We asked if possible to reschedule interview, now lost our original date.

[jomegared 0]

Oh what a painful day for us. I don't even know where to begin really.

My fiancee was having problems with her work schedule.

They were being very vague as to whether or not they would give her the day of her interview off of work.

Me, feeling helpless from overhear, leaped into action. Action that today proves fatal to our mood, but not to our process.

I immediately called my Senator. Practically in tears with all the emotions that run rampant through this ridiculous process, I asked if they could contact

the consulate and ask if it was possible to reschedule the interview. Of course they were happy to help and sent an email directly to the consular general.

THE NEXT DAY, my fiancee gets a call from the consulate telling her that the next available date for an interview would be January 14th of next year.

YIKES!! Two months away?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

She asked if she could have a day to try one last time to sort it out with her job, the women on the phone replied, "of course you can."

The day after this happened, my fiancee decided that this was more important than work and regardless of what the job said, she would keep the original interview date of November 12th. This Thursday.

She sent a confirmation email on Friday November 6th confirming she wanted to keep the date.

The consulate called her cell phone multiple times that day, but as it is her work phone it was off because it was a Moroccan hoilday.

Our belief, is that someone at the consulate couldn't reach her, so they just said she agreed to the date change.

Monday morning rolled in (today) and I get a frantic call at 6am.

My fiancee received a call from the consulate stating that her interview had been successfully rescheduled for January 14th 2010 at 8am.

She said, "Wait, I sent an email confirming I wish to keep the date!"

We sent tons of emails in the last four hours. I mean tons.

They finally responded with this.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your follow up e-mail. Please note that this office has received several e-mails from yourself, from the Senator's office and from your fiancée requesting her appointment (November 12, 2009) to be changed and rescheduled for a later date. This office has replied to the congressman's e-mail informing them about her new interview appointment on January 14, 2010, at 8:00 am. This office has also called your fiancée to inform her about her new appointment and she acknowledged and agreed. Unfortunately her slot for November 12 has been filled and cannot be altered. However, we will keep her in the standby list for any cancellation of any earlier appointment. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Immigration Visa Unit

United States Consulate General

8 Boulevard Moulay Youssef

Casablanca, Morocco

We merely asked if it was possible to change?

I thought that was a yes or no question.

We were so hopeful our interview was this week.

Now we are crushed and the rude and mean emails haven't stopped.

What a blow.

Just wanted to vent.

How could our interview be given away in a matter of two days? Wow.

[Teffah 5]

Oh what a painful day for us. I don't even know where to begin really.

My fiancee was having problems with her work schedule.

They were being very vague as to whether or not they would give her the day of her interview off of work.

Me, feeling helpless from overhear, leaped into action. Action that today proves fatal to our mood, but not to our process.

I immediately called my Senator. Practically in tears with all the emotions that run rampant through this ridiculous process, I asked if they could contact

the consulate and ask if it was possible to reschedule the interview. Of course they were happy to help and sent an email directly to the consular general.

THE NEXT DAY, my fiancee gets a call from the consulate telling her that the next available date for an interview would be January 14th of next year.

YIKES!! Two months away?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

She asked if she could have a day to try one last time to sort it out with her job, the women on the phone replied, "of course you can."

The day after this happened, my fiancee decided that this was more important than work and regardless of what the job said, she would keep the original interview date of November 12th. This Thursday.

She sent a confirmation email on Friday November 6th confirming she wanted to keep the date.

The consulate called her cell phone multiple times that day, but as it is her work phone it was off because it was a Moroccan hoilday.

Our belief, is that someone at the consulate couldn't reach her, so they just said she agreed to the date change.

Monday morning rolled in (today) and I get a frantic call at 6am.

My fiancee received a call from the consulate stating that her interview had been successfully rescheduled for January 14th 2010 at 8am.

She said, "Wait, I sent an email confirming I wish to keep the date!"

We sent tons of emails in the last four hours. I mean tons.

They finally responded with this.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your follow up e-mail. Please note that this office has received several e-mails from yourself, from the Senator's office and from your fiancée requesting her appointment (November 12, 2009) to be changed and rescheduled for a later date. This office has replied to the congressman's e-mail informing them about her new interview appointment on January 14, 2010, at 8:00 am. This office has also called your fiancée to inform her about her new appointment and she acknowledged and agreed. Unfortunately her slot for November 12 has been filled and cannot be altered. However, we will keep her in the standby list for any cancellation of any earlier appointment. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

Immigration Visa Unit

United States Consulate General

8 Boulevard Moulay Youssef

Casablanca, Morocco

We merely asked if it was possible to change?

I thought that was a yes or no question.

We were so hopeful our interview was this week.

Now we are crushed and the rude and mean emails haven't stopped.

What a blow.

Just wanted to vent.

How could our interview be given away in a matter of two days? Wow.

I am sorry to hear this, it must be hard... to be so close, but yet not close enough. Good luck and God bless you and your fiancee.

[Starlight95 1]

Just keep trying to follow up for an earlier interview. I do understand that they fill those pretty quickly. It takes us a month to get an interview at our consulate and I think there may be people in your shoes that may have requested an earlier interview. My advice is just keep following up at least you may be able to get December interview if anything.

Star

[Minya's wife 24]

Interview dates are usually sent out in enough time to allow for making arrangements to take off from a job if necessary to attend the interview. You got everyone and their mother involved to ask a "is it possible" question, quite last minute as far as the original interview date you had, and are now upset because you didn't get what you wanted?

The initial change of dates was arranged through the phone...if she changed her mind, and wanted to keep the original date, why rely on only an e-mail as notification to the consulate...especially if it was a work holiday and her phone was off? In her email, did your fiancee give another phone number where she could be contacted w/ questions. It sounds like the consulate has made every effort to acomodate you. (There is not plenty of time for you fiancee to be able to take the day off to attend the interview.

[TBoneTX 45,297]

I agree with Minya's wife. In this instance at least, the consulate seemed responsive.

Contrast this with what happened not long ago in Ecuador: A VJ couple had an interview scheduled for 2 p.m. At 9:30 a.m., the Ecuadorian fiancee gets a call ORDERING the couple to appear at 10:30 a.m. instead, or they would lose their appointment altogether. Fortunately, they were already in town and were able to comply with the capricious, arbitrary, dictatorial whim of the ####### consulate.

Although Casa is no bed of roses, at least the place was responsive to what it understood that you wanted. And, if the January date holds, it will give you more time to compile evidence.

[jomegared 0]

Interview dates are usually sent out in enough time to allow for making arrangements to take off from a job if necessary to attend the interview. You got everyone and their mother involved to ask a "is it possible" question, quite last minute as far as the original interview date you had, and are now upset because you didn't get what you wanted?

The initial change of dates was arranged through the phone...if she changed her mind, and wanted to keep the original date, why rely on only an e-mail as notification to the consulate...especially if it was a work holiday and her phone was off? In her email, did your fiancee give another phone number where she could be contacted w/ questions. It sounds like the consulate has made every effort to acomodate you. (There is not plenty of time for you fiancee to be able to take the day off to attend the interview.

The reason I got everyone and their mother involved in the first place is because the consulate only accepts phone calls for ONE HOUR a day. No less and no more.

I spent a couple of days before I got everyone involved calling every 5 minutes during their phone hours, which let me remind is only one. SO....the only real way to contact them,

is through email. If you do not start at the top with Casablanca they will just ignore you completely. So, all we tried to do was compromise between work and the consulate by starting a dialogue between us and them. It was just disappointing that's all.

[jomegared 0]

So how do you recommend contacting a consulate that only opens their phone lines for one hour each day? And then when I call every 5 minutes during this time they send me straight to voice mail. Send an email? No? Not reliable enough? Have her go there? Well that doesn't work either. They don't let you in as a non-citizen. You see, there is a reason I contact everyone in the beginning.

It is just to get them to respond.

[FrostyMist 1]

You could try writing to them? I'm not sure whether this would help much, I've written to the London embassy about a few things, and sometimes I feel like they don't even read my letters properly. The answers I get back are typically vague and confusing!

[Minya's wife 24]

So how do you recommend contacting a consulate that only opens their phone lines for one hour each day? And then when I call every 5 minutes during this time they send me straight to voice mail. Send an email? No? Not reliable enough? Have her go there? Well that doesn't work either. They don't let you in as a non-citizen. You see, there is a reason I contact everyone in the beginning.

It is just to get them to respond.

Most consulates have only a certain time when they receive calls, and it is usually nearly impossible to get through to a live person. That is why the process of getting the interview date is structured in such a way that everything works through 'correspondence', snail-mail.

What I was trying to tell you is that if you 'get the big guns' involved just 'to get them to respond' you may be SOL should you really need them. Contacting your representative/senator is usually reserved when you've exhausted all other 'methods of communication with the consulate and you're not getting a response....and if something goes horribly wrong at the interview. It is not usually advised to get these people involved if you just want to get a response from the consulate. It may take a couple of days, but most consulates do reply to e-mail.

[Wyatt's Torch 45]

Sorry to hear this.

The moral of the story is that at this point in the process NOTHING is more important than that interview date -- not work, not holiday plans...nothing.

[sachinky 465]

Your ENTIRE visa journey has been to get that interview date. I can't imagine WHY someone would want to postpone it, unless of course there's been a REAL emergency like an accident or sudden death. That I can understand. I would kill to have an interview date in 2 weeks. And I have everything ready. Yes, everything. No, I don't have my NOA2 yet.

Sorry this happened to you, mate, but it does sound like you kicked up a fuss and the embassy did try to be accomodating. And why would work schedule matter any way, with regard to your fiancee? She's quitting anyway and moving to the U.S., isn't she?

Edited November 16, 2009 by sachinky