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tozzzzlerrrs

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  1. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from ZaakirahM in October 2015 Interviews   
    I left a rather long Embassy review on the corresponding section, but here it is again, in case anyone applying from Brazil is following this topic:
    Medical in Rio

    As of September, 2015, there is only one place to do it, Dr. Aurelio Garrido in Leblon. Scheduling was easy, all done via e-mail - they prefer that over calling them. You will have to schedule the x-ray by phone, it's done two blocks away from the doctors office and the bloodwork doesn't need to be scheduled, it's done on the same building. The doctor will send you a file with instructions, read the whole thing and there won't be any issues.

    I landed in Rio at 10:30am (Santos Dummont Airport), took a bus to Leblon and was done with all medical part (consultation, bloodwork and x-ray) and eating lunch by 1:30pm.

    Also, take the shots you need to take before going to the doctor, you can get them for free at a public hospital instead of having to pay for them on a private clinic on the spot. Print the shot list and take that with your vaccination card to a public hospital, they will know what to do.

    Getting there from the airports is easy too. There is an express "premium" bus that stops in both airports and heads towards Copacabana, Ipanema and then Leblon. It will drop you off in front of the beach, only 2 blocks away from the doctors office. Ask the driver to drop you off at one of the streets perpendicular to the beach in Leblon. The return trip is the same, go to the beach to catch the return bus. Price per trip was R$14,65 while a cab will cost at least R$45. It took less than 30 minutes and was comfortable.

    When booking your medical, if it's an option for you, have it done at least a week before the interview as it may take a couple days for the bloodwork and x-ray results to be done and the whole package shipped by the doctor to the consulate. They say it doesn't delay your visa to be processed but I'd rather have it ready at the consulate before the interview (they mail it) than have the consulate wait for it after the interview.


    Interview

    I came back to Rio for the interview on another date. The consulate is only a 10 minute walk from Santos Dummont Airport, just cross the walkway over a busy avenue that is on the far right side of the airport. Downtown Rio is "dangerous" at night and on the weekends when it's empty but during the day it's super busy with all the offices and shops, it's very safe to walk.

    My interview was at 9:20am but because I was there already and had nothing else to do, I went in around 8:00am. There were no lines at all - make sure you don't wait on the line that forms on the side of the consulate for non-immigrant visas, just walk up to the gate and mention you have an interview for an immigrant visa, they will have your name and time on a spreadsheet and will let you in. They let me in upstairs and there were already a few other people scheduled for 9:20am filling a form they give to applicants. The staff will sort your documents, then you wait sitting for someone else to check your originals and hand them back to you. Read the P4 letter they sent you scheduling the interview and bring what's being asked. I was surprised how unprepared some people were, specially those relying on lawyers. Original birth certificate (beneficiary only) and marriage license are a must have. Police certificates (at least 1 year old) were also being asked and the versions obtained online from Policia Federal and Policia Civil are fine. Besides what's on the list, if you have an older passport with a previous US visa, bring that too - they asked for mine even though it wasn't on the list.

    After that, the consular office will call people by name for the actual interview. Mine lasted a whole 3:40 minutes and was approved - I timed it from the time they called my name until I walked away. The whole analysis of your application is done beforehand and if they find everything acceptable, the interview is just a formality. If your documents are incomplete or your application is dubious, then expect more questions. Some other people before me took around 5 minutes and a few were in there for almost 20 minutes. They only asked me when and where we met, what kind of work I did and what visas did I have before.

    After the interview, head to the post office around the corner, pay the postage fee and bring back the slip to the consulate. I was done with the whole process by 11:00am.

    Overall, the staff was polite and courteous - from the security guards to the consular staff. The process is simple and straight forward if you make a small effort to come prepared and be organized. Also, remember that you are at a consulate and dress accordingly.
  2. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from SiVin in September 2015 Interviews   
    Called again now, without any hopes, just to "put pressure" on them and finally heard good news too!
    Interview scheduled for September 21st! :)
    (our CC was July 31st, priority date October 22nd)
    edit: fix CC month! thanks fridaab
  3. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from tz.and.ed in September 2015 Interviews   
    After exchanging a couple e-mails with our Consulate in Rio and informing them the NVC is telling they are waiting on the embassy, here is their response (translated to English):
    The availability for interviews in September was sent to the NVC in time and we are receiving batches of cases for the month of September. The NVC that is responsible for asking the availability for interviews when they need them. If they need extra slots, they contact us directly. We understand your frustration due to the delays, however, your interview scheduling depends on the NVC.

    In our case, they say clearly here that it's the NVC delaying scheduling.
  4. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from ItsGonnaBeWorthIt in September 2015 Interviews   
    This is how long (on average) it took to get an interview after case complete:

  5. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from ItsGonnaBeWorthIt in September 2015 Interviews   
    Here we can see, case by case, when:
    - "case complete" happened (the thin line and the colors)
    - interview was scheduled (start of the thick line)
    - interview date (end of thick line)
    And the text (X days) shows how long each person waited between CC and the interview happening (total wait from CC to interview)



  6. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from TeJoGB in September 2015 Interviews   
    Many cases take longer to be completed not because the applicants did something wrong, but very often because the USCIS/NVC messed something up along the way.
    If you think logically, people with older priority dates have been away from their spouses for much longer. I doubt anyone would do that on purpose..
    We have done everything right the first time, just like you. We overnighted everything to USCIS and NVC, paid fees the minute they were available, triple-checked all forms.
    We never got a RFE or a Checklist for anything we did wrong, but we've been unlucky to:
    - have our I-130 sent to the Nebraska Service Center (which is never faster than 5 months for the NOA2);
    - dealt with NVC's website issues that prevented us from filling our DS-260 for over a month;
    - had the NVC lose our police certificates (even though we wrote the case number on the top corner, as advised). We had to mail again, adding another 30 days for review;
  7. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from ChanieMike in September 2015 Interviews   
    Many cases take longer to be completed not because the applicants did something wrong, but very often because the USCIS/NVC messed something up along the way.
    If you think logically, people with older priority dates have been away from their spouses for much longer. I doubt anyone would do that on purpose..
    We have done everything right the first time, just like you. We overnighted everything to USCIS and NVC, paid fees the minute they were available, triple-checked all forms.
    We never got a RFE or a Checklist for anything we did wrong, but we've been unlucky to:
    - have our I-130 sent to the Nebraska Service Center (which is never faster than 5 months for the NOA2);
    - dealt with NVC's website issues that prevented us from filling our DS-260 for over a month;
    - had the NVC lose our police certificates (even though we wrote the case number on the top corner, as advised). We had to mail again, adding another 30 days for review;
  8. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Gorkhali in September 2015 Interviews   
    Almost had a heart attack. Got an e-mail from the NVC a few minutes ago, jumped out of the chair without even opening.
    Went on to read it. It's a response from an e-mail I sent on June 9th to AskNVC@ asking why my DS-260 isn't available considering the fee has been paid for a month.
    I hope they are not busy responding to 2 month old e-mails instead of working on getting cases going....
  9. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from shkrz1 in September 2015 Interviews   
    This is from the Interview spreadsheet, easier to visualize. The colors indicate when the case was originally completed.
    For the month of July - we are hoping they follow this same trend, where most interviews were scheduled on the 14th:

    ...And the months of June and May - not any pattern to it, interviews were scheduled whenever.
    Let's keep in mind these were very atypical months, the NVC and Embassies were having issues with their system.


    If we go back to April, before the NVC/Embassy system issues, it seems most interviews were being scheduled around the middle of the month, just like July. Most cases were from that month and the month before it.

  10. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from CeeMu in September 2015 Interviews   
    So I grabbed the data from the "Case Complete to Interview" spreadsheet, removed all the non IR1/CR1 visas, removed all the expedited cases and all cases missing the interview date (including recent ones).
    Based on 1572 cases from late 2012 until now, this is the amount of days between the case complete and the interview for each country.

    (ps. I also removed countries with less than 4 entries and entries with 250+ days between c.c. and the interview, i.e. outliers)
  11. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Mrs.yadav in September 2015 Interviews   
    To answer the question "Do I get an interview faster or slower depending if my case was completed at the start or the end of a month?"
    Can't tell for sure! There's no strong trend, except on a few months, like July 2013.
    Here each dot represents an interview scheduling. The horizontal position is the date it was scheduled. The vertical height is how many days until the interview date once it was scheduled.

  12. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Mrs.yadav in September 2015 Interviews   
    So I grabbed the data from the "Case Complete to Interview" spreadsheet, removed all the non IR1/CR1 visas, removed all the expedited cases and all cases missing the interview date (including recent ones).
    Based on 1572 cases from late 2012 until now, this is the amount of days between the case complete and the interview for each country.

    (ps. I also removed countries with less than 4 entries and entries with 250+ days between c.c. and the interview, i.e. outliers)
  13. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Sukie in September 2015 Interviews   
    So I grabbed the data from the "Case Complete to Interview" spreadsheet, removed all the non IR1/CR1 visas, removed all the expedited cases and all cases missing the interview date (including recent ones).
    Based on 1572 cases from late 2012 until now, this is the amount of days between the case complete and the interview for each country.

    (ps. I also removed countries with less than 4 entries and entries with 250+ days between c.c. and the interview, i.e. outliers)
  14. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from CeeMu in September 2015 Interviews   
    Looking at the "Case Complete to Interview" spreadsheet, it seems like most interviews for August were scheduled around July 14th. The "case complete" for those were mostly in June and as late as July 10th, just 4 days before getting an interview scheduled.
    I'd guess the NVC has a date (around the end of the second week of the month) where they set all the interviews.
    For those with complete cases in July and early August, let's hope to hear something by the end of next week!
  15. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Saylin in NVC Filers - July 2015   
    It shouldn't take 2 months! Usually, in 2 weeks they receive your case and then it's another 2 weeks or so to assign a number. Of course, it's the NVC and everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Delays are common and to add up to it, their whole visa processing and website were not working correctly for the last 2 months.
    To call them, I suggest you start trying at 7AM, eastern time. If you hear that recorded message, hang up and try again until you hear a different message.. Then you will be able to navigate the menu and be put on hold until someone picks up. I'eve waited about 40 minutes once. Give them your USCIS number as it it's linked to your process still.
    Take all your attorney says with a grain of salt. Call the NVC, don't just wait. Read the guides here and previous posts to understand the steps. Attorneys want to do less work as possible and usually don't necessarily mean your case will be any faster. Being pro-active is the best thing you can do to stay one step ahead.
  16. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from AshTaz in NVC Filers - July 2015   
    NVC phone reps have a new trick:
    "Let me transfer you to a case specialist."
    And you're back on hold for another half an hour.
  17. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from Saylin in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    You can start by turning off "caps lock" to post here. Thanks.
    Contact your state representative once the estimate processing time has passed.
  18. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from claclaa in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    Thanks for calling and asking. We are the point now that we are almost willing to pay it without a guarantee of a refund... It's been a while and just the thought of a couple more months added to this process is heartbreaking.
  19. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from claclaa in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    This process doesn't really require an attorney, unless there is special condition that require special attention (i.e. previous visa denial, overstaying a visa, etc.) or you want the convenience of having someone taking care of things for you - otherwise, you can just read up about the process here or on the official websites and do it yourself, like most here.
    If you got 2 RFEs it seems like your attorney is not doing what he/she was supposed to do: to make sure your documents are perfect and this process gets done fast without any hiccups.
    As you said, they get the same e-mails as you at the same time. They do not receive any special treatment at the NVC, there's no secret "attorney hotline" that will answer them first. They can't really expedite things once they have been submitted.
  20. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from claclaa in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    I haven't heard of anyone that has mailed the IV fee being able to fill the DS260.
    Our fee was received and processed on May 15 and now, 30 days later, it still shows as unpaid at the website and the DS260 isn't available.
    Paying by mail doesn't sound like a solution if they don't input your payment on their system anyway.
  21. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from claclaa in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    I'm really convinced this June 12 date is not a target or hard deadline for them to fix the issue.
    From all responses people have been getting from the NVC, including myself before and after that notice was posted online, and the response our Senator got after we made a congressional inquiry (see pasted below), it's more like a "free beer tomorrow" sign on a bar: it will be fixed 10 days from whenever you ask.
    This e-mail was dated today, June 12:
  22. Like
    tozzzzlerrrs got a reaction from claclaa in NVC Filers - June 2015   
    Same situation for us, received a confirmation on May 15th but still can't access the DS260. The IV fee shows "pay now" but can't be paid online as well. I called a couple times to see if they needed to manually flag the IV fee as "paid" but that doesn't seem like the case...
    It's frustrating and there is no one to be held accountable for this type of delay.
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