Can I ask for a later Interview date?

[Galateia 1]

My interview date is scheduled for July 5th.

Quick back story: the Canadian government not only pays my student loan interest for me, it also chunks in about 2k a year to help pay down the principal, provided I am in the country for 6 continuous months. As soon as I move to the US, I will start getting charged three freaking thousand dollars a year in interest alone, and because my USC is in grad school, I will be facing my ever-increasing mountain of debt alone, watching it pile higher and higher as I fruitlessly try to pay it down with measly monthly payments that I can barely afford.

I do not relish the idea of making my debt worse by going down to the US; when we started this process I had no idea the government was going to screw me if I left the country. Nasty shock.

I detest being away from my USC fiance, but I have been nearly hysterical for months now over this financial issue. Going to the US will be financial suicide at this point. I am breaking myself trying to work enough to pay off as much as I can before going to the US, but at $500 excess income a month, that student loan isn't going down quickly, and considering the cost to get to the interview, rent the hotel, AOS, moving costs, etc. I am not going to be able to pay down much.

So, can I ask for my interview date to be delayed? I need to stay in Canada as long as I possibly can to take advantage of my no-pay status, so that every cent I put towards my loans pays down principle.

Obviously, I don't want to abandon our progress, but I want to delay my interview. Does anyone know if this is possible?

[Dan J 277]

There may not be much you can do to delay the interview, but you wont have to use the K-1 visa right away, its valid for 6 months.

[Lance27 19]

Yup, since K1 is valid for 6 months that would mean you have till the end of this year to pay off that student loan and then move in Jan 2008 just before your visa expires.

If you need more time the other option would be move in Jan, get married, apply for AP and then try to head back to Canada before 6 months. That way you are still a resident of Canada for 2008. (I might be wrong here since I am not sure how student loans interest and payments work) but I am assuming that if you are a resident of Canada for 2008 the govt would still assist you?

EDIT: nevermind, I see you put down that they would help you out if you are in the country for 6 continous months

My interview date is scheduled for July 5th.

Quick back story: the Canadian government not only pays my student loan interest for me, it also chunks in about 2k a year to help pay down the principal, provided I am in the country for 6 continuous months. As soon as I move to the US, I will start getting charged three freaking thousand dollars a year in interest alone, and because my USC is in grad school, I will be facing my ever-increasing mountain of debt alone, watching it pile higher and higher as I fruitlessly try to pay it down with measly monthly payments that I can barely afford.

I do not relish the idea of making my debt worse by going down to the US; when we started this process I had no idea the government was going to screw me if I left the country. Nasty shock.

I detest being away from my USC fiance, but I have been nearly hysterical for months now over this financial issue. Going to the US will be financial suicide at this point. I am breaking myself trying to work enough to pay off as much as I can before going to the US, but at $500 excess income a month, that student loan isn't going down quickly, and considering the cost to get to the interview, rent the hotel, AOS, moving costs, etc. I am not going to be able to pay down much.

So, can I ask for my interview date to be delayed? I need to stay in Canada as long as I possibly can to take advantage of my no-pay status, so that every cent I put towards my loans pays down principle.

Obviously, I don't want to abandon our progress, but I want to delay my interview. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Edited June 11, 2007 by Lance27

[Galateia 1]

Yup, since K1 is valid for 6 months that would mean you have till the end of this year to pay off that student loan and then move in Jan 2008 just before your visa expires.

If you need more time the other option would be move in Jan, get married, apply for AP and then try to head back to Canada before 6 months. That way you are still a resident of Canada for 2008. (I might be wrong here since I am not sure how student loans interest and payments work) but I am assuming that if you are a resident of Canada for 2008 the govt would still assist you?

EDIT: nevermind, I see you put down that they would help you out if you are in the country for 6 continous months

I have to be a resident from either Nov 1st - May30th or June 1st - Oct 31st. It's in 6 month blocks. Maybe I'm not explaining this well. Let me try again.

This past time when I applied for a renewal of my 'interest free relief status' (aka I don't pay anything and the gov pays all my interest for me, plus a 2k bonus payment at the end of the year if I've been here all 12 months) they called me to make sure I would be in the country until Oct 31st at least. As soon as I leave, I lose that status.

If I want to re-apply in Oct for another renewal of status, I must be in the country for the next 6 months after that. Not in Canada, no interest relief. If I go to the US and come back, I will have missed the narrow window to hop into that 6 month relief period.

I know the K-1 gives me 6 months grace to go the US, and I was planning on activating it and moving the day after my status expires, but that is not enough time. I need another 6 months on top of that, at least, to make any headway into my loans.

Put another way: if I work my tail off until Oct 31st, and then go to the US, my loan principle will go up by $1000 a year. If I stay another 6 months after that, and leave next May, my loan principle will go down by $600 a year.

Hence, I really need to know if I can get my visa interview delayed/postponed.

[pushbrk 12,882]

My interview date is scheduled for July 5th.

Quick back story: the Canadian government not only pays my student loan interest for me, it also chunks in about 2k a year to help pay down the principal, provided I am in the country for 6 continuous months. As soon as I move to the US, I will start getting charged three freaking thousand dollars a year in interest alone, and because my USC is in grad school, I will be facing my ever-increasing mountain of debt alone, watching it pile higher and higher as I fruitlessly try to pay it down with measly monthly payments that I can barely afford.

I do not relish the idea of making my debt worse by going down to the US; when we started this process I had no idea the government was going to screw me if I left the country. Nasty shock.

I detest being away from my USC fiance, but I have been nearly hysterical for months now over this financial issue. Going to the US will be financial suicide at this point. I am breaking myself trying to work enough to pay off as much as I can before going to the US, but at $500 excess income a month, that student loan isn't going down quickly, and considering the cost to get to the interview, rent the hotel, AOS, moving costs, etc. I am not going to be able to pay down much.

So, can I ask for my interview date to be delayed? I need to stay in Canada as long as I possibly can to take advantage of my no-pay status, so that every cent I put towards my loans pays down principle.

Obviously, I don't want to abandon our progress, but I want to delay my interview. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Absolutely, yes! You can contact the Consulate and request a later interview date. You cannot tell them a specific date but may indicate a "not before" date or a preferred month. I wouldn't put it off more than three or four months but you may get by with longer but not much. Once approved, you have six months to enter the US.

[~Nini~ 2]

Galateia,

Definitely contact the consulate and change your interview time. You may not be able to get it pushed back very far, but I know I was able to request an interview date for August (2 months ahead).

Your story sounds quite similar to mine - now I'm getting kinda worried since I wasn't aware that I would get penalized for leaving the country before my student loans had to be paid off.

[Galateia 1]

Galateia,

Definitely contact the consulate and change your interview time. You may not be able to get it pushed back very far, but I know I was able to request an interview date for August (2 months ahead).

Your story sounds quite similar to mine - now I'm getting kinda worried since I wasn't aware that I would get penalized for leaving the country before my student loans had to be paid off.

Are you currently in Interest Relief Status? You will lose it once you leave, and they will start charging you prime + 2.5%. That's 8.5% right now. Have you read the fine print about failing to make even a single month's repayment? Scary stuff.

I need it pushed back to December, by my calculations. Ouch.

[Lance27 19]

If you do decide to reschedule your date I could take your July 5th appt date If MTL would let me that is...

I know for sure Im gonna hear from other people waiting for an interview at MTL for this post LOL

Galateia,

Definitely contact the consulate and change your interview time. You may not be able to get it pushed back very far, but I know I was able to request an interview date for August (2 months ahead).

Your story sounds quite similar to mine - now I'm getting kinda worried since I wasn't aware that I would get penalized for leaving the country before my student loans had to be paid off.

Are you currently in Interest Relief Status? You will lose it once you leave, and they will start charging you prime + 2.5%. That's 8.5% right now. Have you read the fine print about failing to make even a single month's repayment? Scary stuff.

I need it pushed back to December, by my calculations. Ouch.

[L_n_O 3]

I'll pay $500 for your spot!

[~Nini~ 2]

Are you currently in Interest Relief Status? You will lose it once you leave, and they will start charging you prime + 2.5%. That's 8.5% right now. Have you read the fine print about failing to make even a single month's repayment? Scary stuff.

I need it pushed back to December, by my calculations. Ouch.

Right now I'm not. I'm actually finishing my last semester, so I've got my six month grace period starting at the beginning of September to pay off as much as I can. Now that I've calmed down from the minor panic attack, I don't think I'm going to get into too much trouble, but I'm going to call NSLSC sometime this week and ask them about my situation. We really don't like the idea of our spending another six months without each other, but the thought of facing a tsunami wave of debt just tears me apart.

[Galateia 1]

Are you currently in Interest Relief Status? You will lose it once you leave, and they will start charging you prime + 2.5%. That's 8.5% right now. Have you read the fine print about failing to make even a single month's repayment? Scary stuff.

I need it pushed back to December, by my calculations. Ouch.

Right now I'm not. I'm actually finishing my last semester, so I've got my six month grace period starting at the beginning of September to pay off as much as I can. Now that I've calmed down from the minor panic attack, I don't think I'm going to get into too much trouble, but I'm going to call NSLSC sometime this week and ask them about my situation. We really don't like the idea of our spending another six months without each other, but the thought of facing a tsunami wave of debt just tears me apart.

Uh, you realize that the 'grace period' only means that you are not required to make payments, right? They are still hitting you with full interest right now. Which means your principle is growing as we speak.

It all depends on the amount of your loans. Mine are 34k, which means 3k a year in interest alone, which means that unless I can afford to pay giant payments every month, I'm not even going to cover the interest, let alone the principle.

My USC isn't happy at the thought of another 11 months of separation, but on the other hand he sees that watching me have hysterics on a weekly basis isn't ideal either. Torn apart indeed. Everything would be different if he was working, because then he'd be able to help pay it down, but such is not our lot.

I won't be able to call the consulate until Wed, here's hoping I can delay my interview until Dec.

[Jackie&Yosdani 0]

You need a cosponser.

[Tinker 0]

If you do decide to reschedule your date I could take your July 5th appt date If MTL would let me that is...

I know for sure Im gonna hear from other people waiting for an interview at MTL for this post LOL

I'll pay $500 for your spot!

Reading this thread and all I could think of was delay! Make it faster for us

BUT you guys coming right out and trying to snatch it,

[~Nini~ 2]

Right now I'm not. I'm actually finishing my last semester, so I've got my six month grace period starting at the beginning of September to pay off as much as I can. Now that I've calmed down from the minor panic attack, I don't think I'm going to get into too much trouble, but I'm going to call NSLSC sometime this week and ask them about my situation. We really don't like the idea of our spending another six months without each other, but the thought of facing a tsunami wave of debt just tears me apart.

Uh, you realize that the 'grace period' only means that you are not required to make payments, right? They are still hitting you with full interest right now. Which means your principle is growing as we speak.

It all depends on the amount of your loans. Mine are 34k, which means 3k a year in interest alone, which means that unless I can afford to pay giant payments every month, I'm not even going to cover the interest, let alone the principle.

My USC isn't happy at the thought of another 11 months of separation, but on the other hand he sees that watching me have hysterics on a weekly basis isn't ideal either. Torn apart indeed. Everything would be different if he was working, because then he'd be able to help pay it down, but such is not our lot.

I won't be able to call the consulate until Wed, here's hoping I can delay my interview until Dec.

Oh, I'm aware that the "grace period" still means that I'm accumulating full interest on my loan. My debt is at 10k right now, so the interest is not too bad (heh, bite my tongue later for that). I'm hoping that I'll be able to make some payments with a part-time job right now, then work frantically full-time to chip away at the principle. My fiance isn't happy about the separation either, but I think for peace of mind he'd rather have me happier to work at the loan pre-POE than for me to be miserable and frantic at the prospect of waiting for an EAD post-entry.

Crossing my fingers for your interview rescheduling, though!

[john_and_marlene 162]

So your interest will go up $1000/yr.

That's less than $84/month

That's less than $20/week

That's less than $3/day

It's not worth $3/day to be with your SO??????