129F Fiance visa timeline

[fellaamazing 72]

Hi,

 

I need to know how long will it take to get visa appointment in India after I get NOA2? I was really hoping to plan marriage in spring 2023, but then I looked at the visa appointment wait times in Mumbai and other consulates in India, and got super disheartened.

Let's say if I get NOA2 in March 2023, what's the realistic time I should expect?

[Chancy 6,243]

*** Removed related thread in a different sub-forum.  Please post your related questions in this thread to keep the discussion in one place. ***

 

On 4/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, fellaamazing said:

Hello all,

 

We are expecting our NOA2 to come some time this month based on data from this forum (based on USCIS scans). However our predicted completion date is between May 27, 2023 and June 5, 2023. But looking at the data here, I see 93 days between NOA2 to embassy. Is it still the case, or time is reducing?

 

[fellaamazing 72]

On 4/6/2023 at 9:16 AM, Chancy said:

*** Removed related thread in a different sub-forum.  Please post your related questions in this thread to keep the discussion in one place. ***

 

 

There is no response. And I don't seem to have option to add India in the title. So I won't get any response at all. Can you fix that please? The first question I asked was almost a year ago and it's irrelevant now.

[joe.b 33]

Looks like your original post was from last summer, so I'm not sure if you're still looking for an answer on this. But if you are, I'd be happy to tell you about my husband's experience getting a K1 interview in Mumbai in 2021. The main point is that it didn't take as long as we worried it would. I don't want to unnecessarily give a long explanation, but happy to share more if it's helpful!

[fellaamazing 72]

2 hours ago, joe.b said:

Looks like your original post was from last summer, so I'm not sure if you're still looking for an answer on this. But if you are, I'd be happy to tell you about my husband's experience getting a K1 interview in Mumbai in 2021. The main point is that it didn't take as long as we worried it would. I don't want to unnecessarily give a long explanation, but happy to share more if it's helpful!

Yes please. Do share. Looking at your timeline, it looks like it took 4 months between NOA2 to actual interview. That's sounds disappointing. Since we had already been waiting for more than a year already, and we were planning our wedding in June.

[joe.b 33]

On 4/14/2023 at 7:26 PM, fellaamazing said:

Yes please. Do share. Looking at your timeline, it looks like it took 4 months between NOA2 to actual interview. That's sounds disappointing. Since we had already been waiting for more than a year already, and we were planning our wedding in June.

Yes, there will be definitely some delay between the NOA2 and the interview, just by virtue of the case getting sent to NVC and then to the consulate. But for our timeline, keep in mind this was still during the height of the pandemic when things were moving slowly. And in that 4 months between NOA2 and the interview, the consulate in Mumbai shut down for a month due to the massive COVID surge in late-Spring 2021. Plus, we purposely chose an interview time a month out, because my husband (then-fiance) needed time to get the medical exam, his police clearance certificate, and some other documents.

 

But more generally, the thing that I didn't realize beforehand is that the interview time isn't assigned by the consulate, but rather, applicants choose the time slot themselves, based on what's available. IIRC, after our application got to the consulate, and once we had submitted all the necessary online forms to the consulate and paid the fee, we were eligible to choose an interview time. As I mentioned, at the time my fiance became eligible for this, the Mumbai consulate was completely closed due to the COVID wave at the time. But once they reopened, they would periodically post interview slots, which any eligible applicant could select, whether they had been waiting 3 days or 3 years to schedule their interview. For better or worse, there was no element of "first come, first served" for scheduling the K1 interview. (For us, this was actually better. Back when I thought the consulate assigned the interview time, I thought it would be "first come, first served," and given the huge K1 backlog at the time due to the first year of the pandemic, I thought my fiance would be waiting at least a year for his interview.)

 

I should also clarify that the interview times are posted on some Dept of State or maybe consulate-specific website (it's been a couple years, and I haven't had to use that website since then, so I've kind of forgotten what it was, but I'm guessing you might be familiar with it?). I think there's also a phone number one can call to try to schedule the interview, but I found that less convenient than the website.

 

I found it was best to check the website around the time the consulate in Mumbai opens each day. Sometimes only interview slots a week later would be posted ; my fiance's case, this wasn't enough time to gather everything he needed. At the time we actually selected an interview slot, the interview would be a month later, but there was nothing on the consulate's end stopping us from choosing an earlier interview date.

 

Hopefully this information is helpful, and not too redundant for what you might have read elsewhere. If it would be helpful for me to explain anything else, let me know! Like I said, it's been about 2 years since we were at that stage, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I can try to look up any details that could be helpful.

[fellaamazing 72]

21 hours ago, joe.b said:

Yes, there will be definitely some delay between the NOA2 and the interview, just by virtue of the case getting sent to NVC and then to the consulate. But for our timeline, keep in mind this was still during the height of the pandemic when things were moving slowly. And in that 4 months between NOA2 and the interview, the consulate in Mumbai shut down for a month due to the massive COVID surge in late-Spring 2021. Plus, we purposely chose an interview time a month out, because my husband (then-fiance) needed time to get the medical exam, his police clearance certificate, and some other documents.

 

But more generally, the thing that I didn't realize beforehand is that the interview time isn't assigned by the consulate, but rather, applicants choose the time slot themselves, based on what's available. IIRC, after our application got to the consulate, and once we had submitted all the necessary online forms to the consulate and paid the fee, we were eligible to choose an interview time. As I mentioned, at the time my fiance became eligible for this, the Mumbai consulate was completely closed due to the COVID wave at the time. But once they reopened, they would periodically post interview slots, which any eligible applicant could select, whether they had been waiting 3 days or 3 years to schedule their interview. For better or worse, there was no element of "first come, first served" for scheduling the K1 interview. (For us, this was actually better. Back when I thought the consulate assigned the interview time, I thought it would be "first come, first served," and given the huge K1 backlog at the time due to the first year of the pandemic, I thought my fiance would be waiting at least a year for his interview.)

 

I should also clarify that the interview times are posted on some Dept of State or maybe consulate-specific website (it's been a couple years, and I haven't had to use that website since then, so I've kind of forgotten what it was, but I'm guessing you might be familiar with it?). I think there's also a phone number one can call to try to schedule the interview, but I found that less convenient than the website.

 

I found it was best to check the website around the time the consulate in Mumbai opens each day. Sometimes only interview slots a week later would be posted ; my fiance's case, this wasn't enough time to gather everything he needed. At the time we actually selected an interview slot, the interview would be a month later, but there was nothing on the consulate's end stopping us from choosing an earlier interview date.

 

Hopefully this information is helpful, and not too redundant for what you might have read elsewhere. If it would be helpful for me to explain anything else, let me know! Like I said, it's been about 2 years since we were at that stage, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I can try to look up any details that could be helpful.

Thank you. That is definitely very helpful. If my fiance has any questions along the lines of consulate in Mumbai, I will let him message you.

[fellaamazing 72]

On 4/14/2023 at 7:15 PM, joe.b said:

Looks like your original post was from last summer, so I'm not sure if you're still looking for an answer on this. But if you are, I'd be happy to tell you about my husband's experience getting a K1 interview in Mumbai in 2021. The main point is that it didn't take as long as we worried it would. I don't want to unnecessarily give a long explanation, but happy to share more if it's helpful!

Hey @joe.b

 

Can you please list the documents needed? So we can prepare in advance? And how do we get police clearance and medical exams? Do we need the NOA2 or something from embassy first? Or we can directly schedule it?