Hello, I am a US citizen sponsoring my Venezuelan citizen spouse for an immigrant visa. Our I-130 petition was recently approved and we are now at the beginning of the NVC stage. Since the US Embassy in Caracas has been closed for over a year, I understand that the immigrant visa interviews are being conducted in Colombia. I would love to have some insight into the process of a Venezuelan traveling to Colombia for the final interview, and anyone that has been through this process personally is someone I would love to hear from.
In the interest of planning ahead, I have several questions:
1) Is the US Embassy in Bogota even open right now due to COVID-19? Are interviews on hold?
2) How much advanced notice is given for the interview date (to plan for travel to Colombia from Venezuela and from the USA since I intend on going to be there to support my spouse even if I cannot attend the interview)?
3) Must the medical exam appointment be made and completed in Colombia?
4) Must Spanish documents be translated to English even though Colombia is a Spanish-speaking country (I ask because I read conflicting information online)?
5) How long after the interview is the immigrant visa issued and what options are there for receiving back the passport with the visa in it (return to embassy, DHL)?
I may have other questions which I will ask later, but these are the most pressing. Thanks in advance!