Packet 3/4 question

[Karri 0]

Dilbert, you are lucky. I called the DOS this morning and they said it hasn't arrived yet! #######. I'm going to have my man call the embassy directly tomorrow to see what they have to say.

[dilbert30 0]

Karri - I called DOS again today as I was not able to hear them properly this morning. They say now that the interview has not been scheduled. I'm paraphrasing. They also said it is still administrative processing. Don't know what that means - like is it a generic term or whether it means it is in some specific term. I have heard that it could mean specificity. From what I saw yesterday, in the DHL website, it has just reached there. So, nothing much would have been done in the case any way...However, when I asked them whether the embassy has received the packet, they said yes sir.

I am thinking you can also ask them this specific question and yours would have reached the embassy. Tomorrow, the embassy doesnt work in India - Saturday. You are better off calling DOS now and checking with them.

I am planning on requesting my fiancee to send her paper work tomorrow.

Good luck, don't worry your packet must have reached.

[gp__ 0]

Are you not going to wait to get an indication that the Consulate has actually mailed out the Packet 3? I was gonna wait till they say that than just the fact that it has reached the Consulate. Of course there is no real need to wait for Packet 3 to be received by your fiancee but I am not sure what they do if they receive a Packet 3 before they even mail it out.

Gagan

[gp__ 0]

Hmm re-reading what Parul had posted before from her experience, she mailed out Packet 3 as soon as the consulate received Packet 3 rather than wait for them to mail it out. So maybe there is no issue atleast based on her experience.

Gagan

[classicrock68 0]

I will post my seq of events again to help folks here. Keep in mind, my case went to the Mumbai Consulate not Delhi. Not sure if they are equally (in) efficient and follow similar procedure/timelines.

My packet left NVC Jan 6. Mumbai Consulate recd it electronically on Jan 8 (hard copy recd on Jan 10 - guessing this date from DHL tracking info). I was informed by DOS that Pkt 3 was sent Jan 8 itself. I had called a couple to times to confirm that it was indeed sent. I wanted to make sure that if and when I sent pkt 3 myself, they would know who I was. In any case, I gave it a few days and waited. Did not do anything till Jan 19, the day I decided to overnight my pkt 3. They received it on Jan 20 (courier tracking). Incidentally, that was the day, i.e., Jan 20, the consulate mailed my pkt 3, which I received on Jan 24 (Saturday). The letter in the packet was indeed dated Jan 8, but the pkt was not mailed till Jan 20. In any case, I called DOS on Jan 22 to check if pkt 3 was received in their system. I was told it was in Adm processing (I asked what that meant and the rather rude rep hung up before I even finished speaking). This call had only lasted a few secs. I gave my case number and she looked up and said it was in AP and simply hung up. In any case, I was going to wait for a couple of days before I called back. Realizing Jan 26 was a holiday, I decided to not wait till Jan 27 and gave them a call on 1/23 and lo and behold, they gave me my interview date. So, in 1 day, it went from AP to here's your interview date.

Karri - my guess is that they have recd it (based on your DHL tracking you posted) just not entered into their system (since that is what DOS has access to).

Dilbert - in your case, my suggestion would be to get confirmation that it was mailed in their system (when it actually is mailed should not matter). So, I would mail pkt 3 without waiting to receive it but after confirming that it has been sent. Clearly, they are not going to give you an interview date, if they have not even sent your pkt 3 or received a copy from you. The interview date would only be set after they receive pkt 3 would be my guess. AP in your case could mean that they are in the process of sending pkt 3 out to you.

Gagan - think this would apply to you as well.

As far as interviews go, I think they schedule them by the 15th of the prior month. So, if you want an interview sometime in March, as long as they get your pkt 3 before Feb 15 you are fine. After 15th, you would get April. In my case, if I had sent it before Jan 15, I probably would have had an interview by end of Feb. By I was close enough to Jan 15 is why I got early March.

Good luck guys.

[DanielParul 50]

Hmm re-reading what Parul had posted before from her experience, she mailed out Packet 3 as soon as the consulate received Packet 3 rather than wait for them to mail it out. So maybe there is no issue atleast based on her experience.

Gagan

As soon as the Consulate can confirm that they have received your case, you can submit Pkt 3. I did so because I wanted to save as much time as possible because our case got lost for 2 months between USCIS and NVC. So instead of what could have taken weeks (pkt 3, Pkt 4 etc) I completed all formalities within days by submitting the pkt 3 and collecting pkt 4 asa the DOS gave me my interview date.

[Harsh 0]

ok wow... MOKSHA told me bout this forum and I could not be more thankfull... I started on page one and read every single post and learned SO MUCH.... As for me... here is my sequence so far....

Jan 26th --- got my NOA2 electronically

Jan 30th --- got my NOA2 in the mail

my friend on VJ who had the same dates as me for APPLICATION SENT, NOA1 , AND NOA2, called NVC yesterday and they said that they had sent his application to the Embassy already... I checked on the DHL tracking website you guys had posted and sure enough, his was sent to Islamabad (I did not come across ANYONE other then him that had a Pakistan application, so it had to be him)... I also saw that a package was sent on the same day to NEW DELHI and that is where mine was suppose to go.... As of today morning 7:21 am, it is "Transit through DHL facility"/"NY CITY GATEWAY, NY"... I am praying my stuff is in that package... I will follow all the advice you guys gave and wait until a few days after it arrives, then call DOS, and see if NEW DELHI recieved it in the system yet... as soon as I get a yes, I will have my fiance mail out packet 3... we plan to get married in MAY so we are still ahead of schedule but it would be nice to get all the paperwork and interview out of the way as soon as possible... Thanks again for all your advice and help guys, REALLY big help so far...

[Harsh 0]

guys, quick question, I called NVC this morning and put in my reciept number in the automated thing and it said that they didnt even recieve my file yet, I was approved back on Jan 26th!! Did anyone else have this problem? They dont open for another 5 mins, so I will call and try to speak to one of the people a little later, hopefully the automated system is not correct...

[classicrock68 0]

guys, quick question, I called NVC this morning and put in my reciept number in the automated thing and it said that they didnt even recieve my file yet, I was approved back on Jan 26th!! Did anyone else have this problem? They dont open for another 5 mins, so I will call and try to speak to one of the people a little later, hopefully the automated system is not correct...

Harsh - don't believe @NVC K1 status can be obtained via the automated system (think I have also seen a VJ post on it). You need to talk to a live rep. Also, it can take a few days (at least a week if not more) before it shows up on NVC systems (mail time from USCIS and NVC to scan into their system and generate a case BMB number). In my case, it took well over a week before NVC confirmed receipt/gave me a case number. Don't worry, things move pretty fast from this point on.

On a different but related note guys, my fiancee just called. My packet 4 arrived in the mail today !!!

Just keeping you guys posted...

Cheers,

[Harsh 0]

Thanks Classicrock68, just spoke to a rep, they said they have it but it has not been sent to the consulate in New Delhi yet, it is under "Administrative Processing" and there is no time frame for that... I guess I might have jumped the gun a little since I jus got approved a week ago... how long should I wait before I call them back? How long did it take you guys before it left NVC for New Delhi?

Edited February 2, 2009 by Harsh

[Moksha 1]

Hi Harsh,

Ours left in a couple of days, but when I called I wasn't told I was under AP. I've seen a few people on VJ that were out of AP quickly, and some that were stuck for a few weeks so I would just keep calling them every few days to check.

On another note...my fiance mailed packet 3 today via courier so hopefully they will have it tomorrow...but, when he went to the Passport office to get his PCC they said that there was damage to his passport so he needs to get a new one! Anybody have any idea how long that will take. Now that packet 3 is on it's way I'm hoping to have an interview mid-March so now I'm a bit worried about him having his new passport in time!

Oh, and Harsh, your case number from NVC will start with NWD not BMB...Classicrock is going through Bombay so his is BMB.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Moksha

[Harsh 0]

ughh!!... I didnt even ask for my case number, I just used the reciept number from the USCIS approval... next time I call, I will ask for my case number... I'll probably call them again on wednesday. It was good to know that NVC got my stuff though, because I still have not gotten an official letter from them that they got my files... thanks again for your advice Moksha.

[Karri 0]

Update - I used the less familiar email address for the New Delhi embassy after a week of no response from the main one. They responded within 24 hours this time and said they received the case and packet three has been sent etc. They didn't give me any date references but at least it's a response! Do you think if I call DOS back now they could possibly give me the date the embassy received it and sent packet 3? or should I just hang tight and wait until he gets it? Fyi, the two email addresses I used are listed under the Embassy guide.

[Harsh 0]

Karri, I would call DOS to check... whats the worst that would happen, they wont have it for you... doesnt hurt to check...

[Karri 0]

Karri, I would call DOS to check... whats the worst that would happen, they wont have it for you... doesn't hurt to check...

That's true, thanks! I will call them tomorrow and harass them. =D Update on me, Sam got his first PPC yesterday and today he went to go get his second one. Should take a week or so to get. All I have to do on my side is get those darn tax transcripts (I requested a few weeks ago and never got them) or make a copy of my tax returns from the last few years and print some emails for the evidence. Everything else is labeled and ready to go to Sam.