August 2014 Interviews

[k.dlg 297]

Congrats!!

And while I'm very pleased for you that you've gotten your interview date, this is a perfect example of how the NVC doesn't particularly make sense. You got your case complete on the 28th July then two days later recieved an Interview date of 15th September whereas my case was completed on 11th July and after waiting 19 days I've just found out my interview date is 23rd September.

I'm obviously happy to have finally gotten an interview date but why are other cases that completed after mine being interviewed before mine? Luck of the draw?

jsumner86, you mention you're going to try to get your date moved forward. Is this an easy thing to acheive as I've read elsewhere that if you request your date to be moved you could potentially be setting yourself up for even more delays? I'd love to get mine moved forward too. What is the best way to go about this?

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason how they assign interview dates. We originally tried to switch dates with urbangirluk by using the contact form with each other's information because she needed a later one for medical reasons and I wanted an earlier one to be able to fly out with my hubby on August 30th, but they denied our request. (She was originally going to try to switch with bdrew - but they got an earlier date because of her and her hubby's MP's efforts!!)

I then sent a reply e-mail to their denial requesting an earlier interview date on the 21st, and didn't hear anything back from them when they usually replied back the next day. My hubby got 2 letters in the post on the 26th postmarked the 23rd and 25th both stating the exact same thing - our new interview date. I finally got an e-mail reply on the 28th confirming the date and that they sent those letters to hubs.

Here's the link to the contact form : http://london.usembassy.gov/niv/visa_contact_form.html

Good luck!!

Edit: Oops, others were quicker to reply than I was!!

Edited July 30, 2014 by k.dlg

[dwheels76 5,463]

Yea it's true really shocking news. They informed by call m on the way for interview on 1 August 2014.

You have an interview in 2 days? Friday Whattt? you sure you don;t mean September 1? Well congratulations.

[cscrum318 56]

Our interview was July 22nd, so they have had my husband's passport for 10 days now. And no news other then sometime between the 22nd and the 29th they updated our CEAC status to Administrative Processing but they didn't touch it yesterday (Australian time).

I have emailed three times with no response. Even before the crash they were averaging 7-10 days to reply to my emails (Sydney Consulate) so I wasn't really expecting a reply but a lot of people have said that they're at least sending apologies.

Today was the very last day we had for them to issue/send his visa for my husband to make his flight home back to me. Now we will have to cancel/reschedule.

At this point I could care less about the lost airfare, I just want him here ASAP.

Hoping for some movement soon...

[MsGoyave 45]

You mean an apology won't make you feel better? What's wrong with you?

Haha yeah I should just be happy and excited to receive apologies! I can't believe we paid that much for such a bad service! I want our money back! ;-)

[MsGoyave 45]

How I love receiving useless email responses:

"Dear Madam,

Thank you for your inquiry. We are still experiencing technical problems with our visa system. These issues are delaying the printing of approved visas, and will result in the Embassy/Consulate needing to retain your passport for longer than normal. Please understand that this issue is not specific to the place of your application and is affecting operations globally.

We greatly regret the inconvenience this may cause, and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.

Sincerely,

Immigrant Visa Section

U.S. Embassy Paris, France"

[SUKHPREET KAUR 0]

Yea interview in 2 days on 1 august 2014 but canceled due to technical problem so they schedule when problem resolve may be in 1week or more ......

You have an interview in 2 days? Friday Whattt? you sure you don;t mean September 1? Well congratulations.

[domwardbound 73]

The only thing I can pull out of this is not to buy tickets before visa in hand. You know, like every state.gov and embassy instruction page puts in big bold red letters Not to be snarky, but I've gotta find humor somewhere in this cluster.

[stackeria 280]

Things are so ridiculous at this point. When do they start offering USCIS and NVC fee vouchers and maybe an occasional expedite to anyone who volunteers to withdraw their petition and start over next year?

[cscrum318 56]

It's not helpful to anyone to tell people who have already bought tickets that they should not have bought tickets.

People are desperate to see their loved ones, some of us did MONTHS of research that showed that every person being granted visas at their embassy were receiving them in 1-2 business days, NEVER more. So buying them 12-14 days after visa was approved was a safe bet.

No one could have predicted this happening and to make people feel bad/stupid for buying tickets is snarky, I am sorry, but it is.

Let's be positive people. Putting people down only reflects on yourself, not the people you are putting down and I personally don't find any humor in it at all.

[dwheels76 5,463]

Congrats!!

And while I'm very pleased for you that you've gotten your interview date, this is a perfect example of how the NVC doesn't particularly make sense. You got your case complete on the 28th July then two days later recieved an Interview date of 15th September whereas my case was completed on 11th July and after waiting 19 days I've just found out my interview date is 23rd September.

I'm obviously happy to have finally gotten an interview date but why are other cases that completed after mine being interviewed before mine? Luck of the draw?

jsumner86, you mention you're going to try to get your date moved forward. Is this an easy thing to acheive as I've read elsewhere that if you request your date to be moved you could potentially be setting yourself up for even more delays? I'd love to get mine moved forward too. What is the best way to go about this?

Let be try to help you and others understand scheduling as I was told this by DOS last year.

Case Complete gets you in the interview queue. The dates you get usually (not always) are slotted by PD dates. Not always but they got an earlier slot because their OD is 5/16 2013 your s is 9/5/2013. So only fair that they get an earlier interview.

Sure someones some people get earlier dates but you all get interview dates that go around.

As far as asking for earlier. Its very easy. You follow your petition to the embassy once their you can ask the embassy for earlier date by emailing and just asking. London seems to be very accommodating. And it doesn't hurt to keep asking.

[jsumner86 403]

The trouble with my situation is that I bought my ticket to bring my wife and daughter home right before this debacle. I'm flying over Sept 20th and hope she has her visa by then.

I'm sorry. I hope that it does get sorted quickly. I hope that your wife and daughter will have their visa before Sept 20th and you all get to go home together .

[domwardbound 73]

It's not helpful to anyone to tell people who have already bought tickets that they should not have bought tickets.

People are desperate to see their loved ones, some of us did MONTHS of research that showed that every person being granted visas at their embassy were receiving them in 1-2 business days, NEVER more. So buying them 12-14 days after visa was approved was a safe bet.

No one could have predicted this happening and to make people feel bad/stupid for buying tickets is snarky, I am sorry, but it is.

Let's be positive people. Putting people down only reflects on yourself, not the people you are putting down and I personally don't find any humor in it at all.

I realize that, but people have interviews coming up that could use the reminder. I know for myself personally, I've had to resist the urge to buy even though, like you said, a week ago there was no reason to think something different could happen.

We're all in this boat together.. I've got no lessons to teach anyone. What's done is done, but hopefully people with upcoming interviews get the message.

[LifeOnHold 186]

Our interview was July 22nd, so they have had my husband's passport for 10 days now. And no news other then sometime between the 22nd and the 29th they updated our CEAC status to Administrative Processing but they didn't touch it yesterday (Australian time).

I have emailed three times with no response. Even before the crash they were averaging 7-10 days to reply to my emails (Sydney Consulate) so I wasn't really expecting a reply but a lot of people have said that they're at least sending apologies.

Today was the very last day we had for them to issue/send his visa for my husband to make his flight home back to me. Now we will have to cancel/reschedule.

At this point I could care less about the lost airfare, I just want him here ASAP.

Hoping for some movement soon...

Same here. We had the same interview date as you guys and today was the last day for the Visa to be issued for hubby to fly back home with me. And I've already paid to change my ticket to Monday. I can't change it again as my in laws will be there Tuesday. They will be there to enjoy some time with their son in his new home and habitat before they see him for awhile. Except he actually won't be there. It's kind of funny actually.

I think I'm going to hide until he comes. What the heck am I supposed to tell family and friends now when they ask where he is? It's not like they've understood anything else that went on with this process.

[dwheels76 5,463]

September 15th 2014 is our interview. Gonna move that baby up if possible!

Congratulations. I have updated you.

[cscrum318 56]

I realize that, but people have interviews coming up that could use the reminder. I know for myself personally, I've had to resist the urge to buy even though, like you said, a week ago there was no reason to think something different could happen.

We're all in this boat together.. I've got no lessons to teach anyone. What's done is done, but hopefully people with upcoming interviews get the message.

Definitely agree there. This was the ONLY part of this process that I felt comfortable trusting. The Sydney Consulate was processing SO quickly and no one was having any bumps in the road after approval.

So, for future interviewees. Don't trust this final process either!