Interview in Two Months, Possible to Grab Earlier One?

[J+J 49]

Hello everybody,

 

Our K-1 interview yesterday was cancelled due to COVID, so we quickly grabbed the next available on June 15.  Afterwards we realized this date will not work due to medical exam timing and a few other factors. 

 

So, we want to try to get an earlier interview date, but we have used up all our cancellations already so we cannot see the schedule any longer (previously we could see "Next Available Appt. Date".  We are willing to pay the visa fee again in order to be able to monitor the schedule, and we hope we could do this WITHOUT cancelling our interview June 15.   Ideally we can keep June 15, and if something becomes available in May we grab it.   I have no idea if any of what I just said is possible in the US Travel Docs system.

 

We have called the embassy multiple times and they just tell us they recommend we keep June 15.  Unclear if we pay the fee, that automatically cancels our interview.  Confusion over CGI number, Virtual Account Number, etc...Emails are replied with copy/paste nonsense.  I did not post this in the Thailand forum as it is pretty dead over there; I imagine the online system is the same across all embassies.

 

Thanks...

 

 

 

[SalishSea 17,836]

49 minutes ago, J+J said:

Hello everybody,

 

Our K-1 interview yesterday was cancelled due to COVID, so we quickly grabbed the next available on June 15.  Afterwards we realized this date will not work due to medical exam timing and a few other factors. 

 

So, we want to try to get an earlier interview date, but we have used up all our cancellations already so we cannot see the schedule any longer (previously we could see "Next Available Appt. Date".  We are willing to pay the visa fee again in order to be able to monitor the schedule, and we hope we could do this WITHOUT cancelling our interview June 15.   Ideally we can keep June 15, and if something becomes available in May we grab it.   I have no idea if any of what I just said is possible in the US Travel Docs system.

 

We have called the embassy multiple times and they just tell us they recommend we keep June 15.  Unclear if we pay the fee, that automatically cancels our interview.  Confusion over CGI number, Virtual Account Number, etc...Emails are replied with copy/paste nonsense.  I did not post this in the Thailand forum as it is pretty dead over there; I imagine the online system is the same across all embassies.

 

Thanks...

 

 

 

Seems like a big gamble to risk that date.

[J+J 49]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Seems like a big gamble to risk that date.

I am trying to see if there is a way to do this without gambling the date we already have.  From further reading on this forum, it would look like the answer is "no" and you have to cancel the interview you have in order to book a new one, but I hope somebody tells me otherwise.

Edited April 21, 2021 by J+J

[NandV 87]

15 hours ago, J+J said:

I am trying to see if there is a way to do this without gambling the date we already have.  From further reading on this forum, it would look like the answer is "no" and you have to cancel the interview you have in order to book a new one, but I hope somebody tells me otherwise.

You would have to cancel your interview. You're better off redoing the medical and keeping your June 15 date

[J+J 49]

Just to close on this for anybody else in a similar situation, we took the gamble and cancelled our interview and then immediately paid the fee again.  The next day we were able to re-book our original appointment, with two options to reschedule in the bank.  Now we are hoping for an earlier appointment to become available.  So...it is possible to do this but it is of course risky.

[Steve and Nicha 35]

On 4/30/2021 at 7:09 PM, J+J said:

Just to close on this for anybody else in a similar situation, we took the gamble and cancelled our interview and then immediately paid the fee again.  The next day we were able to re-book our original appointment, with two options to reschedule in the bank.  Now we are hoping for an earlier appointment to become available.  So...it is possible to do this but it is of course risky.

Do you know why your interview was cancelled?  I am asking because it seems they did not cancel the next week and I am assuming the interviews for tomorrow and Tuesday are still scheduled, but not sure.  Usually when they cancel interviews they post something on the website and I did not see anything.  We have ours coming up on May 18 and I am hoping cases go down so it is not canceled.

[J+J 49]

Our interview was cancelled "due to COVID-19 concerns".  I don't fully understand that, as cases only continued to rise after our cancellation, but the embassy remained open the following two weeks.  I believe they cancelled all interviews for three days April 19-21.  Perhaps an embassy staff member was sick or had symptoms so they closed for that reason, but I am just guessing.  

[Steve and Nicha 35]

12 hours ago, J+J said:

Our interview was cancelled "due to COVID-19 concerns".  I don't fully understand that, as cases only continued to rise after our cancellation, but the embassy remained open the following two weeks.  I believe they cancelled all interviews for three days April 19-21.  Perhaps an embassy staff member was sick or had symptoms so they closed for that reason, but I am just guessing.  

Ok Thanks.  At this point, the embassy had one year to prepare and add COVID safety measures that were not in place last year when they closed for months.  Hopefully they will see that it could be months before the case count gets low again and they will need to adapt with this being the new normal.

[CrisBR 30]

On 4/20/2021 at 8:13 PM, J+J said:

Hello everybody,

 

Our K-1 interview yesterday was cancelled due to COVID, so we quickly grabbed the next available on June 15.  Afterwards we realized this date will not work due to medical exam timing and a few other factors. 

 

So, we want to try to get an earlier interview date, but we have used up all our cancellations already so we cannot see the schedule any longer (previously we could see "Next Available Appt. Date".  We are willing to pay the visa fee again in order to be able to monitor the schedule, and we hope we could do this WITHOUT cancelling our interview June 15.   Ideally we can keep June 15, and if something becomes available in May we grab it.   I have no idea if any of what I just said is possible in the US Travel Docs system.

 

We have called the embassy multiple times and they just tell us they recommend we keep June 15.  Unclear if we pay the fee, that automatically cancels our interview.  Confusion over CGI number, Virtual Account Number, etc...Emails are replied with copy/paste nonsense.  I did not post this in the Thailand forum as it is pretty dead over there; I imagine the online system is the same across all embassies.

 

Thanks...

 

 

 

My sincere advice would be keep June 15 because if before Covid-19 there was confusion, let alone now. 

 

[JeffAtl 16]

My fiancee did this, but she only gained a week in doing so.  You have to constantly (several times a day) check to see if anyone else has canceled.  May or may not be worth the trouble.  I imagine there are many people trying to do the same,

[Steve and Nicha 35]

On 5/4/2021 at 7:45 AM, JeffAtl said:

My fiancee did this, but she only gained a week in doing so.  You have to constantly (several times a day) check to see if anyone else has canceled.  May or may not be worth the trouble.  I imagine there are many people trying to do the same,

Do you have to cancel the current appointment to do this?  Or can you look for better opportunities without cancelling the earlier appointment?

[JeffAtl 16]

48 minutes ago, Steve and Nicha said:

Do you have to cancel the current appointment to do this?  Or can you look for better opportunities without cancelling the earlier appointment?

I think you may have to cancel first (once you see another spot, not before), but I'll ask her.  I think she did it simultaneously.  

[Steve and Nicha 35]

Just now, JeffAtl said:

I think you may have to cancel first (once you see another spot, not before), but I'll ask her.  I think she did it simultaneously.  

I went to “reschedule” and it allowed me to see the other availabilities before cancelling.  However the next time slots are July 7 so I will keep what I have for now in June.

[J+J 49]

3 hours ago, Steve and Nicha said:

Do you have to cancel the current appointment to do this?  Or can you look for better opportunities without cancelling the earlier appointment?

It depends.  You can reschedule your appointment 2 or 3 times.  If you have not "used up" those rescheduling options, you can click "reschedule" and it will allow you to see the calendar.

If you have already rescheduled 2-3 times, you cannot see the calendar any longer, so this will force you to pay the MRV fee again.

 

We have done both of the above things.  Our interview has now been rescheduled five times in the past six months.