LilyJ

Hello everyone,
 
We just received our interview appointment in Buenos Aires, Argentina for September 17.
 
DQ was July 9

My husband and I did exactly what you are planning when we got married in 2018. He came here, got married with me, and returned back to Denmark afterwards. When he arrived and was asked the purpose of his trip? "I'm here for 2 months to marry my fiancee" "Congratulations sir enjoy your stay". Coming from Canada I can't see you having an issue. Just be honest about your trip. There's nothing illegal about coming to the US to marry as long as you return back to Canada to go through the visa process the right way

I'm pleased to update on our situation, our visa has been approved!

Congratulations this is exciting news  

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

On Friday, we emailed the embassy that we have re-prepared all our documents and are ready for my husbands interview to be rescheduled, and Monday they emailed us back that they have scheduled him for August 25!! So excited but nervous at the same time!

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

On Friday, we emailed the embassy that we have re-prepared all our documents and are ready for my husbands interview to be rescheduled, and Monday they emailed us back that they have scheduled him for August 25!! So excited but nervous at the same time!

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

My husband and I did exactly what you are planning when we got married in 2018. He came here, got married with me, and returned back to Denmark afterwards. When he arrived and was asked the purpose of his trip? "I'm here for 2 months to marry my fiancee" "Congratulations sir enjoy your stay". Coming from Canada I can't see you having an issue. Just be honest about your trip. There's nothing illegal about coming to the US to marry as long as you return back to Canada to go through the visa process the right way

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

Since the Stockholm, Sweden embassy has reopened, we emailed them on Friday July 31 asking to be rescheduled as per the instructions of the reopening notice email they sent us. On Monday this week, they have us scheduled for August 25!!

SO EXCITED!
 
Wifey was approved in MNL on a surprise Expedited Appointment for her CR-1 today.
 
Counsul told her FOUR weeks until delivery (possibly due to COVID,) but I'm sure we'll see it sooner than that.
 
SUPER STOKED!
 
 

Been lurking here every so often, but just wanted to say, I’m rooting for you and your husband LilyJ! You guys are so close!! 
 
Exciting to hear that Stockholm’s starting to reschedule interviews!

I wanted to inform everyone that the Swedish Government extended their entry ban once again. It was set to expire on July 4th but they decided to extend it to August 31th.
 
So this is nerve wracking in that; One member in the forum had a theory about why some consulates are opening for "mission-critical" visas and some aren't has to do with the travel restrictions and the American employees of the Embassy being able to return to work and return to routine visas services full staff.
 
The good news is that with the new travel restrictions for the first time they included more exemptions besides just Swedish citizens and permanent residents that are traveling just for the purpose of returning home. 
 
Here's the list of exceptions; I do not know what type of employment visa or anything that US employees have to live and work in Sweden at the embassy but I'm hoping it's one of these exceptions if anyone can find out for me I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Who is exempt from the entry ban?
As of 4 July, the entry ban does not apply to people who:
are an EEA citizen or a citizen of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City; have long-term resident status in Sweden or another EU Member State; have a permanent residence permit in Sweden or another EEA state, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City; have a national visa for Sweden or a national visa valid longer than three months in another EEA State, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland or the Vatican City; have family ties as specified in Chapter 3a, Section 2, first paragraph, or Chapter 5, Section 3, first paragraph, points 1–4, or Section 3a of the Aliens Act (2005:716) to a person covered by any of points 1–4 or to a Swedish citizen, or lives in one of the following countries: Algeria Australia Georgia Japan Canada Morocco Montenegro New Zealand Rwanda Serbia South Korea Thailand Tunisia Uruguay In addition, the entry ban does not apply to people with an essential need or function in Sweden. For example, this may be the case for:
healthcare workers, researchers in health and medical care and elderly staff; frontier workers; seasonal workers in the agricultural, forestry and horticulture sectors; personnel transporting goods and other staff in the transport sector; people covered by Chapter 2, Section 10 of the Aliens Act (2005:716); people who work in international organisations or are invited by such organisations and whose presence is necessary for the organisations’ activities, military personnel, aid workers and civil defence staff; passengers in transit; people with imperative family reasons; seafarers; people in need of international protection or for other humanitarian reasons; people who travel for the purpose of studying; and highly skilled workers, if the job the alien is to perform cannot be postponed or performed remotely. The above list of people who can be considered to have an essential need or function is for illustration only and there may therefore be other categories of people who may be exempted.
It is the responsibility of the enforcing authorities (primarily the Swedish Police Authority) to determine in each individual case how the exemptions are to be interpreted and which decisions are to be made. The purpose of the measure is to mitigate the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This is a temporary measure.
 
What applies for people residing abroad who will perform work in Sweden – will they be allowed to enter?
Travel from another EU country, the UK, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland is not covered by the entry ban. Further exemptions from the entry ban are people with residence permits, people living in certain particularly specified countries (see above) and people with an essential function in Sweden, such as seasonal workers and highly skilled workers. How exemptions are to be interpreted and what assessments are to be made in an individual case is primarily a matter for the Swedish Police Authority. Swedish citizens living abroad are not affected by the entry ban.

I saw on the State Departments website they updated a alert to Passport Operations in Response to COVID-19 in which they made a page for FAQ and one of them was discussing Phases in reopenings:
 
2. What services can I expect in each phase of reopening?
The Department will resume processing passports in phases, while protecting the safety of both our staff and our customers.
Phase 1:  Some of our employees will return to our agencies and centers, allowing us to resume limited processing of applications we already received. Applications will be processed on a first in, first out basis, beginning with the oldest applications received. We will continue to prioritize services for customers with life-or-death emergencies by appointment only. Customers must wear cloth face coverings in all common areas, including our lobbies, and observe strict social distancing. During phase one, we will continue to recommend customers wait to submit new or renewal applications as delays will continue.
Phase 2:  Most staff will return to our agencies and centers, and we will be able to resume processing more of the applications we already received. Applications will be processed on a first in, first out basis, beginning with the oldest applications received. While we will continue prioritizing life-or-death emergency cases, we will also offer more appointments at our agencies and centers. Services offered at our agencies will continue to be by appointment only. Staff and customers should wear cloth face coverings in all common areas, including our lobbies, and continue to observe social distancing. During phase two, we will continue to recommend customers wait to submit new or renewal applications as delays will continue.
Phase 3:  All remaining staff return to our agencies and centers, and we plan to resume normal operations. We will offer a processing time commitment for routine service and resume expedited service in this phase. You should continue to make an appointment to apply at an agency or center. We will continue to address applications on a first in, first out basis, focusing on the oldest applications. Staff and customers may wear cloth face coverings in common areas and we will encourage social distancing.
 
I know its talking about passport operations but I thought it might have the same rules or guidelines for routine visa interviews and it was interesting to see it written exactly what the phases are. 
 
So I think it has a lot to do with how many employees are back at the embassy like some suggested. 
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/passport-covid-19.html

We got word on email this week that the embassy is ready again to reschedule our interview once we've collected all our papers again! How is the situation over there for those who have recently been to the embassy/Stockholm in general? Are people wearing masks on the buses/social distancing, if the buses are running much at all? Particularly for anyone who had to fly in from out of Sweden, which airport do you recommend flying in to and did you take rental car/bus/taxi/something else to and from the airport? We are trying to feel out the situation and transportation options to minimize my husband's contact with other people when he goes without spending too much on transportation since we are tight on money with this unexpected COVID and an almost 3 months delay on the interview..

Thank you so much for this!! This is super helpful. The train definitely seems like the best choice then to avoid close transport with other people, we'll definitely take a look at that and at the First Hotel. It seems so crazy to me that the employees aren't wearing masks at the embassy! But he will definitely be bringing his own mask + hand sanitizer. Did your husband wear a mask into the embassy or are they not allowing them? Out of curiosity how was it like flying on the planes as well? I'm unsure how airlines are really going about this whole virus. Unrelated but did they also ask for the DS5540?
 
Thank you! Yes our previous one was scheduled for April 1 and cancelled on May 17, we haven't contacted them back yet so I'm not exactly sure when they have for open slots, but I will definitely update when we get our new appointment day! Really the most of it is we just have to redo our sponsorship papers, since our old ones were of course prepared using the 2018 tax year, and now 2019 is required, so we've got to update for that. Yes Stockholm does all immigrant visa processing for Norway and Denmark as well  So my husband will be having to fly from DK to Stockholm for his interview. Thank you I will definitely make sure to check that out and we'll make sure he has a mask with him! I'll definitely make sure to update, thank you and good luck to you too!!

My husband, who was there last week said not many are wearing masks at all. 
He flew into Arlanda the day before just to be on the safe side in case of any flight delays. He took the train from the airport (hardly any people on it), stayed at the First Hotel right next to the central train station. I booked it through booking.com as they had the best rates for it. The hotel will hold your luggage so no worries about where you will need to store it for the interview. He walked to the Embassy from there...35 min walk roughly. The Embassy employees did not have masks on nor did they have any hand sanitizer out so make sure you bring plenty of that on your trip. 

This is wonderful news congratulations, how exciting  
 
Your previous interview date was April 1st right, do they know what date they would reschedule you for yet? I would truly be greatful if it was at all possible if you would keep us updated on when you new interview date was please 😊, then we might all have a starting date for when they will start mission critical visa processing. 
 
What all papers do you have to collect again if I may ask? I'm wondering myself if my husband will have to collect another police report maybe just in case. 
 
If I understand right Denmark and Norway both go to the Stockholm Embassy for Visa Processing yes? 
 
I know @BSJ husband was approved recently, she described that the staff and personal was very nice but I don't know about the traveling information and @Jon & Ygritte  were also approved recently so she might also give more information. I do know from living in my part of Sweden. People are not wearing masks and are not very good at staying 6 feet apart (which is annoying) so if your wanting to have extra protection don't count on others wearing masks you'll have to bring your own. Also previously awhile ago they put in rules for the bus for precautions but I have no idea if its working, people are abiding by it and so on since I do not use the bus, I'm sorry. But here's a link for more information about it. https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=7431519
 
Best of Luck in everything and please keep us updated in how everything goes *sending you hugs*  

We got word on email this week that the embassy is ready again to reschedule our interview once we've collected all our papers again! How is the situation over there for those who have recently been to the embassy/Stockholm in general? Are people wearing masks on the buses/social distancing, if the buses are running much at all? Particularly for anyone who had to fly in from out of Sweden, which airport do you recommend flying in to and did you take rental car/bus/taxi/something else to and from the airport? We are trying to feel out the situation and transportation options to minimize my husband's contact with other people when he goes without spending too much on transportation since we are tight on money with this unexpected COVID and an almost 3 months delay on the interview..

So I did calculations and recorded 15 months of Visa Issued from Stockholm Embassy from 2019 to 2020.
 
And with a full staff of employees and "normal visa routine services" the average of ALL Visas categories issued each month from Sweden was 36 to 46.
 
And the average of whats considered now for "mission-critical" Visas once a month for 15 months was 17.6 Visas issued a month. 
 
And so since the average mission critical visas was 17.6 a month and the month of April was canceled and they scheduled interviews 1 month ahead of schedule I'm going to assume they are 17 to 20 interviews behind to catch up for April 2020. 
 
So if somehow some way if they get back to full routine and staff. They could do 36 to 46 Mission-critical visas a month. But if they go to lets say even half staff maybe they can do 17.6 Visas a month. 
 
 

So if anyone wants to know I looked at the Visa Statistics for Sweden and compared March 2019 to March 2020. And in March 2019 they issued 28 visas all together that month, and for March 2020 they issued 31 so pretty normal. 
 
So I don't think they really cancelled a lot or many visa appointments for March so that's hopeful that the backlog isn't that bad for that month. 
 
But in April 2019 they issued 36 visas compared to April 2020 where they issued 4 visas. But who knows what all visa categories they had to cancel in April and how many were the exempted categories. So I'm hopeful the backlog of cancelled appointments at least are not that bad.