Time between Packet 3 and 4

[Holly2234 66]

Good plan

There seem to be quite a few people getting interview dates all of a sudden so im hoping to be one of them! My mail seems to be coming later and later every day and they keep bringing me junk! As long as it doesnt go to my neighbours house like my shopping nearly did (courtesy of Iceland!) the other day, its ok!

[LeedsUK 4]

You poor thing! I'm sure that won't happen & in the meantime you can email or phone DOS & I assume they have your email logged anyway so you should get one way before you receive a letter anyway.

The posts been pretty good for me lately but I can't speak for the embassy & their use of snail mail...I remember my packet 3 letter didn't arrive until almost a week after DOS said they had sent it, rubbish

[Holly2234 66]

Mine took days too! Whenever i mail them stuff, ive used first class recorded and it has got there the next day. Their stuff takes closer to a week.

At the bottom of the emails it always says that it is an informal way of communication and there is no record so i doubt they will email be without me doing it first but i always have that option

[LeedsUK 4]

Right, but you put your email address in your cover letter when you sent DS-2001 back right? I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure we're all supposed to get an email confirming our appointments before we get the letter. I think a lot of people have printed out the email & taken it to the interview rather than waited for the letter. I think Stu's letter arrived after he got back from London for his interview! lol

Great, so basically it's some random person replying? Hope they are correctly checking everyone's info against case numbers & what have you....I have also sent everything back recorded. Have only received one letter so far obviously but I'm prepared to maybe not get a letter at all so I'm not holding my breath & would rather rely on DOS info which I know is risky seen as both myself, Nick & I am sure many others have been given some shockingly misleading info from those lovely visa information agents!

Edited September 20, 2012 by LeedsUK

[Holly2234 66]

Yeah i put my email address on it. I dont think they will email first though. I keep up with a few more DCF people on another site (there seem to be very few over here!)and they all seem to have received just letters.

Yeah it does seem to be some random person replying but when you call up for the code, they take all of your details so im wondering whether the code is different each time. I did include my case number in the email though.

[LeedsUK 4]

Ok, so an email may not necessarily be sitting in my inbox quicker than a letter then! Seems a bit weird when they could just inform us in 3 seconds rather than us waiting for the letter to arrive on our doormat 7 days after we find out from DOS that an interview has been scheduled. My fear is that I will find out my interview date from DOS with very little notice, not receive an email at all & my letter will most definitely not arrive in time! So how the hell am I supposed to attend the interview without any evidence of having an actual appointment? Surely I will get turned away. Hopefully I can call the embassy & say I haven't received an email or letter but I know my interview is on _______!

So just phoned DOS & they said all my paperwork has been processed (On Monday they said it was still processing) & I am eligible for an interview date but one just hasn't been scheduled yet...took all my courage to not just yell at the lady down the phone "BUT WHHHYYY??" lol...also phoned the extortion line to pay for my interview (10 mins!) and received my receipt via email. The guy was really nice & said 4 weeks is the normal wait time (we all know that's rubbish) but he said that as I am past week 3, he was positive that I should get a date in the next 7 days...yes please god!

Edited September 20, 2012 by LeedsUK

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Ok, so an email may not necessarily be sitting in my inbox quicker than a letter then! Seems a bit weird when they could just inform us in 3 seconds rather than us waiting for the letter to arrive on our doormat 7 days after we find out from DOS that an interview has been scheduled. My fear is that I will find out my interview date from DOS with very little notice, not receive an email at all & my letter will most definitely not arrive in time! So how the hell am I supposed to attend the interview without any evidence of having an actual appointment? Surely I will get turned away. Hopefully I can call the embassy & say I haven't received an email or letter but I know my interview is on _______!

So just phoned DOS & they said all my paperwork has been processed (On Monday they said it was still processing) & I am eligible for an interview date but one just hasn't been scheduled yet...took all my courage to not just yell at the lady down the phone "BUT WHHHYYY??" lol...also phoned the extortion line to pay for my interview (10 mins!) and received my receipt via email. The guy was really nice & said 4 weeks is the normal wait time (we all know that's rubbish) but he said that as I am past week 3, he was positive that I should get a date in the next 7 days...yes please god!

Just some info on a few things you mentioned. Appointment notification is by letter only. BUT if an interview gets changed to short notice they could email you because of not enough time for the post. Or if you called that the letter didn't arrive, they might email confirmation of the day and time. I've known a handful who didn't get a letter, forgot it, or otherwise showed up with nothing in hand. The guy at the head of the line has a list of appointments for the day and let them in with no letter or email.

[Holly2234 66]

Thats great that its been processed! Hopefully not long now. I just emailed again.. If they say no date yet, im in the same position, if they give me a date, great! Nothing to lose really.

[LeedsUK 4]

Just some info on a few things you mentioned. Appointment notification is by letter only. BUT if an interview gets changed to short notice they could email you because of not enough time for the post. Or if you called that the letter didn't arrive, they might email confirmation of the day and time. I've known a handful who didn't get a letter, forgot it, or otherwise showed up with nothing in hand. The guy at the head of the line has a list of appointments for the day and let them in with no letter or email.

Thanks for that Nick. I was under the impression that it was a bit like "No letter?...No entry!"

Thanks for the encouragement Holly & yes nothing to lose! Let me know what they reply back. I am going to phone DOS again tomorrow... If it's any consolation, anyone wanting to phone the embassy direct on the extortion line just to check progress, I phoned bang in the middle of lunchtime & got through to an agent in less than a minute, so it might be worth a few pounds if it puts your mind at rest. He did say that their system is only updated every 48 hours though & that for example, my interview may have been scheduled yesterday but he would not know until tomorrow.

Edited September 21, 2012 by LeedsUK

[Holly2234 66]

I called at about 4pm and got right through too. Ive checked my phone bill through and they have charged me about £20.75 and i was only on for 9 minutes! That should only be about £12 including my network charges.

[Jodhilla 0]

Yeah i put my email address on it. I dont think they will email first though. I keep up with a few more DCF people on another site (there seem to be very few over here!)and they all seem to have received just letters.

Just out of interest, what site are you talking about here?

[LeedsUK 4]

I called at about 4pm and got right through too. Ive checked my phone bill through and they have charged me about £20.75 and i was only on for 9 minutes! That should only be about £12 including my network charges.

Omg! That's ridiculous! I haven't checked mine yet but I guess my 10 min call when I paid will be about that much then. I also thought it would be about £12...there must be a connection charge too

[Holly2234 66]

There is a phone number on here : http://london.usembassy.gov/visa_contact_information.html to call if they over charge you. It must happen a lot for there to be a dedicated number for it.

Just out of interest, what site are you talking about here?

I have messaged you!

[LeedsUK 4]

So there is! Never noticed that before! Shocking, so yes they must be over charging. Are you going to query yours? Seems very strange that they know they are over charging yet they are still doing it. I wonder if they actually do give refunds or whether it's just there to stop people complaining so they can give a bunch of excuses for the over charging.

Edited September 21, 2012 by LeedsUK

[LeedsUK 4]

So just called the DOS again, again all my packet 3 has been processed & logged but no joy on an interview date, but now I'm quite confused. The lady said they generally only schedule interviews once a month at the same time & they have an allocated number of how many interviews they can assign each month. She said they start at the top of the pile & pick whoever is first & that as it's almost the end of the month, most likely they already scheduled the ones for the next 4 weeks & won't be scheduling any more until October now. Does this seem right? An interview can surely occur on any day of the month & what about the cancellations & people that get called at the last minute? Also every case is different so some may need longer processing than others. She also mentioned they will always give 4 weeks notice because of the medical & police report. I didn't bother explaining that I am in week 3 & I have done all this. I am taking this advice with a pinch of salt & hoping it's completely untrue....Nich-Nick can you shed some light?