rycilla

10 minutes ago, JoshandSarah said:

 

Thanks Rycilla! What postal service did you use? NZ post?? Or  New Zealand Couriers?? 

I bought the EasyTrak prepaid bag from The Warehouse Stationery! https://www.warehousestationery.co.nz/product/W2216265.html

So Courier Post which I think is under NZ Post?! 🧐

1 hour ago, kg_nz said:

Ahhh jealous!! We're still waiting... frustrating because he paid for an overnight courier envelope. His flight is on Friday night... we're cutting it pretty close! 😬

Ahhhh fingers crossed it comes ASAP! I did notice your husband's courier envelope was different to mine so might have been a different postal service. Hope the tracking is accurate too ><
 

30 minutes ago, JoshandSarah said:

Yay just got approved!!! 🥰🥳🥳

 

visa being sent out tomorrow or Friday 

AMAZING!! Congrats!!!

7 hours ago, kas & jewel said:

Did anyone here, who has had an interview, take photocopies/original copies of their initial application to the consulate? I read to take a copy of the i-129F petition, and take original copies of the documents submitted. Is this required? I thought the consulate would already have this honestly  

Thanks in advance  Congratulations to those who got approved! 

- Kas

I brought a folder with EVERYTHING lolol! Even had a table of contents in case they needed to see something I could find it easily, but they didn't ask to see anything.

But I would rather go in over prepared, because you never know!

42 minutes ago, JoshandSarah said:

@rycilla great to hear! did you just take a NZ post overnight courier bag with you to the interview for them to send it back in? Just curious for ours cause we have interview on Wednesday..

I sent mine in with my documents! But yes I saw other people bring in courier bags during their interviews as well. 

One person left the consulate and came back like five minutes later with a bag. I’m assuming they had forgotten and were told to come back and bring one. 

On 12/11/2021 at 11:05 AM, kg_nz said:

I'm not sure... my husband called them and told them he needed a 24-hr turnaround FDA-approved test and they booked him in the day before his flight. I'd just give them a call and see what they recommend!

Thank you! We ended up calling them and all is good. Our flight is booked for Dec 28 so we booked a standard one on the 27th!

Side note - I JUST received my passport with visa!

So interview was Dec 8. Visa arrived Dec 13. 

I will update the google spreadsheet you created!

4 minutes ago, kg_nz said:

He's using Rako Science! I had this exact same concern when they announced that last week, but Rako assured us they can do it. The rule is actually one day rather than exactly 24 hours, as in you can get it at any time the day before your flight. I asked the American Expats in New Zealand group on Facebook and lots of people had successfully used Rako the day before their US flight with no issues.

Amazing thank you @kg_nz and @Vamp.nz that's super helpful!! Just the standard test right? We don't need to the urgent one?

9 minutes ago, EKT said:

Oh, that’s so funny they asked when you last saw him! 

@EKT I know right! I was like ... uh this morning? he dropped me off hahhaha

AND LOL at checking that your husband knows your wedding date.

@kg_nz do you know which facility your husband is using for pre-departure test? I'm worried at how difficult it's going to be now that the US changed their testing time frame to 24 hours instead of 72!

7 hours ago, kg_nz said:

Ahhhhh congrats to you too!! 🎉 I don't even blame you for keeping it a secret -- all these immigration hiccups and the pandemic have made me so jaded, I expect everything to go wrong. I bet you're so relieved!!

If he was a really tall guy (probably wearing glasses) it was most likely my husband. 😅

@kg_nzOmg lol yes that was definitely him!!! I did give him a nod on his way out because I was stoked for him getting approved, but still nervous for mine HAHA

@EKT He's is actually in New Zealand at the moment so I got really lucky T_T it's definitely being handled by what was received first in the consulate. 

Hoping for some good news for you soon @Vamp.nz can only imagine what youre going through 🥺 totally understand why you feel that way. 

2 minutes ago, kg_nz said:

Hey guys! My husband had his CR-1 interview today and he was APPROVED!! 🙌  Such a relief... we'll finally be reunited after over 3 months!

 

What to expect: his wait time at the consulate was over an hour - there were several others in front of him (must have been all the others originally scheduled for August 18). The interview itself was relatively short, they just asked about how we met, when and where we got married, his relationship to our joint sponsor, where he intended to live, etc.

 

He asked when he could expect to have his passport returned and they said they were mailing them all this Friday so he'd have it early next week, so I assume that will be the routine for the coming weeks as well.

 

And yes, he met the infamous B! 😆 She's the one that went over his documents and made sure everything was in order.

 

I'll report back again when he actually has green card in hand next week. Good luck everyone! The end is near!

Congrats @kg_nz!!!!! 

I am 99% sure I was in line behind your husband and had a feeling it was him but didn’t say anything because I was nervous. 
 

I found out last Thursday, I didn’t tell a soul that I got an interview and it was purely because I was afraid of jinxing it, everything I have said it the past has gone wrong so kept quiet. Didn’t tell any friends or family 🥺

B was actually so lovely 😂😳

They asked me:

- when was the last time you saw your partner

- what does he do for work

- what do you do for work 

- what was the date of your wedding 

- did I have any other visa besides the J1 

hoping the visa comes quickly! 

16 hours ago, EKT said:

FFS. That’s very unlikely to happen before mid-January. They emailed me today too but only to say they would check our documents and get back to us if anything is missing. I’ve had such a weird experience with this process over the past week. We couriered our documents last Monday at B’s request and then kept getting tracking notices saying delivery had failed because the business was closed. I checked in with B and she said there’s rarely ever anyone there but they would get it eventually. So our original birth/marriage certificates, passport copies, sensitive financial info and tax returns with SSN, etc were just bouncing around Auckland between depots and courier vans for 5 days until it was eventually delivered. Everything seems so casual and ad-hoc in how they operate and make important decisions😂😂😂

Gah yikes!! Glad it finally got there in the end. Haha I'm low-key paranoid that they are going to come back to me asking for more documents, even though they confirmed they received documents over a week ago. 

I just wanna know, the why haha. Like why does it keep getting pushed back. And why do they keep giving us false expectations, first we had hope with Level 3 Step 2, then the traffic light system, but now it's the Orange light. WHY.


 
I feel like it's very hard to get any answers from them 😅

Glad to hear your interview is still going through @JoshandSarah!!

So stoked that things are moving again for you @JoshandSarah!!!!! Hoping everything goes smoothly 🤞🏼

@EKT yeah when I first got an interview date I scheduled my medical exam, and luckily they were still able to go through with it even though my interview got cancelled.
Weird though -- I was able to go for that full medical exam during level 3.. and yet.. they couldn't interview us during level 3. It blows my mind 😅

Yeah I was wondering if it might have to do with needing to wait for the backlog

Oh darn!!! That sucks about having to wait till he's up here to do it, hopefully not too long of a wait between the interview and the issuance!

We received the same email as @MelanieR18 last week and sent our documents in for IR1/CR1. Which were delivered on Friday.

I asked if they had received them and they said:
 

Quote

We have received your documents. You are on the list of applicants to notify when an interview can be scheduled.

I'm in Auckland, so thought that upon retrieval we would be able to schedule one.. but still waiting. Anyone else had better luck, and if yes, how long did you have to wait? 

Thank you!!
 

1 minute ago, EKT said:

Well, this was fairly depressing from B this morning 🤨

 

“Good Morning,

I cannot predict when we are able to open interviews. I can assure you that ******* is on our list of people to notify when an appointment can be scheduled.

 

As soon as the Department of State and the New Zealand government allow, we will let you know.”

 

Hopefully Auckland people will have a shot next week at the very least! Who know what was going on with the contradictory emails from last week??

 

I also sent an email, and even quoted how they said they would begin at level 3 step 2. But it was completely brushed off and I received nearly the exact reply this morning sans the “as soon as the dept…” section. 

54 minutes ago, Stevi_09 said:

Hi, I’ve been waiting since September 1st to get DQ. Did your application get DQ with the NVC timeframes or did it happen alot earlier than expected? At the moment NVC timeframes  are on 31 July. Just over this lengthy process process. 
 

thanks Steve 

@Stevi_09 Yeah, we got DQ around the expected time NVC timeframes! We submitted our docs between 23-28 July and got DQ 13 October. Yeah the waiting takes its toll huh , hang in there! 

@EKT I just saw your question about my location! I'm in Auckland! Yeah that sucks that you can't even do medical in South Island. Also I would have thought that people out of Auckland would have been able to go to the Wellington Embassy? But I guess not?  

1 minute ago, JoshandSarah said:

Interesting! That's so f'ed! we even got those emails on the same day! and they're different answers lol

Yeah I’m so confused 🥺 I had so much hope after the announcement and that email, but now definitely preparing for the worst again 🥲🥲🥲 

3 minutes ago, JoshandSarah said:

Did they specifically say they’d ope

under step 2 to you? 😯

This is the email I received on October 28: 
 

Dear applicant,

The U.S. Consulate General Auckland will remain closed to visa applicants requiring in-person interviews during Alert Level 3 Step 1. Your appointment has been cancelled and has not been rescheduled. In order to reschedule, you must log back into your account and select the next available date. Please keep in mind that this situation is dynamic and we may cancel future appointments if Auckland remains in a state of lockdown. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Once Auckland moves to Alert Level 3 Step 2, we will begin to prioritize our outstanding immigrant visa applications by visa category and in the order the application was received. Please bear with us while we navigate this transition. If you have a life-or-death emergency only, you can write to AucklandIV@state.gov and state your emergency. Keep in mind that we remain unable to process emergency appointments for visa applicants during Level 3 Step 1.

Thank you,

Immigrant Visa Unit
U.S. Consulate General Auckland, New Zealand

Then I asked how to reschedule. And B responded with the text I copied and pasted in the previous thread. 

3 minutes ago, JoshandSarah said:

Hi Joshua, 

The U.S. Consulate General Auckland is currently closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in New Zealand. 

This email serves to acknowledge your email regarding your request. The Consulate will be in contact regarding scheduling appointments once we resume routine operations at the implementation of the New Zealand government's Covid-19 protection framework (traffic light system). 


Regards, 
IV Section 
U.S. Consulate General Auckland
 

that’s the email I got about 3 days ago 

Interesting cause mine was 3 days ago too? Will expect the worst then 🥲

@JoshandSarah I have no idea anymore. Im losing hope. 
 

I received that email on October 28 regarding opening at Step 2. And when I asked about rescheduling the response was from B was received on October 29. I literally copied and pasted what they said. So I can’t be sure as the information is conflicting to what you were told. 
 

Maybe it depends on our visa types. I’m not sure. 

@EKT yes I would hope so as that was directly copied from the email I was sent! But who knows.. things are always changing 🥲

@MelanieR18 I emailed the other day asking about how to go about rescheduling, and B said they will provide full instructions once it's possible. "We will give you the information to access the calendar, and you will pick the date and time that works with your schedule." <--- directly from email. 

1 minute ago, EKT said:

Sadly, no. A couple of us have partners who had September interviews scheduled and they were cancelled in early Sept with no definitive answer about when they will restart. It seems like the Consulate should re-open when the traffic light system takes effect at 90% so I guess that will be Dec at the earliest. Never thought it would draw out for so long! 
 

I don’t think Auckland is a very busy Consulate for immigrant visa applications so hopefully they will work through any backlog quickly. I will post when if we hear anything or get a new interview date!

I know right, it's been so long!!

Annoyingly enough I received an email from NVC this morning around 7am saying my interview had been scheduled, I assumed they were finally open. But nope, at 11am I got an email from the consulate saying it was cancelled.

The email said that "Once Auckland moves to Alert Level 3 Step 2, we will begin to prioritize our outstanding immigrant visa applications by visa category and in the order the application was received."

So at the very least I'm hoping we move to step 2, if the traffic light system doesn't happen anytime soon. 

Thanks so much!

Hi, thank you all for sharing! I recently discovered this site and it's been so great.

We recently got DQ about 2 weeks ago.. has anyone heard back from consulate on when interviews will continue to be scheduled in Auckland based on this lockdown

Have those of you who had interviews scheduled in the past two months been able to reschedule? Or does it look like we're gonna have to wait till we've reached that 90% 🥲

Thanks in advance!