DS-160 vs DS-230/156/156k

[Anna&Adam 0]

Hi everyone!

I'm a bit confused about what forms are required by the Syney embassy, now that they have changed to the DS-160 system. Please, I'm looking for CURRENT forms required, which means only people submitting in the past 6-8 weeks will have the relevant experience.

I have my Packet 3, which asks for:

Forms required:

Form DS-160 Confirmation page only

Form I-134 Affidavit of Support

Form DSL-1076 Applicants Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed

However, the link to the DSL-1076 states:

1. Complete and return immediately to this office the enclosed form DS-230I, Immigrant Visa Application Part I, Biographic Data. We cannot process your case until this form is received.

2. Fill out two copies and sign forms DS-156, Nonimmigrant Visa Application. Please refer to the attachment regarding the Electronic Visa Application Form (EVAF). If your children will apply with you, two copies of forms DS-156 for each child must be completed in full, including photograph.

Form DS-156(K), Nonimmigrant Fiancé(e) Visa Application: All questions must be answered. Please do not sign this form. It is to be signed in front of the consular officer on the day of your interview.

I was under the impression that the DS-160 was to replace the DS-230, DS-156 and DS-156K. Do I need to send all of the forms (including DS-230/156/156K), or just the three listed in the instructions (DS-160, I-134 and DSL-1076)?

Also, (and I feel stupid asking this), do you send in your proof of relationship (photos etc) and passport with your documents? Or just bring them to the interview?

What did you do?

[Aussiechik77 4]

I am in the same boat pretty sure just the 160 online one overrides it all now . Not sure if you know but do you know if I need my fiancé birth cert and previous death cert ? To send away also cos on the instructions it says the applicant so Confused

[Anna&Adam 0]

As the Australian fiancée, I believe it's only my birth certificate. I was the beneficiary (when the application was in the US) and am now the applicant (as it is in Aus). My American fiancé was the petitioner, and his birth certificate was supplied in the petition (US application).

Not sure on death certificate...who is it for? I think all the paperwork to Sydney is about YOU, as the visa is for you. So they want YOUR details, YOUR ID, YOUR past marriages etc. Your American partner was checked out when the petition was in the US.

However, I have not yet sent in my Packet 3, so other opinions could help!

[Aussiechik77 4]

Thanks for the reply that's what I thought but we got a lawyer and they say another thing but the lawyer has been not so great so not sure .. I re read all the papers and the way I read it it's only all my papers they need... Arghhh so confusing thanks anyway ?

My fiancé is a double widower so it's his last 2 wives

[flowershoes 2]

I need the exact same information!! I'm emailing the consulate this arvo, hopefully they'll be able to shed some light...

[arunhn 0]

I need the exact same information!! I'm emailing the consulate this arvo, hopefully they'll be able to shed some light...

Hi.. Did you get a response from the consulate about this?

[flowershoes 2]

Hi.. Did you get a response from the consulate about this?

Yep, only the DS-160 is needed now. But I'd actually double check with your own consulate just in case!

[Rinni 3]

Yep, only the DS-160 is needed now. But I'd actually double check with your own consulate just in case!

For clarifications sake because I've been tearing my hair out with stress over what to do when I get home from the US (With the limited time frame I have) .....

This means when we send packet 3 back, ready to get an interview date, we only need to send the:

Form DS-160 Confirmation page only

Form I-134 Affidavit of Support (With suporting evidence)

Form DSL-1076 Applicants Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed (With necessary documents)

Can I send this all before I have my medical and have my medical results sent to the embassy like I've seen posted around? Or is it best to wait out and have the medical then send everything. I honestly thought the Doctor/s sent it to the embassy themselves. I'm not sure of what kind of wait period there will be for medicals, if anyone can share some light on that, it'd be great.

Slightly off topic- What time frame am I looking at regarding the interview date too? And will it be a hassle with my NoA2 coming to its expiration at the end of Jan. (We weren't expecting NOA2 for quite some time and I've on holidays in the states now, and then the NVC took a while to receive our documents, therefore I had a bit of a wait to my Packet 3.) I understand my Packet 3 states- "Please note that you must be interviewed and have your visa issued within the four-month validity of your petition" But I know some people have extended their NoA due to not having an interview date set. I'm very worried about not getting my medical + Interview before the end of January.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I wish there was a one way direct line sometimes for this so I can stop stressing asking myself - "what if, and or but."

Edited December 10, 2013 by Rinni1990

[flowershoes 2]

For clarifications sake because I've been tearing my hair out with stress over what to do when I get home from the US (With the limited time frame I have) .....

This means when we send packet 3 back, ready to get an interview date, we only need to send the:

Form DS-160 Confirmation page only

Form I-134 Affidavit of Support (With suporting evidence)

Form DSL-1076 Applicants Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed (With necessary documents)

Can I send this all before I have my medical and have my medical results sent to the embassy like I've seen posted around? Or is it best to wait out and have the medical then send everything. I honestly thought the Doctor/s sent it to the embassy themselves. I'm not sure of what kind of wait period there will be for medicals, if anyone can share some light on that, it'd be great.

Slightly off topic- What time frame am I looking at regarding the interview date too? And will it be a hassle with my NoA2 coming to its expiration at the end of Jan. (We weren't expecting NOA2 for quite some time and I've on holidays in the states now, and then the NVC took a while to receive our documents, therefore I had a bit of a wait to my Packet 3.) I understand my Packet 3 states- "Please note that you must be interviewed and have your visa issued within the four-month validity of your petition" But I know some people have extended their NoA due to not having an interview date set. I'm very worried about not getting my medical + Interview before the end of January.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I wish there was a one way direct line sometimes for this so I can stop stressing asking myself - "what if, and or but."

I got my medical and sent my results in altogether, however it's totally fine if you just send them a note indicating that you'll bring your medical results in on the day of your interview. The consulate in Australia is reknowned for how laid back they are when it comes to this sort of thing. (I heard that from Americans who worked in immigration over there! 'Straya!) Depending on the state you're in, the doctors often DO send the records straight to the interview. I'm in QLD so that was not the case for me.

Having a look at the timeline, it doesn't look like there's much of a wait between packet three and packet four (and then the scheduled interview). People who have their interview December 24th sent their third packets in mid November, if that helps you out at all? I've also heard you can contact the consulate to reschedule your interview (IE push it forward if you need to? They generally schedule it later simply for your benefit of getting flights+docs together.)

Hope this helps!

[dodgyJim73 6]

I'll chip in as I've just finished this whole process. Sorry if I'm repeating anything but I'm addressing points in each message as I'm scrolling through.

The DS-160 form was introduced Oct 7th 2013. So for all K-1 applicants who are sending in packet 3 AFTER this date you no longer have to worry about DS-230I/DS-230II/156/156k and 157. DS-160 basically squeezes all of those forms together into a nice neat on-line process.

The DS-160 form applies across the board, it shouldn't matter which embassy you are dealing with.
http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_4230.html

Your packet 3 does ask for the following:

• Form DS-160 Confirmation page only
• Form I-134 Affidavit of Support (With suporting evidence)
• Form DSL-1076 Applicants Statement of Readiness to be Interviewed (With necessary documents)

The last time I checked...the consulate still hadn't updated the details of the 1076 form, so ignore any references to those old documents. The number of discrepancies with the whole K-1 process astonishes me.

You DO NOT send proof of relationship documents and photos or your passport in packet 3. The proof was all part of the I-129F submission, you generally don't require it for your interview at the consulate in Sydney either but I took mine just in case. While I was having my interview the consulate staff member was going through our file and everything we submitted with the I-129F at the start was sitting there in front of him.

The only certificates and police checks etc that you need are ones that relate to the Australian citizen (you, the beneficiary) that is applying for it. The consulate will already have the American petitioner details in the file.

I sent my packet 3 in before I had completed my medical. On the checklist page I placed a post-it note with a little message that I was booked in for my medical and had the doctor name, date and time of my medical appointment. They didn't have a problem with that. But! That might only apply to the doctors in Sydney because they do not give you the medical records like the doctors in Melbourne and Brisbane do. If you are outside of Sydney then you might have to wait until you have your medical and send everything at once or as flowershoes said, let them know you'll bring them in with you.

Some of the immigration lawyers are terrible. We used one in the USA and she was appalling, I ended up doing all the research myself and putting everything together. I wish I'd found this site before we paid that hack $1000! When our packet 3 e-mail came through, she e-mailed us 2 weeks later to let us know it was ready. When packet 4 came through we didn't hear from her at all. The embassy sent us an e-mail on Tuesday Dec 17th asking us for an urgent response by COB that day about moving my interview up to the 20th rather than the 24th, our top quality immigration lawyer e-mailed us on the 20th to let us know about the proposed rescheduling. 3 days later! I will be doing the next phase of this without her 'help' and expenses

Rinni1990, The doctors in Sydney have about a 4-5 week timeframe to get an appointment. In Brisbane it is far less. I booked with Dr.Waks in Sydney and it was about a 5 week wait but had to cancel due to work. I booked in Brisbane and the wait was only about 1 week, they actually had plenty of free appointments but I had to cancel again because of work (sigh). I then booked with Dr.Rappaport in Sydney and had to wait 4 weeks.

Check out my timeline for our dates as a reference. Our petition was due to expire on Dec 29th and they got me in on the 20th. I'm sure they manage interview dates based on the expiry dates of the petition, if not they can extend it for you.

Aussiechik77. Your fiancee is a double widower!! Oh my. I hope you're his lucky charm because he's clearly had a bad run of luck.

flowershoes. How did you go with your e-mail to the consulate? They can be very very vague when responding to e-mail.

[dodgyJim73 6]

Also...a further note about the medical process.

If you aren't sure of your immunisations then one thing I can recommend is to get a blood test a couple of weeks before your medical, please note this might be different from doctor to doctor etc so it may not make a difference in your medical exam. I don't have an immunisation record so a couple of weeks before my medical I went to my local doctor and took in a complete list of the vaccines the USA require and had a blood test to see if I had already received the vaccines when I was a baby/toddler.

Because of Medicare it only cost me time so I didn't mind doing it. My doctor printed the results on letterhead, stamped and signed the page and that was good enough proof for Dr.Rappaport so my blood didn't need to be tested again. While you are at your local doctor you could also get a sexual heath blood test. The only thing my blood was tested for at the USA medical was syphilis and if I had remembered to bring my sexual health blood test from 2 weeks earlier then I wouldn't have needed to give blood at all on the day of my exam, waiting for the blood results to come back is what slows down the medical from getting to the embassy, blood tests are usually a 2 day turnaround.

Also keep in mind that at your medical you will need to take a urine test, part of this test is for the presence of drugs so if you like to have a puff, sniff, snort or shelve of anything...you should stop NOW.