Dublin, ireland interview

[ak89 12]

15 hours ago, Sleepy1234 said:

I would be shocked if you didnt hear anything by next week. I was speaking with a girl on lawfully with a similar timeframe and she had to wait a full two months after being DQ'd and then was scheduled the following. Its still a little crazy it takes this long to schedule an appointment so that you can reunite with your other half considering we are such a small country. The girl on lawfully also said that they seemed to be extremely understaffed in the embassy and that only two of the windows were open. Also it is J1 season up until May/June but still the should be prioritising IR1/CR1 appointments. Will be sending all my good vibes your way! 

Thank you so much! Yes I honestly can’t believe that it’s taken this long, Lord knows this embassy isn’t nearly as busy with people trying to enter the states as some of the other ones globally are and yet here we are 2+ months later with no end in sight. 
 

I’m fortunate in that I’m actually living here with my husband (the one I’m sponsoring) but somehow that’s actually worse in a way - no interview date means no window in which to book plane tickets, pet transport, the movers, or find an apartment or daycare for our daughter which are critical. Like I can’t even being to guess when we’ll be there so I can put down a deposit for daycare. The anxiety over how expensive all the last minute arrangements are going to be is actually crippling. I know I should be grateful that he and I are together but still. Ugh. Will keep this thread informed for sure. 

[ak89 12]

FYI to anyone wondering about interview timelines, my spouse and other people DQ'd around the same time (mid to end of January) have still not received interview letters this month. Unless one mysteriously appears our inboxes today or Monday, I can only assume we might hear something in May.

 

It's almost like they either a) only sent letters for people DQ'd in the first half of January or b) didn't send letters at all! Who knows. So, so, so frustrating to have zero information into this process. Everyone seems to think that interview letters are sent around the first week of the month so if we don't get something today I don't have much hope that we'd get something later in the month, as I haven't heard of that happening really...

Edited April 12 by ak89
typo

[Jojomaman 1]

Hi All,

 

I'm sorry you haven't heard anything but I have just received an interview appointment for 16th May (email just came through an hour ago). The Medical will likely delay completion but wanted to give you all an update. The day is not over so you may still receive your appointments yet!!

 

We are an IR-1 application and DQ 13th March.

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting! @ak89 @valliegirl1210@Sleepy1234

 

 

 

 

[ak89 12]

45 minutes ago, Jojomaman said:

Hi All,

 

I'm sorry you haven't heard anything but I have just received an interview appointment for 16th May (email just came through an hour ago). The Medical will likely delay completion but wanted to give you all an update. The day is not over so you may still receive your appointments yet!!

 

We are an IR-1 application and DQ 13th March.

 

Good luck to everyone still waiting! @ak89 @valliegirl1210@Sleepy1234

 

 

 

 

Glad to hear you got some good news! Although I will say, if we don’t get something this month that does feel like a big middle finger from the U.S. government to those of us DQd earlier in the year lol. 

[ak89 12]

FYI to those still waiting for interviews - I’ve come across the details of other people who DQ’d in March and got interview letters last Friday. So, appears the whole first in first out shtick that the NVC tells us all is a lie as a bunch of folks have been skipped - color me surprised lol. 

[ak89 12]

Received our interview appointment this afternoon from NVC for June 6th. Check your emails if you were DQ’d around the same time (Jan 25th)

[mrev 9]

@ak89 Really sorry to hear about your delays! I know you've been waiting a long time.

Just wanted to share our interview experience because you mentioned you're the petitioner and still in Ireland with your spouse. We were pretty confident going into the interview since we breezed through NVC, but they were quite choosy about our documents which led to a 221(g) refusal.

The things we messed up were:
- We didn't have a police certificate for a country my spouse is citizen of but has never lived in (this wasn't required by NVC rules, but apparently Dublin specifically requires it)

- I hadn't uploaded my passport to CEAC to accompany my financial docs (spouse had it in hand at the interview but they wouldn't accept it there)

- The officer didn't like my proof of domicile at all (again, even though NVC accepted it). Asked for more concrete evidence of our plans to move; specifically suggested a Bill of Lading from our shipping company. Specifics on that below.

 

He received a white 221(g) refusal slip on the day of the interview asking him to upload the missing docs to CEAC and courier them back to the embassy along with his passport. We had to wait for a while for the missing police cert to come, and in the meantime we went ahead with our plans to ship our household goods (which was obviously nerve wracking given the uncertainty of everything). The timeline was:

 

Mar 21: interview/refusal; CEAC status shows "Refused"

Apr 17: Resubmitted docs via CEAC and courier

Apr 19: Docs arrived at embassy

Apr 26, May 1: "Last updated" timestamp changes but remains Refused

May 2: Status changes to Administrative Processing

May 3: Status changes to Issued

May 7: Receive DPD tracking number from NVC

May 8: Pick up passport with visa from DPD

 

The whole thing was fairly awful but now it is over  I hope it is perfectly smooth for you!

 

--

 

Here are the specifics on our domicile submission; there's of course no guarantee that any doc(s) will or won't be enough for any given officer, we just did as much as we could. Both of these packets had cover letters explaining each doc and the overall situation.

Documents that were in my initial packet, accepted by NVC but rejected at interview:

- Valid U.S. drivers license

- U.S. bank and investment statements (officer mentioned there didn't seem to be a lot of activity on them)

- A letter from my employer indicating they were aware of my plans to move and ready to transfer me to U.S. payroll at any time (officer didn't like this because it wasn't on letterhead/didn't have a wet signature)

- My initial work permit for Ireland with a validity of 2 years (intended to show I always meant to move temporarily)

 

Documents I submitted as my second packet which led to approval:
- An updated employer letter on letterhead with wet signature

- Invoices and pickup receipt from the moving company (we weren't able to get a bill of lading)

- A signed and notarized affidavit from my mother indicating our plans to stay with her when we first arrive

- Vehicle registration and proof of insurance for my vehicle in the U.S. (I made a trip home to set this up)

- Transfer history from Wise showing my Ireland to US transfers from the last year
 

Edited May 9 by mrev
wrong terminology

[ak89 12]

7 hours ago, mrev said:

@ak89 Really sorry to hear about your delays! I know you've been waiting a long time.

Just wanted to share our interview experience because you mentioned you're the petitioner and still in Ireland with your spouse. We were pretty confident going into the interview since we breezed through NVC, but they were quite choosy about our documents which led to a 221(g) refusal.

The things we messed up were:
- We didn't have a police certificate for a country my spouse is citizen of but has never lived in (this wasn't required by NVC rules, but apparently Dublin specifically requires it)

- I hadn't uploaded my passport to CEAC to accompany my financial docs (spouse had it in hand at the interview but they wouldn't accept it there)

- The officer didn't like my proof of domicile at all (again, even though NVC accepted it). Asked for more concrete evidence of our plans to move; specifically suggested a Bill of Lading from our shipping company. Specifics on that below.

 

He received a white 221(g) refusal slip on the day of the interview asking him to upload the missing docs to CEAC and courier them back to the embassy along with his passport. We had to wait for a while for the missing police cert to come, and in the meantime we went ahead with our plans to ship our household goods (which was obviously nerve wracking given the uncertainty of everything). The timeline was:

 

Mar 21: interview/refusal; CEAC status shows "Refused"

Apr 17: Resubmitted docs via CEAC and courier

Apr 19: Docs arrived at embassy

Apr 26, May 1: "Last updated" timestamp changes but remains Refused

May 2: Status changes to Administrative Processing

May 3: Status changes to Issued

May 7: Receive DPD tracking number from NVC

May 8: Pick up passport with visa from DPD

 

The whole thing was fairly awful but now it is over  I hope it is perfectly smooth for you!

 

--

 

Here are the specifics on our domicile submission; there's of course no guarantee that any doc(s) will or won't be enough for any given officer, we just did as much as we could. Both of these packets had cover letters explaining each doc and the overall situation.

Documents that were in my initial packet, accepted by NVC but rejected at interview:

- Valid U.S. drivers license

- U.S. bank and investment statements (officer mentioned there didn't seem to be a lot of activity on them)

- A letter from my employer indicating they were aware of my plans to move and ready to transfer me to U.S. payroll at any time (officer didn't like this because it wasn't on letterhead/didn't have a wet signature)

- My initial work permit for Ireland with a validity of 2 years (intended to show I always meant to move temporarily)

 

Documents I submitted as my second packet which led to approval:
- An updated employer letter on letterhead with wet signature

- Invoices and pickup receipt from the moving company (we weren't able to get a bill of lading)

- A signed and notarized affidavit from my mother indicating our plans to stay with her when we first arrive

- Vehicle registration and proof of insurance for my vehicle in the U.S. (I made a trip home to set this up)

- Transfer history from Wise showing my Ireland to US transfers from the last year
 

Holy , thank you so much for the heads up and yeah what an effing nightmare. I guess I have 3 weeks at least to try and pull some of this together?  Ugh. We do have a mover planned, guess I better pay that invoice lmao. I could get the employer letter too I suppose, but I'll have to hustle to get that turned around in time. Projects for tomorrow I guess! Ugh ugh ugh. 

[Sleepy1234 4]

@mrev Oh goodness they really put you through the ringer! I am glad you are all through it. I have a question- my husband lives in the US and I am living here, I am assuming I don't have to prove domicile? Also I worked last summer in Greece for 3 months, I have tried to get a police cert but it is only possible if you are a resident of Greece (which I never was). What specifically say about the police cert? I am nervous about this. The NVC accepted my explanation and it states on the department of state website that you have to be living in a country at least 6 months but I am so unsure. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated (from anyone)! I have proof of my time there, my contract, airline tickets etc.

[mrev 9]

22 hours ago, Sleepy1234 said:

@mrev Oh goodness they really put you through the ringer! I am glad you are all through it. I have a question- my husband lives in the US and I am living here, I am assuming I don't have to prove domicile? Also I worked last summer in Greece for 3 months, I have tried to get a police cert but it is only possible if you are a resident of Greece (which I never was). What specifically say about the police cert? I am nervous about this. The NVC accepted my explanation and it states on the department of state website that you have to be living in a country at least 6 months but I am so unsure. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated (from anyone)! I have proof of my time there, my contract, airline tickets etc.

I believe your husband does not have to prove domicile if he lives in the U.S., so I wouldn't worry about that. On the police cert front, I also don't know of any reason they would give you trouble particularly since you were there less than 6 months. We did ultimately find passing mention of the citizen-but-not-resident requirement in one of the embassy's emails, so it was sort of on us that we missed that.

One other detail for @ak89; my husband's 221(g) paper also asked us for a W-2 to go with my affidavit of support, which I wasn't able to provide since I've been paid by an Irish entity since living here. I uploaded my latest Irish tax statement as well as 2023 IRS transcript to CEAC with a note explaining that I wasn't able to provide a W-2 and that seemed to be fine; so if they ask you for that and you can't provide it it may not be reason to panic

Whatever extra domicile evidence you come up with, I'd recommend uploading to CEAC before your interview; the officer had no interest in looking at any of the paper docs my spouse had brought with him.

Edited May 11 by mrev
mistake

[ak89 12]

6 hours ago, mrev said:

I believe your husband does not have to prove domicile if he lives in the U.S., so I wouldn't worry about that. On the police cert front, I also don't know of any reason they would give you trouble particularly since you were there less than 6 months. We did ultimately find passing mention of the citizen-but-not-resident requirement in one of the embassy's emails, so it was sort of on us that we missed that.

One other detail for @ak89; my husband's 221(g) paper also asked us for a W-2 to go with my affidavit of support, which I wasn't able to provide since I've been paid by an Irish entity since living here. I uploaded my latest Irish tax statement as well as 2023 IRS transcript to CEAC with a note explaining that I wasn't able to provide a W-2 and that seemed to be fine; so if they ask you for that and you can't provide it it may not be reason to panic

Whatever extra domicile evidence you come up with, I'd recommend uploading to CEAC before your interview; the officer had no interest in looking at any of the paper docs my spouse had brought with him.

Thanks for that feedback, I think we uploaded our ESD from revenue but if not I’ll pop that on next week. I’m currently paying the movers deposit, booked the pet transport, and hopefully putting a deposit on daycare next week. We’re gonna throw the book at them with planning docs thanks to your feedback! Trying to get an employer letter about the transfer but we’ll see - a lot of our US HR is outsourced to South America so not sure how likely I am to get a wet ink signature letter from them but I’m gonna try 😵‍💫

[Jojomaman 1]

@mrev thanks for all the extra info! Could you give us a summary of what was included in your notarized doc from your mother as we're intending to do the same when we arrive back.

 

"- A signed and notarized affidavit from my mother indicating our plans to stay with her when we first arrive"