Bridget ~ Steven

Ivanturner,

I'm curious -- how did yours turn out? My fiance is waiting for this. he has the receipt already and was told the subject access report usually comes quickly.

Hi gang,

Steven received his receipt today regarding his subject access report. He was also emailed today by London to say his interview is TOMORROW. He called the SAR people and they said it probably won't take long since it's straight forward. He has a caution on his police record for hitting a guy 2 years ago - minor squabble.

Everything I've read says that it'll just delay approval til the SAR gets to them which is fine. He has the receipt to take to show he's ordered it and has his police report obviously. I'm not concerned about it. Just wondering how long most folks have taken to get it after receiving the receipt? The SAR person said that sometimes it takes the full 40 days because people want video footage or whatnot which is obviously not his case.

His goal is to be here before January because my youngest son has testing scheduled regarding a spinal tumor. It'll be a major moral boost to have his (almost!) step-dad here and it'll obviously be a huge emotional support to me. Grown adults have issues with MRIs and my guy has been through quite a few, with some lasting over 2 hours.

I'm taking all of the "London is friendly!" advice to heart. There are a few other things that he'll have to show for interview since I'm self-employed and have child support/alimony added into my income, but we've been over that a million times. His sister's boyfriend will hopefully be going along with him for the trip from Cardiff to London - and he'll be holding the bags.

Having one day to adjust to the interview date is fantastic... so much less time to nitpick and stress. I know he needs to pay the fee today and he also needs to have pics done.

Thanks for everyone's support here and especially thanks to those who are recently going through it and kept all of us updated. That really helped the most since London changed SO much in the past few months!!

Finally got an interview date! DoS said nothing yesterday. Today Steven got an email and his interview is TOMORROW morning. The only snafu we have is his subject access report hasn't arrived though he has proof of ordering it. He has a caution for a minor issue (squabble with a guy and ####### him a few years ago). From what I've seen it looks like it'll just hold up his approval by a few days while they wait to get it. He's calling in sick to work and we're doing a final review of our stuff today. Whew.. so glad that by this time tomorrow it'll be done!

Just FYI, I have had around 12 or 13 CEAC date status updates - and as of Nov 2nd have no interview scheduled yet. I hope you are lucky but don't get too excited just yet!! The Embassy received all my documents on Sep 27th and my medical was Sep 16th. Nov 4th and still waiting.

Out of curiosity, by "receive" do you know that's when they arrived (i.e. they signed for them) or are you using that term like they do to mean "logged into the system"? I was told by DoS that 'received' to them means when someone actually logs your stuff in and they don't actually keep track of when it arrived.

I'd love to find an accurate new'ish estimate on the time between logging & interview. Their site says they're working on Nov 8th and earlier. Ours were logged in on Nov 5th.

I did email them to ask about appt times. I know a LOT of people are emailing saying they want to be together for Christmas. I have a son with a spinal cord tumor and we'd love for my fiance to be here before our next big medical exam/testing/neurologist review in January. We never would have guessed there'd be a chance he wouldn't have been here by then (NOA2 in July).. but I worry with the holidays and such that his might get pushed back enough that he'll miss it.

It just changed to the 8th. Not sure how long the avg wait is between them logging forms to interview being assigned is now. The 6 week is for date mailed --> logged according to their site.

I have a feeling they're still more in the "before" stage than "on".

Nich-Nick has a great point. I've had a few Christmas cards get lost between here & Wales.. so I wouldn't wait til Dec to mail anything over.

Yeah.. we were expecting this to be the "quick" part too and it definitely hasn't been. We had a CEAC update on the 23rd of Oct so I was hopeful it'd be about the interview date.. but as of Friday's call to the DoS nothing has been scheduled. In hindsight, I wish I wouldn't have read the projected timeline on here because it REALLY got our hopes up that things would move quick after a certain point! It's especially challenging to go through this with children eagerly waiting (and the holidays..).

I figure this has to resolve at some point, just like the NOA2 and NVC issues did. Our NOA2 had so many quirky issues because of Vermont (bed bugs), transfers, etc and ours took quite a while to finally leave Texas for the NVC. When I look at other timelines I see someone with a NOA1 of May (ours was Jan) and interview/POE is already done. I'm guessing with the switch to electronic that this process will be faster for those coming along behind. It's one reason I find it so hard to read the regular K1 board. I'm happy their wait isn't as long, but frustrated that we apparantly hit the stupidest time to go through it. I really hope I'm not looking at another 5-6 weeks from yesterday.

Hurray, talked to Chris at DoS and he said that it says they're waiting for a date to come available. THANK GOD there has been some kind of movement/change. I did pick his brain to make sure he was reading that since I'd had different answers before. There was no CEAC update or anything.

This has been the hardest part, way more difficult than the whole Vermont --> Texas thing and so on. I have realized that every time I call DoS I get a different answer. Today she said:

-waiting on paperwork, so he needs to mail that in (told her he did and was previous DoS folks have said).

-not waiting on paperwork and not in AP, that only happens AFTER interview (previous guy said that it was in AP til "qualified" then interview date is issued" so we're just waiting on a date.

This was over the course of 3 minutes. If they had a better system of showing the steps in this process it would help a lot of people. I don't want him to find out about the interview just a week beforehand, so thats why I've been calling DoS. The packet 4 letters seem to have scattered timing.

If your NOA2 expires it's pretty easy to fix it. You just need another letter of intent and make sure it's notarized (your bank will probably do so for free). Send the original over.

Wow, that's amazing. Your entire process has been very quick!

I'd suggest calling and getting the info for yourself. Or use the form to contact the embassy. Who knows? They may give all of us different answers. Since London has been so slow lately I figure making it as easy as possible (latest forms) makes sense in my case.. especially after my chat this morning with DoS! This process is definitely ever-changing!

Did you do 160? I spoke to DoS today and she stressed doing the *newest* forms even if our stuff had been sent before changes made. Even though we've sent in everything twice the email from London states they haven't received it all.. so doing more now. I'd hate for anyone to lose more time over not having one extra form done.

replying to my own post:

I talked to DoS this morning. The woman was NOT very happy and I have a feeling they're getting swamped with people calling about London. I explained, patiently, that I am confused about their wording and the mixed results between them and London. I was very polite and very calm, but VERY clear that I wanted to have a discussion to get it sorted.

She said the gentleman who said all of the papers were received was mistaken. He told me that because it said "no other documents needed" - but she said that does NOT refer to what we sent in, it refers to whatever triggers packet 3. If all of our stuff was logged the thing would change to "qualified" which then triggers packet 4. Ours is still in AP, probably because they want the newest forms. She also stressed following the newest guidelines regardless of when pkt 3 arrived.

She said that right now it is taking 30-60 days to log things after everything is in and 4-6 weeks for interview date. They do have his medical. She also stressed that I should "call London" with questions and I let her know that's appears to be impossible. The interesting thing is she said they can't see which forms have & have not been received, only if a case is "qualified" for interview (meaning all paperwork is in). So at least I know the new word to ask about when I call them next week.

If others are calling DoS she is the "mmhmm" lady. I swear she mmhmms almost constantly.

Good point, Avery! I'm having a challenging week and immigration always simmering beneath the surface doesn't help matters. If I remember correctly, you were hoping for a Halloween wedding. I am truly sorry that isn't going to happen. I think only folks in the thick of this really understand just how much it stinks.. especially when you have your wedding visualized. I'm grateful that my fiance, his family, and mine are all gracefully accepting my firm desire for a (short!) beach wedding. My wedding photographer has even agreed to show up on Sunday instead of Saturday if the weather on Sat stinks! (It's a small wedding, so we can be flexible). The one perk though is that the large beach houses are reasonably priced in winter!!

DoS confirmed for me that the forms had been processed and we were waiting on an interview date. I've called several times and, after asking a few questions, that's what they've stated. The last call the woman did say they mailed pkt 3 on 9/11 and said we needed to follow that. I replied that before I'd been told they were received.. so she did something else and then did say they had been and to call back later if I wanted to check if an interview had been scheduled.

Today my fiance received an email from the embassy saying basically that -- pkt3 mailed on 9/11 and they don't have his forms. He has sent them in twice. He's doing the 160 again and we're hopeful THAT is what they're referring to.

If they don't wish to speak to people they need to have a better website offering more details.

I feel bad for people not keeping up with all of the London changes because I have a suspicion those are what have slowed our case down so I'm urging him to just do the new stuff and follow along. At this rate I might get a warm beach wedding!

Happy it went through!! Also, I'm in the same area of Virginia, my fiance is coming from Wales.

Nothing here either, though I didn't get a chance to call DoS yet.

jola, thanks for the reply!! You're always super helpful.

For London, if (well, when) our NOA2 expires they'll want to see a notarized new letter of an intent to marry. You'll want to see what yours will want in that case because, chances are, they all vary somewhat!

Wheatley I totally agree with the "just in case of a curveball" attitude!

For those of you also calling DoS, what do they say? They never use the term "logged" with me, just that they've been submitted and they have all of the paperwork. But.. different people say different things. One person said we were in AP, later said we were just waiting for an interview date.. then the last call was AP. Does AP *mean* waiting for an interview date? She also said they don't update it between received and when they put it in, so she said submitted probably means logged by what folks here say. I'd love to know what terms they're using. I don't mind waiting for an interview if I at least know what day I'm waiting for! Also, small confession, it really hurts to see people get NOA2s in 20-40 days now.. and know that not too long ago people got interviews just a week or two after their medicals were received. Somehow we've managed to apply at the worst time and get in many many urgh type of situations - bed bugs, transfers to texas, slooooow transfer to NVC, etc.

We're still waiting as well. I called DoS this morning (after she encouraged me to "call tomorrow" when I called yesterday). No interview date yet. They say they have the papers and medical. She's unsure of what the Oct 15th update was about and can't see it in her system. I have my fingers crossed for news soon.