Did you book your fight before attending the interview?

[TAB2TAB 52]

Many airlines on their cheapest non-refundable flights will let you change the date of flight for a nominal fee ($50-75 is what I've seen). So, as far as your gamble is concerned:

Scenario A: You guess correctly - your flight costs $150 purchased ahead of time versus $550. You win, by $400.

Scenario B: You guess incorrectly (visa doesn't arrive in time) - your flight costs $150 + change fee of $50 + difference in fare of $400 for a total of $600 versus $550. You lose, but only by the change fee ($50) not the whole cost of the flight.

Scenario C: You guess incorrectly (unthinkably, the visa is denied at interview) - in this case, you're out the cost of the flight, $150, but that probably is the least of your concerns in this instance.

So my suggestion if you're considering the "gamble": research whether your flight date can be changed, what the change fee is, then make your decision based on how you feel about losing the change fee, versus buying the flight 1 week before at $550.

[Avery Cates 1,141]

I have my K1 interview in Montreal on May 13. Anybody care to tell me how long they waited to have their visa in hand after the interview? Looking to book a flight asap as prices go up drastically the closer you get to the date of your travel.

thx guys and gals!

Generally terrible idea.

[nmvm 1]

I have my K1 interview in Montreal on May 13. Anybody care to tell me how long they waited to have their visa in hand after the interview? Looking to book a flight asap as prices go up drastically the closer you get to the date of your travel.

thx guys and gals!

My friend I am right now in the process of having to suspend all of my tickets/travel arrangements for my husband on account of administrative processing/ security advisory opinion. He passed the interview for an immigrant visa [iR1], the embassy has his passport and he was told that as of yesterday [April 24th] if he did not hear from the embassy [in the Democratic Republic of Congo] that he would just have to wait to be called. Even if the IO/CO tells your partner that they will receive their visa within a specified timeframe, there is absolutely no way of guaranteeing this and it is not up to the discretion of the IO/CO alone. For more on security advisory opinion/admin review and what happens during this process here is a PDF that outlines it: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy/privacy_pia_ice_vsptsnet.pdf [Visa Security Program Tracking System]

Also I actually found tickets to be cheaper [cheaper than the seats I had already purchased] closer to my travel dates. This seems like an anomaly but somehow this was the case for me, I think it depends on the time of the month/year.

You can also search for these topics [administrative processing and security advisory opinion] within forums and wikis on this site.

Just be patient and do not act out of haste like me, I will spend more money now, lose some and spend time coordinating the suspension of my arrangements. Best of luck to you.

[glenmar 34]

I was pretty sure we would not have any problems at K1 interview especially since I would be attending to support my now wife so I booked our tickets minutes after the interview date was confirmed. A week later I found out we were in AP at the NVC !!!. The interview was 4 weeks from the time I made the reservations. We were lucky we were in AP for 3 weeks. So now I fly out to Manila for the interview...next thing you know we ended up in AP again because the embassy lost the medical results. We were once again lucky since they found the medical results and issued the visa 4 days before we were scheduled to fly home..

So,,,,there's one thing you gota ask yourself...Do you feel lucky???

[precious11 1]

Haha .. This is an awesome topic. This is about luck. My fiancee bought my ticket a week before my interview. And i even had problems with my medical. So my interview was postponed. If u feel confident about everything then go for it. But think about the money u gonna spend if u dont fly on that ticket u bought. My husband is so positive that he didnt even care if his gonna buy again another ticket if i cant fly, he said anyway its just money, u can find it. But the soonest u see ur fiancee is the best thing in th world more than money can buy. I felt we were gambling that time. He was the financer and i was th player, but guess what i played well.. We won.

Bought my ticket May 11 2013

Interview may 23 2013

Medical result received May 23 2013

Interview moved May 28 2013

May 28- 31 2013 On AP

Visa Recieve June 6 2013 and found out my Visa has a problem (birthday incorrect)

Arrive in US 8 June 2013 with incorrect birthday.

Bamm!!!!!

[Jawaree 717]

They advise do not resign jobs, purchase plane

tickets or make big changes before visa is in

hand....what if one goes into extended AP

[lizascissors 65]

Thanks for the input guys, I will study the average wait times for the Montreal consulate and will make a decision from there (if I take a chance or not). For 150 bucks, it may be worth the risk... My flight if booked a month+ in advance; 150.00, if I wait to buy the week before travel: 550.00. sigh....

You could always book it a little further in advance? I mean.... that way if it takes a few weeks or whatever, you still have some wiggle room? It might just mean that you have to wait a few extra days to be with your person!