Reasons for discouraging flight booking pre-visa issue

[RadChan 84]

55 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

How many of those are London? 

All of them - at least all via the London embassy. I have just been reading the CR1 UK mega-thread. I think it is pinned in the UK forum. I say "majority", I haven't read the entire thread (just the past month or two) but it certainly seems that lots of people who have paid for expedited courier services got their visas in their hands 2 days later (I haven't made it to this stage yet, so hadn't realised that is an option but it seem to be working!) Another person interviewed on a Monday and had the visa by Thursday. Not sure how much longer the non-courier service is, I know the official line is 2 weeks. 

 

Again, these people might have also lived in London itself, which would help - I am guessing those living in inverness might take a day or two more to receive theirs! 

 

But please go check the mega thread yourselves. It has definitely been a source of more useful info for us than the lawyers, who only ever give the "official" line which is "we don't know." However, seeing how other people have progressed has been much more helpful, and it seems to be interview exactly 5 months after DQ and then get the visa a couple of days later if they paid for the courier. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

1 hour ago, RadChan said:

All of them - at least all via the London embassy. I have just been reading the CR1 UK mega-thread. I think it is pinned in the UK forum. I say "majority", I haven't read the entire thread (just the past month or two) but it certainly seems that lots of people who have paid for expedited courier services got their visas in their hands 2 days later (I haven't made it to this stage yet, so hadn't realised that is an option but it seem to be working!) Another person interviewed on a Monday and had the visa by Thursday. Not sure how much longer the non-courier service is, I know the official line is 2 weeks. 

 

Again, these people might have also lived in London itself, which would help - I am guessing those living in inverness might take a day or two more to receive theirs! 

 

But please go check the mega thread yourselves. It has definitely been a source of more useful info for us than the lawyers, who only ever give the "official" line which is "we don't know." However, seeing how other people have progressed has been much more helpful, and it seems to be interview exactly 5 months after DQ and then get the visa a couple of days later if they paid for the courier. 

The home delivery option is not an expedited service. Everybody London has courier service. If you want it to your home, you pay. If you want to pick it up at your closest courier depot, it’s free. You register your appointment and pick your delivery choice online (and pay) prior to interview.
 

Once the visa is issued, everything is turned over to the courier who packages your passport for delivery. The courier notifies you of your tracking number. Almost without exception, whether London or Inverness or Northern Ireland, the day after your courier notification will be your delivery day or Depot pick up day, ie one day service. One is not faster than the other.  Only some very remote Islands in Scotland might take longer than 1 day from when the courier assembles your package. 
 

Typical delivery for years has been one week after your interview, but just lately it has been faster presumably because very few visas are being processed with K1s, tourist, and work visas etc halted. There’s no daily queue of hundreds In the visa printing area or courier area. I think delivery 48 hours after interview is a little ambitious but have read some 3-5 days recently instead of 7.  

[aaron2020 11,651]

The US Embassy does not frown upon you if you book your flight before the visa interview.  Their advice is not to make any non-refundable purchase before having the visa in hand.  If you don't have a visa in hand when your flight takes off, then it's your problem and not theirs.  They will not expedite or do anything to help you since they advised you not to buy plane tickets before having the visa in your hands.  

[RadChan 84]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

The home delivery option is not an expedited service. Everybody London has courier service. If you want it to your home, you pay. If you want to pick it up at your closest courier depot, it’s free. You register your appointment and pick your delivery choice online (and pay) prior to interview.
 

Once the visa is issued, everything is turned over to the courier who packages your passport for delivery. The courier notifies you of your tracking number. Almost without exception, whether London or Inverness or Northern Ireland, the day after your courier notification will be your delivery day or Depot pick up day, ie one day service. One is not faster than the other.  Only some very remote Islands in Scotland might take longer than 1 day from when the courier assembles your package. 
 

Typical delivery for years has been one week after your interview, but just lately it has been faster presumably because very few visas are being processed with K1s, tourist, and work visas etc halted. There’s no daily queue of hundreds In the visa printing area or courier area. I think delivery 48 hours after interview is a little ambitious but have read some 3-5 days recently instead of 7.  

ahh, ok- I read about a premium service and presumed it was for fast delivery. 19 pounds is a big fee just for local depot to your house! Sounds like you are more clued in on the process than I am!

 

3-5 days may be more common, but I saw a couple within 48 hours (might have just been the majority random sample I read! Someone on page 50 mentioned it, for example, but I can't link to it) 

 

But I won't factor in a 2-day delivery as a given in my flight booking.

 

anyway, thanks for sharing your insight!

 

[Bbking2 93]

22 hours ago, RadChan said:

Hi everyone, 

 

I see a lot of people saying "don't book your flight before your visa is issued" but I just wasn't able to determine whether there is a reason for this beyond " something could go wrong, your visa takes longer than you think and you lose a lot of money." (I did try to Google and check the archive but couldn't find any answer to confirm)

 

Is it actually frowned upon by the people approving your visa, and if so, could it potentially negatively impact an application? (like, they deny or extend the process or something?)

 

I DQ'd July 1st so if everyone else's experience is any indicator, I can expect an interview on Dec 1st. I have seen a few instance where people might get it a toucher earlier or later (say Nov 23rd or Dec 6th). Since it is that time of year, prices will be expensive and my husband and I are keen to book ASAP. I was thinking for booking something around Dec 10-12th, however, we would only book with an airline allowing a flexible ticket which we could change with no fees (and usually up until 48 hours before). It could make the difference between paying $400 for a ticket and paying $1500 (if we waited until we had the visa in our hand to book)/ 

 

Can anyone advise whether there is a reason beyond "you might lose money" for this advice? Obviously if the embassy will frown upon it or get "suspicious" (?!) then we want to avoid that. 

 

Thanks in advance! 

It looks like they are still working through may. We are June 1st so at this rate hoping for mid November . So the 5 months thing is not right. Hopefully July for you will before Xmas earliest. Hoping they speed up for all of us. 

[RadChan 84]

15 minutes ago, Bobnrob said:

It looks like they are still working through may. We are June 1st so at this rate hoping for mid November . So the 5 months thing is not right. Hopefully July for you will before Xmas earliest. Hoping they speed up for all of us. 

I'm surprised to read this. Pretty much everyone I have seen on the CR-1 mega-thread has got interview dates almost 5 months to the date they DQ'd (with a couple of exceptions of people 7 days or so before or after that date). I would expect you will hear back on Thursday for a Nov 1st interview date?! Not a lot of notice but would fit with what I have seen. Will be watching that thread on Thursday, and keeping my fingers crossed for you! 

[Bbking2 93]

2 minutes ago, RadChan said:

I'm surprised to read this. Pretty much everyone I have seen on the CR-1 mega-thread has got interview dates almost 5 months to the date they DQ'd (with a couple of exceptions of people 7 days or so before or after that date). I would expect you will hear back on Thursday for a Nov 1st interview date?! Not a lot of notice but would fit with what I have seen. Will be watching that thread on Thursday, and keeping my fingers crossed for you! 

Thanks also hoping for Thursday. You gotta remember vj members are a tiny % of visas so the time lines are just a very rough indicator. They give 30 days notice normally so 9/10th of November hoping. There are quite a few of us here with similar dates to ours. Good luck too!

23 hours ago, RadChan said:

Hi everyone, 

 

I see a lot of people saying "don't book your flight before your visa is issued" but I just wasn't able to determine whether there is a reason for this beyond " something could go wrong, your visa takes longer than you think and you lose a lot of money." (I did try to Google and check the archive but couldn't find any answer to confirm)

 

Is it actually frowned upon by the people approving your visa, and if so, could it potentially negatively impact an application? (like, they deny or extend the process or something?)

 

I DQ'd July 1st so if everyone else's experience is any indicator, I can expect an interview on Dec 1st. I have seen a few instance where people might get it a toucher earlier or later (say Nov 23rd or Dec 6th). Since it is that time of year, prices will be expensive and my husband and I are keen to book ASAP. I was thinking for booking something around Dec 10-12th, however, we would only book with an airline allowing a flexible ticket which we could change with no fees (and usually up until 48 hours before). It could make the difference between paying $400 for a ticket and paying $1500 (if we waited until we had the visa in our hand to book)/ 

 

Can anyone advise whether there is a reason beyond "you might lose money" for this advice? Obviously if the embassy will frown upon it or get "suspicious" (?!) then we want to avoid that. 

 

Thanks in advance! 

It looks like they are still working through may. We are June 1st so at this rate hoping for mid November . So the 5 months thing is not right. Hopefully July for you will before Xmas earliest. Hoping they speed up for all of us. 

[RadChan 84]

Just now, Bobnrob said:

Thanks also hoping for Thursday. You gotta remember vj members are a tiny % of visas so the time lines are just a very rough indicator. They give 30 days notice normally so 9/10th of November hoping. There are quite a few of us here with similar dates to ours. Good luck too!

It looks like they are still working through may. We are June 1st so at this rate hoping for mid November . So the 5 months thing is not right. Hopefully July for you will before Xmas earliest. Hoping they speed up for all of us. 

Thanks! I know it is a small sample, but it seems quite consistent.

 

Had a quick scan and I found (including all the ones in there!)

 

May 15th for Oct 15th interview

May 27th for Oct 27th

May 7th for Oct 1

May 30th for Oct 28th

 

All those were notified on Sep 10th, one is within 3 weeks! So there may be hope for you yet  Fingers crossed!

 

 

 

[Bbking2 93]

2 minutes ago, RadChan said:

Thanks! I know it is a small sample, but it seems quite consistent.

 

Had a quick scan and I found (including all the ones in there!)

 

May 15th for Oct 15th interview

May 27th for Oct 27th

May 7th for Oct 1

May 30th for Oct 28th

 

All those were notified on Sep 10th, one is within 3 weeks! So there may be hope for you yet  Fingers crossed!

 

 

 

So you mustn't mix up dcf filers who schedule their own appointments, and expedite cases. You will find a lot of those dates you mentioned are probably either or. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

13 hours ago, RadChan said:

ahh, ok- I read about a premium service and presumed it was for fast delivery. 19 pounds is a big fee just for local depot to your house! Sounds like you are more clued in on the process than I am!

We have always paid for courier delivery of the passport. The no fee pickup option was added a few years ago. Some people live an hour or more from the closest depot, so delivery suits them, even at £19. 
 

 

13 hours ago, RadChan said:

3-5 days may be more common, but I saw a couple within 48 hours (might have just been the majority random sample I read! Someone on page 50 mentioned it, for example, but I can't link to it) 

I think only person in that entire thread (Bug&Bug) said delivery two days after interview so I tend to call that a minority. MattyUKtoUS mentioned his “issued” the second day, but his delivery was third day which was also more the exception than the norm.  As long as the large groups of visa categories are still suspended, yours should be under a week if all goes without a hitch. That beats the 10 working days they usually tell people. 

[RadChan 84]

39 minutes ago, Bobnrob said:

So you mustn't mix up dcf filers who schedule their own appointments, and expedite cases. You will find a lot of those dates you mentioned are probably either or. 

I didn't. The ones listed are all ones who were assigned dates via email, not ones who booked their own. And none of them are expedited. I can also confirm I am not cherry picking and ignoring anyone who received an interview 6 or 7 months after their DQ date, that is pretty much everyone non-expedited who posted about their experience last month around Sep 10 / 11th/ 

 

I'll be keeping an eye on the thread on Thursday this week to see if other people have consistent experiences!

[Bbking2 93]

5 minutes ago, RadChan said:

I didn't. The ones listed are all ones who were assigned dates via email, not ones who booked their own. And none of them are expedited. I can also confirm I am not cherry picking and ignoring anyone who received an interview 6 or 7 months after their DQ date, that is pretty much everyone non-expedited who posted about their experience last month around Sep 10 / 11th/ 

 

I'll be keeping an eye on the thread on Thursday this week to see if other people have consistent experiences!

OK then guess you got it all sorted. Good luck. 

[RadChan 84]

12 minutes ago, Bobnrob said:

OK then guess you got it all sorted. Good luck. 

Thanks! Same to you. Of course, thing aren't quite "normal" right now, and I know the embassy could get behind or ahead again. But that thread has been a lifeline for those of us still waiting and trying to guess a rough time line  

 

 

 

[Appy 38]

On 10/5/2020 at 9:16 AM, Bobnrob said:

So you mustn't mix up dcf filers who schedule their own appointments, and expedite cases. You will find a lot of those dates you mentioned are probably either or. 

DCFers do not get DQ’ed

[Appy 38]

On 10/5/2020 at 9:23 AM, Wuozopo said:

We have always paid for courier delivery of the passport. The no fee pickup option was added a few years ago. Some people live an hour or more from the closest depot, so delivery suits them, even at £19. 
 

 

I think only person in that entire thread (Bug&Bug) said delivery two days after interview so I tend to call that a minority. MattyUKtoUS mentioned his “issued” the second day, but his delivery was third day which was also more the exception than the norm.  As long as the large groups of visa categories are still suspended, yours should be under a week if all goes without a hitch. That beats the 10 working days they usually tell people. 

I also got my visa in hand within 48 hours. Interview was on aug 24.