Rio de Janeiro Interview

[Hilde 381]

12 hours ago, Flavio said:

Hi everybody, 

 

Any news regarding the interview? Has anyone received interview e-mail?

 

Thanks.

Nothing here. Does anyone know if anyone with a DQ from March or April 2020 (who did not request an expedite) got an interview letter?

My expedite was denied. My DQ is May 2020.

 

[Hilde 381]

13 hours ago, Flavio said:

Hi everybody, 

 

Any news regarding the interview? Has anyone received interview e-mail?

 

Thanks.

Just saw this:

 

 

[Jizreel Fonseca 30]

1 hour ago, Hilde said:

Nothing here. Does anyone know if anyone with a DQ from March or April 2020 (who did not request an expedite) got an interview letter?

My expedite was denied. My DQ is May 2020.

 

I heard someone got interview date (Apr 12th) and with DQ Mar-20. They received the email from Rio 2 days ago.

I'm the same, expedite denied and DQ May 2020.

[gabriel.calegari 3]

1 hour ago, Hilde said:

Nothing here. Does anyone know if anyone with a DQ from March or April 2020 (who did not request an expedite) got an interview letter?

My expedite was denied. My DQ is May 2020.

 

I heard of someone with DQ March 27 just had the interview scheduled to april 14. 

[SalvadorBahia 4]

My wife just received her visa yesterday and I thought I would give a quick write up.  She was DQ'd in June of '20 and like everyone else we began the waiting game.  I wrote to every person I could think of asking about opening the consulate, why it's still closed, alternate procedures, etc.  I finally requested an expedite through one of my senators based on financial hardship as my wife's position had been filled by other people (we told her employer she would be gone in 9-12 months originally).  The request was denied.  I continued to watch the consulate through facebook for updates but nothing ever showed much sign of improvement. 

 

In early February we received an email saying our interview was canceled which was strange because we never had one scheduled.  The email also said they would schedule us a new one but we had no idea on when.  The possibility was very exciting for us!  About a week later we were informed of an interview date on March 24th!  We found out the consulate was scheduling interviews for expedite requests that were earlier denied.  We were filled with joy of course and so glad that we sent the expedite request because we were on the fence about sending it and whether it would do any good or not.

 

We made all the appointments and arrived to Rio on the 14th.  On the 15th my wife had her Xray and blood taken and then we headed to Salvador.  We returned to Rio on the 21st and on the 22nd my wife had her medical appointment and fingerprints/pictures taken.  On the 24th she had her interview at the consulate.  We had all of our documents in order and the interview itself was very quick.  At the end of the interview they said to come back at 3pm to receive the passport.  At 3pm we received her passport with her fresh visa inside!  The positive of waiting so long is that we are 3 months from our 2 year anniversary and we are going to wait for the IR1.

 

This is a very brief synopsis of the event but just wanted to give everyone a heads up and I will be happy to answer as many questions as I can.  I have just heard now that people with interviews for next week have been canceled unfortunately due to Rio anticipating holidays in order to try and slow the new covid wave - I cannot begin to imagine that feeling!  Hang in there - it will come soon enough!  

[Hilde 381]

4 minutes ago, SalvadorBahia said:

This is a very brief synopsis of the event but just wanted to give everyone a heads up and I will be happy to answer as many questions as I can.  I have just heard now that people with interviews for next week have been canceled unfortunately due to Rio anticipating holidays in order to try and slow the new covid wave - I cannot begin to imagine that feeling!  Hang in there - it will come soon enough!  

Thanks for your feedback. Sad to hear about even further cancellations. OOf!

[DeParaquedasBrasi 228]

Oi pessoal, I just wanted to give a review of how our interview went this week. Please feel free to ask any questions.

I sent 4 Expedite requests last year with no luck at all. I emailed my senators and congressman but since I live in a republican red state they were all busy with Trumps impeachment and never responded to any of my emails.....thanks for nothing guys!!!! 

In January 2021 I decided to send another expedite along with my psychiatrist letter saying I was going crazy, but I didn't have much faith in it since I had already sent that letter before and it was denied. To my surprise I got an email about a week and a half later saying it was approved. 

After I got the Approved email I also got the same email others got saying my appointment was canceled, even though I never had one to begin with. The day my expedite was approved two other friends who never asked for an expedite also got the email saying their appointments were canceled. This lead me to believe maybe my case was pulled randomly like theirs and my expedite was "approved" since my case was chosen....im not 100% sure. My two friends went on to have their interviews on the 14th of March and ours was scheduled a week later on the 22nd of March.

I immediately flew to Brazil to be with my wife at the interview. We emailed the doctors in SP and Rio to see what would work for us since she lives in Santa Catarina.

We chose Dr Garrido in Rio for these reasons:

According to the email from the Dr in SP (And a friend confirmed this), you must remain in your underwear/lingerie throughout the exame and he inspects you all over.

This made us uncomfortable since according to the NVC website the Dr is only supposed to check for what the immigration law says in needed....and nowhere in the law does it say the DR is supposed to check you for bumps or anything that requires you to be basically naked. He's supposed to check you bloodwork, urine results, X-rays, and other basic stuff like weight and blood pressure. 

Im not accusing the DR of anything, im sure he's a nice man, but we simply didn't see the need to go thru all that.

We arrived at Rio and did the blood, urine, and X-rays exams all on Monday the 14th (the results came back the same day), took advantage to tour Rio all week since it was our anniversary, did her fingerprints at CASV and the DR appointment with Garrido on Friday the 19th. DR Garrido was very nice and very quick. Literally 5-10min (it was the quickest and most expensive exame of my life lol). She needed a flu shot so he sent us to the clinic that is in the same building as his office. Once we were done his receptionist, who is a very nice lady, had already sent our results to the consulate. Thats another negative point about the DR in SP. I know of 5 people who had the exame with the DR in SP 2 weeks before the appointment and he never sent the results to the consulate which delayed the result of the visa.

The following Monday we had our interview at 8am. we arrived at 730 and were let in a little bit before 8. Leave your phone with the "Chaveiro". He sits right by the entrance door with the guard and his stand is around the corner by the exit door. Leave it with him because the guards who watch the exit door also watch his stand and the phones so its super safe.

Like most people have already said, you walk in, the staff tell you how to organize the documents, then you're called to a quiche where they confirm each document one by one.

OBS: You MUST take you antecedentes Criminais updated AND updated tax transcripts of your spouse/fiancé AND any joint sponsor. I was told they weren't asking for them but my gut said to take it and im glad I did cuz he asked for them. 

After that person reviews the docs you sit back down and then they'll call you for the actual interview. The interview is simple and quick....a few basic questions and boom you're approved . We were given the option to return at 15:00 since the Correios isn't sure how long it'll take to deliver.

If you have any questions please ask...ill do my best to answer.

Abraços.

 

[Flavio 17]

Very interesting video regarding cases at NVC.

 

 

[Hilde 381]

May: CR1: 3 / IR1: 5

June: CR1: 1 / IR1: 3 

July: CR1: 1 / IR1: 3 

August: CR1: 1 / IR1: 4

September: CR1: 1 / IR1: 5

October: CR1: 2 / IR1: 6
November: CR1: 3 / IR1: 7
December: CR1: 6 / IR1: 7

January 2021: CR1: 6 / IR1: 16 

 

February 2021:

First PDF: FSC and Visa Class: CR1: 4  / IR1: 24

Second PDF: by Post and Visa Class: CR1: 2 / IR1: 20

 

Not sure which one of the documents we should be going by... but I see an upward trend here...

[Jizreel Fonseca 30]

39 minutes ago, Hilde said:

May: CR1: 3 / IR1: 5

June: CR1: 1 / IR1: 3 

July: CR1: 1 / IR1: 3 

August: CR1: 1 / IR1: 4

September: CR1: 1 / IR1: 5

October: CR1: 2 / IR1: 6
November: CR1: 3 / IR1: 7
December: CR1: 6 / IR1: 7

January 2021: CR1: 6 / IR1: 16 

 

February 2021:

First PDF: FSC and Visa Class: CR1: 4  / IR1: 24

Second PDF: by Post and Visa Class: CR1: 2 / IR1: 20

 

Not sure which one of the documents we should be going by... but I see an upward trend here...

I believe is the second one, because (my understanding) the first it's considering the applicant's birth place not the post/embassy/consulate whereas the second is considering the post/embassy/consulate.

Like, If I, as Brazilian applied for consular processing from Argentina. In the first file I'd be in Brazil, but in the second file I'd be in Argentina/Buenos Aires.

 

Second PDF: by Post and Visa Class: CR1: 2 / IR1: 20

 

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, as you said, the numbers are really increasing

 

[Hilde 381]

Looks like they officially announced the phased resumption of routine visa services - based on how local conditions are going... Rio de Janeiro conditions are pretty terrible right now. So it´s still a waiting game. But news nonetheless...

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/phased-resumption-routine-visa-services.html

 

Also looks like they will resume non-immigrant visa interviews - and I sincerely hope that does not get priority over immigration visas:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/update-on-presidential-proclamation-10052.html

 

[Faisal1 235]

7 hours ago, Hilde said:

Looks like they officially announced the phased resumption of routine visa services - based on how local conditions are going... Rio de Janeiro conditions are pretty terrible right now. So it´s still a waiting game. But news nonetheless...

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/phased-resumption-routine-visa-services.html

 

Also looks like they will resume non-immigrant visa interviews - and I sincerely hope that does not get priority over immigration visas:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/update-on-presidential-proclamation-10052.html

 

I would say our appointment email will come by the end of this month 

[Hilde 381]

Does anyone know what DQ date they are calling for interviews? (Non-expedited cases) 

Thanks!

[gabriel.calegari 3]

32 minutes ago, Hilde said:

Does anyone know what DQ date they are calling for interviews? (Non-expedited cases) 

Thanks!

Hi Hilde, I know of a couple of people DQ in March/2020 having the interview in April.  Everybody else was expedite or rescheduled. Doesnt seem like there are lot of DQs in April, so the May people are hoping to be next and soon. 

[Flavio 17]

2 hours ago, gabriel.calegari said:

Hi Hilde, I know of a couple of people DQ in March/2020 having the interview in April.  Everybody else was expedite or rescheduled. Doesnt seem like there are lot of DQs in April, so the May people are hoping to be next and soon. 

That's good news to hear... Is there any way to see how many people are in the backlog (in the line to be scheduled)? Thanks