tina:)

Hi,
I just wanted to let everyone who will be going through Frankfurt, Germany know that there may be a new interview scheduling procedure for K1 visa applicants as of June.
Instead of getting Packet 4 in the mail I got an email after the Consulate had received my Packet 3 saying that my 'request to schedule has been approved' (I guess they're referring to the last page one is able to get to in the ustraveldocs-account before sending off Packet 3). I then logged into my account and was able to pick an interview date on my own (there was a calender with lots of open interviews). Shortly after scheduling my interview online I got an email with my Appointment Confirmation (including 2 barcodes). That Appointment Confirmation was also available in my ustraveldocs-account and I was able to download it as a pdf-file there.
I haven't heard of anyone else being able to schedule their own interview yet. That's why I feel like it would be very helpful for anyone who will be going through Frankfurt in the future to find out whether this was just an odd exception or a new procedure.
Thanks to anyone who can contribute (eg. confirm) to this!
Tina

What to bring:
1 passport sized photo (German passport standard, not American) Passport Case Number Impfpass Hair Band If you have glasses make sure to bring the exact data of your eyesight 130€ Getting there and parking: The practice is situated on a rather busy street with lots of (occupied) parking spots (but they're free). I felt a little more comfortable to park in a street that was less busy where I could look for a spot without getting honked at. (The streets "Isestraße" and "Isekai" offer a lot of free parking spots as well). If you're way too early, like me, there's a really nice bakery near the Sparkasse - Klosterstr. 5).
When entering the practice you have to ring a bell and open TWO doors when they buzz you in.
The practice: Looks nice. Practice Team is friendly enough but I didn't really feel too comfortable.
The medical: Upon arrival they'll hand you the sheets the doctor will later fill out. You'll have to fill in your name, case number, passport number etc. a couple of times then hand it back.
They took my X-Ray in a room upstairs. If your hair's not short or up til then, make sure to get it out of the way with your hair band. They'll ask you to hold your breath for a couple seconds and shoot the picture. Voilá.
They take a small bottle of blood from you and will send you to get a urine sample in a little bathroom across the hall from the consulting room. If you have your period just tell them. It's no big deal as long as they know.
The doctor will then ask you about any medical condition you might have (pregnancy, drugs, illnesses etc.) You will have to take off all clothes except your undies and lay down on a bench, where your blood pressure will be measured and they'll check your breathing with a stethoscope.
In my case my X Ray was already done so she could look at it right away and tell me that everything's fine with it.
I was then done and headed back to the counter. They will hand you your X-Ray (that you will have to bring on the flight with you!) and tell you goodbye. Don't forget to ask for your DS3025 - I did, and now I have to call them, again -.-').
Waiting Time: They told me to be there 30 minutes early (I guess for the paperwork thingy). It took me a bit to do that part (I was so nervous for some reason) so I actually waited for not more than 10 minutes after that and was done 20 minutes later. It was really quick and easy.
I hope this can help some of you, I know a little bit of reassurance goes a long way so that's why I wrote this post

Yay!
They told us the date they received our case when we called. If you want to find that out on your own though, here's how to :
LLLNNNNNNNNNN
three letters indicating the Embassy
four digit number indicating the year
three digit number indicating the day your case was received + 500 ( e.g. 599 = 500 + 99 (the 99th day of the year 2014 was April 9th) )
last three digits indicating the case that was processed that day (for this Embassy)
And here's how to track your case via DHL once the status says "in Transit":
go to dhl.com > Express > Tracking > Track by Shipper's Reference
There's four things to fill out:
Shipper's Reference: EXP NN LLL NNNNA (EXP in the beginning and A in the end always stay the same, two digits indicating the day, three letters indicating the month (e.g. APR for April) and four digits indicating the year your case was shipped) you might have to try out 2-3 days if you're not sure what day they shipped your case
Date range for shipment - From: should be the day before NN
Date range for shipment - To: should be the day after NN
Shipment Destination: beneficiary's country
I hope this will help everyone here
Congrats to everyone who got approved recently and good luck to anyone still waiting for NOA2, I'm sure it won't take much longer!

I haven't ever shared my story on here before but I saw some other people were so I might as well!
My name is James. I am 24 years old and live outside of Dallas. My fiance's name is Rebecca. She is 20 and from Alberta, Canada.
We met in 2012 on Instagram. Yes, Instagram. I am big into health and fitness and so is she. One day she was scrolling through pictures and found one of mine. She liked my picture and started following me on there. I couldn't help but notice her so I started following her too. We would like each other's pictures back and forth, but never thought anything about it because of the distance between us. Eventually we started commenting back and forth which lead to me finding her on Facebook.
Our conversations started out like normal. For a couple months we would chat back and forth on Facebook, learning more about each other. In May of 2013 we had our first Skype conversation. She thought I was a fake person because she said I was too good to be true. All of her friends thought I was just pulling her leg, so she was pretty relieved when she first saw me. We would Skype every day in between work and whatnot. Our conversations would go on for hours. We had an amazing connection with each other. We would skip going out on the weekends with friends in order to chat on Skype.
In July of last year I had planned on taking a trip to California with some friends. I thought it would be cool if she flew to the United States and came with us. She said yes and we planned on her flying out to California. At the last minute we decided to change plans and have her fly to Dallas where I live and we would drive to California together. Pretty daring! 24 hours of straight driving with someone you've never physically met.
When I got to the airport I was extremely nervous. Even though we had been talking on Skype for months you never know if someone's lying to you. I waited and waited for her to walk through the terminal. I was on the phone with my sister when out of the corner of my eye I see this tall beautiful girl. It was her! I was so excited that I tried to kiss her when she wasn't paying attention and looked like a fool!
I drove her to my grandparent's house to meet my family and then we left. We drove to California that night and had the best trip of my life. After spending a week in California we drove back to Texas and she left several days later. It was extremely depressing not knowing if I would see her again in the near future. As soon as she got home we started making plans to see each other again. I was in the process of getting an apartment and we talked about her coming back down in December. It seemed like 5 months was going to take forever...
(This is a lot of typing and I've got to run to the gym but I will catch you all up to speed when I return!)

It seems like lately the whole process, mailing to visa issued, is taking about 5 months, especially for people who are coming through countries that aren't red flagged. I really just want to have them here before school begins: mid August. (But WAY sooner would be more than fine too. ) All weekend, I was really upset that it didn't come through during my estimated timeline, and I find it extremely frustrating that people who mailed out in MARCH are getting their approvals. But today, I'm more like, "meh. it'll happen when it happens." I don't know why the change, aside from knowing that there ARE people in high fraud countries who are still waiting for NOA2's or are in AP forever after their interviews. I feel blessed that we're going through Ireland. Once we get our NOA2, I'm pretty sure the process will speed up considerably. But (and this may seem bi-polar [smirk]) HURRY UP AND GIVE ME MY NOA2!!!!!

Here's hoping for a week of many approvals for February filers!

YAAAY! I'm SO happy for you!

OMG OMG OMG!!!
I just got the following email a few minutes ago:
Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)
Your Case Status: Post Decision Activity
On March 31, 2014, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.
How crazy is that?! We were just getting all excited about Sailor's approval!
This feels surreal! I'm so happy!

I'm glad I could help Mine hasn't had any activity since our NOA1 on Feb 28th (I guess they don't change the A# if you've applied before)
We've decided to have a small wedding with just our parents once we get through this process and have our big wedding in Summer '15. We really want it to be perfect and have our families and friends there I just feel like a big wedding would be too much of a hassle now for us and for our guests from Germany.