In transit and interview wait times

[av8or1 246]

Yeah I would recommend getting the medical scheduled before scheduling the interview. This is the peak travel season so there is a backlog. We had an 11 day wait before we could get in to do the medical, but it didn't matter in our case because there were no interview slots until that week anyway.

You have my Russian number so give me a call later if you wanna chat.

[av8or1 246]

Ksenia, anyone: any feedback WRT the stroller thing? Also, I read online today that they go into your email and validate stuff. That seems invasive and odd to me; also seems untrue; could they get that access? I mean, I supplied a listing of our emails, but I would prefer that the actual content be kept private. Our little "love notes" should remain ours, not shared with the government/embassy. Any thoughts on that? I guess in the end it wouldn't hurt anything if they read that stuff, just not my choice. :-)

[ce2010 7]

av8or1

I dont think they can do that... i know that if you have facebook account they can find you from their computer to see if you have fiancee or relationship status or somehing..

no one can log into your private stuff, if you are not running away after killing 20 people ...

by the way i will call you tomorrow my name is john

[av8or1 246]

Hey John,

Ok thank you for the feedback. I didn't hear from you yesterday, but I hope that all is well. With the delay in printing, I suspect that I may just end up staying here until my vacation time is exhausted and I'm forced to return. Wouldn't ya know that something like this would crop up at the very end of the process for me. Lol

Point being that I should be around if you wanna call. At least for the next little bit anyway...

[av8or1 246]

UPDATE

Elena received her interview approval today! So we have the K1 "final approval" and that's to the good, but because of the state department BS we are still in a holding pattern. The CO told her that we can expect a minimum of a 2 week delay, possibly 3 before we receive the visa. That puts me at the very limit of the amount of time that I can stay here, so there is still a very real chance that despite all of my efforts I may have to leave them behind. If so, it should be for only a short while, but I would also feel horrible because Elena would need to travel with David and the associated luggage all by herself. And that would be no small feat. I'd really rather be there to help with the traveling. And of course all of the other stuff such as missing them horribly goes without saying.

I didn't end up attending the interview today. I couldn't get an answer regarding whether or not I could bring David and all of our baby gear, so I told Elena to just go without me. Everything went ok she said. She was the last to be interviewed so it went rather quickly. He asked the basic questions, didn't want to see much of our on-going evidence and then it was done. Kept her passport until who knows when. FRIGGIN STATE DEPARTMENT!

So that's the latest. Much thanks to everyone, most especially Ksenia for her assistance through the process!

[Ksenia1985 37]

UPDATE

Elena received her interview approval today! So we have the K1 "final approval" and that's to the good, but because of the state department BS we are still in a holding pattern. The CO told her that we can expect a minimum of a 2 week delay, possibly 3 before we receive the visa. That puts me at the very limit of the amount of time that I can stay here, so there is still a very real chance that despite all of my efforts I may have to leave them behind. If so, it should be for only a short while, but I would also feel horrible because Elena would need to travel with David and the associated luggage all by herself. And that would be no small feat. I'd really rather be there to help with the traveling. And of course all of the other stuff such as missing them horribly goes without saying.

I didn't end up attending the interview today. I couldn't get an answer regarding whether or not I could bring David and all of our baby gear, so I told Elena to just go without me. Everything went ok she said. She was the last to be interviewed so it went rather quickly. He asked the basic questions, didn't want to see much of our on-going evidence and then it was done. Kept her passport until who knows when. FRIGGIN STATE DEPARTMENT!

So that's the latest. Much thanks to everyone, most especially Ksenia for her assistance through the process!

Congratulations!!!! I was sure you will be approved no problem! I read about US Embassies having trouble globaly, but I wish you to get visa in hand in time for you guys to leave together!

[ce2010 7]

i did the ds 160 (without photo, becuase it didnt accept my fiancees picture) i saw that it says i can give the pictures at the interview..???

i paid..

now the system said please wait for the email ??? what is that supposed to mean? am i going to wait 1 business day for them to open up that system?

Edited June 18, 2015 by ce2010

[Ksenia1985 37]

i did the ds 160 (without photo, becuase it didnt accept my fiancees picture) i saw that it says i can give the pictures at the interview..???

i paid..

now the system said please wait for the email ??? what is that supposed to mean? am i going to wait 1 business day for them to open up that system?

I believe you can bring pics to the interview if you didn't upload it along with your DS-160.

After you fill in DS-160 they send an applicant the e-mail with confirmation page that you are to print and bring to the interview.

[ce2010 7]

i already have the conirmation page printed (that was at the end of application)

my question is now system said i have to wait till consulate contacts my fiancee. how long will this take???? how am i going to get to date searching screen?

[Ksenia1985 37]

i already have the conirmation page printed (that was at the end of application)

my question is now system said i have to wait till consulate contacts my fiancee. how long will this take???? how am i going to get to date searching screen?

It is not very clear what exactly you are asking, cuz you don't mention at what point you had this message. I am guessing you tried to schedule and it didn't let you see the dates? If so they will open that for you in a 24 hour period normally, unless their technical problems are affecting this part also and then it might take longer.

Also the first e-mail I as the beneficiary got from the Embassy was right after I filled out ds-160 it said I can schedule the interview now.

Either way if this is not what you are asking please give more info about where exactly you saw that message.

[av8or1 246]

Congratulations!!!! I was sure you will be approved no problem! I read about US Embassies having trouble globaly, but I wish you to get visa in hand in time for you guys to leave together!

Hi Ksenia,

Thank you! We'll see about being able to return together. It really hacks me off that the State Department would allow such a thing to happen on such a large scale. Simply absolutely abysmal organization. Don't get me started. Hopefully it will come at the 2 week point, but it's all TBD. And of course I'm also angry about it because they made me wait so long in 'Ready' status before they switched us to AP and allowed us to schedule the interview. If they had done that quicker then we would not have been in this mess, as our interview could easily have taken place prior to June 9th. But it is what it is...

Ksenia, were you given a sealed envelope to take with you to the POE? I seem to recall this was the case in the past, but Elena told me that she wasn't given any packet/envelope and further that the CO told her that she only needed the passport with the visa in it. Finally, they of course canceled her tourist visa, but no biggie there, we were expecting that.

ps-Forget about the medical folk giving you a pass on the vaccinations if you are breastfeeding. The doctor told Elena that if she didn't take two of the vaccinations that she would have a problem in the interview. So she took them, but she was quite angry about it afterwards, despite the doctor telling her that they won't affect the breastfeeding...

[av8or1 246]

i already have the conirmation page printed (that was at the end of application)

my question is now system said i have to wait till consulate contacts my fiancee. how long will this take???? how am i going to get to date searching screen?

John,

I think you are asking about the email from the embassy that gives you the green light to schedule the interview. As Ksenia stated, this will happen at some variable amount of time after you complete the DS-160. The email is always sent to the beneficiary's email address, not the petitioner. However I did send an email to the consulate address and they sent me a complimentary verification email too. I completed the DS-160 immediately, while still in 'Ready' status and it was this email that I was waiting on before we could schedule the interview. You might recall from earlier in this thread that it was driving me crazy that they were making me wait so long to do it (almost 2 weeks). Usually, the change into AP status roughly coincides with the email (ours was the same day, ergo, we were switched into AP and received the email from the embassy stating that it was ok to schedule the interview on the same day). However you are already in AP status, so who knows how long it will take for you to receive this email. My advice: have your fiance check her email a couple of times per day until you get it.

And you won't be able to schedule anything until they give you the go-ahead.

[Ksenia1985 37]

Hi Ksenia,

Thank you! We'll see about being able to return together. It really hacks me off that the State Department would allow such a thing to happen on such a large scale. Simply absolutely abysmal organization. Don't get me started. Hopefully it will come at the 2 week point, but it's all TBD. And of course I'm also angry about it because they made me wait so long in 'Ready' status before they switched us to AP and allowed us to schedule the interview. If they had done that quicker then we would not have been in this mess, as our interview could easily have taken place prior to June 9th. But it is what it is...

Ksenia, were you given a sealed envelope to take with you to the POE? I seem to recall this was the case in the past, but Elena told me that she wasn't given any packet/envelope and further that the CO told her that she only needed the passport with the visa in it. Finally, they of course canceled her tourist visa, but no biggie there, we were expecting that.

ps-Forget about the medical folk giving you a pass on the vaccinations if you are breastfeeding. The doctor told Elena that if she didn't take two of the vaccinations that she would have a problem in the interview. So she took them, but she was quite angry about it afterwards, despite the doctor telling her that they won't affect the breastfeeding...

You will get the sealed yellow envelope along with her passport. At the POE the customs officer will open it and possibly take the cd with an x-ray. They did take mine, but a week later we received a copy of my medical and the cd back from LA(my POE).

My visitor's visa wasn't cancelled, but it's not like I will need it neither it will stay valid once I apply for AOS.

[av8or1 246]

You will get the sealed yellow envelope along with her passport. At the POE the customs officer will open it and possibly take the cd with an x-ray. They did take mine, but a week later we received a copy of my medical and the cd back from LA(my POE).

My visitor's visa wasn't cancelled, but it's not like I will need it neither it will stay valid once I apply for AOS.

Ah ok, so the envelope comes with the passport via Pony Express then? Interesting, I didn't know that nor was Elena informed of that. She was given a copy of the CD with her x-ray on it, but I suspect that there will be an additional one in this yellow envelope thing.

Very curious as to why your tourist visa wasn't canceled but Elena's was. I've ready every where else that the beneficiary's tourist visa was canceled too. 'Guess it depends on the CO who does the interview...I agree, it doesn't matter once you adjust, it's just a curiosity/completeness thing that my engineering mind addresses automatically. lol

As for the delivery, did Pony Express actually bring it to your apartment? Elena told me that when she received her tourist visa, that Pony Express simply called her and told her to pick it up at their office. We're considering traveling to see her mother and naturally I'm concerned as to what would happen if they attempted delivery when we were absent.

[ce2010 7]

i got the appointment ..!!!

where do you recommend for me and my fiancee to stay in moscow ??? around 50 to 80 $ a night budget? (i want to be close to embassy and medical place and METRO STATION)