People between NOA2 and Interview ~2009~

[MARM 7]

Everyone... Good news! We got our interview date. Vik will be interviewing on August 25th. For those of you that were put on AP, please describe what happened. We want to be prepared. See, his parents will need to get a visa to come here, venues will need to be booked, and cards made... so we would like any insight or experience that you would be willing to share about what to expect if being put on AP.

Thanks,

Kam

Congrats on receiving an interview date!

If he does get put on AP, this is how you know:

At the end of the interview, the CO hands you a paper called a 221G, which technically means: Visa processing suspended because...and then there is a list of reasons on the sheet such as: pending document, additional processing. One of these reasons will be ticked by the CO and of course, your fiance will verbally be told that everything is fine pending additional admin processing or security checks...

Basically, if you are not told to send in the passport via courier service on the day of your interview (meaning they do not keep your passport) it means you are in AP/AR.

But then again, we were told approved pending the passport, and then got stuck in AP after my fiance send his passport. But I am sure he will take everything required of him at the interview to eliminate the possibility of being approved pending documentation, so just don't stress about it

He will be told whether he will undergo additional processing or not on the day of the interview by the interviewing officer.

What to expect during AP? Well, don't worry about that now, but if you must know, AP/AR at the US Embassy in London is not painstakingly long as compared to other embassies (embassies of "T" countries, for example, have much longer APs: India, Pakistan, etc. But recently, I have come across many AP cases here on VJ as of April onwards that only endured 3-4 months of AP which is not bad at all compared to how it was: 6-8 months used to be the average until recently...anyway, you do not need to worry about this part. Basically, AP/AR in London should be "pain free", the drawback is just the extended wait time. And they want to give you the visa, which is why they put you on AP, I have never heard of a denial in London after putting an applicant on AP/AR.

As far as venues, cards, etc. don't plan anything until your fiance has the visa IN HIS HAND. I know it will be cutting it really close if you want to book a few months in advance, but it is better to wait until he has his visa in hand rather than pay for canceled/postponed venues/dates, etc.

[viknkam 0]

Everyone... Good news! We got our interview date. Vik will be interviewing on August 25th. For those of you that were put on AP, please describe what happened. We want to be prepared. See, his parents will need to get a visa to come here, venues will need to be booked, and cards made... so we would like any insight or experience that you would be willing to share about what to expect if being put on AP.

Thanks,

Kam

Congrats on receiving an interview date!

If he does get put on AP, this is how you know:

At the end of the interview, the CO hands you a paper called a 221G, which technically means: Visa processing suspended because...and then there is a list of reasons on the sheet such as: pending document, additional processing. One of these reasons will be ticked by the CO and of course, your fiance will verbally be told that everything is fine pending additional admin processing or security checks...

Basically, if you are not told to send in the passport via courier service on the day of your interview (meaning they do not keep your passport) it means you are in AP/AR.

But then again, we were told approved pending the passport, and then got stuck in AP after my fiance send his passport. But I am sure he will take everything required of him at the interview to eliminate the possibility of being approved pending documentation, so just don't stress about it

He will be told whether he will undergo additional processing or not on the day of the interview by the interviewing officer.

What to expect during AP? Well, don't worry about that now, but if you must know, AP/AR at the US Embassy in London is not painstakingly long as compared to other embassies (embassies of "T" countries, for example, have much longer APs: India, Pakistan, etc. But recently, I have come across many AP cases here on VJ as of April onwards that only endured 3-4 months of AP which is not bad at all compared to how it was: 6-8 months used to be the average until recently...anyway, you do not need to worry about this part. Basically, AP/AR in London should be "pain free", the drawback is just the extended wait time. And they want to give you the visa, which is why they put you on AP, I have never heard of a denial in London after putting an applicant on AP/AR.

As far as venues, cards, etc. don't plan anything until your fiance has the visa IN HIS HAND. I know it will be cutting it really close if you want to book a few months in advance, but it is better to wait until he has his visa in hand rather than pay for canceled/postponed venues/dates, etc.

Thank you. That is what I thought. We are really hoping and praying that he gets his visa without AP/AR. It has already been 5 months since we've seen each other and I can't take time off bc i need time for our wedding. It's a real catch-22.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Everyone... Good news! We got our interview date. Vik will be interviewing on August 25th. For those of you that were put on AP, please describe what happened. We want to be prepared. See, his parents will need to get a visa to come here, venues will need to be booked, and cards made... so we would like any insight or experience that you would be willing to share about what to expect if being put on AP.

Thanks,

Kam

Congrats on receiving an interview date!

If he does get put on AP, this is how you know:

At the end of the interview, the CO hands you a paper called a 221G, which technically means: Visa processing suspended because...and then there is a list of reasons on the sheet such as: pending document, additional processing. One of these reasons will be ticked by the CO and of course, your fiance will verbally be told that everything is fine pending additional admin processing or security checks...

Basically, if you are not told to send in the passport via courier service on the day of your interview (meaning they do not keep your passport) it means you are in AP/AR.

But then again, we were told approved pending the passport, and then got stuck in AP after my fiance send his passport. But I am sure he will take everything required of him at the interview to eliminate the possibility of being approved pending documentation, so just don't stress about it

He will be told whether he will undergo additional processing or not on the day of the interview by the interviewing officer.

What to expect during AP? Well, don't worry about that now, but if you must know, AP/AR at the US Embassy in London is not painstakingly long as compared to other embassies (embassies of "T" countries, for example, have much longer APs: India, Pakistan, etc. But recently, I have come across many AP cases here on VJ as of April onwards that only endured 3-4 months of AP which is not bad at all compared to how it was: 6-8 months used to be the average until recently...anyway, you do not need to worry about this part. Basically, AP/AR in London should be "pain free", the drawback is just the extended wait time. And they want to give you the visa, which is why they put you on AP, I have never heard of a denial in London after putting an applicant on AP/AR.

As far as venues, cards, etc. don't plan anything until your fiance has the visa IN HIS HAND. I know it will be cutting it really close if you want to book a few months in advance, but it is better to wait until he has his visa in hand rather than pay for canceled/postponed venues/dates, etc.

Thank you. That is what I thought. We are really hoping and praying that he gets his visa without AP/AR. It has already been 5 months since we've seen each other and I can't take time off bc i need time for our wedding. It's a real catch-22.

It is! I haven't seen Nik since March, won't see him until October, and its because I'm saving my last 5 days off for the wedding! We all understand here on VJ.

[viknkam 0]

Everyone... Good news! We got our interview date. Vik will be interviewing on August 25th. For those of you that were put on AP, please describe what happened. We want to be prepared. See, his parents will need to get a visa to come here, venues will need to be booked, and cards made... so we would like any insight or experience that you would be willing to share about what to expect if being put on AP.

Thanks,

Kam

Congrats on receiving an interview date!

If he does get put on AP, this is how you know:

At the end of the interview, the CO hands you a paper called a 221G, which technically means: Visa processing suspended because...and then there is a list of reasons on the sheet such as: pending document, additional processing. One of these reasons will be ticked by the CO and of course, your fiance will verbally be told that everything is fine pending additional admin processing or security checks...

Basically, if you are not told to send in the passport via courier service on the day of your interview (meaning they do not keep your passport) it means you are in AP/AR.

But then again, we were told approved pending the passport, and then got stuck in AP after my fiance send his passport. But I am sure he will take everything required of him at the interview to eliminate the possibility of being approved pending documentation, so just don't stress about it

He will be told whether he will undergo additional processing or not on the day of the interview by the interviewing officer.

What to expect during AP? Well, don't worry about that now, but if you must know, AP/AR at the US Embassy in London is not painstakingly long as compared to other embassies (embassies of "T" countries, for example, have much longer APs: India, Pakistan, etc. But recently, I have come across many AP cases here on VJ as of April onwards that only endured 3-4 months of AP which is not bad at all compared to how it was: 6-8 months used to be the average until recently...anyway, you do not need to worry about this part. Basically, AP/AR in London should be "pain free", the drawback is just the extended wait time. And they want to give you the visa, which is why they put you on AP, I have never heard of a denial in London after putting an applicant on AP/AR.

As far as venues, cards, etc. don't plan anything until your fiance has the visa IN HIS HAND. I know it will be cutting it really close if you want to book a few months in advance, but it is better to wait until he has his visa in hand rather than pay for canceled/postponed venues/dates, etc.

Thank you. That is what I thought. We are really hoping and praying that he gets his visa without AP/AR. It has already been 5 months since we've seen each other and I can't take time off bc i need time for our wedding. It's a real catch-22.

It is! I haven't seen Nik since March, won't see him until October, and its because I'm saving my last 5 days off for the wedding! We all understand here on VJ.

If he gets that nasty 221G, then I'm gonna go for the 3 day weekend. Screw it! I haven't seen him since my birthday (March 3).

[viknkam 0]

I feel very sad and just empty today. I feel so alone. I don't want to talk to my fiance. I haven't ever felt like this. I want to hate him for being so far away from me. Have any of you felt like this? What do you do? I hate life right now.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I feel very sad and just empty today. I feel so alone. I don't want to talk to my fiance. I haven't ever felt like this. I want to hate him for being so far away from me. Have any of you felt like this? What do you do? I hate life right now.

I have often felt like my life is on hold while I wait for Nik to get here. And sometimes it is SO frustrating being apart! Skype can be very flakey when one person is sharing an internet connection with a download frenzied teenager, and sometimes we are in the middle of a conversation when he feels like he should go down to help with dinner, and I just keep thinking "Stay cool, because you'll expect HIM to come down and help YOU with dinner when he gets here..........."

When I start feeling like that, I'll pick an area of the house and clean/organize it in preparation of his arriving here. For example, the last time, I organized my book case, making room for some of his books and also getting mine in order so if he hadn't read any of my beloved books he could easily find them (and their sequels). Eventually I will have to tackle the closet, because I have expanded to take over the whole thing!! Having all these things to do before he arrives sometimes makes it seem like there's not enough time to get it all done! Then it goes by faster!

Also, you just can't put your entire life on hold while you wait for him. I'll go out with my roomate for dinner, or other friends. I managed to go out with groups of people when I was single, why not when I'm engaged? I even joined a hiking club! I've also got a lot of reading done. We have been reading a lot of the same authors, so even though we aren't always reading together, when one or the other of us is unavailable, we are doing the same thing (sort of) together.

Sometimes I'm in the mood to give myself up to anticipation - wedding invitation assembly, or figuring out a list of all the things I want to show Nik about his new home when he gets here (Hiking club!).

I know it's small comfort to say "soon it will be over and you'll be together" because right now it's miserable. Hang in there. It's difficult, but we'll get through!

[Lisa and Ian 7]

I feel very sad and just empty today. I feel so alone. I don't want to talk to my fiance. I haven't ever felt like this. I want to hate him for being so far away from me. Have any of you felt like this? What do you do? I hate life right now.

When I feel like that, I try to count my blessings and just hang on for better days. Sometimes, I don't want to talk to Ian when I feel like I'm just going to get upset and cry when I hear his voice. He feels bad, I feel bad. Some days are just like that.

Better days are coming!

[tinypyramids 0]

Has London been taking forever to send people their packet 3s? We got our NOA2 on 7/22, NVC shipped to London on 8/4, and then nothing since. I looked at some other timelines and the historical averages suggested about 10 days between NVC ship and packet 3, but I don't know how accurate that average has been as of late.

[imaisha 1]

Call DOS and ask them if packet 3 has been generated yet. The embassy will sometimes print everything up and then it'll sit in a pile until they feel like mailing it. As long as it's been generated you can send in the forms.

(202)663-1225 press 1, 0

[macd 1]

Getting impatient for my interview!

[viknkam 0]

Vik had his interview last night... His medical and everything was good. They took his fingerprints and collected his passport. The officer said they had to do some computer checks, but that was all... Does this mean he was approved? Please lemme know... kinda freaking out. Also, how long would it take for him to have his visa in hand if he has been approved? (Interview was August 25 at 8:30am)

Edited August 25, 2009 by viknkam

[tinypyramids 0]

Call DOS and ask them if packet 3 has been generated yet. The embassy will sometimes print everything up and then it'll sit in a pile until they feel like mailing it. As long as it's been generated you can send in the forms.

(202)663-1225 press 1, 0

Update: According to the state department, packet 3 was sent on August 10th. Looks like the posties lost it

At least now we have our state department case number so we can book her medical and send the forms in.

Also, holy ####### that is the longest recorded menu in history. They read off about 5-6 phone numbers and websites before I gave up and just pushed 1, 0.

[tinypyramids 0]

Vik had his interview last night... His medical and everything was good. They took his fingerprints and collected his passport. The officer said they had to do some computer checks, but that was all... Does this mean he was approved? Please lemme know... kinda freaking out. Also, how long would it take for him to have his visa in hand if he has been approved? (Interview was August 25 at 8:30am)

Everything I've been reading suggests that's an approval if they still have his passport. Congratulations!

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Vik had his interview last night... His medical and everything was good. They took his fingerprints and collected his passport. The officer said they had to do some computer checks, but that was all... Does this mean he was approved? Please lemme know... kinda freaking out. Also, how long would it take for him to have his visa in hand if he has been approved? (Interview was August 25 at 8:30am)

Everything I've been reading suggests that's an approval if they still have his passport. Congratulations!

I wouldn't think they would take his passport if he wasn't approved. You or he could always call DOS or the Embassy to find out for sure.

[tinypyramids 0]

Also, another question about the IV-15 checklist: Does it need to be mailed with the forms (DS230, etc.)? I know that the supporting documents are not to be mailed but it was unclear if the checklist itself needed to be included.