Australians Waiting For Interview at US Consulate Sydney

[KeishaAB 0]

On 1/24/2021 at 5:35 PM, ErinB said:

mine was $633 + a $75 deposit I had to pay to have the appointment confirmed

Oh wow! Did you have to get anything out of the ordinary done or was it just a blood report? Did you have to take any vaccines?

[ErinB 17]

1 minute ago, KeishaAB said:

Oh wow! Did you have to get anything out of the ordinary done or was it just a blood report? Did you have to take any vaccines?

I had two vaccines done on the day - MMR and the flu. They were $40 each, supposedly, though tbh I don’t think they charged me for that. $630 was what I was quoted when I called to make the appointment, and I was told vaccines could be an extra anywhere between $40 to $200 or more depending on what I needed. 

[ErinB 17]

6 minutes ago, KeishaAB said:

Oh wow! Did you have to get anything out of the ordinary done or was it just a blood report? Did you have to take any vaccines?

Also factor in to future planning that we now need to get a negative COVID test before we fly, and that costs about $150, in case you’re at the stage of planning your move 

[Sheeni_E 24]

Hey Everyone! 

We had our interview on Jan-25 and were approved. 

CEAC status changed to "Issued" on Jan-28 and today the passport with visa and visa packet was received. 

After waiting for so long with COVID delays etc, we are so surprised at how quickly the last few steps were. 

Good luck to everyone else waiting!

 

 

[Jean Silva 1]

Guys,

 

I just received my approved from the expedite interview.

 

I have 3 questions:

 

1- After expedite approved, how long take to consulate contacts me with the interview date?

 

2- Can I book the medical appointment already?

 

3- What Do I need to bring to medical appointment? Photo, Passport, DS260 receipt, records vacination, ... ?

 

Thanks!

[RM1664 10]

On 1/29/2021 at 8:15 PM, Jean Silva said:

Guys,

 

I just received my approved from the expedite interview.

 

I have 3 questions:

 

1- Shouldnt be too much longer mate (mine took less than 7 days to find out after this)

 

2-  You cannot book your medical until you have your appointment with the consulate. 

 

3- 
For the medical, check with the reception when you make your appointment, but in Brisbane, they wanted Australian Size passport photos. But note, other places may want American Size passport photos so check with the medical receptionist what they want on the phone.
You need evidence of vaccination proof, if you dont have any, they will make you get them again (at extra expense to you). And you will need ID, I suggest brining your passport, thats what I did. And be prepared to lose about $600 on medical day. Bring your case number too. It took me about 2.5 hours in total I think, I had to walk to 3 different places in brisbane, 1 the doctors, 2 the pathology, 3 the xray place. When I left doctors I had to carry my jar of pee with me across brisbane to the pathology place hahahah.
Be prepared to pee in the jar within 5-10 mins of arriving at med appointment too.

passport
Case No.
Prepared to pee
$600 arppx to pay for it all (on card is fine)
2-3 hours of your time.
vax proof

 

[Matt00 0]

Hi all,

Very helpful hearing others experiences.

I have a question of my own. We received the email from the US Consulate SYD which gives the 4 options to schedule our interview and in the email it specifically states "you may reply to this email to indicate either of the following options." . We of-course choose option 1 - schedule next available appointment. However, the email came from a DoNotReply_syd email address and this morning I have a big red email saying "This email address does not accept incoming messages. Your message was NOT received.".

 

TLDR: Which email do/did you respond to when selecting your option to schedule your interview in Sydney.

 

Many thanks,

Matt

[Sheeni_E 24]

1 hour ago, Matt00 said:

Hi all,

Very helpful hearing others experiences.

I have a question of my own. We received the email from the US Consulate SYD which gives the 4 options to schedule our interview and in the email it specifically states "you may reply to this email to indicate either of the following options." . We of-course choose option 1 - schedule next available appointment. However, the email came from a DoNotReply_syd email address and this morning I have a big red email saying "This email address does not accept incoming messages. Your message was NOT received.".

 

TLDR: Which email do/did you respond to when selecting your option to schedule your interview in Sydney.

 

Many thanks,

Matt

We got the email from SydneyIV@state.gov and we replied back to that email.

 

 

[midsummer 84]

4 hours ago, Matt00 said:

Hi all,

Very helpful hearing others experiences.

I have a question of my own. We received the email from the US Consulate SYD which gives the 4 options to schedule our interview and in the email it specifically states "you may reply to this email to indicate either of the following options." . We of-course choose option 1 - schedule next available appointment. However, the email came from a DoNotReply_syd email address and this morning I have a big red email saying "This email address does not accept incoming messages. Your message was NOT received.".

 

TLDR: Which email do/did you respond to when selecting your option to schedule your interview in Sydney.

 

Many thanks,

Matt

 

2 hours ago, Sheeni_E said:

We got the email from SydneyIV@state.gov and we replied back to that email.

 

 

We did the same [today]. They responded shortly after to confirm the booking.

[midsummer 84]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:15 PM, Jean Silva said:

Guys,

 

I just received my approved from the expedite interview.

 

I have 3 questions:

 

1- After expedite approved, how long take to consulate contacts me with the interview date?

 

2- Can I book the medical appointment already?

 

3- What Do I need to bring to medical appointment? Photo, Passport, DS260 receipt, records vacination, ... ?

 

Thanks!

Ours was not expedited (K1) so FWIW these are our dates:

• Jan 27: case arrived at Consulate
• Jan 28: packet 3 emailed to my fiancé. We responded same day
• Jan 29: packet 4 with interview date emailed to both of us. Interview date set for the Feb 10

You will need your DS-160 or DS-260, photos (you need 6 copies just for the medical), passport, your case number, immunisation records, list of any prescribed medications as well as any records of hospitalisations or significant illnesses. A detailed list should be sent to you when you make your booking. This may vary according to who you see but I imagine you'll need to provide the same no matter what Doctor you see in Australia for the U.S. visa medical.

[ErinB 17]

Hi team, 

Just wondering about other people's experiences at this stage. 

 

My medical is finally confirmed as submitted by the doctor's office. That happened on Friday afternoon. However my CEAC tracker still says refused, and my "last updated" date seems to indicate my case hasn't been touched yet. 

 

I'm wondering how worried I need to be, here. Does it usually change to "approved" first, or will it go straight to "issued"? I know we'll likely be waiting until Thursday to see the magic "issued" status, but I'm wondering whether the fact that it hasn't changed status at all yet is not a good sign..

Any thoughts?

[Eisa 5]

2 hours ago, ErinB said:

Hi team, 

Just wondering about other people's experiences at this stage. 

 

My medical is finally confirmed as submitted by the doctor's office. That happened on Friday afternoon. However my CEAC tracker still says refused, and my "last updated" date seems to indicate my case hasn't been touched yet. 

 

I'm wondering how worried I need to be, here. Does it usually change to "approved" first, or will it go straight to "issued"? I know we'll likely be waiting until Thursday to see the magic "issued" status, but I'm wondering whether the fact that it hasn't changed status at all yet is not a good sign..

Any thoughts?

Hi Erin 

hope you’re well

Dint stress at all. They will issue your visa and change the status. I was on the same situation 

[Sharni 27]

2 hours ago, ErinB said:

Hi team, 

Just wondering about other people's experiences at this stage. 

 

My medical is finally confirmed as submitted by the doctor's office. That happened on Friday afternoon. However my CEAC tracker still says refused, and my "last updated" date seems to indicate my case hasn't been touched yet. 

 

I'm wondering how worried I need to be, here. Does it usually change to "approved" first, or will it go straight to "issued"? I know we'll likely be waiting until Thursday to see the magic "issued" status, but I'm wondering whether the fact that it hasn't changed status at all yet is not a good sign..

Any thoughts?

Hi ErinB, I saw another person way back in this thread had to follow up with the Consulate after they hadn't heard anything for two weeks after the medical info was sent in.  From memory, theirs had slipped through the cracks, so if you haven't heard anything by Friday this week, I would send the an email enquiring about the progress of your visa application.  All the best of luck to you.

[ErinB 17]

22 minutes ago, Eisa said:

Hi Erin 

hope you’re well

Dint stress at all. They will issue your visa and change the status. I was on the same situation 

 

17 minutes ago, Sharni said:

Hi ErinB, I saw another person way back in this thread had to follow up with the Consulate after they hadn't heard anything for two weeks after the medical info was sent in.  From memory, theirs had slipped through the cracks, so if you haven't heard anything by Friday this week, I would send the an email enquiring about the progress of your visa application.  All the best of luck to you.

Ah, thanks guys, this is great info. 

I've been dreading having to email the consulate, because I already had to do that when the medical office needed further instruction about how to submit my assessment. But perhaps you're right - if I haven't heard anything by Friday I'll send something through.

[RM1664 10]

Hi guys

Monday 1st of February USA time, I received my Social Security number. I asked for it on my ds260 forms or whichever one it was that asked for it.
It says date issued was the 22nd Jan, that was the day after I arrived to the USA (21st arrival date to LAX).

That didnt take long at all, hopefully Green card should only be another month or two.

Hope that helps anyone wanting to know how long it takes to arrive if there are no problems....