Urgent: Problems 4 days before interview

[jmosborn 1]

Looking for any advice from people familiar with the D-160 tourist visa process in general or specifically in Guatemala.

My wife (US LPR) and myself (US Citizen) have been helping her mother go through the visa application process for a tourist visa to come visit the US. We have been following the instructions for the US embassy in Guatemala here:

http://guatemala.usembassy.gov/niv_how_to_apply.html

*She has filled out the online application and printed the confirmation

*She paid for a PIN and called to make her interview

*Her interview this Monday, March 19 (4 days!)

*She went to the bank last week to pay for the visa (as the instructions say), but they said the receipt of her visa hadn't come from the embassy, so she couldn't pay yet. Come back next Thursday (today)

*She went back to the bank today and they said it still hadn't arrived and that she could try going to the bank in the capital city (she lives 6 hours from the capital) to pay there.

So we need to figure this out pretty urgently or she'll lose her interview. The people in the bank gave no guarantee that the bank in the capital will have the receipt, so there doesn't seem any use in wasting the money and time to go there to find out. She could try paying on the morning of her interview while she's in the capital, but her interview is early and she likely wouldn't have time.

The embassy phone line doesn't take any questions regarding the visa process.

I tried calling the 1-866 number in the above instructions to pay to speak with someone about this. An automated system has me enter a CC# and I've tried several of my CC's but it says they weren't able to authorize any of them! Something must be wrong with their system.

What can we do at this point? Is it even worth her going to the interview on Monday having not paid the visa yet? Do you think they will understand if she explains that the bank never received a receipt in order to allow her to pay the visa?

Does anyone know of another way to contact someone at the embassy or in general about the visa process in order to get answers?

Apart from the payment, my mother in law has all her documents in order and has a good case for a visa. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Sorry this is a bank problem, we can't help in this situation. Good luck.

[Diana and Chris 25]

Looking for any advice from people familiar with the D-160 tourist visa process in general or specifically in Guatemala.

My wife (US LPR) and myself (US Citizen) have been helping her mother go through the visa application process for a tourist visa to come visit the US. We have been following the instructions for the US embassy in Guatemala here:

http://guatemala.usembassy.gov/niv_how_to_apply.html

*She has filled out the online application and printed the confirmation

*She paid for a PIN and called to make her interview

*Her interview this Monday, March 19 (4 days!)

*She went to the bank last week to pay for the visa (as the instructions say), but they said the receipt of her visa hadn't come from the embassy, so she couldn't pay yet. Come back next Thursday (today)

*She went back to the bank today and they said it still hadn't arrived and that she could try going to the bank in the capital city (she lives 6 hours from the capital) to pay there.

So we need to figure this out pretty urgently or she'll lose her interview. The people in the bank gave no guarantee that the bank in the capital will have the receipt, so there doesn't seem any use in wasting the money and time to go there to find out. She could try paying on the morning of her interview while she's in the capital, but her interview is early and she likely wouldn't have time.

The embassy phone line doesn't take any questions regarding the visa process.

I tried calling the 1-866 number in the above instructions to pay to speak with someone about this. An automated system has me enter a CC# and I've tried several of my CC's but it says they weren't able to authorize any of them! Something must be wrong with their system.

What can we do at this point? Is it even worth her going to the interview on Monday having not paid the visa yet? Do you think they will understand if she explains that the bank never received a receipt in order to allow her to pay the visa?

Does anyone know of another way to contact someone at the embassy or in general about the visa process in order to get answers?

Apart from the payment, my mother in law has all her documents in order and has a good case for a visa. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Why doesn't she go to the Capital one day before early in the morning and pay for the interview that day? What ever you would be paying for another interview she could just use for a hotel to stay the night.

[jmosborn 1]

Thanks for the replies.

@NancyNguyen, yeah its obviously the bank's/embassy's fault. But the embassy doesn't tend to be understanding of mistakes even when its theirs.

I suppose the answer to the problem was obvious--she needs find a way to pay it at another bank before the interview--but I was just hoping to get opinions on what might be the reaction of the embassy if she showed up for the interview without having paid the visa yet, and the fact that it wasn't her fault.

[aaydrian 479]

Thanks for the replies.

@NancyNguyen, yeah its obviously the bank's/embassy's fault. But the embassy doesn't tend to be understanding of mistakes even when its theirs.

I suppose the answer to the problem was obvious--she needs find a way to pay it at another bank before the interview--but I was just hoping to get opinions on what might be the reaction of the embassy if she showed up for the interview without having paid the visa yet, and the fact that it wasn't her fault.

The embassy official most likely will not react kindly. I'm of the impression that as long as it's not their fault or a number of persons dealing with the embassy isn't having similar problems then they don't care. Don't know how your embassy conducts itself but she may not even be allowed to go very far without a receipt of sorts showing that she paid what was necessary.

Question is why did she (you & your wife too) wait until 4 days before her scheduled interview 'ifing' and 'buting' about paying her fees? That's beyond risky esp being that 2 out of the 4 days is a weekend.

[jmosborn 1]

The embassy official most likely will not react kindly. I'm of the impression that as long as it's not their fault or a number of persons dealing with the embassy isn't having similar problems then they don't care. Don't know how your embassy conducts itself but she may not even be allowed to go very far without a receipt of sorts showing that she paid what was necessary.

Question is why did she (you & your wife too) wait until 4 days before her scheduled interview 'ifing' and 'buting' about paying her fees? That's beyond risky esp being that 2 out of the 4 days is a weekend.

Good question. The bank dragged her along for 2 weeks (she got an interview date of only 2 weeks after having applied), saying "we still haven't received your visa application receipt from the embassy in order to pay, come back next week". Then, the day I posted here, the bank changes the story and says that they no longer process visa payments and that only one bank in the country does. So it was really all last minute for fault of miscommunications between the bank and embassy.

I'm happy to report that by a great miracle or stroke of luck, she was able to pay it just before going in for the interview. And she was approved for the visa.

Lesson: a quick interview date isn't always best.

[aaydrian 479]

Congratulations. How/Where did she make the payments?

[jmosborn 1]

Congratulations. How/Where did she make the payments?

Just wanted to followup here. She made the payment at the central bank before the interview. She said she was lucky because the bank was on the way to the embassy and she was able to get to the interview on time.

On a side note, the interview was oddly easy. They just asked her the basic questions of where she's going and how long she wants to stay. The interviewer was in a good mood that day.