US Embassy in Paris K1/CR1

[Cameron2005 3]

22 minutes ago, neto-66 said:

Weirdly enough, we got an interview date assigned today.

 

October 20th, 2021

Congrats!! Glad to hear the process is at least moving along instead of totally stagnant 

[Catarina&Brendan 2]

Here is my experience with the us embassy in Paris (and ongoing frustration).. You are not alone.

 

I had my interview scheduled for April 7th but I failed to make it to the original appointment, due to confusion/lack/lag of communication from the embassy, in regards to COVID. FYI: They have information on their website saying "Due to COVID-19, any visa applicants who have traveled outside of France 10 days or less before their appointment date will not be admitted to the Embassy and will be required to reschedule their appointment". I sent several emails and called the embassy asking if I really had to quarantine in France  to be able to attend my interview. They didn't answer my emails and on the phone they kept saying that it was a very good question but they still didn't have an answer. So I had to reschedule my interview.

I had the appointment rescheduled for May 6th and was able to make it to the appointment. However, upon arrival at the embassy gate, the security guards couldn't find my name in the list of appointments for that day. Then they figured out that my interview appointment date was scheduled on the wrong day from what the embassy originally communicated with me.  But thankfully they let me in and the interview went well. I told them I was planning to enter the US around August because of my job and it would be two years from my wedding anniversary on June 27th, I was expecting to receive the IR1 visa instead of the CR1. They told me that it could only be possible if they would issue my visa after the date of my second year anniversary. So they wrote a note on my paperwork saying to only issue my visa after June 28th (more FYI).

 

The newest problem is similar to what everyone is reporting on this thread. My visa was approved and now my husband and I have been waiting for my passport and visa to arrive at my residence. We have been waiting past the usual "7 to 10 business days", despite multiple emails and phone calls. We have everything completed (status of CEAC is "Ready") only waiting to receive the package in the mail at this point. The total lack of communication is beyond frustrating. My husband has reached out to his local legislative representation in his home state. We do not know what else to do other than wait.

 

 

[JobbinsKnobbins 240]

22 hours ago, neto-66 said:

Weirdly enough, we got an interview date assigned today.

 

October 20th, 2021

Hopefully this can be a sign that the people dealing with the visas are returning from vacation and starting to deal with the cases. We're not holding ours breaths yet, since there's no news regarding the passports and no new interviews being scheduled, at least not from couples in this forum.

[Jsilva718 2]

This is an unfortunate situation. The last thing the embassy can do is give us an update on what is going on. I saw this post in usvisa--info.com

 

2 July, 2021

1. Applicants outside of France should make an appointment with the Embassy where they are currently located

The U.S. Embassy in Paris continues to follow procedures that prioritize the health and safety of our applicants and our employees. As a part of these efforts, any applicants who have traveled outside of France in the prior 10 days will not be admitted for their appointment and will be asked to reschedule for a future date. Additionally, and as a reminder, the U.S. Embassy in Paris only accepts applications from persons who are physically in France and Monaco. Applicants outside of France should make an appointment with the Embassy where they are currently located.

 

My questions are:

• Does anyone know if this applies to applicants from Portugal now?
• If this does not apply to applicants from Portugal, anyone who attended the interview, were you asked by the embassy if you arrived 10 days prior to your appointment?

Thank you everyone for updating and posting you findings.

 

[Catarina&Brendan 2]

3 hours ago, Jsilva718 said:

This is an unfortunate situation. The last thing the embassy can do is give us an update on what is going on. I saw this post in usvisa--info.com

 

2 July, 2021

1. Applicants outside of France should make an appointment with the Embassy where they are currently located

The U.S. Embassy in Paris continues to follow procedures that prioritize the health and safety of our applicants and our employees. As a part of these efforts, any applicants who have traveled outside of France in the prior 10 days will not be admitted for their appointment and will be asked to reschedule for a future date. Additionally, and as a reminder, the U.S. Embassy in Paris only accepts applications from persons who are physically in France and Monaco. Applicants outside of France should make an appointment with the Embassy where they are currently located.

 

My questions are:

• Does anyone know if this applies to applicants from Portugal now?
• If this does not apply to applicants from Portugal, anyone who attended the interview, were you asked by the embassy if you arrived 10 days prior to your appointment?

Thank you everyone for updating and posting you findings.

 

They have had that exact same post for months and I had the same questions when I saw it. So I contacted the embassy multiple times to try to get an answer to that before I attended the interview.

Here is what they answered (in April 2021):

 

"Dear Madam,

 

We apologize in the delay of our answer.

Since you are coming from Portugal, you only need a negative PCR test. You will only quarantine if you are tested positive to Covid-19.

We can certainly reschedule you for an interview.

 

Sincerely,

 

Immigrant Visas
Visa Unit

U.S. Embassy, Paris France"

 

So that's what I did. I arrived in Paris the day before my interview and at the embassy nobody asked about anything related to that information. 

[Cameron2005 3]

PLEASE HELP -- K1 VISA UPDATED TO REFUSED...TWICE???

 

My Portuguese fiancé's K-1 visa interview was on May 5, 2021. Following his visa interview, the U.S. Embassy in Paris took his documentation & passport and told us to keep up with his case on ceac.state.gov (at the time, his medical exam had not been sent to the embassy, but I contacted the NVC and they confirmed that it was received by the U.S. Paris embassy in May). 

On July 19, 2021, the case was updated in ceac.state.gov to "Refused" under the 221(g) reason for still undergoing administrative processing (This was according to my call that day with the NVC, who saw the 221g on our case when they looked it up but couldn't figure out why). I have yet to get in touch with the Embassy, as they haven't been able to reach for months -- we and our immigration lawyers have tried all emails, phone numbers, online submission forms, etc.).

 

Now onto TODAY -- I checked for the most recent update, which shows for today (August 3, 2021), that the case was updated but it still says the same "Refused" information as before. It says the exact same thing as the update from July 19.

 

I just called the NVC, and they said that on their end it shows it is still being processed, those it doesn't show a date.

 

I am just confused as to WHY our case was updated in CEAC today if it just says it is for the exact same thing? Has everyone else had this happened?

 

I am so beyond worried about what's going on and what else we can do. I feel so hopeless.

 

Any words of wisdom/guidance/advice/help/literally anything is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you all so much!!

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by Cameron2005

[JobbinsKnobbins 240]

For them to refuse absolutely, they have to state the reason for a denial.
Chances are the "Case last updated" happens everytime the case gets accessed.
Remember that they will also need to send back the passport and from what we have seen on a couple of posts, they warn when they are sending the passport plus documents for the fiancé to know around what time it needs to check the mail (due to its sensitivity).

This doesn't look like it got rejected but for clarification is usually from the Embassy side (and we already know how that is going =S).

It will be ok, you guys will be fine! We believe it! 😃

[neto-66 42]

1 hour ago, Cameron2005 said:

 

I am just confused as to WHY our case was updated in CEAC today if it just says it is for the exact same thing? Has everyone else had this happened?

 

It is my understanding that it is not unusual to have your case "updated" several times while in the "Refused" status. Every time someone accesses your case, the "Last Updated" date changes -- for example, if someone looks at your case because of an inquiry you submitted, the date will update even if they didn't actually change anything. I know it's really frustrating to not have any answers, but having the date change multiple times is nothing to be concerned about.

[Catarina&Brendan 2]

My visa package is already on it's way to my house! Finally!

 

Yesterday I received an email from the US embassy in Paris saying that my visa left their office and I should receive it within the coming three days.

 

It seems that they are making progress.

[JobbinsKnobbins 240]

56 minutes ago, Catarina&Brendan said:

My visa package is already on it's way to my house! Finally!

 

Yesterday I received an email from the US embassy in Paris saying that my visa left their office and I should receive it within the coming three days.

 

It seems that they are making progress.

Congratz! It does seem like the people that were only waiting for the passport are getting it finally. We've noticed that even Gloom got their passport a week or so ago.

This does increase the hope a little bit much, now waiting to see if people that didn't even had an interview schedule before, start having emails setting the dates. So far in that department nothing new.

But we're really happy to see that we are seeing some signs of life coming from the Embassy after a couple months of darkness.

[nimx 1]

On 7/15/2021 at 5:51 PM, JobbinsKnobbins said:

Over the past two months it appears that the Paris embassy is not doing anything for K1 applicants.  Passports being held onto, interviews not being scheduled, radio silence from the embassy when users contact them.  Its been growing into more than just a concern, but its difficult to track what is going on.

We're making this thread in hopes to gather all the information regarding the embassy during the pandemic but also for posterity.

Importance of having and updating the Visa Journey Timeline:

When you create and update the Timeline, your information (namely dates) will be available to give an average on getting the NoA2 (based on others also providing their timelines) but will also show other couples with similar timelines and even when their interviews are scheduled (among other details).
Since Embassies don't have any information on how they are progressing, this is the closest we have to check and track their progress. Keep in mind that not everyone applying for the visas are in this forum.

With that said, US Embassy in Paris deals with residents from France and Portugal (since 2012), so we check for both countries for the K1 and the CR1/IR1 visas:

K1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
K1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=5&op2=d&op3=1&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0

CR1/IR1 visas France: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=France&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0
CR1/IR1 visas Portugal: https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/k1list.php?op6=All&op66=All&op7=Portugal&op1=i&op2=&dfile=No&op3=5&op4=1&op5=5%2C6%2C8%2C10%2C11%2C13%2C14%2C15%2C16%2C17%2C18%2C20%2C21%2C22%2C25%2C26%2C27%2C28%2C108%2C110%2C111%2C208%2C210%2C211&cfl=0

Note: Even though this shows the results for both countries, doesn't mean that everyone is residing in the country and for that you check by looking at what consulate is chosen for the interview on the couples' page.

Finally, one last information regarding the Embassy is their working days. All Embassies enjoy the days off from US and their respected country. This page shows the dates for the French US Embassy: https://fr.usembassy.gov/holiday-calendar/

Hey , thanks for this post.

we also did the interview on 6/9/2021 , and on 7/9/21 the ceac changed to application received and the immigrant changed to non immigrant.

on 7/21/21 they received the passport from us and the updated medical exam and they said would print the visa. Since then we havent heard from them nor ceac updated ,, and we’ve sent multiple emails but no response . Am glad you guys shared your experiences as we thought we were the only ones getting ignored by the embassy. Am not sure whats happening with paris embassy ya’ll.

[JCFZ 7]

Hi everyone,

 

Thankful to everyone for all the info you've shared (and thanks to JobbinsKnobbins for sending this thread). 

 

I have some questions about the next steps in the process, I see some people here have made it through the interview, so some insight on some steps right before it would be very helpful. I am feeling a bit lost and nervous that I've missed a step somewhere. We are currently at the pre-interview stage:

- We received our paper NOA2 on 5/27/21

- Received and email (and PRS case number) from NVC that our case had been sent to Paris. 

- Status on CEAC is "Ready"

- Filled out DS-160 on 6/29/21

- (Surprisingly) Received an email today from the Paris Embassy with an interview date (9/28/21) and confirming that they have received our approved I-129F.

 

The email we received links to instructions on the embassy's website. We are now stuck at Step 2: "Register, pay the visa fee, and schedule a K visa appointment through the online appointment system." When trying to register through the "non-immigrant" section, K visas were not an option. We realized this error, and then when trying again through the "immigrant" section, we can proceed without a "DS-260" number.

 

Questions:

1. Have we missed the paying-the-fee step? How and what do we need to pay the fees? (Is an invoice number from NVC necessary?--we don't have that...)

2. How did those who made it to the interview register through this process? (this link: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-fr/iv).

3. Do we need to schedule a medical ASAP? 

4. In the immigrant section, we clicked the option "I have received a Consular interview appointment date from the National Visa Center (NVC), Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), or the Consular Section and I have been instructed to register my appointment on this site." -- is that correct?

 

Any insight into this part of the process would be incredibly helpful. Thank you very much!

 

JCFZ

 

[neto-66 42]

On 8/6/2021 at 11:46 PM, JCFZ said:

1. Have we missed the paying-the-fee step? How and what do we need to pay the fees? (Is an invoice number from NVC necessary?--we don't have that...)

You must pay the fee before your interview. You pay the fee on the online portal by creating an "application" on the Immigrant Visa section. You are not able to lock in your appointment until AFTER you pay the fee -- if you were to call the Embassy right now, they would say that they cannot see your interview date.

 

On 8/6/2021 at 11:46 PM, JCFZ said:

2. How did those who made it to the interview register through this process? (this link: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-fr/iv).

We have not had our interview yet, but we were originally scheduled for June and rescheduled for October due to missing the appointment. You should continue by selecting the answers that apply to you, pay the fee, and select the pre-populated interview date given to you. You will know you are done when your home page shows your appointment and says "Current Status: Appointment"

 

On 8/6/2021 at 11:46 PM, JCFZ said:

3. Do we need to schedule a medical ASAP? 

Yes. You should call and schedule an appointment as soon as possible, as they often book a month or so in advance.

 

On 8/6/2021 at 11:46 PM, JCFZ said:

4. In the immigrant section, we clicked the option "I have received a Consular interview appointment date from the National Visa Center (NVC), Kentucky Consular Center (KCC), or the Consular Section and I have been instructed to register my appointment on this site." -- is that correct?

Yes!

[neto-66 42]

For those traveling from Portugal for the interview, how did you set up visa/passport delivery for after approval? The online portal sets the default to pickup from France, and when I try to select the Courier service it does not let me enter an address that is not in France. Did anyone use a third party for delivery?

[JCFZ 7]

2 hours ago, neto-66 said:

You must pay the fee before your interview. You pay the fee on the online portal by creating an "application" on the Immigrant Visa section. You are not able to lock in your appointment until AFTER you pay the fee -- if you were to call the Embassy right now, they would say that they cannot see your interview date.

 

We have not had our interview yet, but we were originally scheduled for June and rescheduled for October due to missing the appointment. You should continue by selecting the answers that apply to you, pay the fee, and select the pre-populated interview date given to you. You will know you are done when your home page shows your appointment and says "Current Status: Appointment"

 

Yes. You should call and schedule an appointment as soon as possible, as they often book a month or so in advance.

 

Yes!

Hi Neto,

 

Thank you so much for your reply. This is very helpful. However, my remaining question is still surrounding the payment. We are able to start an application by choosing the questions that apply to us (immigrant visa) but we are not able to proceed because we don't have a "DS-260" number. (This is for the "I have received a consular interview" option.)

 

Any insight on that?

 

thanks again very much to all