Change Interview Location (before submitting DS-260)

[mhoney16 0]

Hello, my husband and I are living together in Mexico at the moment. He moved to Mexico during the pandemic, on a valid Mexico work visa, intending to start work in Mexico. Due to COVID, it is unlikely that his job job will work out and he will likely switch to a tourist visa for the remainder of my expat assignment. We have submitted and been approved for our I-I30 - and we when we submitted, we used Mexico at his current address. We are reviewing and have not yet submitted the DS-260 but have paid the fees. 

 

Since then, the world has changed and we would like to change his interview location to the United Kingdom. He is a citizen (but not born there) and lived there for over 10 years before with sufficient proof of ties to the country, including morgage and tax returns. I understand that I need to submit a 'request to adjust status - change interview location' to the NVC via their contact form but wonder if anyone has had success with this and any tips on how to craft the message. I have not been able to find any information online on this topic. 

 

This is my current draft for NVC Inquiry form: 

 

Hello, I would like to petition for an adjustment of status to change the interview location from Cuidad de Juarez (Mexico) to London (United Kingdom). XXX is a citizen of the United Kingdom (see attachment) and have lived in the U.K. for XX years. XXX owns a property, with a morgage, and have provided this proof of 2020 mortgage tax payments and 2019 tax return. XXX's wife was previously residing in the UK for the past 5 years (attached proof of tax returns). 

[Quarknase 1,072]

6 minutes ago, mhoney16 said:

Hello, my husband and I are living together in Mexico at the moment. He moved to Mexico during the pandemic, on a valid Mexico work visa, intending to start work in Mexico. Due to COVID, it is unlikely that his job job will work out and he will likely switch to a tourist visa for the remainder of my expat assignment. We have submitted and been approved for our I-I30 - and we when we submitted, we used Mexico at his current address. We are reviewing and have not yet submitted the DS-260 but have paid the fees. 

 

Since then, the world has changed and we would like to change his interview location to the United Kingdom. He is a citizen (but not born there) and lived there for over 10 years before with sufficient proof of ties to the country, including morgage and tax returns. I understand that I need to submit a 'request to adjust status - change interview location' to the NVC via their contact form but wonder if anyone has had success with this and any tips on how to craft the message. I have not been able to find any information online on this topic. 

 

This is my current draft for NVC Inquiry form: 

 

Hello, I would like to petition for an adjustment of status to change the interview location from Cuidad de Juarez (Mexico) to London (United Kingdom). XXX is a citizen of the United Kingdom (see attachment) and have lived in the U.K. for XX years. XXX owns a property, with a morgage, and have provided this proof of 2020 mortgage tax payments and 2019 tax return. XXX's wife was previously residing in the UK for the past 5 years (attached proof of tax returns). 

I’m not sure if petition is the right wording - you simply request a change of post to the embassy in London.

Note that the request might be denied if you focus on proof of prior residence. They will be more interested in seeing that he’ll be residing there at the time of interview, to ensure you’re not requesting the change to go around the wait times in Mexico. Once you have his move date, you can request with the one way ticket and proof of UK citizenship. Or you wait until he actually moved and has a local ID to proof residency.

[mhoney16 0]

1 hour ago, Quarknase said:

I’m not sure if petition is the right wording - you simply request a change of post to the embassy in London.

Note that the request might be denied if you focus on proof of prior residence. They will be more interested in seeing that he’ll be residing there at the time of interview, to ensure you’re not requesting the change to go around the wait times in Mexico. Once you have his move date, you can request with the one way ticket and proof of UK citizenship. Or you wait until he actually moved and has a local ID to proof residency.

I understood that you are eligible to interview in a country where you have citizenship? Our situation is rapidly evolving so we can buy a one way ticket but will be back and forth until the world is a bit more normal (whatever that means). Do we need to show more than that? A one-way ticket + citizenship? 

[pushbrk 12,243]

1 hour ago, mhoney16 said:

I understood that you are eligible to interview in a country where you have citizenship? Our situation is rapidly evolving so we can buy a one way ticket but will be back and forth until the world is a bit more normal (whatever that means). Do we need to show more than that? A one-way ticket + citizenship? 

You understand correctly.  You do not need to prove the visa applicant's residency in a country of citizenship, and you don't need a reason for making the transfer.  Just send a copy of his UK passport with the request or when NVC requests it.  You can also upload it as an additional document.

[Quarknase 1,072]

2 hours ago, pushbrk said:

You understand correctly.  You do not need to prove the visa applicant's residency in a country of citizenship, and you don't need a reason for making the transfer.  Just send a copy of his UK passport with the request or when NVC requests it.  You can also upload it as an additional document.

I was under this expression as well, but then read this from the consulate in Germany:

”As a general note, the Immigrant Visa Unit in Frankfurt processes immigrant visa applications only for persons who are residents of Germany, or who are physically present in Germany with permission to remain long enough to process the visa to conclusion.”

which indicates that not Citizenship, but physical presence/residence location determine if the post accepts the applicant or not.

[pushbrk 12,243]

23 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

I was under this expression as well, but then read this from the consulate in Germany:

”As a general note, the Immigrant Visa Unit in Frankfurt processes immigrant visa applications only for persons who are residents of Germany, or who are physically present in Germany with permission to remain long enough to process the visa to conclusion.”

which indicates that not Citizenship, but physical presence/residence location determine if the post accepts the applicant or not.

I believe that quote has a specific context that will become clear if you link direct to the source.

[Quarknase 1,072]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

I believe that quote has a specific context that will become clear if you link direct to the source.

That’s the entire segment of an email I received a while back. The rest of the email was addressing other topics. I honestly was under the same impression (Citizenship is enough), but found the As a general note comment to be indicating otherwise, and therefore thought it would be safer for the OP to request the transfer once they are physically in the UK. If not true, even better.

[pushbrk 12,243]

3 minutes ago, Quarknase said:

That’s the entire segment of an email I received a while back. The rest of the email was addressing other topics. I honestly was under the same impression (Citizenship is enough), but found the As a general note comment to be indicating otherwise, and therefore thought it would be safer for the OP to request the transfer once they are physically in the UK. If not true, even better.

Then, your question to which this was included as an answer would provide the needed context.  Note also the use of the word "generally".  Reading the rest, they use the word "processes" (as a verb) not "accepts for processing".  NVC, not the IV Unit in London, will decide whether to transfer the case.  Once NVC decides,  there is no "processing" for the IV unit to do until the interview, by which time the applicant WILL be in the UK with permission to remain.....

 

The anonymous quote in my signature applies here.