London Packet 3 wait time concern

[twowls 217]

Hey--

Our case was sent from NVC on March 22, and the woman at DoS I spoke with today said London received it on March 30. This is different information than I got from the previous woman I spoke with, who said a few days ago that London had received the electronic record of our case but not the physical package yet.

First, does anybody know anything about that supposed gap between an electronic case getting logged in at the embassy and the actual case being received/logged?

Second, as today is the 12th of April, we are wondering why it's taking so long to send packet 3 if indeed the entire case is there at London and has been for nearly two weeks. Is this common? Do cases routinely sit at the embassy for a while before somebody gets it together to send packet 3?

We are itching to get on with sending the first docs to the embassy so we can get our interview date as soon as possible. Should we just sit and continue to wait for packet 3? Help!

[Bernie C 24]

Different Consulate - but for the sake of comparison - our petition was sent from NVC Sept 22nd 2009 and my fiancee received packet three on October 19th 2009 - so for us there was 4 weeks.

[Lansbury 19]

Do cases routinely sit at the embassy for a while before somebody gets it together to send packet 3?

Yes they are processing all the applications they received before yours gets to the top of the pile.

Edited April 12, 2010 by Lansbury

[A + M 29]

Yes they are processing all the applications they received before yours gets to the top of the pile.

This also goes for the time between the Package 3 and Package 4 ?

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Hey--

Our case was sent from NVC on March 22, and the woman at DoS I spoke with today said London received it on March 30. This is different information than I got from the previous woman I spoke with, who said a few days ago that London had received the electronic record of our case but not the physical package yet.

First, does anybody know anything about that supposed gap between an electronic case getting logged in at the embassy and the actual case being received/logged?

Second, as today is the 12th of April, we are wondering why it's taking so long to send packet 3 if indeed the entire case is there at London and has been for nearly two weeks. Is this common? Do cases routinely sit at the embassy for a while before somebody gets it together to send packet 3?

We are itching to get on with sending the first docs to the embassy so we can get our interview date as soon as possible. Should we just sit and continue to wait for packet 3? Help!

We NEVER did receive packet 3. Once we called DoS and their response to our status request was, "We sent packet 3 today", we went to the website and printed out the forms, filled them in and sent them back to the embassy.

You can print most of the forms now, if you want, and make sure you've got it all ready to go. Here's a website to look at: http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/iv/iv_15.html

Keep in mind the DS-160 has recently replaced DS-156 and DS-157.

Keep calling for status. I used to call every 3 - 4 days.

[twowls 217]

We NEVER did receive packet 3. Once we called DoS and their response to our status request was, "We sent packet 3 today", we went to the website and printed out the forms, filled them in and sent them back to the embassy.

You can print most of the forms now, if you want, and make sure you've got it all ready to go. Here's a website to look at: http://london.usemba...a/iv/iv_15.html

Keep in mind the DS-160 has recently replaced DS-156 and DS-157.

Keep calling for status. I used to call every 3 - 4 days.

Thanks for this. Sounds like what we're planning to do--keep checking in, and send the docs as soon as they say they're sending packet 3. When you say you never received it, do you mean that you still never received it even after DoS gave you the word they'd sent it?

On DS-160, how odd. I could have sworn I just established to my satisfaction that while some embassies have switched to it, London was not one of them. Or that it was now in use for most visas except K1/K2. Or...something. Hm...back to quadruple check again...

Yes they are processing all the applications they received before yours gets to the top of the pile.

This is reassuring; thank you.

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Thanks for this. Sounds like what we're planning to do--keep checking in, and send the docs as soon as they say they're sending packet 3. When you say you never received it, do you mean that you still never received it even after DoS gave you the word they'd sent it?

On DS-160, how odd. I could have sworn I just established to my satisfaction that while some embassies have switched to it, London was not one of them. Or that it was now in use for most visas except K1/K2. Or...something. Hm...back to quadruple check again...

This is reassuring; thank you.

Correction on the DS-160! I emailed them yesterday and they said: "Fiance (K) visa applicants are not required to file the Form DS-160, they are still required to file the old style forms, DS-156, DS-157 etc."

So follow the instructions on the link I gave you.