All F3's ...

[adawee 4]

RDT

as i check the net for the working days of mumbai us consulate .it shows monday through friday .and your interview will be hold on Saturday.

[zdzak 2]

In this post I'm going to go through our interview experience. One thing I cannot stress enough is to follow ALL instructions as provided by both the NVC and the Embassy/Consulate as it will make YOUR life easier. Our son turned 21 last year and was to be determined under the CSPA rule, however, he was not listed on our IL so we had the added stress of not knowing whether he would be allowed to the interview.

We arrived at the Consulate at approximately 7:40am (our interview was scheduled for 8:30am) and there were approximately 15 people already in the line. The security guard at the door was letting in a few people at a time. The 2 individuals who were in line in front of us and were not together were both turned away by the security guard as they had large backpacks and mobile phones and electronics devices.

At around 7:55am, we entered the building and were directed to a security person who had a handheld device.I produced both the courier registration letter and the IL and she checked the names on her device. Our son was listed to our relief and I pointed out to her that he was under CSPA review and that he was not listed on the IL. We were asked for all passports, on the back of which a label was placed. She handed us a card with instructions and a number on top (#3) to our relief. We were told to go to the 19th floor and sit in the section marked Immigration Visa.

We proceeded up the short staircase and after entering through the door, went through airport style security. We were told to go down the stairs and take the elevator. When we exited the elevator there was no one waiting in the IV section and we were directed directly to one of the many windows for the processing of the paperwork.

We arrived at the window at around 8:02am and the lady processing the paperwork specified the order in which she wanted the documents passing to her. She asked how many of us there were and we explained there were five. She only had four listed. We explained the situation regarding CSPA for our son. She went inside and came back with another person, who wanted to know about our CSPA and whether NVC were dealing with it and whether an application had been submitted and fees had been paid.

We explained that the file had been passed to the Consulate for them to process. He wanted to know if our son's medical had been done and we said yes. He was extremely upset that this had been done by the doctor without written instructions from the NVC as it could have cost us $300 if our son was not eligible under CSPA. He went off to do the calculation while the lady continued to process our paperwork. She took everybody's fingerprints as she was processing each person with the exception of our son.

By the time she had finished processing four of us, the CSPA calculation had been completed and she began processing our son's paperwork and fingerprints. It was 8:50 am when all the paperwork processing was completed and we were instructed to go back and sit in the IV section in the waiting area to be called for the interview.

At around 9:45am, we were called to a different booth and the CO asked us to take an oath and then asked us some questions. My wife was asked about the relationship to the petitioner. We were asked about where we had lived and how long we had been married. He asked both my sons whether they were or had ever been married. After reviewing the paperwork, he explained what documents we needed to provide and returned our passports to us, to be returned when we have the documents to have the visas issued. We were out of the embassy two and a half hours after we had arrived.

Overall, it was a relatively painless process. The biggest relief was getting the CSPA issue out of the way. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions anyone may have and I'll try and provide some tips in another post if I remember.

EOT

Thanku EOT for sharing your experience !! Your post is definitely helpful to me, however I am worried about the fact that you need an I-864A for your Aunt, since my Joint sponsor is also my aunt's husband. What do you think I should do ? And how long did the interview take ?

Edited October 4, 2016 by zdzak

[EdgeOfTomorrow 2]

Thanku EOT for sharing your experience !! Your post is definitely helpful to me, however I am worried about the fact that you need an I-864A for your Aunt, since my Joint sponsor is also my aunt's husband. What do you think I should do ? And how long did the interview take ?

If your aunt appears on her husband's tax return, then I would suggest you get her to complete an I-864A. You can hold that back in the interview and if asked for it, then produce it. Our interview was about 20 to 25 minutes in total. What I have discovered is that it depends on the CO as to what if any additional documents they will require. Our CO was very friendly, polite and professional that even we were surprised. It's the luck of the draw as to who you get and how awkward they want to be.

[EdgeOfTomorrow 2]

thank you EOT for your post .

wish you to have all you family visas soon

Thanks. You know what they say right? All good things come to those who wait.

I 864 or 864a nvc send it to consulate , still we need to carry original one ?? Or copy will work

Mumbai consulate

If you have not sent the originals, then they will require those at time of interview.

[netkit 0]

RDT

as i check the net for the working days of mumbai us consulate .it shows monday through friday .and your interview will be hold on Saturday.

Just go to Mumbai consulate website then go to notarial appointment book page. if they are giving appointments for 19 Nov. means working on Saturday.

[Edddie 0]

we have to submit our I-864's and I-864A's again (all originals with signature) for each family member.

Hi EOT,

Congratulations for finally passing the interview!

I am a few months behind you but otherwise very much in the same situation (my pd is March 05, 2005). I am applying from Canada and will have my interview in Montreal. I have a CSPA son who was never listed in our case. I contacted NVC about my son one year ago and sent them his birth certificate. They said that's all they need for now and he will be considered under CSPA by the consulate on the interview day.

As for I-864, my sponsor (my mother) filled and signed it for each of us (my wife, daughter and myself). We haven't filed anything for my son.

So, here is my question: assuming that they accept my son's CSPA case at the interview, what is the next step? Is there any point filling up forms and gathering all his documents (including I-864 for him) and taking them to the interview?

When they ask for additional documents, should we send them by mail? Directly to the consulate? Will there be another interview after that for us (or my son)?

Congrats again and thanks in advance for your time!

Edddie

[Papua 0]

Hello Everybody,

First of all , I like to thanks EOT. I Read your interview Experience. Can you please explain little more about CSPA.?

In my case my son who born 10 August 1992 . My Mother filed petitions on March 21 2005 and. Approved

Aug 16 2006. When I recd welcome letter from NVC . My son name wasn't there. I called nvc and they told

Me that contact us when you recd Interview letter . I am from India but my son in USA as student visa. Can you

Help me ? how you process for cspa . Thank you

[EdgeOfTomorrow 2]

Hi EOT,

Congratulations for finally passing the interview!

I am a few months behind you but otherwise very much in the same situation (my pd is March 05, 2005). I am applying from Canada and will have my interview in Montreal. I have a CSPA son who was never listed in our case. I contacted NVC about my son one year ago and sent them his birth certificate. They said that's all they need for now and he will be considered under CSPA by the consulate on the interview day.

As for I-864, my sponsor (my mother) filled and signed it for each of us (my wife, daughter and myself). We haven't filed anything for my son.

So, here is my question: assuming that they accept my son's CSPA case at the interview, what is the next step? Is there any point filling up forms and gathering all his documents (including I-864 for him) and taking them to the interview?

When they ask for additional documents, should we send them by mail? Directly to the consulate? Will there be another interview after that for us (or my son)?

Congrats again and thanks in advance for your time!

Edddie

Hi Edddie,

Thank you. Did you choose to submit your forms electronically or did you mail in your applications? Have you used an online CSPA calculator to see if your son will roughly qualify under CSPA? When did your son turn 21? Was there a particular reason your son was not included in the original application?

The situation in our case was that our son turned 21 after both his DS-260 was submitted and his fee paid. NVC did a preliminary CSPA review and then dropped our son off the application since no visa was available. They did not even inform us of this.

If you can provide a bit more information, it will give me a better understanding of your case.

[EdgeOfTomorrow 2]

Hello Everybody,

First of all , I like to thanks EOT. I Read your interview Experience. Can you please explain little more about CSPA.?

In my case my son who born 10 August 1992 . My Mother filed petitions on March 21 2005 and. Approved

Aug 16 2006. When I recd welcome letter from NVC . My son name wasn't there. I called nvc and they told

Me that contact us when you recd Interview letter . I am from India but my son in USA as student visa. Can you

Help me ? how you process for cspa . Thank you

Hello Papua,

Let me start by saying I am not a lawyer and that any information I provide here is from my own research and experience. I would recommend that anyone who has a child under CSPA review look at the videos by Brian D Lerner as they go some way to explaining CSPA and calculating CSPA age.

My understanding is that a CSPA review is usually done when a visa becomes available. If the pd is not current, then NVC will do a preliminary CSPA review and a final CSPA review is still required. If the case is still at NVC when the pd becomes current, you can request that they do the review. If they have already sent the case to the Embassy/Consulate, only the Embassy/Consulate can do the CSPA review.

Once the review has been done and the "child" qualifies, they have one year in which to "seek to acquire" a visa, which means that they must complete the appropriate forms and pay the fees. If the DS-260 was already completed and the fees paid prior to the "child" turning 21, then the "seek to acquire" requirement has already been met and the Embassy/Consulate will schedule an interview for that "child".

Hope this helps,

EOT

[Edddie 0]

Hi Edddie,

Thank you. Did you choose to submit your forms electronically or did you mail in your applications? Have you used an online CSPA calculator to see if your son will roughly qualify under CSPA? When did your son turn 21? Was there a particular reason your son was not included in the original application?

The situation in our case was that our son turned 21 after both his DS-260 was submitted and his fee paid. NVC did a preliminary CSPA review and then dropped our son off the application since no visa was available. They did not even inform us of this.

If you can provide a bit more information, it will give me a better understanding of your case.

I mailed in my documents (it was too much and way above the allowed size). I have used online CSPA calculator and I think my son qualifies under CSPA. My son is now 22, but he gets 5 years deduction from CSPA so he is still well below the limit. He is actually my step-son (my wife's son) and I married my wife after the initial application was filed. That is the reason why he was not included in there.

[lovely68 0]

I mailed in my documents (it was too much and way above the allowed size). I have used online CSPA calculator and I think my son qualifies under CSPA. My son is now 22, but he gets 5 years deduction from CSPA so he is still well below the limit. He is actually my step-son (my wife's son) and I married my wife after the initial application was filed. That is the reason why he was not included in there.

Hi eddie dont worry.they will add ur son's name 2or 3 days before when your pd will b current.samething happened with my bro.his both sons are over 21.so NVC added their name when their pd became current.means their pd was current in MAY 2016 and they added kids name on April 30th and their case completed in june.interview is in october now.

[Edddie 0]

Hi eddie dont worry.they will add ur son's name 2or 3 days before when your pd will b current.samething happened with my bro.his both sons are over 21.so NVC added their name when their pd became current.means their pd was current in MAY 2016 and they added kids name on April 30th and their case completed in june.interview is in october now.

Hi lovely68,

NVC has already told me my case is complete. Doesn't that mean NVC will not add anything to the case and CSPA evaluation for my son has to be done by the consulate?

Why did your brother's case took 5 months (May until October) to get interview? Was it delayed because of the CSPA process in NVC?

[lovely68 0]

Hi Edddie

Nvc added kids name at the end of April. so whole process started for kids visa application like paid fee,completed visa application. it took 2months to submit everything then later no visa available coz limit crossed 23400 visas.no movement in july august september.so now new fiscal year started got interview end of october.

[lovely68 0]

eddie your case would not b take long time coz its just starting fiscal year.might b late little bit coz of your son not more than 3months.

[lovely68 0]

Eddie this happen in India might b fast here in Canada.don' t worry NVC can add your son's name early too.so be positive.