Kenya Consulate interviews

[Juddy 22]

47 minutes ago, MysticGirl said:

My hubby is supposed to schedule the medical early this week. Apparently they have enough open spots available. 

 

The reason for the quick appointment is because I am due in a couple of weeks. I literally have only 6 weeks before my EDD. My dr. emphasized on the due date. 

I see. Am happy for you. Thanks for the clarification 

[MysticGirl 26]

Hawayuni, 

 

Did anyone have a hard time getting a hold of IOM to try talking to someone for the medical check-up? If you know how to get a hold of them, please let us know. We wanted to call them prior to the appointment but the numbers provided in the email were not working. Plus, when we called other numbers provided on the website, they were not being answered. Help! 

[retheem 564]

37 minutes ago, MysticGirl said:

Hawayuni, 

 

Did anyone have a hard time getting a hold of IOM to try talking to someone for the medical check-up? If you know how to get a hold of them, please let us know. We wanted to call them prior to the appointment but the numbers provided in the email were not working. Plus, when we called other numbers provided on the website, they were not being answered. Help! 

Call them immediately they open up at 8am. After that they can be tricky to get

[MysticGirl 26]

33 minutes ago, retheem said:

Call them immediately they open up at 8am. After that they can be tricky to get

Thanks! Will do. 

[GregandNatty 195]

On 4/7/2021 at 12:49 PM, MysticGirl said:

Thank you again. Yes I hope he can join me in time but I am also mentally preparing myself not to expect too much. It’s my coping mechanism that I have adopted, where I keep busy and mentally block my mind from thinking/dwelling about the process, otherwise I will lose my mind lol. So Burundi uses the US embassy in Kenya? I would have thought Ruwanda and Burundi had their own embassies. Anyway, that’s great news your husband didn’t miss that special moment and I hope so too that you all get reunited. 
 

As for the “on the ground” info that I get is through a friend of mine who works there. She keeps me updated on the conditions and situations down there. Nothing detailed or intrusive as she has to protect her job. She shares infos like whether or not the embassy is working or not, the whys and even the numbers. Around Nov-Dec she told me how slow things has been and gave me a rough number of about 5000 cases that were pending. Around January she told me that they had started picking up pace and working on all the cancelled appointments. In February I asked her again and she said that she was hopeful. Then around mid March she told me that they went back to phase 1, and are remotely working at home until all staff gets vaccinated. She told me that the vaccines is through the Kenyan govt and I guess they will have to wait their turn. She recently got her first dose and waiting her second dose, but they haven’t gotten the vaccines to all the staff. So until everyone gets vaccinated with both doses, they are unable to return to work. That’s why in one of my posts, I was estimating around end of April-May. 

Do you know if the embassy is doing more interviews now that Kenya is opening up?

[MysticGirl 26]

1 hour ago, GregandNatty said:

Do you know if the embassy is doing more interviews now that Kenya is opening up?

They had pushed his medicals 3 days later so his visa interview at the embassy is on hold. He just completed his medicals and results were sent to the Embassy yesterday. Getting appointment at the IOM was the hardest part the second time around. He literally had to walk in (no walk-ins due to COVID). But since he had an email approving his initial appointment, he was lucky he was let in for the medicals.
 

He did tell me that he talked to some few people at the IOM. Some were those who won through the lottery and some whose DQ were in March. He said the place was full and IOM is also backed logged but only by 2-3 weeks.

 

He has completed medicals and now waiting for his interview date to be reset and will update everyone as soon as he goes there.

 

NB/ apparently expedited appointments are handled way differently than a regular process. The regular process is easier as everything is being handled by the NVC with the interview date pre-scheduled. On the other hand, the expedited ones means you wait until the consular schedules it for you (which is another torture just waiting to hear back from them).

[Kenyan Couple 21]

So would you say your case is following the expedited process or regular process? 

On 5/11/2021 at 6:26 AM, MysticGirl said:

They had pushed his medicals 3 days later so his visa interview at the embassy is on hold. He just completed his medicals and results were sent to the Embassy yesterday. Getting appointment at the IOM was the hardest part the second time around. He literally had to walk in (no walk-ins due to COVID). But since he had an email approving his initial appointment, he was lucky he was let in for the medicals.
 

He did tell me that he talked to some few people at the IOM. Some were those who won through the lottery and some whose DQ were in March. He said the place was full and IOM is also backed logged but only by 2-3 weeks.

 

He has completed medicals and now waiting for his interview date to be reset and will update everyone as soon as he goes there.

 

NB/ apparently expedited appointments are handled way differently than a regular process. The regular process is easier as everything is being handled by the NVC with the interview date pre-scheduled. On the other hand, the expedited ones means you wait until the consular schedules it for you (which is another torture just waiting to hear back from them).

 

[Juddy 22]

4 hours ago, Kenyan Couple said:

So would you say your case is following the expedited process or regular process? 

 

I have been waiting on the same forever.  I do not know what to do.the expedite was approved a month ago and sent to Nairobi,  the wait for medical is just another trouble...am not sure if there is another way to do it

[MysticGirl 26]

5 hours ago, Kenyan Couple said:

So would you say your case is following the expedited process or regular process? 

 

No mine is definitely expedited... but in all honesty it’s a pain to just get an appointment at the IOM and now the embassy. It seems like so many loops that you have to jump through if it’s expedited. The good thing about a regular process is that you only have to worry about scheduling the IOM medicals since the NVC already pre-schedules the embassy’s appointment. I thought it would have been easier for an expedited process 😩.

Edited May 12, 2021 by MysticGirl

[MysticGirl 26]

1 hour ago, Juddy said:

I have been waiting on the same forever.  I do not know what to do.the expedite was approved a month ago and sent to Nairobi,  the wait for medical is just another trouble...am not sure if there is another way to do it

So you got approved for your expedite? In that case don’t just wait for them. We almost did the same mistake. It would take you forever. You must schedule an IOM appointment which I must say was a pain for us to get one. After the medicals then you must again contact the embassy to notify them that you are done with medicals. And then you wait! 

Edited May 12, 2021 by MysticGirl

[MysticGirl 26]

5 hours ago, Kenyan Couple said:

So would you say your case is following the expedited process or regular process? 

 

I believe that ‘expedited’ means ‘getting out the case from NVC to the consular office/embassy’. Once it reaches there, if I am not wrong, I believe it follows the embassy’s normal processing timeline. 

[Kenyan Couple 21]

17 hours ago, MysticGirl said:

No mine is definitely expedited... but in all honesty it’s a pain to just get an appointment at the IOM and now the embassy. It seems like so many loops that you have to jump through if it’s expedited. The good thing about a regular process is that you only have to worry about scheduling the IOM medicals since the NVC already pre-schedules the embassy’s appointment. I thought it would have been easier for an expedited process 😩.

You'll get through this. You are almost there, keep fighting. 

It's much better than a regular process where there's no information or progress without one fighting through an expedite. (For CR1/IR1) 

[MysticGirl 26]

3 hours ago, Kenyan Couple said:

You'll get through this. You are almost there, keep fighting. 

It's much better than a regular process where there's no information or progress without one fighting through an expedite. (For CR1/IR1) 

Such an amazing feeling to read those positive and encouraging words. Thank you Kenyan Couple ... May we all get through this once and for all. 

[babito 29]

https://www.visalawyerblog.com/department-of-state-announces-four-tiered-approach-for-immigrant-visa-prioritization-at-consulates-and-embassies-worldwide/

I guess most here are in Tier 2, Is this some "good" news?

[hkhan53 0]

16 hours ago, babito said:

https://www.visalawyerblog.com/department-of-state-announces-four-tiered-approach-for-immigrant-visa-prioritization-at-consulates-and-embassies-worldwide/

I guess most here are in Tier 2, Is this some "good" news?

Hi my DQ is 05/10/2020 have you heard anything regarding an interview date?  I was at the assumption that they are giving interview dates to people who have a DQ in April'20.

 

Thanks and all the best!