Consulate needs I-130 docs but won't request from NVC to convert K3 to CR1 interview

[ninjarocket 1]

The interviews for IR/CR visas and k3 visas are essentially the same. If the I-130 paperwork is at or on it's way to the consulate, the CO will usually agree to grant a IR/CR visa rather than a k3.

Officially, they don't "convert interviews from k3 to CR/IR" so to speak. This causes some confusion I think, which is why some people have been told "no" by the consulate or NVC. You still need to prepare everything that's required for the k3 interview (e.g. pay visa fee, prepare I-134), even if the CO will agree to grant a CR/IR visa in the end.

We're in the K3/CR1 situation. Both our interviews have already been scheduled, and as far as I can tell Moscow has already received our CR1 paperwork.

The K3 interview is on Oct 29th. I've been trying to convert that to a CR1 interview. Unfortunately, I seem to be running into a brick wall. The NVC says they do not deal with expedite interviews once an interview date has been set, so I have to deal with the embassy. The embassy operator told me that they only do expedites due to medical reasons.

So is there a magic trick/word/password I have to say when dealing with the embassy to get them to convert my K3 interview into a CR1? How were you able to do it?

Thanks,

Andrei

[ninjarocket 1]

The interviews for IR/CR visas and k3 visas are essentially the same. If the I-130 paperwork is at or on it's way to the consulate, the CO will usually agree to grant a IR/CR visa rather than a k3.

Officially, they don't "convert interviews from k3 to CR/IR" so to speak. This causes some confusion I think, which is why some people have been told "no" by the consulate or NVC. You still need to prepare everything that's required for the k3 interview (e.g. pay visa fee, prepare I-134), even if the CO will agree to grant a CR/IR visa in the end.

We're in the K3/CR1 situation. Both our interviews have already been scheduled, and as far as I can tell Moscow has already received our CR1 paperwork.

The K3 interview is on Oct 29th. I've been trying to convert that to a CR1 interview. Unfortunately, I seem to be running into a brick wall. The NVC says they do not deal with expedite interviews once an interview date has been set, so I have to deal with the embassy. The embassy operator told me that they only do expedites due to medical reasons.

So is there a magic trick/word/password I have to say when dealing with the embassy to get them to convert my K3 interview into a CR1? How were you able to do it?

Thanks,

Andrei

[A_I_S 0]

I did exactly this.

You need to send an expedite request email to NVC for your I-130 because the k3 interview is already scheduled. Give the case numbers, names, dates of birth in the email. Put the case number and attention supervisor in the subject line. You need to state that the consulate have agreed to do this provided NVC sends the I-130 documents.

The part I have trouble with is "consulate have agreed to do this". Consulate is clearly not agreeing with me at this point.

Unfortunately, we have 11 days (counting this weekend) left. The paperwork should be in Moscow already. I'm considering simply telling my wife to show up at the embassy on that K3 date and asking to convert to CR1.

[A_I_S 0]

The interviews for IR/CR visas and k3 visas are essentially the same. If the I-130 paperwork is at or on it's way to the consulate, the CO will usually agree to grant a IR/CR visa rather than a k3.

Officially, they don't "convert interviews from k3 to CR/IR" so to speak. This causes some confusion I think, which is why some people have been told "no" by the consulate or NVC. You still need to prepare everything that's required for the k3 interview (e.g. pay visa fee, prepare I-134), even if the CO will agree to grant a CR/IR visa in the end.

We have not followed up with the K3 process at all...so that could potentially be a problem. Basically we haven't mailed any of the K3 packets back to the embassy and instead have put all work into CR1. Think the email NVC trick would still work?

[Ling Ling 22]

Ninjarocket...

1. Are you absolutely sure everyone needs to pay the K-3 fees and have an I-134...to convert to CR-1?

2. I would caution against the public broadcast of NVC supervisor names. I think sharing in PM is OK,

but broadcasting could cause our favorite friendly supervisors to become over worked and "not so friendly".

[A_I_S 0]

So does anyone have any ideas how to sweettalk the embassy into converting K3 interview into a CR1?

[A_I_S 0]

Here's a quick update.

I was able to talk to the embassy and have my request forwarded to the consular division, instead of being outright told to ....f-off.

1. Phone operators at the embassy don't know anything. Telling them that you have 2 interview dates, one for K3, one for CR1, confuses the hell out of them.

2. Do not mention the word "expedite". They are looking for some key words that would allow them to resolve the situation on the phone, and word expedite means "We dont provide expedites unless there are medical reasons".

3. If you do mention expedite you will not be able to explain to them that K3 and CR1 require the same paperwork. Like I said, they don't know the difference.

Best you can do is say something like "We have 2 interview dates setup, for 2 cases, we would like to convert the earlier interview into the later visa type". At this point they'll put a request in to the consular division.

I called Tuesday morning, was told to call back in the evening. In the evening I was told to call back on Wednesday or Thursday. Called Wednesday evening (just now), told to call back before close or tomorrow. The interview is in a fricken week, and the calls are paid...

This seems to be the best chance, at least for me.

Hope your mileage varies for the better.

[ninjarocket 1]

They won't send the I-130 to the consulate unless they book an interview appointment for the CR visa (even though it's possible to convert k3 to CR visas, they will still keep separate official appointment interview dates: you can't actually change k3 to CR until you're already inside the consulate speaking with the consular officials who have your files physically in front of them). If you want the I-130 to be sent sooner rather than later, this has to be initiated by you via NVC. What you can do is to ask NVC to expedite the sending of the I-130 to the consulate (which involves them first contacting the consulate by email for a CR interview date) in order for it to reach there before your k3 interview appointment.

Write an email (including all usual details of petitioner and beneficiary that they ask for on the phone + relevant case numbers) to NVC with attention supervisor in the subject heading as well as the NVC I-130 case number. State that you have a k3 interview scheduled and that the consulate have told you they will allow transfer to CR visa provided the I-130 docs are sent to the consulate. You therefore need to ask NVC whether they can expedite the booking of the CR interview and sending of the paperwork to the consulate in order to make this possible. Hopefully they will agree to help. This is purely up to them. Since this is an extra service provided by them that extends beyond what they are required to do by law, contacting a congressman or complaining isn't going to help. Be very polite. They're not going to want to help you if you irritate them. Admit to fault if necessary and don't point blank accuse them of making mistakes.

While material sent by mail is usually opened by NVC within a couple of days, emails typically sit in the inbox for 2 or 3 weeks before being read. Therefore you need to call NVC and ask to speak to a supervisor a day or so after sending the email expedite request so that they can hopefully track down your email and see that it gets immediate attention. You have to be on good terms with the staff at NVC.

Good luck!

Our I-130 case was completed at NVC but is waiting for a Nov interview date. Chennai consulate has assigned a K3 interview date in Oct already. They are willing to convert that to a CR1 interview if they receive the docs. But NVC won't send the docs until they schedule an interview and consulate won't request the docs!

Sent emails to consulate, spoken to an operator at the consulate...but they say they can't request it. NVC can't do anything about it nor can the state dept. Tried to get an email from NVC stating that the consulate could do it but no replies from NVC. I guess we are just stuck waiting for a Nov interview date now.

How have people been able to get the consulate to request documents from NVC? Has it worked with the Chennai consulate?

[ninjarocket 1]

I did exactly this.

You need to send an expedite request email to NVC for your I-130 because the k3 interview is already scheduled. Give the case numbers, names, dates of birth in the email. Put the case number and attention supervisor in the subject line. You need to state that the consulate have agreed to do this provided NVC sends the I-130 documents.

The part I have trouble with is "consulate have agreed to do this". Consulate is clearly not agreeing with me at this point.

Unfortunately, we have 11 days (counting this weekend) left. The paperwork should be in Moscow already. I'm considering simply telling my wife to show up at the embassy on that K3 date and asking to convert to CR1.

Maybe they may not agree with you in person, but they will surely tell you that they issue CR visas rather than k3 if the I-130 arrives at the consulate by the time of our k3 appointment. Phone operators will often just assume that you are confused (because many people are) and will lecture you on all kinds of stuff you already know.

[ninjarocket 1]

The point is that if you go to a k3 visa appointment you will have to pay the relevant fee or else they will likely not let you through the door, unless you're on special terms with the guards and consulate staff. They don't convert k3 appointments to CR appointments in advance. The visa category can only actually be changed once your physically inside the embassy speaking with a consulate officials who handle your paperwork.

Since you can't guarantee that they will honor the visa conversion (who knows what might go wrong), it's best to prepare the I-134 for the k3 interview appointment and have all other documents required for the k3 visa.

How can we know whether certain supervisors are favorites unless more than 1 VJ member can attest to that fact? Maybe Layla is awful most of the time and was just having a nice day or was charmed by my English accent?

Ninjarocket...

1. Are you absolutely sure everyone needs to pay the K-3 fees and have an I-134...to convert to CR-1?

2. I would caution against the public broadcast of NVC supervisor names. I think sharing in PM is OK,

but broadcasting could cause our favorite friendly supervisors to become over worked and "not so friendly".

[A_I_S 0]

Maybe they may not agree with you in person, but they will surely tell you that they issue CR visas rather than k3 if the I-130 arrives at the consulate by the time of our k3 appointment. Phone operators will often just assume that you are confused (because many people are) and will lecture you on all kinds of stuff you already know.

Well, our papers were sent to Moscow on Oct 10th, so the paperwork is there already. Anyway...if that doesn't work then we'll simply wait 3 more weeks until our CR1 interview. Paying $400 more just to get converted is not cost effective in this case, and anyway...we don't have the docs, other than the copies, and we haven't mailed anything in for K3. So if they can't help us now we'll have to wait.

[ninjarocket 1]

If you have a k3 appointment and the I-130 paperwork is confirmed to be already physically at the consulate, then you have the option of keeping the earlier k3 appointment date. If you choose that option, pay the k3 visa fee, go to the k3 appointment and then notify the consulate staff of your I-130 paper work once you're inside the consulate. Good luck with your interview!!!!!!

(I don't know whether the consular officials ever deny switching k3 to CR visas? Unless we know for sure that they don't, it's best to prepare the I-134 just in case and have other copies of relevant documents on hand).

Maybe they may not agree with you in person, but they will surely tell you that they issue CR visas rather than k3 if the I-130 arrives at the consulate by the time of our k3 appointment. Phone operators will often just assume that you are confused (because many people are) and will lecture you on all kinds of stuff you already know.

Well, our papers were sent to Moscow on Oct 10th, so the paperwork is there already. Anyway...if that doesn't work then we'll simply wait 3 more weeks until our CR1 interview. Paying $400 more just to get converted is not cost effective in this case, and anyway...we don't have the docs, other than the copies, and we haven't mailed anything in for K3. So if they can't help us now we'll have to wait.