latortue

We just got one too! Jan 10th!

Good luck to everyone hoping to be included in this interview round!

For info, what Rika says is correct for all cases completed before October 1st, when the Paris embassy (like many others) switched from standard to appointment processing.

It is now NVC, and not the Embassy, that schedules your interview, and they only schedule interviews the second week of each month, so it is normal that you did not have a "Case forwarded to embassy" message 7 - 10 days after case complete. Now, they will only forward the case to embassy after having scheduled your interview.

Since you, nor your husband, have not received an appointment letter from NVC (and it is more than a month later), this most likely means that you missed the round of interviews scheduled in November, and you will be scheduled during the round that takes place 2nd week of December.

I am in the same situation (case complete 9 days after yours) and have discussed this at length with both NVC and DOS operators. NVC has more information than DOS, but neither will tell you when you will most likely be scheduled, how many people are before you, or how many interview slots the Paris embassy has for a given month. They ask that you give them a call around the 15th of every month to see if you have been scheduled. As many VJers have noticed, wait time between case complete and interview has increased dramatically as the Embassies are adapting to the new system and dealing with the backlog of Standard processed cases.

Hi everyone,

My case is complete since October 31st 2007. We are December 3rd 2007 and I still haven't heard from the embassy. How long should it take? And what am I supposed to receive from them? Does anyone know how it works? Thanks.

Hi Severine,

From what I understand, the rest of the process should go like this:

-I don't think you'll receive anything telling you your case is complete

-You'll be scheduled for an interview (most likely) in the second week of December. Call the NVC around Dec 14th to see if you have been.

-Once your interview is scheduled (I'm guessing you'll have one in early January, but NVC wont share the information they have on demand and supply), NVC will send your file to the Paris Embassy.

-The Paris embassy will then send you a letter about your interview, with information concerning the medical visit and details for what to bring to the Embassy.

Thats my best guess. Let us know if you hear anything.

Megan

Paris schedules very quickly, within a week after your case leaves NVC.

You can call DOS and find out the date. Interview letter also comes quickly, within 2 weeks from your case leaving NVC.

You can look at my timeline for estimate

Paris, like most embassies, went Appointment NVC processing Oct. 1. So, the case does not leave NVC until the interview has been scheduled by NVC!

The previous responder had his case complete under Standard NVC processing, just prior to the change.

My embassy also went Appointment NVC processing on Oct. 1. The NVC operators told me today that November's interview scheduling is done, and they did not schedule my case because there were not enough appointment slots! Dept. of State has not been any more helpful (you must wait at least a month after getting case complete, etc). I have to wait again for the December interview scheduling session on or about December 15!

This changeover to Appt. NVC processing has been no end to the headaches! Scheduling of the outstanding standard processing cases is being given priority over the cases waiting at NVC for scheduling. Completed cases are getting backlogged for interview scheduling!

Thanks for the info Chris. Saw your post after leaving a message on the other Interview thread. Your explanation is what I suspected.

Completely agree about the headache. My husband is supposed to start school in mid January in the States and I'm afraid we won't have an interview before then. Would greatly appreciate it if you get any more info!

Did any of you who got "case complete" last week get an appointment, yet? My one got completed on the 13th but so far no interview date. It is more and more likely that I missed the boat for December. I will call NVC one more time this week, just in case.

I have an Oct. 22, 2007 NVC case complete date, but still didn't get scheduled for December because of embassy capacity issues.

Seems to me that the switchover from Standard to Appointment NVC processing has caused the outstanding Standard cases to get priority interview scheduling.

Hi all,

Any new news, interviews, answers from NVC on this subject?

Our case was complete on November 9th and no appointment as of yet. Is there any way to find out (either from NVC or DOS) what the capacity for your embassy is for a given month and where your case is in the line for an interview?

We'd really like to know if December not even a possibility anymore and if we should expect January or February.

Thanks!

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has been scheduled for an interview in Paris, and if so, after how much time and for what visa?

Our case for a CR 1 was just completed at NVC and I can't seem to find any information regarding how long it should approximately take for it to reach the embassy and for when the Embassy is scheduling interviews these days.

I also heard the NVC may be scheduling appointments now since the switch to appointment post. Any news on if this is true, and how it affects waiting times?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,

Latortue

Hello all,

Has there been any news on this? Has anyone sent in the DS 230 as if it were standard processing only to receive an RFE for original documents?

We just received our DS 230 request, but are considering waiting until our original docs are ready (still waiting on birth certificate) in order to send it in altogether (as this is what Chris Parker was advised to do by nvc).

However, if they are not going to review the documents at nvc, we are wasting valuable time not sending it in now. On the other hand, an RFE if they have really switched us to appt post would also put us behind in terms of timing.

Any experiences with this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Megan

... is it necessary to put your case number on the Money Order?

It says in the instructions to put the case number on the money order.

Hi hhk3,

I thought I'd read the instructions thoroughly, but apparently I missed that. Thanks for the info, I'll add the case number just to be safe.

Megan

My wife didn't put our case number, she just sent the money order...

OK Great, thanks very much Endless

Hello all,

Somewhat of a random question: I'm not quite sure what additional information CAN be put on a MO, but is it necessary to put your case number on the Money Order?

I suppose I'm just nervous about our MO somehow getting separated from our Fee Bill and hence not being identifiable as ours.

Thanks so much for your help.

Megan

Bonjour à tous,

I've been on here for a few months but am just an sporadic poster!

My husband is french (Toulousain, to be exact) and I am new-yorkaise, but we are both currently living in France this year. I've become an eternal stagiaire (intern) in order to stay together in France unfortunately.

We're at the NVC stage of the game, and very much hoping to finish the process by January, as my husband is supposed to start a master program in the US in January.

I had a quick question I was hoping someone who has had their interview at the consulate could answer. Is it necessary to translate the Police Certificate and the original birth certificate into english?

I have read on various NVC sites that it is necessary, but my husband insists that since we bring the documents to the interview at the Paris consulate (and they do not pass by NVC), it should not be a problem that they are in french.

Thanks for any advice/experience you can offer, and I am happy to see that so many franco-american couples have successfully navigated US immigration!

Megan

Hello all,

Does anyone know if the DS 3032 (Choice of Agent form) and the AOS Fee bill are sent out from the same place at the same time?

The NVC recording says both forms were "sent out" on July 30th. We have since received the COA, but not the AOS fee bill. If they were supposed to arrive together, we are concerned that the AOS bill may have gotten lost along the way.

Thanks very much for your help.

Megan

Hi Megan,

If it makes you feel any better, the NVC's automated system says that our DS 3032 and AOS bill were also sent on July 30th (same day as yours), but we haven't received either of them yet..

I am also begining to worry that they have been lost in the post..

I have emailed the nvc enquiry address and have not had any response as yet..

Out of interest, what state are you/your spouse living in and when did you receive the COA form?

Thanks :-)

Hello all,

Does anyone know if the DS 3032 (Choice of Agent form) and the AOS Fee bill are sent out from the same place at the same time?

The NVC recording says both forms were "sent out" on July 30th. We have since received the COA, but not the AOS fee bill. If they were supposed to arrive together, we are concerned that the AOS bill may have gotten lost along the way.

Thanks very much for your help.

Megan

Hi Megan,

If it makes you feel any better, the NVC's automated system says that our DS 3032 and AOS bill were also sent on July 30th (same day as yours), but we haven't received either of them yet..

I am also begining to worry that they have been lost in the post..

I have emailed the nvc enquiry address and have not had any response as yet..

Out of interest, what state are you/your spouse living in and when did you receive the COA form?

Thanks :-)

Hi ataylor,

Thanks for your post...it's somewhat reassuring, though stressful, to see that everyone seems to be receiving paperwork rather slowly.

My spouse and I (the USC) are actually both living in France at the moment. I am aware that having paperwork sent here (rather than to a us address) may take longer, but the French postal system is pretty reliable and prefer to handle the paperwork myself rather than ask a relative in the US to do so.

We received the COA form on August 9th. As we had sent an email on the 3rd, and hence expect a response in the next week or so, we are not sending back the hard copy, mostly to avoid the hefty overnight postage fees.

I hope our AOS bills come soon, the idea that this stage of the process will take longer than the expected 2-3 months is far too stressful!

Best of luck!

Megan

Why haven't you already mailed your choice of agent back to the NVC? The Choice of Agent and AoS are two separate "tracks", and can be mailed separately. In other words, don't wait to send in your choice of agent if your spouse has already signed it!

Check out the NVC flowchart, in the Guides section of VJ to see the process.

Have you looked at James's Shortcuts? Here is the link:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117

Because the NVC can receive the Choice of Agent and AoS fee bill on the day that they were generated (but not before then), you can use James's shortcuts to "make" your own AoS fee bill and send it in to the St. Louis PO Box.

Hi LadyJane,

Thanks for your response, but that wasn't my question. We have already emailed our Choice of Agent, and we prefer not to use the shortcuts for the AOS fee bill.

I am aware that there are two tracks. My question is whether the two forms should have been generated/sent out at the same time, and hence should have arrived together, in which case the fact that we received one without the other is cause for worry.

Megan

Hello all,

Does anyone know if the DS 3032 (Choice of Agent form) and the AOS Fee bill are sent out from the same place at the same time?

The NVC recording says both forms were "sent out" on July 30th. We have since received the COA, but not the AOS fee bill. If they were supposed to arrive together, we are concerned that the AOS bill may have gotten lost along the way.

Thanks very much for your help.

Megan

Have someone living in the USA (Friend, relative) purchase a MO at their local US Post Office, Make it out to Department of State, and send it to you.

When you receive a fee bill from the NVC, send a cashier's check or money order in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank to the address shown on the bill (a return envelope will be enclosed for your convenience). The check MUST be made payable to the Department of State and be sent together with the immigrant visa fee bills.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/in...o_3180.html#pay

US Postal MO are drawn on the biggest bank in the USA, the federal reserve bank.

Great, thanks for the info. Can anyone confirm for me that the AOS fee is currently $70 and the IV bill is currently $335? This shouldn't change anytime in the near future, i assume?

Hello all,

Just a quick general question. I have read that NVC does not accept personal US checks, but only money orders. As both my husband and I (the petitioner) live abroad, I am not sure obtaining a money order in dollars is possible (have not yet looked into this).

Can anyone give me exact info on what forms of payment they do accept, or perhaps any advice concerning what acceptable forms of payment may be obtained abroad? We live in France.

Thanks so much for your help!

Megan

Hello all,

My husband (french) and I find ourselves in a rather frustrating dilemma. Any advice/experience with this would be appreciated.

Married in April in France and still currently living here (I was on a student visa at the time, hence ineligible for DCF), we filed our I-130 in Vermont shortly afterwards and received the NOA on June 13. Current processing times put our file at the consulate in france in December, and hence us in America a few months later.

The problem, is that my husband was accepted to a prestigious Master program of which one semester takes place in Phoenix. He needs to be in the US for his classes mid-January. His immigrant visa will certainly not be available by then.

We could apply for a K-3 in hopes of getting us there earlier, but processing times for this are also too long.

We are looking for more information about him applying for a J-1 student visa.

Information on the subject is scarce, and our consulate and USCIS have been less than helpful. But we think we understand that he CAN apply for a student visa, but because this application for a non-immigrant visa contradicts a pending immigration visa, he is not guaranteed approval. This is worrisome to hear, as he has worked very hard to be accepted to this program (and has paid a fortune for it), it would be devastating if he were not able to attend.

We're also aware of the 2 year foreign resident requirement associated with the J-1, but we dont think this applies to him.

Is there any reason they would deny him a student visa, if he can prove that he has been accepted to this (temporary) program, and plans to return to France directly afterward to await the end of his immigrant visa process?

We are also thinking about hiring a lawyer who may be able to get us the K-3 visa in time.

Again, any information is GREATLY appreciated.