Damnskipy

All,

Our case arrived at CDJ Friday August 12th and Monday the 15th the status changed to "Ready" on the CEAC site. However, I have been unable to pay the visa fee and schedule the appointments on the Department of State Visa Appointment Services Site because once I enter my fiancee's information it says that the case number is not ready for an appointment. I would imagine that I would've been able to set up the appointments after three days. Anyone else have to wait several days for the system to allow you to continue? Could this be an issue with their system? I've read other forums where people had to contact the CSC support which is what I did this afternoon, so hopefully they get back to me soon.

In couple days you will be able to do ithe but I advise calling embassy to make sure they have it. We actually scheduled ours too soon before they actually had it and almost had a snafu but we scheduled a month out so still had time for it to resolve which it did.

Did you guys wait until it was in transit or do you think its ok to schedule even if it hasnt left yet?

Great!

What time does she arrive in Juarez? The information window at the consulate is open from 7:30am to 1pm so make sure she gets there on time to go get the letter

You should be fine

Yep.. all is good. The embassy has the case and i have my copy of letter sent to u.s. so i will scan it to her for her fingerprinting. Then i will meet her down there next week for interview. Thanks for always being helpful.

My fiancee has hers on the 5th at 7:15 AM cool hopefully you can keep the date.

Same time and all.. See you then!

The only other thing now is the embassy is saying they haven't processed it fully yet even though it seems they have it and can see it. They advise us to keep the August 5 interview and keep calling every day to ensure they get it processed. Seems we will be okay with that too as we have 2 weeks still, but fingers crossed.

I noticed the same thing about some sort of "linking"... depending on the day you choose the interview or biometrics it gives you the days of choice for the other and vice versa I believe.

To answer your question about the appointment letter, only the petitioner and/or beneficiary can pick up the apppointment letter.

The reason you probably have a week apart of difference is because the ASC you chose is outside of Juarez... we did ours in Juarez on a Friday and had the interview that upcoming Tues.

If you don't want an extra travel expense to Juarez, reschedule the ASC for Juarez... most likely you can keep the same interview date and if not you still should be ok because you can reschedule that as well. If not, keep your appointments but go get that letter because they won't even talk to you if you don't show it lol

Cool. I think we just avoided the problem. My fiance arrives on the 3rd to Juarez and we were able to reschedule the ASC appointment for Juarez at 4:30 p,m. on the 3rd also and keep the interview on the 5th (medical already on the 4th). She arrives in the morning so she will have all morning and afternoon to stop by the embassy and get the letter first before the 4:30 p.m. appointment. I think we avoided a disaster or more expenses.. Phew! Thanks for the suggestion you are really helpful in all your posts!

Wwthing, is there anyway you can cancel the appointment in GDL and schedule one in CDJ a day or two before the interview ?

I don't know. I think the interview and ASC are linked so if I mess with one it will cancel the interview in Juarez also. Plus the system seemed to make you schedule them a week apart. My other thought is if they would let a family member pick it up for us. Her brother lives in Juarez. But I doubt they will. I'm sure it has to be her or me.

Hi there,

Yes, it's totally possible to schedule the interview before the "packet 3", which is literally a one page document just telling you where to go (links) to complete the DS-160 and ASC account setup.

I, as well as many others, did indeed schedule the interview before that appointment letter (packet 3) was received. No trouble doing so at all. However, you do need the actual appointment letter to attend the medical, biometrics and interview appointments. Some have received it within 2 weeks while others have received it a month after - there's no telling when you will receive it.

Having said the above, many of us have literally just gone to the consulate information window to ask for a copy of that appointment letter so you don't wait for it.

My fiancée traveled from HMO to CDJ to get a copy of that appointment letter 3 days before our appointments because we didn't want to wait for it (besides the fact that there was what looked like a computer glitch that might have prevented us from EVER getting that letter). She got the letter and went back to HMO and we traveled confidently with our letter in hand later that week to CDJ for our appointments.

Soo... my suggestion... if you would like to wait a bit for it and have no rush, then wait maybe the 2 to 3 weeks or so. The petitioner in the U.S. will probably receive it first since they are mailed out actually from a Texas location.

If not, I'd say book the appointments and travel to CDJ one day before so you can go to the information window early in the morning and just ask for a copy of the letter

Hi - Thanks for this. Helpful, but I have a problem.. my fiance's biometrics appointment is in Guadalajara on July 29 and her interview is in Juarez on August 5. I kind of jumped the gun and scheduled the interview shortly after receiving the case number similar to what the OP asked was possible. I knew we needed the appointment letter for our interview in Juarez so we were going to pick it up before hand at the window. I wasn't thinking and didn't realize we also needed it for the biometrics. I don't think i'll get anything in the mail on time because embassy just got it last week, so I guess our only option is to run to Juarez real quick and get a copy for the biometrics in Guadalajara? Crazy.. thanks for any suggestions!

And sorry ladies.. i personally prefer ojos tapatios de jalisco!

Thank you, Maria. Is this where we fill out the DS-160? The link in that pdf didn't work. https://ceac.state.gov/GenNIV/Default.aspx

Then after that and when I have case number I can take it along with the DS-160 number and schedule biometrics and interview here? https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-mx/iv/users/sign_in . I already have an account but yes, first thing it asks is for DS # and case #.

Hope I got that right... let me know if not. Do you remember how close available interviews were when you first looked? 2 weeks out? 3 weeks?

Thank you so much for all the help!!

Wrote in wrong place. Didn't mean to bump this. haha

takes about a month to get the packet and enter information into

BTW

you are a long way from an approval / the USCIS only gathers all documents to make sure all is in order/ NVC will ask for any additional information they want

Approval is up to the embassy at interview

make sure you have strong evidence of your relationship

make sure you have been together in the last 2 years of the interview

make sure the beneficary knows you well and can answer quesitons about you and your family

Best to you

incha allah

allah yessir

Ramadan mubarek said

These things are mainly for adjustment of status I thought. How can someone who never lived with me yet know every nuance about me? How can I prove strong relationship other than texts and pictures which can be propped anyway? Yes we are very close and my fiance probably can anyway, but that's not the point... the burden isn't to prove how close you are yet. The burden is to prove the intention to marry and that you met.

Haha I am 34 and my fiance is 27. Doesn't matter!

What is Packet 3 and what will I be sending back to the embassy? I was under impression we weren't sending anything back and taking it all to the interview so I am confused. Thanks for the help! :)