Losing patience

[Kayla34 0]

My fiance was approved Jan. 14 and it is now the 22nd. Guess what, no visa yet. He calls the embassy and they can't give him any information, he calls the DX service and they tell him its not in their system. I've seen a lot of people on here that have been getting theirs in the predicted 3 to 5 days. I don't know what's going on. Maybe I'm overreacting. Were getting married Feb. 19th and I just really want him back home with me, I've had to plan everything myself without him and I really want to include him on something! I'm hoping it arrives Monday or Tuesday. I guess that's my rant. Just feeling a little frustrated, this isn't the most easiest process

[sachinky 465]

Give it another week. You're almost done.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I promise that the moment he steps off the plane, it will seem like no time at all!

The last few days are THE LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONGEST! I swear that the September before Nik arrived had way more than just 30 days in it. It felt like years!

[pdcvcc 0]

Wasn't he given information to track the visa? When I was there with my fiance they gave him the tracking information and said we could look on line. Just when we were about to do that, the doorbell rang ... on a Sunday which was strange. Anyway, does he have the sheet with the tracking information or maybe he has already received it by now?

[FrostyMist 1]

Your fiance should have been given some information from the courier, which includes a tracking number and link to the website so he can find out when the visa is due to arrive. I think that the information only shows up on the courier's system once the visa is actually on route to be delivered, so if it's not on the website yet, the embassy probably have not issued it.

My interview was January 15th. We were told by the embassy that the visa should be delivered in 3-6 days, though I looked it up on visajourney last Thursday (when I started to get a bit worried and impatient) and many people seem to wait as long as 10 - 12 days. I figured I'd panic if the visa hadn't arrived after 14 days.

I just checked the tracking information yesterday though, and my visa is now scheduled to be delivered on Monday (25th). Since your fiance had his interview the day before mine, hopefully they would have issued his visa by now, too. You should have him check the tracking site again.

Edited January 24, 2010 by FrostyMist

[Kayla34 0]

I'm feeling better about it. My honey called the embassy today and they said it's been processed just needs to be handed over to the courier. Should be here Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks everyone

[FrostyMist 1]

Glad to hear it shouldn't be too long until the visa arrives. I know the wait can be frustrating - after doing this for so long, you'd think the wait gets easier, but I think it just seems harder! My visa was delivered by the courier this morning. It's a great relief to finally have visa in hand!

Edited January 25, 2010 by FrostyMist

[Nik+Heather 121]

Having the visa in hand finally means that your lives are back under your own control and you're no longer at the mercy of various departments of the federal government.....at least until you have to start AOS!

At least you can be together for that time.

[jonoger1984 1]

Can I jump in and ask if the courier delivers at the weekend as well? I have my interview on the 29th and (hoping and praying everything goes well) I'm hoping to fly on feb 8th. Think I might be pushing it a bit?

[SunDrop 59]

Can I jump in and ask if the courier delivers at the weekend as well? I have my interview on the 29th and (hoping and praying everything goes well) I'm hoping to fly on feb 8th. Think I might be pushing it a bit?

Allegedly, they do. I've read of people having the courier turn up on a Sunday. BUT... as it's usually overnight delivery and you're interviewing on a Friday. They say allow 4-5 days (I'm guessing working days) for visa issuance, then you're cutting it a little fine.

They're also closing the embassy on Wednesday 27th for all interviews, and who knows why. It could be a safety reason because of visiting dignitaries or something like a mass training course for all assessing COs. This means they're possibly not working behind the scenes that day, so they'll be playing catch up with rescheduled interviews and already approved visa issuance.

If you've not booked your flight yet, move it back a couple days. If you have, contact the airline and explain the situation. This time of year flights tend not to be fully booked, so they might be sympathetic and change your departure date for admin fee cost only. It's usually 24 hours cut-off for changing your flight, so you'll need to check that too. If you've not got your visa by Saturday 6th, then you'll know to change your flight. You can actually find out by Friday if your visa's on its way by using the tracking number to see if a pick-up/ delivery has been scheduled. They won't be picking up on the weekend, as the embassy is closed.

[FrostyMist 1]

Can I jump in and ask if the courier delivers at the weekend as well? I have my interview on the 29th and (hoping and praying everything goes well) I'm hoping to fly on feb 8th. Think I might be pushing it a bit?

I think you have to pay extra for weekend delivery-though I'm not sure. I just payed the standard amount, so didn't pay too much attention to the other services available.

Edited January 26, 2010 by FrostyMist

[jonoger1984 1]

Thank you for your advice, my ticket has been booked using airmiles and it's free to change. I'll get in touch with the airline to put something on my file, maybe I can provisionally choose different flights so that if the visa hasn't turned up by saturday PM I can call them and confirm the change.

Is there no way of fast tracking the processing at the embassy?

I was kind of hoping the fact that the embassy being closed to the public of Jan 27th would be a positive thing, allowing staff to process what they already have without adding anymore to the "to do" pile!