Any experience with interviews in Auckland?

[kiwipete 18]

@kiwierin sorry to hear that - it's tough being so close then back in the waiting game. That I-864 is a tricky form (I found it to be at least). Our joint sponsor is my stepfather (US citizen) because we were expecting to need a joint sponsor. The officer said everything else looked good, so hopefully it's just a case of waiting for them to review again. Hopefully keeping the passport is a good sign and we're not back in the 60-day review period! Wish the process was a little more transparent, but I guess that's the deal. Good luck!

FWIW my overall case is just showing "Your case is currently at: Auckland", and the re-submitted I-864 is showing as "Submitted" (but the summary section for the joint sponsor still shows "Accepted"). Not sure if that's helpful and/or where the overall case status would change.

[kiwierin 9]

12 minutes ago, kiwipete said:

@kiwierin sorry to hear that - it's tough being so close then back in the waiting game. That I-864 is a tricky form (I found it to be at least). Our joint sponsor is my stepfather (US citizen) because we were expecting to need a joint sponsor. The officer said everything else looked good, so hopefully it's just a case of waiting for them to review again. Hopefully keeping the passport is a good sign and we're not back in the 60-day review period! Wish the process was a little more transparent, but I guess that's the deal. Good luck!

FWIW my overall case is just showing "Your case is currently at: Auckland", and the re-submitted I-864 is showing as "Submitted" (but the summary section for the joint sponsor still shows "Accepted"). Not sure if that's helpful and/or where the overall case status would change.

I think as long as they kept your passport, then they will review it really quickly- so hopefully not another 60 days! That’s what we felt the officer implied at least based on our conversation with her and over hearing some other cases. 
 

For the case status, I think you’re checking the NVC portal (ours says the same as yours). Try the CEAC case tracker link: 

https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx?TSPD_101_R0=0883343043ab2000526b68408f688ca56958cb63ad12488b4f1d70dcbc6041481baf05a50072f3e60887b43f0a1430004a4de1ed27b4e07f3179e3b9cdc3ce567102e64560f9b32aa79d13114d52181bd2931e161bb81a6d9e43387ea0f7ccb3
 

 

[kiwipete 18]

That was the feeling I got as well so nice to hear it from someone else too.
 

Quote

For the case status, I think you’re checking the NVC portal (ours says the same as yours). Try the CEAC case tracker link: 

Oh thanks! Not sure how I'd missed this one. I have 'Administrative Processing' from 25 May. One more website to obsessively check 😂

[kiwierin 9]

13 hours ago, kiwipete said:

That was the feeling I got as well so nice to hear it from someone else too.
 

Oh thanks! Not sure how I'd missed this one. I have 'Administrative Processing' from 25 May. One more website to obsessively check 😂

Ours changed to “Issued” this morning! Now the last website we need to obsess over is the NZ Post tracking 😂

[kiwipete 18]

@kiwierin I was just in the process of making the same post 😂 ours just came through as well. Congrats! Crazy to think it's really happened after all this time.

[Jacq1227 12]

Congrats to everyone who have completed the interview. ☺️

 

Not sure if anyone is on the same boat with me. I got DQ'd last 20-Apr but have not receive any interview schedule yet. I was hoping I will get June schedule but it looks like that is not possible anymore. With the upcoming FIFA World Women's cup, it seems that it will be a long wait for me

[CS & CK 1]

On 5/31/2023 at 9:54 AM, Jacq1227 said:

Congrats to everyone who have completed the interview. ☺️

 

Not sure if anyone is on the same boat with me. I got DQ'd last 20-Apr but have not receive any interview schedule yet. I was hoping I will get June schedule but it looks like that is not possible anymore. With the upcoming FIFA World Women's cup, it seems that it will be a long wait for me

We're in the same boat. DQ'd the same day and still haven't heard anything from the consulate. My wife (petitioner) has called the consulate a couple of times and they haven't been particularly helpful.

[Kiwi_Bdan 8]

Hi all,

 

I got DQ'd on the 19th May 2023. Still waiting for an interview date as the others above. A prior post stated that every 3rd Wednesday of the month they issue dates to the NVC who then assign them. Worrying to see people pass by this date with no news - seems the consulte has a backlog perhaps, or has stopped issuing given the FIFA world cup?

 

I have a question about the medical if anyone can help. At the moment i'm going to leave any extra jabs up to them to do rather than get them earlier. Probably flu, covid booster and a tetanus booster. Any ideas as to what they charge for these? Is it more cost worthy to get before hand or is it ok to let CityMed Auck do it?

 

Also - has anyone travelled to the US on a normal ESTA close to the interview date? Considering going for a month or two with family up till a few weeks before probable interview date. Will US immigration be ok with this? Have emailed immigration lawyer this as well, but interested to hear from anyone with experience on this.

 

Cheers - and great thread, this has been an amazing source of information for the battle weary 😭

 

[Jacq1227 12]

Hi everyone, it’s been awhile since someone posted in here. I hope everyone is doing well.☺️

 

Just a quick update for those who are waiting for an IL like me. Just hang on tight, we’re almost there. A colleague of my friend applied for L1B visa (working visa) a month ago and received the IL last weekend (24-Jun) and the interview is set on 06-Sep. I think working visa interviews are being prioritized, but i also believe that they are starting to release schedules for September. Having said that, we might be getting the letters soon. ☺️

 

Goodluck to all of us.

 

 

[Victoria & Phil 5]

Has the Auckland consulate started scheduling interviews again for family-based petitions? Anyone hear yet?

[Jacq1227 12]

Finally, the long wait is over. Just received our IL 20mins ago. Scheduled on 06-Oct. 🥳

[Kiwi_Bdan 8]

On 6/6/2023 at 9:09 PM, Kiwi_Bdan said:

Hi all,

 

I got DQ'd on the 19th May 2023. Still waiting for an interview date as the others above. A prior post stated that every 3rd Wednesday of the month they issue dates to the NVC who then assign them. Worrying to see people pass by this date with no news - seems the consulte has a backlog perhaps, or has stopped issuing given the FIFA world cup?

 

I have a question about the medical if anyone can help. At the moment i'm going to leave any extra jabs up to them to do rather than get them earlier. Probably flu, covid booster and a tetanus booster. Any ideas as to what they charge for these? Is it more cost worthy to get before hand or is it ok to let CityMed Auck do it?

 

Also - has anyone travelled to the US on a normal ESTA close to the interview date? Considering going for a month or two with family up till a few weeks before probable interview date. Will US immigration be ok with this? Have emailed immigration lawyer this as well, but interested to hear from anyone with experience on this.

 

Cheers - and great thread, this has been an amazing source of information for the battle weary 😭

 

Replying to my own post for future reference.

Further research on the medical - it seems Citymed Auckland charge standard rates for vaccines. Might as well just let them do it.
Traveling to the US - Yes, it is possible. Immigrant lawyer said no worries. I went and US immigration didn't care at all. Currently coming back 1 week before my medical in NZ.

So I got Documentarily Qualified on the 19/05/2023, received NVC email on the 31/08/2023, for an interview set for the 13/10/2023.

Good luck to everyone.

[Victoria & Phil 5]

Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you that your long waits are over!!! Also selfishly happy because this means my husband's interview may not be too delayed (once the NVC accepts our freaking police clearance, which they already have on file). 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Victoria & Phil

[Victoria & Phil 5]

Hi all, congrats to all of those who had/have their interviews this month! For the medical, were you given a packet that you brought to the interview? Or was were the results provided directly to the consulate? We received an interview date for November 17th, and they're requesting our documents be delivered two weeks in advance. My husband lives in Wellington, so he was thinking of dropping off the documents the same day as his medical exam to save the extra travel or worry about courier delivery. 

 

Also, did you include your I-864 and evidence of relationship? The NVC site indicates to include these in some places but not in others, and we received an email from the consulate that did not include these. 

[Kiwi_Bdan 8]

• packet that you brought to the interview -------> No. Medical sends their results to the consulate, medical give you some receipts and bits and bobs for your personal use, but the interview requested none of them.
• documents be delivered two weeks in advance -------> This is the official consulate advice, when I emailed them they said even a week out is fine. In saying that I also did my medical and delivered documents by hand to the consulate two weeks out.
• include your I-864 and evidence of relationship -------> The required documents is a hot mess. I ended up making an excel spreadsheet accross all the various sources of what you should bring and including anything I could find a reference for, with the idea in mind that it's better to have something they dont need than to not have something they need. Yes I included my I-864 and I used about ~50 photos since marriage (and including marriage photos) as evidence of relationship. There were a few people at the interviews that failed or had conditional approvals because they were missing documents. So if in doubt, just chuck it in. Also I was part of a group that are being processed electronically and so any extra evidence I brought to the consulate that I hadnt given the NVC via CEAC I had to also upload to CEAC.

I attach a copy of my "table of contents" describing all the documents I submitted to the consulate in a sealed courier bag two weeks before my interview.

TableOfContents_ONLINE.doc