Interview Date assigned - now let's get down to business

[hyd617 1]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

LOLLL

[LotofPatience 65]

Rajee and Hyd, excited for the upcoming interview ???

I still have not received our interview appointment letter I am going to walk to NVC and collect a duplicate letter which will be faster than their snail mail

[Bani 0]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

Hello All,

Even if we are able to collect passport in the evening time after the interviews are finished, do we still pay VFS couier fees 3 or 4 days prior to the interview ? Will they refund our money back on the couier fees ?

[LotofPatience 65]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

Hello All,

Even if we are able to collect passport in the evening time after the interviews are finished, do we still pay VFS couier fees 3 or 4 days prior to the interview ? Will they refund our money back on the couier fees ?

Bani, it is only Rs.365 and it is mandatory

You're a typical Guju business guy

[Bani 0]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

Hello All,

Even if we are able to collect passport in the evening time after the interviews are finished, do we still pay VFS couier fees 3 or 4 days prior to the interview ? Will they refund our money back on the couier fees ?

Bani, it is only Rs.365 and it is mandatory

You're a typical Guju business guy

Yeah, since working here at a major grcoery store.. all the time i hear.. "will i get my refund back" At least make a try on it.. You never know...

[LotofPatience 65]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

Hello All,

Even if we are able to collect passport in the evening time after the interviews are finished, do we still pay VFS couier fees 3 or 4 days prior to the interview ? Will they refund our money back on the couier fees ?

Bani, it is only Rs.365 and it is mandatory

You're a typical Guju business guy

Yeah, since working here at a major grcoery store.. all the time i hear.. "will i get my refund back" At least make a try on it.. You never know...

LOOOOOOOL

[hyd617 1]

Hyd - get to know me better, and you'll have a lot more experiences that are just as nerve wracking... lol

Hello All,

Even if we are able to collect passport in the evening time after the interviews are finished, do we still pay VFS couier fees 3 or 4 days prior to the interview ? Will they refund our money back on the couier fees ?

Bani, it is only Rs.365 and it is mandatory

You're a typical Guju business guy

Yeah, since working here at a major grcoery store.. all the time i hear.. "will i get my refund back" At least make a try on it.. You never know...

LOOOOOOOL

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

[rajee 1]

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT NEETU'S INTERVIEW!

Do we know if we can pick up the visa the same day or is it the next day? It's not at the consulate, I know that ... Is it at the VFS office (the link I looked at didn't specifically call it "VFS", if I remember it correctly).

I'm thinking I could convince Neetu to go pick it up if it's not too far ... although she won't probably leave India for about a week after her interview ... (looking at 7/15 or 7/16)

Edited June 12, 2008 by rajee

[LotofPatience 65]

SUPER EXCITED ABOUT NEETU'S INTERVIEW!

Do we know if we can pick up the visa the same day or is it the next day? It's not at the consulate, I know that ... Is it at the VFS office (the link I looked at didn't specifically call it "VFS", if I remember it correctly).

I'm thinking I could convince Neetu to go pick it up if it's not too far ... although she won't probably leave India for about a week after her interview ... (looking at 7/15 or 7/16)

Yes, you can do it in all VFS centers. For Delhi, the passport pickup is on the next business day after the interview date between 2PM and 4PM.

Here is the link:

https://www.vfs-usa.co.in/ApplnForms/CourierSystem.aspx

[rajee 1]

Awesome I just sent Neetu that info via email and will give her details when I talk to her in 30 minutes

[Cincy 0]

Hi everybody !

Can you give me some tips on how to organize the papers for submission at the VFS office? I submitted all originals to NVC so I think we just need to submit "Evidence of Relationship" to VFS along with the courier fees (please correct me if I'm wrong). If this is the case, what is the best way to submit this evidence, in a binder, legal folder (with 2 hole punches at top), or just loose papers?

Also, how should we carry the documents inside the consulate, due to all the security restrictions?

[LotofPatience 65]

My wife visited VFS (It is needed in India for passport delivery after the interview) office today and here is her findings. Please note that, this is for Chennai (India) U.S consulate and it may differ to other consulates.

She has to come back to VFS on 06/17/2008 because they expect applicant not earlier than 15 calendar (not business days) days. VFS office is actually close to our home in India.

If interview letter is not received before 06/17/2008, VFS will give a receipt stating so. Then she needs to print out the July (her interview is on 07/03/2008) list of appointments from Chennai U.S consulate (where her interview happens) website to proceed for medical and interview. Also, she needs to download medical cover letter and social security information sheet from consulate website as part of packet 4.

Also, she needs to complete a new DS-230 form to submit to the VFS, in addition to the one submitted to NVC.

She also needs to pay Rs.365 for passport delivery charges and they will give the receipt for the same. They assured her she can get her passport back by courier in 2 business days after the interview (if visa is granted).

For immigrant visa applicants, there is NO counter collection of the passport after the interview. That's only for non-immigrant visa applicants.

Good luck guys!

Loto

[hyd617 1]

My wife visited VFS (It is needed in India for passport delivery after the interview) office today and here is her findings. Please note that, this is for Chennai (India) U.S consulate and it may differ to other consulates.

She has to come back to VFS on 06/17/2008 because they expect applicant not earlier than 15 calendar (not business days) days. VFS office is actually close to our home in India.

If interview letter is not received before 06/17/2008, VFS will give a receipt stating so. Then she needs to print out the July (her interview is on 07/03/2008) list of appointments from Chennai U.S consulate (where her interview happens) website to proceed for medical and interview. Also, she needs to download medical cover letter and social security information sheet from consulate website as part of packet 4.

Also, she needs to complete a new DS-230 form to submit to the VFS, in addition to the one submitted to NVC.

She also needs to pay Rs.365 for passport delivery charges and they will give the receipt for the same. They assured her she can get her passport back by courier in 2 business days after the interview (if visa is granted).

For immigrant visa applicants, there is NO counter collection of the passport after the interview. That's only for non-immigrant visa applicants.

Good luck guys!

Loto

thanks loto!!! guys the time is coming soon!! finaly we get to be with our spouses!!

howwww excitingggggg is THAT!!

[rajee 1]

I got the interview letter for Neetu today!

It has a link that it tells you to go to in order to see what the procedure is, but it also has some other pages. It has a list of possible vaccinations you may need to get (already found by most of us on the website(s)) and also a list of documents needed for the interview (which are already sent by us to NVC). It says if copies were provided, then you have to produce the originals for the interview.

There's also a list of potential necessary documents and it says "yes" if they got it. So, I looked at all of docs in the list - they either say "not required" or "yes, received/completed" (or something like that - I'm typing this without the letter in front of me).

So it's pretty straightforward but Neetu will call the VFS to make sure nothing else is needed other than the courier fees.

[rajee 1]

Just to update everyone - here's the latest with Neetu:

She called the VFS office and they weren't particularly helpful. She then called the Embassy helpdesk (where the gentleman has been pretty good) and asked a few questions about what she needed to submit to the VFS and what fees were still pending that she had to pay, etc etc ...

She was told that she only had to pay the courier fee at the VFS because she had already submitted all required original documents to the NVC - in fact, the gentleman said that despite the "rule" that you have to wait until 15 days prior, since she had already submitted her original documents and was only paying a fee, that she could even do that early ... He did tell hSo maybe she'll try that out ...

He did not tell her anything about another copy of the DS-230 or anything like that ... She also asked about taking her proof of relationship to the VFS and the gentleman recommended that she bring it to the interview ... However, she was told that CD's are not allowed (a lot of our pics and, of course, our wedding video, are on CD/DVD) - she will make due with photos, albums, and all other things that we have (letters, emails, phone records, receipt from Goa/other hotel) ...

As for the medical, she went to the Dr's office in the evening and got a physical exam using my scanned letter for her interview date (she hasn't gotten hers yet, but I would assume it'll be there before Saturday) ... The Dr said that she should come back for some labwork, 3-4 shots for vaccinations, and a chest xray on Saturday morning and that a report would be ready for her a couple days after that ...

Her last day of work is FRIDAY - so she's free after that ... Looks like she won't have much to do when she's at home - so she can enjoy her time with her parents and do some packing

Hope that's helpful, guys ...