Mark11

All, my Brazilian fiancé and I just successfully completed the K1 interview in Rio (on Jan. 7, 2020), so I have some definitive information on scheduling the medical exams, the ASC fingerprinting, and the visa interview.  Here's what we learned (in no particular order):
Once you have received notice from NVC that your packet has been sent to the consulate and your CEAC status changes to "READY" (go to this website: https://ceac.state.gov/ceac/  and under IMMIGRANT, click on
"Check My Visa Application Status", enter your RDJ number from NVC and check your status) , do NOT wait for the consulate to email you with instructions for an interview -- the email may never come (neither my fiance' nor I received an email, and the consulate would never answer my 4 emailed status requests -- so I just scheduled it).  Instead, immediately complete and submit your DS-160, and then go to the visa appointment website (https://ais.usvisa-info.com/) and pay the fee and schedule the ASC fingerprinting and the visa interview.  NOTE:  You may need to use Chrome to schedule the interview -- I was unable to complete the visa/passport delivery address form using Internet Explorer, but it worked fine when I switched to Chrome. If you are doing your medical work in Rio, here is the shortest schedule/number of days in Rio you can do.  First, K1 visa interviews are only done on Tuesdays.  The medical analysis (xray, blood, urine) require a minimum of 2 business days to be reported to the doctor.  So plan to do all the medical work on Thursday (Thurs-Fri-Mon = 2 business days).  NOTE that only the xray actually requires an appointment (and an order from the doctor), the blood and urine are done at the same place on a walk-in basis.  Schedule your ASC fingerprinting and photographing on Friday or Monday.  Schedule your medical exam on Monday.  The doctor will give you a slip of paper confirming you completed the medical exam and then he will electronically transmit your results to the consulate and they will be available for your interview on Tuesday. So to summarize a proven minimum schedule:                  Thursday:  Xray, blood, urine
                 Friday or Monday:  ASC fingerprinting and photographing
                 Monday:  Medical exam
                 Tuesday:  Visa interview
Plan to stay in the Ipanema Beach or San Conrado Beach area, both of which are very close to the Leblon neighborhood (far southwest of downtown), which is where everything is located except the actual consulate.  All medical analysis, medical exam, and ASC fingerprinting are in Leblon.  The consulate is in downtown (far Northeast of Leblon).  About a $25 cab ride from the San Conrado Beach area to the consulate.  What I'm saying is this:  don't try to stay close to the consulate -- that's not where you'll be spending most of your time.
Time needed:  xray took about 20 minutes.  Blood and urine (same lab), took about 10 minutes.  ASC fingerprinting and photographing took about 25 minutes.  Medical exam took 25 minutes (mostly in waiting room, 10 minutes for actual exam).  Interview took about 3 hours in total.
Medical exam:  make sure you bring either (1) the interview email from the embassy (which we never got) or (2) the printed interview scheduling and payment receipt page that shows your RDJ number.  The medical secretary will demand to see proof of the consulate issuing your RDJ number.
The medical exam doctor is extremely friendly and helpful and speaks excellent English.  His secretary is, well . . . .  a little difficult.  Make sure you have all the items they request on their sheet, including the 6 tiny photographs, and proof of your RDJ number.
The medical exam office only accepts Brazilian Reis R$ 750-- no credit cards or dollars.  The xray, and blood/urine labs accept credit cards.
 
Good luck,
Mark

Michelle and Lucio,  Thank you for your advice.  I think we found the correct answers.  See my post above on December 2.
 
--Mark

Hi Everyone,
 
I've been following VJ (and all the useful instructions) for a while now, but thought I should now get involved with my June  I-129F group.  I received my NOA1 dated June  20.  And I've created an account on the USCIS website to check on the petition every now and then.  So, right now, am just waiting like the rest of us.
 
In the meantime, I'll share an I-129F snafu that may be good for a laugh.  So I put together a really good I-129F package (read all the VJ tips), even going so far as to 2-hole punch all the documents as USCIS says it is really handy for them.  At the same time, I had just received a new credit card for using overseas  (no foreign transaction fees) and it came with those paper "convenience checks" that you can use for a balance transfer.  Well, I thought the I-129F filing fee would be a great use for one of the checks, so I used it.  Filed the packet in May, then flew down to Brazil to see my fiance.  While there, I used an ATM, which -- for some unknown reason  -- caused my card to get a fraud block placed on it (yep, before leaving the US I had notified the bank that I would be traveling in Brazil).  And as luck would have it, USCIS processed the convenience check on the same day that the card was blocked.  By the time I got the card unblocked, it was too late.  But I only knew that a week later when the bank sent me an email that my convenience check had been rejected due to a fraud block.  And sure enough,  a few weeks later, the USCIS website said my petition was denied due to lack of fee submittal, AND that I now owed them $30 for an insufficient funds fee.  Geez.  Fortunately -- as suggested on VJ -- I had made an exact duplicate of the I-129F packet and was able to get the new one in the mail (with a bank money order this time) about 3 weeks after the first one.  All in all, I lost about a month of filing time, $30, and a lot of frustration.   And a few weeks after that, USCIS was kind enough to send my original package back.
 
Oh side note:  it doesn't seem to do any good to add sticky notes or tabs with explanations to various pages in your package, because the rejected package came back with a ziplock baggie full of all my sticky notes and tabs -- they just pulled them all off.  This was at the California processing center (WAC).
 
Good luck to everyone,
--Mark (Petitioner)