Any experience with interviews in Auckland?

[mcs_2021 3]

On 2/3/2022 at 11:14 PM, EKT said:

Ugh, sorry to hear you’re dealing with this.  It is a really common problem for NZ applicants unfortunately. There are quite a few posts about this earlier in the thread if you scroll back through, but it sounds like you’ve done everything right. Firstly, I wouldn’t upload anything new because it will have today’s date on it and potentially reset your processing time. I’ve also read many posts on VJ where the wait for a supervisor was a matter of days rather than the six weeks mention so maybe wait a week and call back to check in. @mcs_2021 what did you do in the end to resolve this?

@Ash23122 so sorry for the delay here. I think the biggest thing that helped us was to email the consulate telling them that we were having a problem and requesting them to re-send the results of the police vetting to the NVC (this was what someone else suggest we do). Once they confirmed they did this, the issue seemed to resolve itself. So sorry you're going through this too! I realize how frustrating it is! 

[mcs_2021 3]

1 hour ago, EKT said:

I think @mcs_2021 was DQ late December and had an interview last week. They don’t have a timeline so hopefully will post an update for those who are waiting on NVC.

 

I know the Auckland consulate did a few days of interviews in Dec and four days in January (always Wednesdays) for IR-1/CR-1 and K-1s. They seem to turn around visas the same week if approved at interview. 

@Ash23122 sorry I'm way behind on responses! Our DQ date was beginning of Jan around the 1st I think, and we had the interview scheduled for early February! 

[Ash23122 22]

3 hours ago, BahamaBaby said:

@Ash23122 sure! Are you now DQ at NVC? We have been DQ since the end of August 2021. I was really surprised that we didn’t hear back after covid lockdowns ended. Then a couple of weeks ago I read that the consulate was closed in Sydney and it all made sense. With no clear indication of how many days/weeks/months till reopening, we have no choice but to plead to Auckland to accept our case as we cannot live in limbo forever. I’m sure you feel the same way! And thankfully now we can travel to Auckland without MIQ, I can accept home quarantine for 10 days, seems a small price to pay for some certainty in life. Goodluck to you! 

@BahamaBaby

Thank you and no, not at the moment. NVC rejected the NZ police certificate document that I had uploaded. Our case has been forwarded to a supervisor for further review. Hopefully, we will get an update in the next couple of days/weeks. Fingers crossed!! 

 

Not sure what's going on with the whole Sydney consulate situation. It is just shocking that they aren't scheduling any new visa interviews at all. Apparently, the rumour is that the new location where they are planning to relocate is not going to be ready until November this year. So who knows how long the wait is going to be. 🙄

 

Yes, thank god! we can now plan to travel to NZ after 27th Feb without MIQ. So once we get DQ'd by NVC, we will then request to transfer our case to Auckland and will take it from there. Good luck to you too and keep me posted! 🙂
 

[Ash23122 22]

1 hour ago, mcs_2021 said:

@Ash23122 so sorry for the delay here. I think the biggest thing that helped us was to email the consulate telling them that we were having a problem and requesting them to re-send the results of the police vetting to the NVC (this was what someone else suggest we do). Once they confirmed they did this, the issue seemed to resolve itself. So sorry you're going through this too! I realize how frustrating it is! 

@mcs_2021

 

No problems and thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, I am also following the same process - I recently send an email to both Sydney and Auckland consulates explaining that NVC is asking us to submit the NZ police certificate. I received a generic response from the Sydney consulate advising me to contact NVC directly however, I haven't heard anything back yet from the Auckland consulate as yet (Hopefully, they will look into it and get back to us).

[Ash23122 22]

1 hour ago, mcs_2021 said:

@Ash23122 sorry I'm way behind on responses! Our DQ date was beginning of Jan around the 1st I think, and we had the interview scheduled for early February! 

@mcs_2021 ok, that's awesome!!!! so they are scheduling visa interviews in Auckland. yay! and you're pretty much done with the visa process now - congratulations!! 

[BahamaBaby 12]

@Ash23122 so we called the Auckland consulate today and also happened to receive an email reply to our query at the same time! 
 

Basically they said we have to ask NVC to move our case there. No mention of a backlog or any issues from their side. Looking at NVC requirements, seems if you are a citizen of the country you want your case moved to, it’s a no brainer really! So hoping it’s a quick process. I read NVC can take a month to reassign and then I’m guessing a further 4-6 weeks to hear about an interview from the consulate in Auckland. 
 

The worrier in me wants to wait for the borders to open and see how it works out for the first few weeks. The borders between Australia and NZ have open and shut so many times in the last couple of years, it makes me a little nervous. We are thinking of reassigning by April, once we feel comfortable that Auckland will remain accessible to us. 
 

Goodluck to you! Hope you get your GC sorted soon!

[mcs_2021 3]

Does anyone have any input on how long it generally takes for the consulate to ship passports after the interview? It's been over a week now and our tracking number still indicates that that it hasn't been shipped yet. We're hoping to book flights soon, so we're starting to worry! 

[EKT 117]

38 minutes ago, mcs_2021 said:

Does anyone have any input on how long it generally takes for the consulate to ship passports after the interview? It's been over a week now and our tracking number still indicates that that it hasn't been shipped yet. We're hoping to book flights soon, so we're starting to worry! 

You can check your visa status here to see if it has been issued yet:

https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx

We also set up tracking updates on the NZ Post website to get a text/email with any tracking updates for our parcel. They sent my husband’s visa the same afternoon the status was changed to ‘Issued’

[mcs_2021 3]

6 minutes ago, EKT said:

You can check your visa status here to see if it has been issued yet:

https://ceac.state.gov/ceacstattracker/status.aspx

We also set up tracking updates on the NZ Post website to get a text/email with any tracking updates for our parcel. They sent my husband’s visa the same afternoon the status was changed to ‘Issued’

wow thank you so much this just provided so much peace of mind! 

[Ash23122 22]

1 hour ago, BahamaBaby said:

@Ash23122

2 hours ago, BahamaBaby said:

@Ash23122 so we called the Auckland consulate today and also happened to receive an email reply to our query at the same time! 
 

Basically they said we have to ask NVC to move our case there. No mention of a backlog or any issues from their side. Looking at NVC requirements, seems if you are a citizen of the country you want your case moved to, it’s a no brainer really! So hoping it’s a quick process. I read NVC can take a month to reassign and then I’m guessing a further 4-6 weeks to hear about an interview from the consulate in Auckland. 
 

The worrier in me wants to wait for the borders to open and see how it works out for the first few weeks. The borders between Australia and NZ have open and shut so many times in the last couple of years, it makes me a little nervous. We are thinking of reassigning by April, once we feel comfortable that Auckland will remain accessible to us. 
 

Goodluck to you! Hope you get your GC sorted soon!

wow, that was quick. I still haven't heard back from them on the NZ police certificate query that I had sent last week. 

 

Good call - I think it will be best to wait and watch how it all plays out before transferring the case to NZ as there is a huge risk that we might end up getting stuck here in Australia. I might do the same. Hopefully, by that time they will schedule the visa interview here only at Sydney or Melbourne consulate so we won't have to go down that path. 

 

Thank you and good luck to you too! I will let you know if I hear any news on the visa appointments here in Sydney. 

[kp_nay 0]

On 7/23/2021 at 4:18 PM, EKT said:

Hi, just wondering if anyone has recent experience with timeframes for IR-1 interviews at the US Consulate in Auckland. Our first NVC submission was April 30th and we resubmitted two documents on June 8th (everything else was accepted). We were hoping to hear back last week but of course NVC processing has slowed down recently. I would be very interested to hear about any recent Auckland timelines - how long after DQ an interview date was received and how far in advance the interviews in Auckland are being booked right now. The website say 30 days for non-immigrant visa interviews but I can't find any info about immigrant visas. Thanks in advance.

Hi , Thanks for sharing you're experience and timeline . How long does it took  you for i130 approval ? As nzl still have travel ban, so my gf decided to fly to US get married here and then she will go back and then we can start our documentations 

[EKT 117]

1 hour ago, kp_nay said:

Hi , Thanks for sharing you're experience and timeline . How long does it took  you for i130 approval ? As nzl still have travel ban, so my gf decided to fly to US get married here and then she will go back and then we can start our documentations 

The I-130 approval can take anywhere from 2-12 months or longer and it depends on the service center you are assigned to for processing. The next stage at NVC (for CR-1 visas) currently takes 3 months for the first document review and it could be 6+ months if changes are requested. Is your girlfriend already in the US with a valid visa or is she planning to travel there on an ESTA? From what I’ve read on VJ, she might have difficulty at the border if the purpose of the trip is to marry a US citizen as this shows she intends to immigrate. If she’s already there on a visa (like a B-1/B-2 not ESTA) you could look into adjusting status after you get married instead of going back to NZ. 

 

If she’s still in NZ, you could consider the K-1 fiancé visa route which can sometimes be a quicker way to getting her there but more work once she enters the US.

 

The NZ border is also starting to open next month so there are other options if you want to be together in the meantime. If you are under 35 you could get a NZ working holiday visa for 12 months to wait out the US visa processing time. These are available again from next month. I did this years ago and it was a really easy online application process and approval came in a few days. 

 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[kp_nay 0]

56 minutes ago, EKT said:

The I-130 approval can take anywhere from 2-12 months or longer and it depends on the service center you are assigned to for processing. The next stage at NVC (for CR-1 visas) currently takes 3 months for the first document review and it could be 6+ months if changes are requested. Is your girlfriend already in the US with a valid visa or is she planning to travel there on an ESTA? From what I’ve read on VJ, she might have difficulty at the border if the purpose of the trip is to marry a US citizen as this shows she intends to immigrate. If she’s already there on a visa (like a B-1/B-2 not ESTA) you could look into adjusting status after you get married instead of going back to NZ. 

 

If she’s still in NZ, you could consider the K-1 fiancé visa route which can sometimes be a quicker way to getting her there but more work once she enters the US.

 

The NZ border is also starting to open next month so there are other options if you want to be together in the meantime. If you are under 35 you could get a NZ working holiday visa for 12 months to wait out the US visa processing time. These are available again from next month. I did this years ago and it was a really easy online application process and approval came in a few days. 

 

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Thanks for you're  reply . No she will be here in march on b1 /B2  visa and fly back to nz ( because of her work ). 

For K1 visa she cannot work in United sates until her GC is been approved ? ( We both don't want to hold our carrier because of visa situations ) .

 

Thanks 

 

[EKT 117]

27 minutes ago, kp_nay said:

Thanks for you're  reply . No she will be here in march on b1 /B2  visa and fly back to nz ( because of her work ). 

For K1 visa she cannot work in United sates until her GC is been approved ? ( We both don't want to hold our carrier because of visa situations ) .

 

Thanks 

 

Oh, I see. She already has the B visa? Hopefully someone with more experience/knowledge will comment on this but I think she might have difficulty at the point of entry if she says she travelling to the US to get married. Just something to keep in mind. 
 

Yes, the K-1 means time off work. I would allow 12-18 months for the CR-1 process. My husband just had his IR-1 issued and the whole process took a little under 12 months from filing the petition to receiving his passport back with the visa in it. It would have been only 8 months if not for the Auckland Consulate closure but we were really lucky to have our petition approved very quickly in 2 months. It’s next to impossible to predict timeframes so best thing to do is prepare for the worst (18+ months) and hope for the best (less than 12 months).

[kp_nay 0]

34 minutes ago, EKT said:

Oh, I see. She already has the B visa? Hopefully someone with more experience/knowledge will comment on this but I think she might have difficulty at the point of entry if she says she travelling to the US to get married. Just something to keep in mind. 
 

Yes, the K-1 means time off work. I would allow 12-18 months for the CR-1 process. My husband just had his IR-1 issued and the whole process took a little under 12 months from filing the petition to receiving his passport back with the visa in it. It would have been only 8 months if not for the Auckland Consulate closure but we were really lucky to have our petition approved very quickly in 2 months. It’s next to impossible to predict timeframes so best thing to do is prepare for the worst (18+ months) and hope for the best (less than 12 months).

Thank you so much for all the information you have shared and sharing from experience . Really appreciated .