CR-1 / IR-1 Interview updates

[Kimi31 126]

If they usually schedule appts on the last two days/first two days of the month

(can’t remember where I saw that btw)

does that mean we might not hear anything now until the end of July or donwe think they will schedule all the way through to play catch up 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

3 hours ago, hannahjsf said:

He's military, I work in the NHS, and we've been doing this visa stuff since Sept 2018. I cannot wait to get this over with 😪

Looking at your timeline, what happened that took 11 months for your case to get from NOA2 to arrival at NVC? Most take just a few weeks once the petition is approved.

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Wuozopo

[silversnake125 266]

1 minute ago, Wuozopo said:

Looking at your timeline, what happened that took 11 months for your case to get from NOA2 to arrival at NVC? Most take just a few weeks once the petition is approved.

 

My husband made an error on the I-130 and put that we were filing for adjustment of status rather than consular processing. Rookie mistake,  but I couldn't be annoyed with him because he had a lot on his plate at the time. We had pay $465 to file an I-824 and it took 10 months for that to be approved in order for the original petition to be sent to NVC. Really sh*tty that they make you do that just for them to send a petition from one place to another, but it is what it is.

 

I took over looking after all the visa stuff after that and I keep him updated/ get him to send me everything that I need from his end and thankfully we got DQ after our first NVC submission. 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

3 hours ago, Kimi31 said:

If they usually schedule appts on the last two days/first two days of the month

(can’t remember where I saw that btw)

does that mean we might not hear anything now until the end of July or donwe think they will schedule all the way through to play catch up 

For those that go into the system and book their own appointments, there’s usually only 2 months “open”. So July and August right now. Toward the end of the month, they open September. It seems like NVC starts scheduling as soon as the new month opens. If the embassy opens fully soon, the NVC could pick from anything still open in July/August, but I think they probably go to the furthest month just to give the case time to arrive, get logged in, and the applicant time to arrange and attend the medical.

[Bbking2 93]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

For those that go into the system and book their own appointments, there’s usually only 2 months “open”. So July and August right now. Toward the end of the month, they open September. It seems like NVC starts scheduling as soon as the new month opens. If the embassy opens fully soon, the NVC could pick from anything still open in July/August, but I think they probably go to the furthest month just to give the case time to arrive, get logged in, and the applicant time to arrange and attend the medical.

So would you say that the nvc would only get openings from London come end of august/September? 

[Wuozopo 4,285]

1 hour ago, Bobnrob said:

So would you say that the nvc would only get openings from London come end of august/September? 

If the embassy opened tomorrow will full staff interviewing (hypothetical), then there should openings in July and August up for grabs by NVC, K1s, expedites, and the spouse DCFs.  Nothing in Sept would show up yet until the end of July. But we know tomorrow isn’t the opening day, so it would be safe to assume Sept might be your earliest chance. 

 

Seems like NVC would prioritize family members who are DQ for interview assignment over employment based because those are on hold by the Pres. Family members have the green light for visas and travel so that makes sense to move them first.

 

The DCFs seem to need their case numbers assigned first before they can pick their date. They have a green light too.
 

The expedites whose cases have already been sent to London without an interview would pick their own date. But I have seen that backfire because they fall out of the normal flow and can’t actually book without a lot of wrangling. In general, the embassy doesn’t schedule interviews anymore. It comes from NVC or you get access to the https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/iv Sometimes when you jump out of the queue, it’s a hassle to get back in.

And the K1 fiancés are a big ?? because London has indicated they can’t travel anyway. They don’t know when London will allow them to interview. But because the automated system lets them in, they may snap up the dates only to be cancelled later. 
 

BUT everything has a knock on effect to get the immigration “machine” up and running smoothly again. IT’s like when major airports are closed for weather. They have to shuffle the planes and crews around to get them to the right airports before the usual schedules are running smoothly. Speculating right now is just wasting your energy in my opinion.  We’re in a pandemic and life is not normal. Expecting it to all be normal on a specific given date is futile. I understand your frustration. Maybe tell yourself “I will be moving after Christmas“  will reset your expectations and calm you for now. And if you get lucky and go before Christmas you can do a happy dance.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Wuozopo

[Kimi31 126]

42 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

If the embassy opened tomorrow will full staff interviewing (hypothetical), then there should openings in July and August up for grabs by NVC, K1s, expedites, and the spouse DCFs.  Nothing in Sept would show up yet until the end of July. But we know tomorrow isn’t the opening day, so it would be safe to assume Sept might be your earliest chance. 

 

Seems like NVC would prioritize family members who are DQ for interview assignment over employment based because those are on hold by the Pres. Family members have the green light for visas and travel so that makes sense to move them first.

 

The DCFs seem to need their case numbers assigned first before they can pick their date. They have a green light too.
 

The expedites whose cases have already been sent to London without an interview would pick their own date. But I have seen that backfire because they fall out of the normal flow and can’t actually book without a lot of wrangling. In general, the embassy doesn’t schedule interviews anymore. It comes from NVC or you get access to the https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb/iv Sometimes when you jump out of the queue, it’s a hassle to get back in.

And the K1 fiancés are a big ?? because London has indicated they can’t travel anyway. They don’t know when London will allow them to interview. But because the automated system lets them in, they may snap up the dates only to be cancelled later. 
 

BUT everything has a knock on effect to get the immigration “machine” up and running smoothly again. IT’s like when major airports are closed for weather. They have to shuffle the planes and crews around to get them to the right airports before the usual schedules are running smoothly. Speculating right now is just wasting your energy in my opinion.  We’re in a pandemic and life is not normal. Expecting it to all be normal on a specific given date is futile. I understand your frustration. Maybe tell yourself “I will be moving after Christmas“  will reset your expectations and calm you for now. And if you get lucky and go before Christmas you can do a happy dance.

After mid August -end Sep works for me, even though we’re Expedite approved for when the embassy opens I’m telling myself end of August at the very optimistic earliest 

now that everything is delayed, it works better with work if I don’t go until October 

[Bbking2 93]

Thanks for that feedback... I do agree with you. We just want to get some sort of realistic timeframe, even if it's all hypothetical. If I can get approved before the end of 2020 I'll be happy... 

[Melc 138]

I was able to schedule an appointment for today myself as we went through DCF. I just had my appointment this morning and was approved. 

So hopefully that means interviews will start to get scheduled. 

[Eladnolnod 36]

28 minutes ago, Melc said:

I was able to schedule an appointment for today myself as we went through DCF. I just had my appointment this morning and was approved. 

So hopefully that means interviews will start to get scheduled. 

Congratulations, that’s great news!

 

Would you mind sharing how your interview was, questions asked etc?

[Melc 138]

2 minutes ago, Eladnolnod said:

Congratulations, that’s great news!

 

Would you mind sharing how your interview was, questions asked etc?

Sure thing! I updated my timeline with a review, but there relevant part is this:
 

 

Quote

My USC spouse was not allowed inside as he wasn't on the list. (In spite of having requested it multiple times.)

After passing through security, there were no lines anywhere since non-immigrant visas have not begun processing yet. I was told to make my way to the first floor and towards the immigration visa section.

 

Once I arrived I was asked to provide all my documentation (no I-944 yet) along with photocopies of the police certificates and civil documents. Since we were doing the affidavit of support based on assets, I'd brought extra paperwork. They were not interested in all details; just picked one of the assets meeting the minimum and kept only that statement. 
 

I was asked to pay the consular fee. My card declined since it flagged a USD denominated transaction inside the UK as a potential threat. Fortunately, I had a back-up card on me. 

 

After that I was called to another window, affirm/swear to be telling the truth, and was asked:

• how I'd met my husband
• where my husband lives now (we live together in the UK, allowing us to file via DCF)
• where his family lives
• whether I/we would have health insurance. (they appear to be asking this question to everyone now)

After that, I was told they were going to approve my visa and I'd receive my passport back in 1-2 weeks. 

In total there were maybe a maximum of 3 applicants in the area at all times, but processing was quick. I was in and out within 40 minutes.

 

[Eladnolnod 36]

4 hours ago, Melc said:

Sure thing! I updated my timeline with a review, but there relevant part is this:
 

 

 

Sorry, I never even thought to check your timeline! 
 

Thanks & congratulations again! 

[loveisvein 39]

On 7/1/2020 at 11:52 AM, corntop said:

Any DQ'd CR1 had any movement from the NVC? 

DQ’d CR1 on june 2nd. 

today marks 5 weeks - still no word.

[MattyUKtoUS 242]

4 minutes ago, loveisvein said:

DQ’d CR1 on june 2nd. 

today marks 5 weeks - still no word.

April 21st and still nothing here  I am really starting to consider trying for an expedite on mental health grounds. 

[8bithearts 104]

20 minutes ago, MattyUKtoUS said:

April 21st and still nothing here  I am really starting to consider trying for an expedite on mental health grounds. 

May 26th here.  I put an expedite in last week, don't think it will be successful but worth a try.  Basically emotional hardship reasons and my mother in law is going through chemotherapy.  I haven't heard anything yet.