How Far in Advance can you Schedule Visa Interview

[Yeen225 4]

I would like to know how far in advance people have been able to schedule their visa interview? It will take several months for my fiance to get a shengen visa because she is Russian. Most likely we will be assigned to the embassy in Warsaw, as most others have been, but things may change in the future. Any information is greatly appreciated, thank you and God bless. 

[ah-no 27]

On 11/26/2023 at 8:24 AM, Yeen225 said:

I would like to know how far in advance people have been able to schedule their visa interview? It will take several months for my fiance to get a shengen visa because she is Russian. Most likely we will be assigned to the embassy in Warsaw, as most others have been, but things may change in the future. Any information is greatly appreciated, thank you and God bless. 

It should not take several months to get a Schengen. 6 weeks at most. For Italy, average processing time is 3 weeks. For Greece, 2 weeks. I wouldn’t recommend Greece during offseason. 

[ah-no 27]

This is a really good question though. My understanding is that you'll receive an interview letter with a scheduled date... and this date will probably be 4-5 weeks from the present date. On Poland's website, it says you can only reschedule once the original interview date is passed... I don't know if it's actually true or not, though. But, if that's the case, it will make applying for a visa really, really, really difficult. Because you have to wait for the original time to reschedule, then, how far in advance can you schedule? It can add 4-5 unnecessary weeks to the process. Crazy.

[ah-no 27]

I went ahead and tried to reschedule through their portal, I was able to see available times. But it says their policy is only to reschedule after the initial date has passed. Still, the good news is that it looks like you can get appointments quite far into the future. I just hope it's possible to do it before that initial date has passed.

[Yeen225 4]

Thank you for your responses and the information!

[Olvaranim 22]

On 12/2/2023 at 10:11 AM, ah-no said:

This is a really good question though. My understanding is that you'll receive an interview letter with a scheduled date... and this date will probably be 4-5 weeks from the present date. On Poland's website, it says you can only reschedule once the original interview date is passed... I don't know if it's actually true or not, though. But, if that's the case, it will make applying for a visa really, really, really difficult. Because you have to wait for the original time to reschedule, then, how far in advance can you schedule? It can add 4-5 unnecessary weeks to the process. Crazy.

What you're saying is applicable for immigrant visas in Warsaw. You should wait for the interview date to be provided by the Consulate, than you can reschedule it via portal on ustraveldocs, and you can do it immediately upon receiving the date. The only limitation is that the second date you choose shouldn't be earlier than the original one. 

But when it comes to K1 visas, the applicants should schedule the date by themselves

Edited December 3, 2023 by Olvaranim

[Olvaranim 22]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:24 AM, Yeen225 said:

I would like to know how far in advance people have been able to schedule their visa interview? It will take several months for my fiance to get a shengen visa because she is Russian. Most likely we will be assigned to the embassy in Warsaw, as most others have been, but things may change in the future. Any information is greatly appreciated, thank you and God bless. 

Once you receive your approval from USCIS (NOA2), the next step is NVC, and it takes about 1-2 months now to receive a new case number (starting with WRW for Warsaw). Then it takes another 4-5 weeks for the Consulate to prepare the case for the interview and send the instructions. 

In a nutshell it's OK to schedule the K1 interview in Warsaw with an estimation of 3 months waiting period after receiving NOA2 

[ah-no 27]

15 hours ago, Olvaranim said:

What you're saying is applicable for immigrant visas in Warsaw. You should wait for the interview date to be provided by the Consulate, than you can reschedule it via portal on ustraveldocs, and you can do it immediately upon receiving the date. The only limitation is that the second date you choose shouldn't be earlier than the original one. 

But when it comes to K1 visas, the applicants should schedule the date by themselves

I see. On the portal, the language is like "you must wait until the original interview date has passed", and it seems very clear. it also seems inefficient. different embassies have different rules. on the Vietnam portal, it also adds something like "if you don't want until the original date has passed, you will not be interviewed", which is concerning. 

[Olvaranim 22]

1 hour ago, ah-no said:

I see. On the portal, the language is like "you must wait until the original interview date has passed", and it seems very clear. it also seems inefficient. different embassies have different rules. on the Vietnam portal, it also adds something like "if you don't want until the original date has passed, you will not be interviewed", which is concerning. 

Well, that immediate rescheduling definitely works for Warsaw. Tested by russian-speaking community at least for CR1/IR1 and IR5 visas recently mostly due to Shengen issues of the applicants. I've rescheduled mine for personal reasons the day after the interview letter. 

[ah-no 27]

16 minutes ago, Olvaranim said:

Well, that immediate rescheduling definitely works for Warsaw. Tested by russian-speaking community at least for CR1/IR1 and IR5 visas recently mostly due to Shengen issues of the applicants. I've rescheduled mine for personal reasons the day after the interview letter. 

Thanks. It’s good to know it’s logistically possible. I looked for other cases of this on this forum, but couldn’t find any. Did you have any problems? Was a new letter given?

 

thanks for your responses, very helpful. 

[ah-no 27]

@Olvaranim sent you a DM on this also 

[Olvaranim 22]

53 minutes ago, ah-no said:

Thanks. It’s good to know it’s logistically possible. I looked for other cases of this on this forum, but couldn’t find any. Did you have any problems? Was a new letter given?

 

thanks for your responses, very helpful. 

No further issues after rescheduling and no additional interview letters. But you can always print your new appointment confirmation from the ustraveldocs portal