Deadlock between NVC and embassy while waiting for an interview to be scheduled

[American Husband 0]

My wife is trying to get a CR-1 marriage visa to come to the US.

Our case has been documentarily complete for over 45 days. We had thought an interview is supposed to be scheduled for the month after all the documents are received, but that hasn't happened yet. We messaged the NVC to find out why, and they gave us the same generic information that we've received before. It starts like this:

Quote

 

This case is documentarily complete, which means the NVC has all the documents we requested. Your application is waiting for an interview appointment, where a consular officer will adjudicate it.

The U.S. Embassy or Consulate provides the National Visa Center (NVC) with a list of available appointment dates and times. We will schedule your case for an interview appointment when an appointment date is available. We schedule appointments on a first in, first out basis. After we schedule your appointment, we will forward your case to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General.

We cannot predict how long it will take to schedule your appointment, but we will notify the applicant, the petitioner, and your attorney (if applicable) when an appointment is scheduled. Your case will stay at NVC until that time.

 

 

The language seems a little ambiguous, because it just says "the U.S. Embassy or Consulate provides the National Visa Center (NVC) with a list of available appointment dates and times" without saying whether the available appointment dates and times have already been provided or if they're still waiting for them to be provided. If the NVC contacts the embassy, isn't it a simple matter of the embassy just replying with a schedule? If that hasn't happened yet, could it be because the NVC hasn't even contacted the embassy, or would it be because the embassy hasn't responded, or could the NVC have already received the list and just hasn't picked the date and time yet?

 

I've tried contacting the embassy thinking it must be in their hands, but their response made it seem like they're not willing to take responsibility and they think the ball is still in the NVC's court. Could the two sides actually be waiting on each other? Is there a way to get them unstuck?

[appleblossom 2,396]

30 minutes ago, American Husband said:

My wife is trying to get a CR-1 marriage visa to come to the US.

Our case has been documentarily complete for over 45 days. We had thought an interview is supposed to be scheduled for the month after all the documents are received, but that hasn't happened yet. We messaged the NVC to find out why, and they gave us the same generic information that we've received before. It starts like this:

 

The language seems a little ambiguous, because it just says "the U.S. Embassy or Consulate provides the National Visa Center (NVC) with a list of available appointment dates and times" without saying whether the available appointment dates and times have already been provided or if they're still waiting for them to be provided. If the NVC contacts the embassy, isn't it a simple matter of the embassy just replying with a schedule? If that hasn't happened yet, could it be because the NVC hasn't even contacted the embassy, or would it be because the embassy hasn't responded, or could the NVC have already received the list and just hasn't picked the date and time yet?

 

I've tried contacting the embassy thinking it must be in their hands, but their response made it seem like they're not willing to take responsibility and they think the ball is still in the NVC's court. Could the two sides actually be waiting on each other? Is there a way to get them unstuck?

 

The quickest it would be is around 2-3 months, even at the quickest consulates. But it can be up to 2 years if it's a consulate with a big backlog. So where will your wife be interviewing? 

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

This is how it works after DQ.  Even before Covid, the normal time for many consulates was 3 months.  Now, it is much longer for some consulates.

 

1. Case is DQ'd by NVC.

2. Case then enters NVC queue for your consulate and waits at NVC.

3. Consulate informs NVC of available interview date for upcoming month.

4. NVC schedules interviews for cases at the front of the line.

5. NVC schedules your  interview when your case reaches the front of the queue for that consulate.

6. NVC notifies person of interview date via email.

7. NVC then sends case to consulate.

After the interview is scheduled, it can take several days to several weeks for the consulate to receive the case.

Edited 11 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

35 minutes ago, American Husband said:

I've tried contacting the embassy thinking it must be in their hands, but their response made it seem like they're not willing to take responsibility and they think the ball is still in the NVC's court.

That is correct.  The consulate provides available date, then NVC assigns cases at the front of the line to those dates.

Edited 11 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[powerpuff 6,643]

This is a very consulate specific matter. Your estimate of 30 days is unrealistic, I’d say the same for 45 days. Some consulates have a 1.5 year wait after DQ for an interview for spouses of US citizens.

[American Husband 0]

2 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

The quickest it would be is around 2-3 months, even at the quickest consulates. But it can be up to 2 years if it's a consulate with a big backlog. So where will your wife be interviewing? 

 

Tbilisi

[American Husband 0]

2 hours ago, powerpuff said:

This is a very consulate specific matter. Your estimate of 30 days is unrealistic, I’d say the same for 45 days. Some consulates have a 1.5 year wait after DQ for an interview for spouses of US citizens.

 

Okay but supposing it takes 1.5 years before the interview happens, when would the interview get scheduled? How far in advance do they schedule interviews? It's one thing to have to wait a long time, it's another thing to not know how long we'll be waiting

[American Husband 0]

3 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

That is correct.  The consulate provides available date, then NVC assigns cases at the front of the line to those dates.

If the ball is in the NVC's court then what are they waiting for? Why haven't they scheduled it yet?

[Crazy Cat 41,727]

 

7 minutes ago, American Husband said:

If the ball is in the NVC's court then what are they waiting for? Why haven't they scheduled it yet?

NVC will not even schedule your interview until your case is at the front of the queue.  Your case is not yet at the front of the line.   That could be months from now.  Go back and read my sequence of events....#5

Edited 7 hours ago by Crazy Cat

[powerpuff 6,643]

38 minutes ago, American Husband said:

 

Okay but supposing it takes 1.5 years before the interview happens, when would the interview get scheduled? How far in advance do they schedule interviews? It's one thing to have to wait a long time, it's another thing to not know how long we'll be waiting

About a month, month and a half out.

[powerpuff 6,643]

12 minutes ago, American Husband said:

If the ball is in the NVC's court then what are they waiting for? Why haven't they scheduled it yet?

The ball is not in their court. There are people ahead of you who applied earlier waiting their turn. Once the consulate signals that they can take more applications, NVC will send a new “batch”. The queue is based on the DQ date. Nothing is fast in US immigration. Managing your expectations would be best for you. 

[JeanneAdil 6,470]

Please complete a timeline and ID the country of the beneficary

[top_secret 2,387]

Both the embassy and NVC are just trying to shift responsibility for the backlog to get you off their back.  Ultimately it is the embassy that has the backlog but they will just tell you they don't know anything about your case because they have not received it from NVC yet.  NVC will tell you they have not sent it because they are waiting for the Embassy to request more cases.  In reality it is just waiting for it's place to come up in the queue.  The best you can do is try to find other examples of recent cases at the same embassy and guess the backlog by how long they took.  We don't have many Georgia cases here but the few over the last year or two looked to be in the 2 to 4 month range which is really not bad compared to some other embassies.  Georgia may also get cases from Russia, Iran etc that might follow different timelines.

[mam521 2,038]

 https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/profile.php?id=463738

 

As with everything immigration related, you have to take a number and wait your turn.  Your number hasn't come up yet, so the consulate hasn't requested your case from NVC.  Number holders earlier in the queue are having their cases sent.  Some consulates are quick, others take months before an interview is scheduled.  Hang tight, your time will come.  

[Bunninuts 25]

Although the timeline I have been following is for a k-1, the time from when NVC received it and the interview scheduled and embassy received it was a little over 2 months. This timeline was updated just a week ago and for the Embassy in Panama. The time to wait for having interviews scheduled and NVC sending it on is getting longer. I'm sorry you are having to wait longer. I hope you get this through before the process might change. Keep an eye on any changes and documents that may be needed if the interview lands after Jan 20, 2025. Best wishes to you and your partner 💜