A question about scheduling Interview dates (London)...

[Kitty & Matt 0]

Hi I'm still waiting for the London embassy to contact me after our NOA2 approval... I understand pack 3 needs to be send to the embassy once you have completed and have access to everything you need for the interview.

I'm a little confused about the London interview scheduling. Does London give you a date automatically once they have received your medical results?

Do they give you an option to choose the interview date or delay the interview for a month if needed?

I'm going abroad for 3 weeks (we miss calculated how long the whole process takes!) and I'm worried it will effect the visa process/I may not get my passport back to me in good time. I read that if you miss your interview or can't make your date you will have to wait to get a new reference number and up to 4 months to get another date re-scheduled. I certainly don't want to wait that long!

- Thanks

[extrarius 1]

The US Consulate in London will automatically assign an interview date after they process the necessary packet information so it's entirely doubtful they will allow you to choose your own date. As for delay I'm not really sure, you'd have to ask the US Consulate. My guess is they will do delays but only for very specific cases (e.g. death in the family, military deployment, unavoidable business trip, etc). It does not hurt to ask however they could be very accommodating, the one I've been dealing with in Buenos Aires has.

Edited May 30, 2011 by extrarius

[Helen Louise Pile 80]

The embassy in London will schedule you an appointment once they receive the documents associated with packet 3. http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html

Sending the forms to say you are ready for an interview then having to delay for a planned holiday would over complicate things. Why not just get all your documents ready then send the forms to the embassy to say you are ready when you get back?

Good luck!

Edited May 30, 2011 by Helen Louise Pile

[Kitty & Matt 0]

Thank you to the both of you. I'm thinking the best bet is to send off the papers after I'm back. But it may be worth asking if they can provide me a medical/interview earlier after describing my situation to them. The only thing is that I'm sure many others are attempting the same thing! Wish us luck

[Andrea&Mal 1]

Just so you know, it took us almost 7 weeks for our packet 3 to be logged and to get an interview date. Then the interview date is another 6 weeks after that. I was shocked at how long it took for London to process our packet 3. I don't know your timeframe or when you are going abroad, but I would advise you not to wait to send it in. London is very accommodating and will reschedule an interview if the date they assign doesn't work for you. Quite a few people in the London forum have rescheduled their interviews, sometimes for an earlier date! Just something to keep in mind when planning, London is VERY backed up right now with processing paperwork.

Andrea

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Hi I'm still waiting for the London embassy to contact me after our NOA2 approval... I understand pack 3 needs to be send to the embassy once you have completed and have access to everything you need for the interview.

I'm a little confused about the London interview scheduling. Does London give you a date automatically once they have received your medical results?

Do they give you an option to choose the interview date or delay the interview for a month if needed?

I'm going abroad for 3 weeks (we miss calculated how long the whole process takes!) and I'm worried it will effect the visa process/I may not get my passport back to me in good time. I read that if you miss your interview or can't make your date you will have to wait to get a new reference number and up to 4 months to get another date re-scheduled. I certainly don't want to wait that long!

- Thanks

London will not schedule your interview until they have:

1. The application forms DS230 part 1, DS 156, DS156k, DS157
   
2. The readiness form DS2001 with cover letter
   
3. The medical results
   

You can delay 2 or 3 to stall. I would get 1 in so they know you are still playing the visa game.

Or you can do what we did in a similar situation (3 week trip already booked). In a cover letter with the readiness form we (he) put in bold after the general information, and spaced down a bit so it stood out: Please can you schedule the interview after July 15 as I wlll be out of the country prior to that date.

As it turned out our UK VJ buddies who were on our approximate timeline all interviewed the first week in July. London accommodated us with an interview at the end of the month. That way your stuff is in and you aren't waiting after your trip for them to open your readiness form and get around to you.