason you do not receive the info and you think you should have received such an e-mail; they said to wait until after the 15th of the month before calling the NVC.

7. I am pretty sure the interview is never scheduled on a U.S. Federal holiday or a holiday of the country with the consulate. Other than that, apparently it can be any weekday in the designated interview month, regardless of your priority date.

8. The notice of the NVC date is sent by e-mail to both the petitioner and the benefiiary shortly after it is assigned. Along with the notice you will received detailed instructions on what to bring to the interview and what else you must do beforehand, such as a medical exam. The time frame on when those items should be done I understand is also indicated.

9. If the benefiary cannot make the date and time that the NVC scheduled, the beneficiary has the option upon receiving the e-mail of requesting a different date and time. The NVC said for this purpose you should contact the consulate directly, not the NVC.

10. Often it would appear that the medical exam is done in the same city as the consulate doing the interview, but not always. See the following web site for an advance copy of the detailed medical instructions. Note towards the bottom of the web page is a drop-down where you enter the enter the first three letters from your NVC number to pull up the interviewing consulate (e.g., CDJ). Then you click on the Panel Physician link to pull up the relevant instructions.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/info/info_3739.html

11. If you pass the medical exam and the interview, I believe they courier you the visa. So you do not get it the same day as the interview.

Thanks so much for the above information. It clarifies the situation. I'm hoping for a July interview as case was complete in May 2009. Hopefully we should hear something by next week.

[Jamaican JNR 2]

Good and sound advice. Keep up the good work