DCF in London - January 2020

[Jaclyn K 9]

7 minutes ago, Minnieb59 said:

Thank you for that information, i did not realize I was in the wrong section.  Hope all goes well for you!

No problem. Good luck to you!

[Jaclyn K 9]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:12 PM, Cauldron said:

Hi friends. 

 

Anyone have an estimation of how long it takes to have passport returned via DX courier if the visa is approved at interview?

Trying to think about flights. Cheers x

We had our interview on a Thursday and got the passport the following Thursday. 

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

So, hubby had his interview today. Everything went just fine. They were happy with everything he had. Unfortunately, they couldn't give us our instant approval. As some of you know, we are applying without the I-864 because we are exempt due to hubby having accrued 40 credit quarters with social security. The guy at the embassy knows he qualifies and knows it is fine, but because they discontinued the I-864W and they cannot ask for the DS5540 (which was to replace the need for the 864W) they were never given guidance on how to approve our situation. The guy knows we meet the criteria for approval, but apparently it has to be approved by someone in the US (supervisor I'm guessing). According to my husband everyone around him that works there knows he is good to go, but no one there can do the final approval because we fall through the 'cracks'. <headdesk> 

 

So, we are taking it as an approval that is just needing someone in the US to say 'Yes". 

 

Sadly, there was nothing else we could have brought in to assist on this according to the embassy, mainly because they have just not been given guidance from the US on these such cases. I guess we are rare lol. He thinks it should only take a few days to get the official okay from the US though. So we are planning based on that.

[Stuwoolf 44]

19 minutes ago, Robyn-n-Kris said:

So, hubby had his interview today. Everything went just fine. They were happy with everything he had. Unfortunately, they couldn't give us our instant approval. As some of you know, we are applying without the I-864 because we are exempt due to hubby having accrued 40 credit quarters with social security. The guy at the embassy knows he qualifies and knows it is fine, but because they discontinued the I-864W and they cannot ask for the DS5540 (which was to replace the need for the 864W) they were never given guidance on how to approve our situation. The guy knows we meet the criteria for approval, but apparently it has to be approved by someone in the US (supervisor I'm guessing). According to my husband everyone around him that works there knows he is good to go, but no one there can do the final approval because we fall through the 'cracks'. <headdesk> 

 

So, we are taking it as an approval that is just needing someone in the US to say 'Yes". 

 

Sadly, there was nothing else we could have brought in to assist on this according to the embassy, mainly because they have just not been given guidance from the US on these such cases. I guess we are rare lol. He thinks it should only take a few days to get the official okay from the US though. So we are planning based on that.

This is another massive step forward for you. After all the waiting, a few extra days will be a dawdle.🙂

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

3 minutes ago, Stuwoolf said:

This is another massive step forward for you. After all the waiting, a few extra days will be a dawdle.🙂

That's what we are hoping for. Sadly, we just happened to fall into a part of the process they hadn't planned for. Hubby said the guy said he did everything absolutely right. So that makes us feel better.

[The4Sands 67]

2 hours ago, Robyn-n-Kris said:

That's what we are hoping for. Sadly, we just happened to fall into a part of the process they hadn't planned for. Hubby said the guy said he did everything absolutely right. So that makes us feel better.

Oh how frustrating.  I'm pleased they were nice to him about it, but it's so silly that they know you've done all the right things but they still can't just approve you.  Hoping you get an answer swiftly and the time until then flies by!! 

[laurenuk 1]

Hi all, 

 

My situation is slightly out of sync with you guys - hope I'm posting in the right place! 

 

So my husband (US citizen) asked the London embassy if we could go through DCF as we met the exceptional circumstances. Yesterday, we found out they are willing to take out i-130, and we have an appointment on Monday to submit all the paperwork. Is anyone else in a similar situation? It'd be great to hear from anyone who was asked to drop the i-130 off in person via appointment/ give us an idea of what to expect.... although it looks like most of you started the DCF process before London stopped taking applications (unless exceptional circumstances). 

 

Thanks, 

Lauren

 

 

 

 

[Stuwoolf 44]

I recall recently reading somewhere that, due to the pandemic, there are only limited Points of Entry (PoE) to the US. I think Newark and Miami were amongst the accepted PoE. Does this remain the case?

Edited October 17, 2020 by Stuwoolf

[nickyducky 14]

So since my medical is set for Monday morning, we’re obviously trying to book our interview date as well. We’ve completed and submitted the DS260, and now I’m trying the AIS interview portal multiple times daily with no joy so far. 
 

does anyone have an idea of roughly when the dates get released on there, so I can plan when the best time to try is, or is it totally random?

 

 

[Stuwoolf 44]

8 hours ago, nickyducky said:

So since my medical is set for Monday morning, we’re obviously trying to book our interview date as well. We’ve completed and submitted the DS260, and now I’m trying the AIS interview portal multiple times daily with no joy so far. 
 

does anyone have an idea of roughly when the dates get released on there, so I can plan when the best time to try is, or is it totally random?

 

 

There is something relating to your Q in these 74 pages. I went back to Page 54 and couldnt find anything (maybe its there and I just missed it). The availability of interview dates does seem a little bit random in that a simple refresh of the page could throw up available dates. Just gotta keep checking.

 

Good luck🙂

[Wuozopo 4,289]

9 hours ago, nickyducky said:

So since my medical is set for Monday morning, we’re obviously trying to book our interview date as well. We’ve completed and submitted the DS260, and now I’m trying the AIS interview portal multiple times daily with no joy so far. 
 

does anyone have an idea of roughly when the dates get released on there, so I can plan when the best time to try is, or is it totally random?

 

 

Toward the end of the month is when they tend to open up another month which would be December interview dates. It is random and not really following the typical old pattern. Cancellations might pop up. I think they are keeping it pretty thin now...lack of staff? ...keeping visitor numbers down? 🤷‍♂️

[nickyducky 14]

12 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

Toward the end of the month is when they tend to open up another month which would be December interview dates. It is random and not really following the typical old pattern. Cancellations might pop up. I think they are keeping it pretty thin now...lack of staff? ...keeping visitor numbers down? 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the info. I’ll keep trying. We were crossing our fingers to be back in NY by January, but it’s starting to look unlikely. Fingers crossed we get lucky with a cancellation or something 

[Wuozopo 4,289]

3 hours ago, nickyducky said:

Thanks for the info. I’ll keep trying. We were crossing our fingers to be back in NY by January, but it’s starting to look unlikely. Fingers crossed we get lucky with a cancellation or something 

Maybe you should email them and ask if they could please find an opening for you. With K1s (who use that feature most) being suspended for now and the DCF winding down, maybe they haven’t filled the cookie jar lately. 😂 

 

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

So hubby’s ceac status went from refused to admin processing . No idea what to expect when. So frustrated at the moment since they told him we passed all requirements.

[Robyn-n-Kris 72]

3 hours ago, Robyn-n-Kris said:

So hubby’s ceac status went from refused to admin processing . No idea what to expect when. So frustrated at the moment since they told him we passed all requirements.

Nm the above. Our status just changed to issued!!!!