Botoole

Yep Consulate should have it and issue your visa within a week. I know the feeling re: checking case status -such an emotional rollercoaster! As expected, passport arrived first thing this morning with visa and accompanying 'let my people go' letter 😀. Relief is an understatement. Goodluck all!

Yep Consulate should have it and issue your visa within a week. I know the feeling re: checking case status -such an emotional rollercoaster! As expected, passport arrived first thing this morning with visa and accompanying 'let my people go' letter 😀. Relief is an understatement. Goodluck all!

Thanks, congrat to you guys too! Visa issued today 🙂. Took ~8 days from doing medical to Consulate receiving it -updated timelines below. 
 
1st October - Medical Done
6th October -Interview Date
6th October - Medical sent to Consulate
9th October - Consulate Received eMedical, case turned from 'Refused' to 'Administrative Processing'
13th October - Visa Issued!
14th October - ETA for Passport +  Visa according to tracking.

That's awesome! Thanks for sharing. We received the email from the Medical place yesterday saying it was complete so I guess we will receive another email from the consulate when they receive it in a few days? I noticed that they updated our case yesterday but currently still says refused. I'll check the case status daily until then. Exciting times!

Congrats botoole! Glad to hear they didn’t end up needing a joint sponsor! I’ve booked my flight for the 4th so hopefully we end up on the same flight. I was a little apprehensive about booking my flight before the visa is issued but the officer did say 24 days so I’m assuming that’s worst case scenario. Has your visa issued yet and how long did it take them to receive your medical results? 

Hi fellow VJers. Had my interview this morning at 8am so thought I'd debrief for you all:
Summary: Took an hour over all, actual interview took about 20-25 minutes. My officer was a pretty friendly guy – kept talking about how great Ireland is (I’m Irish) and his holidays there and how he couldn’t wait to get back. By the end he said, everything looks great, and they’ll return my passport with issued visa once they receive my medical. Sent me on my way saying best of luck, that I’ll love Austin, will make lots of friends there and should have no problems finding a great job there! Really quite pleasant at the end -I was surprised! Detail: He started saying there would be three phases to the interview: Oath (that everything is correct and accurate) Document check Questions about Relationship etc Document Check He focused mostly on AOS/financial documents. He asked if we had a joint-sponsor – told him no, we were hoping our proof of assets was sufficient but offered we could get one if needs be. Proof of assets -He went through all of the supporting financial support documents we submitted that had our proof of assets, pulling out savings values we had submitted and converting to USD (even though I’m pretty sure I provided USD in application). Reviewed these against poverty guidelines threshold and determined we exceeded this and that was sufficient. He didn’t say anything else about needing a joint sponsor. He also asked how much I and my wife each currently make in Australia pre-tax -then converted to USD on his phone and made a note. Questions about Relationship etc. Asked about what I did for work, same for my wife’s work What our plan was for when we get to U.S. Where will be go first? What sort of work will I look for in Austin? How did I meet my wife? Why were in Australia? He asked if I brought any photos of my wife and I or any flight tickets with our names on it to show bona fide relationship I didn’t have any (was not anticipating this -was totally surprised -haven’t heard of anyone else here being requested these) but he was happy that the joint lease and joint checking/savings account was sufficient proof of bona fide relationship so didn't mind. Lastly - he said, everything looks great and that they will issue my passport with visa once they receive my medical (I completed it last Thursday). Met another woman there for her interview who had her flight booked for NY tomorrow! I told her that they’ll be taking her passport to issue visa on so there was no chance she was going to make that – she seemed to be unaware of this part of the process the poor girl. I also saw her try pay for a fee at the counter (btw looks like credit card or cash only) -no EFTPOS. She couldn’t pay by card because it was her partners’ U.S. credit card so she couldn’t’ sign for it and she didn’t have enough cash but they let her leave to go get cash and come back -hopefully she got sorted!

Hi fellow VJers. Had my interview this morning at 8am so thought I'd debrief for you all:
Summary: Took an hour over all, actual interview took about 20-25 minutes. My officer was a pretty friendly guy – kept talking about how great Ireland is (I’m Irish) and his holidays there and how he couldn’t wait to get back. By the end he said, everything looks great, and they’ll return my passport with issued visa once they receive my medical. Sent me on my way saying best of luck, that I’ll love Austin, will make lots of friends there and should have no problems finding a great job there! Really quite pleasant at the end -I was surprised! Detail: He started saying there would be three phases to the interview: Oath (that everything is correct and accurate) Document check Questions about Relationship etc Document Check He focused mostly on AOS/financial documents. He asked if we had a joint-sponsor – told him no, we were hoping our proof of assets was sufficient but offered we could get one if needs be. Proof of assets -He went through all of the supporting financial support documents we submitted that had our proof of assets, pulling out savings values we had submitted and converting to USD (even though I’m pretty sure I provided USD in application). Reviewed these against poverty guidelines threshold and determined we exceeded this and that was sufficient. He didn’t say anything else about needing a joint sponsor. He also asked how much I and my wife each currently make in Australia pre-tax -then converted to USD on his phone and made a note. Questions about Relationship etc. Asked about what I did for work, same for my wife’s work What our plan was for when we get to U.S. Where will be go first? What sort of work will I look for in Austin? How did I meet my wife? Why were in Australia? He asked if I brought any photos of my wife and I or any flight tickets with our names on it to show bona fide relationship I didn’t have any (was not anticipating this -was totally surprised -haven’t heard of anyone else here being requested these) but he was happy that the joint lease and joint checking/savings account was sufficient proof of bona fide relationship so didn't mind. Lastly - he said, everything looks great and that they will issue my passport with visa once they receive my medical (I completed it last Thursday). Met another woman there for her interview who had her flight booked for NY tomorrow! I told her that they’ll be taking her passport to issue visa on so there was no chance she was going to make that – she seemed to be unaware of this part of the process the poor girl. I also saw her try pay for a fee at the counter (btw looks like credit card or cash only) -no EFTPOS. She couldn’t pay by card because it was her partners’ U.S. credit card so she couldn’t’ sign for it and she didn’t have enough cash but they let her leave to go get cash and come back -hopefully she got sorted!

Hi fellow VJers. Had my interview this morning at 8am so thought I'd debrief for you all:
Summary: Took an hour over all, actual interview took about 20-25 minutes. My officer was a pretty friendly guy – kept talking about how great Ireland is (I’m Irish) and his holidays there and how he couldn’t wait to get back. By the end he said, everything looks great, and they’ll return my passport with issued visa once they receive my medical. Sent me on my way saying best of luck, that I’ll love Austin, will make lots of friends there and should have no problems finding a great job there! Really quite pleasant at the end -I was surprised! Detail: He started saying there would be three phases to the interview: Oath (that everything is correct and accurate) Document check Questions about Relationship etc Document Check He focused mostly on AOS/financial documents. He asked if we had a joint-sponsor – told him no, we were hoping our proof of assets was sufficient but offered we could get one if needs be. Proof of assets -He went through all of the supporting financial support documents we submitted that had our proof of assets, pulling out savings values we had submitted and converting to USD (even though I’m pretty sure I provided USD in application). Reviewed these against poverty guidelines threshold and determined we exceeded this and that was sufficient. He didn’t say anything else about needing a joint sponsor. He also asked how much I and my wife each currently make in Australia pre-tax -then converted to USD on his phone and made a note. Questions about Relationship etc. Asked about what I did for work, same for my wife’s work What our plan was for when we get to U.S. Where will be go first? What sort of work will I look for in Austin? How did I meet my wife? Why were in Australia? He asked if I brought any photos of my wife and I or any flight tickets with our names on it to show bona fide relationship I didn’t have any (was not anticipating this -was totally surprised -haven’t heard of anyone else here being requested these) but he was happy that the joint lease and joint checking/savings account was sufficient proof of bona fide relationship so didn't mind. Lastly - he said, everything looks great and that they will issue my passport with visa once they receive my medical (I completed it last Thursday). Met another woman there for her interview who had her flight booked for NY tomorrow! I told her that they’ll be taking her passport to issue visa on so there was no chance she was going to make that – she seemed to be unaware of this part of the process the poor girl. I also saw her try pay for a fee at the counter (btw looks like credit card or cash only) -no EFTPOS. She couldn’t pay by card because it was her partners’ U.S. credit card so she couldn’t’ sign for it and she didn’t have enough cash but they let her leave to go get cash and come back -hopefully she got sorted!

Oh hey interview buddy! What time did you get? I got 10am and another member here got 8am. My partner, Jayden will be the one being interviewed but I might be sitting in the lobby waiting if I'm allowed. I'm pale with long blonde hair and dark features if you see me

I just want to update everyone that NVC did end up sending me an email today with an interview date of 6 October! Ps for those that have had their interview, did you just send the medical centre your interview email or did you print it out? @zochu @Sharni

Mine was 14 days ago they approved our expedite and the status just changed to ready on Friday too! hopefully we get scheduled an interview this week fingers crossed!

For anyone interested -- The Sydney Consulate reached out today to schedule the interview (12 days after NVC advised our case had been expedited). 

Same for me -Embassy confirmed they received my case on Monday and that 'We will reach out to you shortly with detailed instructions on how to proceed.' Still haven't received said instructions/interview scheduling information -have you had any more luck? At risk of being impatient, I wondering if I should just call them up and ask (I've been emailing them so far but usually takes a day or two to get a response) 🤔

I attended my interview in Sydney this morning and have been approved! Yay!!!
What an experience!   I am now at Brisbane Airport waiting for the bus to take me and other passengers to the quarantine hotel. 

No worries! Not yet - from what I understand you can't (or you'll struggle) to book your medical without having/showing your interview schedule letter. Once I get my interview scheduled I'll be booking it right away though!

Same thing happened to us last night, received the 'Immigration Appointment Cancelled' email from NVC even though I never had one in first place. Sounds like this is part of the process and I should be hearing from Consulate re: interview appointment in coming week (I had already emailed them enquiring and they confirmed yesterday they will confirm interview when they receive my case (expedite approved 5th Sept but still looks to be 'At NVC')). So close...

Same thing happened to us last night, received the 'Immigration Appointment Cancelled' email from NVC even though I never had one in first place. Sounds like this is part of the process and I should be hearing from Consulate re: interview appointment in coming week (I had already emailed them enquiring and they confirmed yesterday they will confirm interview when they receive my case (expedite approved 5th Sept but still looks to be 'At NVC')). So close...

We just got our expedite approved on Friday -sounds like we can email them directly re: interview appointment date, I was wondering what's next so thanks!
Were they happy to schedule your interview before they received your case from the NVC? (approval note referenced it could take up to two weeks for Consulate to receive case file from NVC).

Expedite request sent Aug 18th
Receipt acknowledged Aug 24th
Expedite Approved Sept 5th

Expedite request sent Aug 18th
Receipt acknowledged Aug 24th
Expedite Approved Sept 5th

It seems to vary -some have had theirs approved within a day or two of sending, others longer. I'm in the latter category unfortunately - took them a week to acknowledge receipt of our expedite request and it's now been 11 days since acknowledgement and we haven't heard anything

It seems to vary -some have had theirs approved within a day or two of sending, others longer. I'm in the latter category unfortunately - took them a week to acknowledge receipt of our expedite request and it's now been 11 days since acknowledgement and we haven't heard anything

No worries. We're Documentarily Qualified (DQ'd) and awaiting interview scheduling (and awaiting expedite request outcome).  

No worries. We're Documentarily Qualified (DQ'd) and awaiting interview scheduling (and awaiting expedite request outcome).  

Chiming in to update those following on my expedite request timings so far (on the grounds of emotional hardship and my pregnant wife (petitioner)). Fingers crossed approval any day now! Will keep you all posted.
 
13/8 -DQ'd
18/8 -Expedite Request Sent to NVC
24/8 -Expedite Request Received/Acknowledged