JobbinsKnobbins

Weekly Update August 6, We are now at 85% case completion for the month.  Almost twice as many cases were accepted than last week, We are at less than 500 cases in the month of September.  Its been a long year, I hope that everyone gets a response before the year is up.  If there is one pattern I see, its that there is a spike on the first week of the month; I hope things don't slow down though.

Hey , thanks for this post.
we also did the interview on 6/9/2021 , and on 7/9/21 the ceac changed to application received and the immigrant changed to non immigrant.
on 7/21/21 they received the passport from us and the updated medical exam and they said would print the visa. Since then we havent heard from them nor ceac updated ,, and we’ve sent multiple emails but no response . Am glad you guys shared your experiences as we thought we were the only ones getting ignored by the embassy. Am not sure whats happening with paris embassy ya’ll.

Congratz! It does seem like the people that were only waiting for the passport are getting it finally. We've noticed that even Gloom got their passport a week or so ago.

This does increase the hope a little bit much, now waiting to see if people that didn't even had an interview schedule before, start having emails setting the dates. So far in that department nothing new.

But we're really happy to see that we are seeing some signs of life coming from the Embassy after a couple months of darkness.

JK,
 
Thank you so, so much for this quick and informative reply. One big positive about this tough process is that the VJ community is really awesome. Incredible generosity around here. Thank you sincerely.
 
Looks like it's more waiting then. This is unfortunately what I expected. Have you submitted your DS-160 as well?

in transittttt 🤩🤩🤩

My visa package is already on it's way to my house! Finally!
 
Yesterday I received an email from the US embassy in Paris saying that my visa left their office and I should receive it within the coming three days.
 
It seems that they are making progress.

Hi All,
Things seem slow this week (still moved a percentage point though) and almost all the worked cases appear to be from the RFE pool.
I miss the days of having over a hundred cases per week done, but we are moving forward; slowly but surely.

Hi All,
Things seem slow this week (still moved a percentage point though) and almost all the worked cases appear to be from the RFE pool.
I miss the days of having over a hundred cases per week done, but we are moving forward; slowly but surely.

Hi All,
Things seem slow this week (still moved a percentage point though) and almost all the worked cases appear to be from the RFE pool.
I miss the days of having over a hundred cases per week done, but we are moving forward; slowly but surely.

Here is my experience with the us embassy in Paris (and ongoing frustration).. You are not alone.
 
I had my interview scheduled for April 7th but I failed to make it to the original appointment, due to confusion/lack/lag of communication from the embassy, in regards to COVID. FYI: They have information on their website saying "Due to COVID-19, any visa applicants who have traveled outside of France 10 days or less before their appointment date will not be admitted to the Embassy and will be required to reschedule their appointment". I sent several emails and called the embassy asking if I really had to quarantine in France  to be able to attend my interview. They didn't answer my emails and on the phone they kept saying that it was a very good question but they still didn't have an answer. So I had to reschedule my interview.
I had the appointment rescheduled for May 6th and was able to make it to the appointment. However, upon arrival at the embassy gate, the security guards couldn't find my name in the list of appointments for that day. Then they figured out that my interview appointment date was scheduled on the wrong day from what the embassy originally communicated with me.  But thankfully they let me in and the interview went well. I told them I was planning to enter the US around August because of my job and it would be two years from my wedding anniversary on June 27th, I was expecting to receive the IR1 visa instead of the CR1. They told me that it could only be possible if they would issue my visa after the date of my second year anniversary. So they wrote a note on my paperwork saying to only issue my visa after June 28th (more FYI).
 
The newest problem is similar to what everyone is reporting on this thread. My visa was approved and now my husband and I have been waiting for my passport and visa to arrive at my residence. We have been waiting past the usual "7 to 10 business days", despite multiple emails and phone calls. We have everything completed (status of CEAC is "Ready") only waiting to receive the package in the mail at this point. The total lack of communication is beyond frustrating. My husband has reached out to his local legislative representation in his home state. We do not know what else to do other than wait.
 
 

Weirdly enough, we got an interview date assigned today.
 
October 20th, 2021

Olá Cameron.
You're not alone on this, we have a thread where we are putting our journeys with the US Embassy in Paris, join us: 
The Portuguese don't go to the US Embassy in Lisbon/Ponta Delgada to deal with the visas since 2012 (unfortunately), not due to Covid 19.

And yes, don't be scared about the part saying refused, it is part of the system that it starts as refused when they are working on the case. It will be ok, you guys will have to wait a bit more.

I just got a response to my 33rd email asking for a reschedule.
 
"Good Afternoon, 
 
Thanks for your email. We're expreiencing an incredibly high number of requests due to covid. We appreciate your patience as we work to reschedule your appointment.
 
Best Regards, 
US Embassy Paris "

Last week, I ended up sending an email to USCIS Ombudsman's Office with the form they provided on their site. Was super surprised when we were told by NVC that they received our case the very next day! Very unexpected turn of events! We were finally able to receive our case number this week!! I hope everyone's processing is going well

Finally received P3 packet from the embassy!

Over the past two months it appears that the Paris embassy is not doing anything for K1 applicants.  Passports being held onto, interviews not being scheduled, radio silence from the embassy when users contact them.  Its been growing into more than just a concern, but its difficult to track what is going on.

We're making this thread in hopes to gather all the information regarding the embassy during the pandemic but also for posterity.
Importance of having and updating the Visa Journey Timeline:
When you create and update the Timeline, your information (namely dates) will be available to give an average on getting the NoA2 (based on others also providing their timelines) but will also show other couples with similar timelines and even when their interviews are scheduled (among other details).
Since Embassies don't have any information on how they are progressing, this is the closest we have to check and track their progress. Keep in mind that not everyone applying for the visas are in this forum.
With that said, US Embassy in Paris deals with residents from France and Portugal (since 2012), so we check for both countries for the K1 and the CR1/IR1 visas:
K1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
K1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
CR1/IR1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
CR1/IR1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
Note: Even though this shows the results for both countries, doesn't mean that everyone is residing in the country and for that you check by looking at what consulate is chosen for the interview on the couples' page.
Finally, one last information regarding the Embassy is their working days. All Embassies enjoy the days off from US and their respected country. This page shows the dates for the French US Embassy: https://fr.usembassy.gov/holiday-calendar/

Congratulations on the NOA2!
First let me answer your immediate questions:

1. I am not sure to be honest; I cannot find a spot where the invoice number is helpful other than looking up case information.  In your case its probably at the embassy by now.
2. Yes, you are waiting for P3, as I understand it, the beneficiary will receive the packet 3 information.
3. No, it shouldn't hold anything up; I wish I had deleted my earlier post.  As  far as Paris goes, the DS-160 is done after you get the packet 3.  You will also be billed then.
4. Email address update is really good to have, don't know if its needed but it won't hold anything up as far as I can tell.

Now for the bad news, Paris embassy is pretty much in a frozen state.  You can track it here, cases that have come in from as early as March-April are still pending, Passports are being held; interviews aren't being scheduled. They aren't telling anyone anything. You can stay in the loop on what is happening to others in this thread 
Hope that things work out for you; my NOA2 is from about a month earlier and we haven't heard anything from the embassy either.

Over the past two months it appears that the Paris embassy is not doing anything for K1 applicants.  Passports being held onto, interviews not being scheduled, radio silence from the embassy when users contact them.  Its been growing into more than just a concern, but its difficult to track what is going on.

We're making this thread in hopes to gather all the information regarding the embassy during the pandemic but also for posterity.
Importance of having and updating the Visa Journey Timeline:
When you create and update the Timeline, your information (namely dates) will be available to give an average on getting the NoA2 (based on others also providing their timelines) but will also show other couples with similar timelines and even when their interviews are scheduled (among other details).
Since Embassies don't have any information on how they are progressing, this is the closest we have to check and track their progress. Keep in mind that not everyone applying for the visas are in this forum.
With that said, US Embassy in Paris deals with residents from France and Portugal (since 2012), so we check for both countries for the K1 and the CR1/IR1 visas:
K1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
K1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
CR1/IR1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
CR1/IR1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
Note: Even though this shows the results for both countries, doesn't mean that everyone is residing in the country and for that you check by looking at what consulate is chosen for the interview on the couples' page.
Finally, one last information regarding the Embassy is their working days. All Embassies enjoy the days off from US and their respected country. This page shows the dates for the French US Embassy: https://fr.usembassy.gov/holiday-calendar/

Sorry to hear that, I hope things improve, but the USCIS is playing games with dates to make their metrics better.  Its been another slowish week crossing into the 81% clearance.

I'm trying to understand why there's people being approved for February 2021 and I still haven't received my NOA2 filed 9/14/20. 
2 inquiries and still no response. This is awfully frustrating.

Hello again thread, time for the weekly update.  Cases have crossed 80% completion this week. Slow week overall with 14 cases processed per day, but the non RFE cases that are works in progress are at less than 10%.

Hi, I'm so glad to see a topic about the K1s at the Paris embassy! My case has been ready for an interview since April 29th. In April, they were  processing A LOT of cases and some cases that arrived at the embassy a week or two before mine got processed. That same week (when my visa arrived) they stopped processing visas!  I am still waiting for an interview and have been trying to reach out to them since April 29th. I haven't received A SINGLE answer, and I sent at least 15 e-mails. A few people were able to get answers saying "we'll reach out to you sson for an interview" but haven't heard since then. They're not giving interviews and they're not even responding! 

Hello again thread, time for the weekly update.  Cases have crossed 80% completion this week. Slow week overall with 14 cases processed per day, but the non RFE cases that are works in progress are at less than 10%.

Hello again thread, time for the weekly update.  Cases have crossed 80% completion this week. Slow week overall with 14 cases processed per day, but the non RFE cases that are works in progress are at less than 10%.

I just came on to see if anyone else is having as much trouble as we are. We first started emailing the embassy to ask for a reschedule in early May, right when we received a June appointment date. They did not respond to any inquiries whatsoever. Because of this, the appointment was missed. This was an entire month ago, and we haven't heard back about getting a new appointment. The "Missed Appointment" request is still "queued", despite the website saying it should take a maximum of 5 days to receive a response. Between my fiancé and I, we have sent over 30 inquiry emails in the last 3 months of our cases being at the embassy. 
 
We had a consultation with a firm specializing in immigration on Monday, and they said that there is nothing they can do that we haven't already done other than a Mandamus, which they quoted at $7500. I am now reaching out to my congressional representative here in the states, and emailing the embassy every weekday.