Hi, everyone 😊
I just got the e-mail from the consulate, that I believe it's the packet 3. I'll write down some informations about my case that I believe can help other people 😊
1- Our NOA2 date was november 05th, 2022. Two weeks later, we started weekly inquiries on NVC website to get case number and invoice ID.
2- We got case number, invoice ID and benefitiary number on january 19th, 2023. We didn't need this invoice ID or benefitiary number for anything so far.
3- My fiance, the petitoner, got an e-mail from NVC forwarded to me saying our case was sent to the consulate on january 31st, 2023. We didn't get any wellcome letter, and it seems not be necessary. As long as you get your case number, you can log in to ceac. On this date, we started to fille the ds-160. Apparently, the ceac thing that you need the case number to log in is not really important before your interview, I think this is basicaly only for you to check where your case is, but it's a little confusing anyways. Wasn't very helpful to us. We didn't need it not even for the ds-160, only the petiton number (WACxxxxxxxxxx).
4- On february 2nd, the ceac updated to "ready", so we started to do weekly inquiries directly to the consulate here in Brazil. They responded quickly, but always saying they didn't have our case yet. Last update on ceac remained on the same date for a long time.
5- On february 4th we decided to schedule my interview anyways, and that was the best decision, because the closest date available was april 10th, 2023. I would encourage any couple in the phase to do the same, because if you have a terrible luck and don't get the packet 3 on time, you can reschedule the interview. So why not??
This is the website we used: https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-br/iv/information/iv_services
6- Today, february 23rd, 2023, I saw that the last update on ceac changed, and later we both, me AND my fiance, got the e-mail with instructions from the consulate, as I mentioned before. Both e-mail were exactly the same: it's a confirmation that they received the case and some explanations about ds-160, fees, documents, ASC and doctor's appointment...... basicaly things that most of us already know. We did not get any physical correspondence since the NOA2.
That's it for now. I hope it helps 😊