London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates

[cb611 10]

1 hour ago, MikeMinusWife said:

I booked an appointment online yesterday for July 1st and there were lots of open dates from July 1st (first available) through July 15th or 16th I think, nothing in June, in fact from memory there were appointments available on every day.  On the day I chose there were a total of 3 open time slots (all in the morning).  I should add that this is for an IR1 interview.

 

Hope that helps.

When were you DQ? Any special expedite? How come you got to book your interview, I thought the NVC just assigned it to you? I thought booking interviews was only for NIV. It would be very helpful if you filled out your timeline.

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by cb611

[Rol_P 43]

46 minutes ago, cb611 said:

When were you DQ? Any special expedite? How come you got to book your interview, I thought the NVC just assigned it to you? I thought booking interviews was only for NIV. It would be very helpful if you filled out your timeline.

 

If you click on the username to go to the profile, it will let you see previous posts.  That will give you an insight into the background for this user and why they have been able to book in this method etc.

[Southernboy123 21]

2 hours ago, MikeMinusWife said:

I booked an appointment online yesterday for July 1st and there were lots of open dates from July 1st (first available) through July 15th or 16th I think, nothing in June, in fact from memory there were appointments available on every day.  On the day I chose there were a total of 3 open time slots (all in the morning).  I should add that this is for an IR1 interview.

 

Hope that helps.

Shows how quickly things change….I logged in at 8am and looked at a reschedule and there were 0 dates available! (IR1 also)

[MikeMinusWife 42]

2 hours ago, cb611 said:

When were you DQ? Any special expedite? How come you got to book your interview, I thought the NVC just assigned it to you? I thought booking interviews was only for NIV. It would be very helpful if you filled out your timeline.

 

Our situation is unusual insofar as this will be our second go around, my family was unable to travel and our original visas expired.  We submitted a request for visa re-issuance under extenuating circumstances and while the US Embassy was kind enough to approve that we still have to go through the medicals and interview process again (and re-submit the DS-260 to the NVC).  What I have always wondered is if the ability to book interview slots can be opened up by them on a selective basis.  I know that sounds unlikely but I recall that when we were trying to book an interview on the first attempt back in November I was in touch with one VJ member who could see open time slots when I could not.  Either way, good luck to everyone trying to get an appointment, maybe we just got lucky.

[S&R2019 6]

17 hours ago, EmliS said:

Immigrant and non-immigrant processing are completely different. One isn't related to the other so don't worry. 

I would not say unrelated. It appears there are no IV interviews scheduled for August yet, so it makes sense that if London intends to completely stop processing all visas on August 1, then they would only be cancelling NIV. Sounds like folks here have only seen June and July interview availability as well, which matches up with the theory that all visa processing could be shutting down in August.

[meaghanpk 27]

34 minutes ago, S&R2019 said:

I would not say unrelated. It appears there are no IV interviews scheduled for August yet, so it makes sense that if London intends to completely stop processing all visas on August 1, then they would only be cancelling NIV. Sounds like folks here have only seen June and July interview availability as well, which matches up with the theory that all visa processing could be shutting down in August.

Why would they stop processing all visas? How could they do that? Isn't that what the Mandamus lawsuit is about?

 

[S&R2019 6]

13 minutes ago, meaghanpk said:

Why would they stop processing all visas? How could they do that? Isn't that what the Mandamus lawsuit is about?

 

Well it happened before with K1 and you are right, it necessitated the Mandamus lawsuit. I guess we usually think we are invincible as IR1/CR1 applicants, but I believe the same could happen to us.

 

Of course there would be Mandamus suits, but the K1 one was not cheap, it cost $2500/plantiff.

[meaghanpk 27]

53 minutes ago, S&R2019 said:

I would not say unrelated. It appears there are no IV interviews scheduled for August yet, so it makes sense that if London intends to completely stop processing all visas on August 1, then they would only be cancelling NIV. Sounds like folks here have only seen June and July interview availability as well, which matches up with the theory that all visa processing could be shutting down in August.

From this update (April 6), it seems like they are prioritizing immigrant visas

 

"The provision of services to U.S. citizens abroad is the first priority of consular sections abroad.  With respect to visa services, for consular sections that have the capacity, the processing of immigrant and fiancée visas, particularly for immediate relatives and other family-sponsored applicants, is our highest priority.  "

[meaghanpk 27]

2 minutes ago, S&R2019 said:

Well it happened before with K1 and you are right, it necessitated the Mandamus lawsuit. I guess we usually think we are invincible as IR1/CR1 applicants, but I believe the same could happen to us.

 

Of course there would be Mandamus suits, but the K1 one was not cheap, it cost $2500/plantiff.

Ugh. While I'm sure the same *could* happen to us, I am going to try and be optimistic and hope it doesn't.... gettin real tired of not being with my husband, as I'm sure everyone else on here is!!

[Rol_P 43]

Unfortunately we have to sit tight and see what happens, we are all trying to second guess everything without any actual solid information, sadly that seems to be a theme with the process. 

 

10 hours ago, S&R2019 said:

I would not say unrelated. It appears there are no IV interviews scheduled for August yet, so it makes sense that if London intends to completely stop processing all visas on August 1, then they would only be cancelling NIV. Sounds like folks here have only seen June and July interview availability as well, which matches up with the theory that all visa processing could be shutting down in August.

August Interviews wouldn't be released until July, so we won't know for sure for a good few weeks yet, anything released this month will be for July.  People re-planning their appointments seem to be able to book slots. I'm guessing that the embassy will either plan around that or hold slots back that they plan to use for batches of interviews, again unknown quantity as we are just guessing at what is happening.  There was a month (January I think) where they skipped any interviews for some random reason.

 

9 hours ago, meaghanpk said:

Ugh. While I'm sure the same *could* happen to us, I am going to try and be optimistic and hope it doesn't.... gettin real tired of not being with my husband, as I'm sure everyone else on here is!!

I couldn't agree more, I'm definitely tired of a process that is heading into three years of waiting and so forth!!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

13 hours ago, S&R2019 said:

I would not say unrelated. It appears there are no IV interviews scheduled for August yet, so it makes sense that if London intends to completely stop processing all visas on August 1, then they would only be cancelling NIV. Sounds like folks here have only seen June and July interview availability as well, which matches up with the theory that all visa processing could be shutting down in August.

My longtime experience in this forum, of interviews done by the IV Unit is that on June 4 of any given year, there would be zero August interview dates posted by VJ members or open dates on the schedule. Pre-Covid shutdowns, at the end of a typical May, you would find June/July dates. By the last 3-4 days of June, you would see July/August dates. Those receiving dates assigned by NVC usually got about a months notice, during which time they arranged their medical exam.  I don’t think lack of August dates is unusual at this time. London IV Unit never booked that far out. 

[S&R2019 6]

1 minute ago, Wuozopo said:

My longtime experience in this forum, of interviews done by the IV Unit is that on June 4 of any given year, there would be zero August interview dates posted by VJ members or open dates on the schedule. Pre-Covid shutdowns, at the end of a typical May, you would find June/July dates. By the last 3-4 days of June, you would see July/August dates. Those receiving dates assigned by NVC usually got about a months notice, during which time they arranged their medical exam.  I don’t think lack of August dates is unusual at this time. London IV Unit never booked that far out. 

Right, my point was exactly that; if London was doing a "total" shutdown on August 1 the way Moscow has (obviously very different circumstances), then IV applicants wouldn't have any indication yet since there were no appointments scheduled past August 1 anyway, as is normal in June.

 

But as the other person said, we're all stressed out over these massive delays and second guessing; best to wait and see what unfolds over the next few weeks.

[Arthur2021 20]

On 6/4/2021 at 1:56 PM, S&R2019 said:

Right, my point was exactly that; if London was doing a "total" shutdown on August 1 the way Moscow has (obviously very different circumstances), then IV applicants wouldn't have any indication yet since there were no appointments scheduled past August 1 anyway, as is normal in June.

 

But as the other person said, we're all stressed out over these massive delays and second guessing; best to wait and see what unfolds over the next few weeks.

Where is the talk of London doing a complete shutdown in August coming from and what would be the reason?

[S&R2019 6]

On 6/6/2021 at 2:09 AM, Arthur2021 said:

Where is the talk of London doing a complete shutdown in August coming from and what would be the reason?

Speculation given what they did with NIV and the lack of new dates.

 

As a side note, we will be DQ for more than 120 days tomorrow. I have seen mention of needing to confirm with NVC that we are still in the queue in other consulate threads. Is this the case for us?

[Lucky4George 10]

Hey everyone, reading what is posted has me confused a bit. My wife and I were DQ on Feb 22nd. My question is if we are still within the time frame for the interview or will it be a long way from now?