a few United Kingdom questions

[july2009 1]

Hello everyone and thanks in advance for sharing your experiences. My fiance is British, and we're trying to figure out how long it should take between the time that he receives packet 3 in the mail and when he can get the medical exam scheduled? He can't schedule the actual visa interview until he has the medical exam, so my second question is how long it usually takes between having the medical results sent over and receiving the actual visa interview date. Finally, is the final interview date usually about 10 to 12 weeks after the medical exam results are sent over, or 10 to 12 weeks from his receipt of packet 3? Thanks you for shedding any light on this!!

[gap1 21]

I'm doing this as well. We jumped the gun a bit, but we went ahead and scheduled his medical for this week even though our petition only just arrived in London. We decided not to wait for packet 3. It takes 4-5 business days for the results to be sent to the embassy, and they should have received our petition last week so I'm hoping it lines up in the system. My fiance asked Knightsbridge about it and they said it shouldn't matter as long as we have our LND case number, and that they save records of the results in case it is lost.

Just in case something happens with our results, you should wait a few weeks. They were able to get him in almost instantly so you shouldn't have much of a lag. We were impatient. It's up to you!

Edited December 1, 2010 by gap1

[july2009 1]

Oh, ok! I thought that you had to receive packet 3 before being allowed to schedule the medical exam, I assumed it would contain a special ID reference that would be needed to make the appointment. What's the LND case number and when did you get it?

Also, congratulations on the recent NOA2!! That's so exciting.

p.s. Your picture looks similar to those I've taken with my fiance when we were in Oxford:)

I'm doing this as well. We jumped the gun a bit, but we went ahead and scheduled his medical for this week even though our petition only just arrived in London. We decided not to wait for packet 3. It takes 4-5 business days for the results to be sent to the embassy, and they should have received our petition last week so I'm hoping it lines up in the system. My fiance asked Knightsbridge about it and they said it shouldn't matter as long as we have our LND case number, and that they save records of the results in case it is lost.

Just in case something happens with our results, you should wait a few weeks. They were able to get him in almost instantly so you shouldn't have much of a lag. We were impatient. It's up to you!

[gap1 21]

Oh, ok! I thought that you had to receive packet 3 before being allowed to schedule the medical exam, I assumed it would contain a special ID reference that would be needed to make the appointment. What's the LND case number and when did you get it?

Also, congratulations on the recent NOA2!! That's so exciting.

p.s. Your picture looks similar to those I've taken with my fiance when we were in Oxford:)

Sorry I should have looked at your timeline before replying...unfortunately you have a long way to go before you can schedule your appointment. The LND number is what the National Visa Center assigns to your case after you received your NoA2 and it is shipped to the State Department. First you have to get your NoA2, which can take anywhere between 3-5 months (sometimes longer).

When you get to that phase, you don't need to wait for packet 3 to book the interview. The London embassy does not send anything in packet 3 that you cannot get ahead of time.

Good luck!

Edited December 1, 2010 by gap1

[JoannaV 174]

Oh, ok! I thought that you had to receive packet 3 before being allowed to schedule the medical exam, I assumed it would contain a special ID reference that would be needed to make the appointment. What's the LND case number and when did you get it?

Once you receive your NOA2 you will have a case number. This is what you need to schedule the medical. Packet 3 won't arrive until some time after you get the NOA2.

[Douby 0]

Like the other posters said, when the NOA2 is issued the case number will be on there. Our NOA2 took 39 days but we seemed to hit a lucky push on the I-129F petitions.

I would advise calling to book a date for your medical when you get the magic reference. I called on a Friday afternoon and was able to book for the next Wednesday, so I had mine on Nov 17th and packet 4 arrived almost a week later - interview is now scheduled for Jan 11th. Once the NOA2 is received you also pay your application fee over the phone and they mail you the MRV receipt to print and take with you on the day of your interview. The interview wont be scheduled until the medical results are received at the embassy so the quicker it is all done, the better. It can be a long process and patience will be needed in hefty doses.

I dont know if it is worth noting that it was 6 weeks after they received my packet 3 documents before they were processed and the case updated on the system. There was then a 6 week delay between that and my medical (we were hoping to make 1 trip only to London and have the medical scheduled 5 or 6 dys before the interview but that isnt allowed anymore)and now almost 9 weeks between medical and interview....i assume because of Christmas and New Year...bah humbug!!!!

Hope the info helps

Edited December 4, 2010 by Douby