Interviews for Ethiopia

[benbu75 1]

Lidiya and I were notified that our case was complete on March 12, and our interview letter date was June 25, so it was almost 3 1/2 months. I'm not sure, but the timeframe may also be connected to your initial filing date; ours was December 2013. What you won't get from NVC is information. I called several times and they would only tell me it had been sent to the US Embassy in Addis, but they had no other -- and had no way of getting any other -- information. It was very frustrating. Lidiya had her interview yesterday and was approved (!!), so stay strong.

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

Lidiya and I were notified that our case was complete on March 12, and our interview letter date was June 25, so it was almost 3 1/2 months. I'm not sure, but the timeframe may also be connected to your initial filing date; ours was December 2013. What you won't get from NVC is information. I called several times and they would only tell me it had been sent to the US Embassy in Addis, but they had no other -- and had no way of getting any other -- information. It was very frustrating. Lidiya had her interview yesterday and was approved (!!), so stay strong.

awesome!! thanks for coming back and sharing.. and congrats on your approval !!! happy endings happy life!

yea it looks like 3 and half months is the norm now.. so a few should be hearing something for September

[A56 & A69 4]

Congrats to you and Lidia for hanging in there. 18 months process to me is truly along time. 1. My questions did you have to provide more documents which held ur case up for such a long time frame. 2. Can you provide any details(eg. Interview questions). Thank Woody

[benbu75 1]

Congrats to you and Lidia for hanging in there. 18 months process to me is truly along time. 1. My questions did you have to provide more documents which held ur case up for such a long time frame. 2. Can you provide any details(eg. Interview questions). Thank Woody

I'm not sure exactly what they took from her before the interview. She said she gave them her passport and an updated copy of the police certificate (it hadn't been a year yet, but she was nervous about it, so I told her to go ahead and get a new one). I had her go get new passport photos, just in case, and I sent her updated tax/income info for the AoS. For evidence, she took with her ~200 photos of our wedding and honeymoon, about 40 pages of Rebtel call logs, and about 50 receipts of bank/Moneygram transfers. During the interview, the CO didn't ask to see anything she had brought (she had a big photo album and a binder for all of the documents). Perhaps because he could see she was well prepared; I don't know. It sounds like he asked a lot of questions. Most of them expected, I guess. Details about how we met, names and birth dates of my kids, my mom's name and where she lives, information about my ex-wife.

One thing I can say is don't let family/zemed, neighbors, etc get you worked up over what you should take. Some people have experienced it, but most have only heard 2nd/3rd/4th hand stories of the interview process and want to give you "advice" to "help" you. Honestly, it is far more of a hindrance, than a help. Lidiya was so worked up over what she thought she needed from 100 people telling her take this, and take that, that neither one of us were getting any sleep. I kept telling her to tell them "thank you very much" and ignore them.

You are at this point in the process because it is pretty much finished. If there is an update to what you initially sent them to establish bonafides of marriage, civil documents, or AoS, then have that. If you have photos, take them. I think they are far more valuable than the receipt to a hotel (someone tried to tell Lidiya she needed to call all of the hotels we stayed in on our honeymoon and have them sent receipts for our stay. I told her they were crazy and no hotel in Ethiopia is going to have receipts from 2 years ago). Most of all, be honest and genuine, and give simple answers to only the questions they ask. Don't feel the need to make something up. If you don't know, say you don't know. If you don't remember, say you don't remember. Contrary to what some like to tell you, they aren't there to trick you. They also aren't the Ethiopian government, so a lot of the overly complex beureaucratic BS that you might expect from the Ethiopian government won't really apply. No, every document you have doesn't need to be authenticated and stamped by eighteen different offices; no, it doesn't really matter that "your" wareda is Yeka, but now you live in Lafto. Unless you bring it up; so don't. Relax, be friendly and polite, be confident, be honest, remember to breathe, and SMILE!

Hope this helps!

Edited August 12, 2015 by benbu75

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

thanks for that I think you have helped all of us!!! lol because boy those stories are something they tell!

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

my PD date is april 21 2014 so we also are on 16 months and counting of waiting so I think we also will finish in 18 months sigh lol

[missabdi 0]

Case complete July 01 am still waiting for interview my pd is april/01/2013 god why are they making us wait like that

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

2013?? wow how are you making it?!! thanks for your info

still waiting on interview

Yaya2014: April 22

BRSIS: April 30

etsegenet: May 7

ItsGonnaBeWorthIt : June 3

missabdi : July 1

A56 & A69: July 6

Edited August 13, 2015 by ItsGonnaBeWorthIt

[missabdi 0]

I know right it's killing me man

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

I know right it's killing me man

was there any reason why it took so long? mine is long but not as long as yours

7 months at Nebraska service center , got approved after 2 service request!

8 months at NVC only 30 days were our fault! 7 months not lol

2 months waiting for interview so far

Edited August 13, 2015 by ItsGonnaBeWorthIt

[ItsGonnaBeWorthIt 191]

wow nothing yet?

[Yaya2014 7]

Nothing at all....

wow nothing yet?

[missabdi 0]

Lol guys it will come be patient

[A56 & A69 4]

I Called NVC to get a update on my case. Nothing new. still waiting for the letter of interveiw date.

56

[MehariDaBole 0]

Just to add another name on the waiting list;

Yaya2014: April 22

BRSIS: April 30

etsegenet: May 7

ItsGonnaBeWorthIt : June 3

missabdi : July 1

A56 & A69: July 6

Mehari: May 27

I know for fact that there are some countries where you only have to wait a couple of weeks to get your case scheduled for interview. It's really frustrating and ridiculous that we've to wait all this time to get interview appointment.

I posted my frustration about this on this website, but I'd like to thank Yaya2014 for showing me the right spot and sending me the link.

I'll keep you guys posted if I hear anything from NVC.

Thanks,

Mehari