Beeptweet

It is not the best way but it can be done.If you can get it done the day before then that would be better.
 The consulate will hold the process after the interview until they have received the medical results. We found the Sydney Consulate responsive to emails .. so you should email them once you have your interview set and confirm this with them 
 
 

You can look at their timeline to see when the visa was issued.

They said I could only delay for a year before the case interview would be terminated. They never said if it would go back to NVC or USCIS. I asked for clarification again and they haven't responded since (about six weeks now). 
 
The clarification was in regards to this information - https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050413.html

(CT:VISA-544;   03-28-2018)
a. Failure to Appear:  The Department (CA/VO) considers the end of the one-year period to apply for the visa to be a mandated date triggering termination of the petition for inactive applications.  The one-year period stops, however, if during that time the applicant takes substantive steps to apply for the visa, such as rescheduling the immigrant visa appointment date.  If the applicant reschedules the appointment date within one year of an initial failure to appear  the one-year period to take action on the visa would begin anew on the new appointment date.
 
 

Did you receive a reply? My wife and I will be in a similar situation soon. They haven't scheduled our interview yet, but we had some unforeseen issues with work/housing come up after becoming documentarily qualified. What timing! I hope you're able to delay as needed. Did they get back to you?

I emailed the Consulate back and received this response:
 

 
I emailed back to clarify if my file would simply be sent back to NVC or USCIS and awaiting a response which takes about a week.
 
I'm not sure if there are new rules or each Consulate is different, but hopefully this isn't the case.

Yes.  You have to keep in contact with them before a year.  Don't wait to the last month. 
 
Once an I-130 is approved it never expires.  Worst case is it gets sent back to the US and you have to do an I-824 to get it send back.  

I received this response from the Consulate:

"Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 203(g) provides that the “Secretary of State shall terminate the registration (petition) of any alien who fails to apply for an immigrant visa within one year” of notice of visa availability. The petition may be reinstated if, within two years of notice of visa availability, the alien establishes that the “failure to apply was for reasons beyond the alien’s control.” Therefore, if you do not respond to notices from NVC within one year you risk termination of your petition under this section of law and would lose the benefits of that petition, such as your priority date."
 
The email made it seem like if you don't have your interview within one year of the date you are first offered one, that your petition would be terminated. But then this line "Therefore, if you do not respond to notices from NVC within one year you risk termination of your petition" is kind of confusing. Have you seen others postpone interviews for longer than a year?

Just that you aren't ready to interview.

What do I tell them in this case? Just reference my case number and say "I would like to keep my case file open but have not yet rescheduled my visa interview"?

You need to contact the consulate one a year in order for them to keep it at the consulate.

I have a scheduled interview next month but due to unforeseen circumstances, I want to delay my interview for the foreseeable future. Not just a few months or a year but possibly 5+ years potentially.
 
Am I able to delay an interview this long with the Consulate? If so, what are the steps to keep my file "active"? 

Do I simply email the Consulate once a year to let them know I wish to keep my file active but not reschedule my interview?

That’s a lot of assumptions and hypotheticals and perhaps you couldn’t find anything because nobody had this experience before. It sounds like you just have bite the bullet and go ahead and try to reschedule and see what happens.
 
If you have to reschedule the second time, I imagine the Consulate will not be happy and will conclude you’re not that interested in the visa. Sounds like you’ll have to make some difficult choices and choose either the US route or the other job. Sometimes we can’t have it all 
 
 

From what I can tell on google it does look like USTravelDocs is no longer in use and it has switched to USVisaScheduling.  Can anyone else confirm?

@appleblossom
Yes I will fill that soon.
 
Can you check the PDs for the ones who are waiting here in AU.

If NVC gave you an interview date, your case in enroute to the consulate.  Only the consulate can change the date after NVC assigns it.

As long as NVC has the case, you contact them.  Once an interview date is scheduled, you contact the consulate.

That's what the notice says , yes 

Four threads on delaying an interview merged together. Creating more than one thread on a topic is considered spamming. Please keep ALL further questions on delaying an interview in this thread only.
 
VJ Moderation 

VJ has the info below on each and every page: 
Important Disclaimer:..." VisaJourney.com recommends that if any member or user knows directly of someone involved in fraudulent or illegal activity, that they report such activity directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. You can contact ICE via email at Immigration.Reply@dhs.gov or you can telephone ICE at 1-866-347-2423."
 
Unfortunately, even though you seem to be a victim of a very dishonest person, you'll still be tied to I-864 (for 10 years or until he naturalizes - earliest would be 5 years after entering on immigrant visa) even though your husband disappeared. You can try to get in touch with Islamabad embassy and USCIS but don't expect much.
 
Start getting your affairs in the order - divorce, take him off any medical, life, or car insurance if you had him listed as beneficiary. Same for bank accounts, retirement or 401k, savings... If you're renting, get his name removed as a tenant. If you co-signed anything for him, see how to get out of that financial obligation. 

Use whatever method you used when you submitted your documents to NVC. Post or upload 

1 yes
2 Keep excellent records of ALL contact with NVC and consulate correspondence .. hard copies and electronic records. Don’t rely on one form of contact every 12 months .. even if it’s the same “ reminder” sent several times each year , and putting a new document on your case at NVC each year 
3.  Yep. People are people and known to not read the notes fully .. If it gets sent to Sydney then you need to be very active with them in holding your case. 
 
 

Yes, still on hold, 2+ years.  I just log in to NVC once in a while.  I keep a log of the logins, to keep track,

This has been discussed many times but I never saw an official answer to it.  I contacted NVC, told them our situation (I-130 approved, but need to delay for a year or two due to shipping costs, housing costs, etc.) and asked what is the proper way to postpone our case at NVC.  This is their answer.  Passing it along.
 
Dear Sir/Madam:
 
Thank you for contacting the National Visa Center (NVC). To keep your case active, do not let more than one year go by without contacting the NVC.
 
The easiest way to keep your case active is to access the Consular Electronic Center (CEAC) at https://ceac.state.gov/iv. Every time you go into your CEAC account, it will update the last contact date.
 
Regards,
 
Romeo | Inquiry Management
Department of State CA/VO/DO/NVC
LDRM | Lockwood Hills | Contractor
DOS - National Visa Center
 
So, it appears:
-  No need to call
-  No need to upload a document
 
Just login.
 
Reminder:  The DS 260 does need to be submitted within 1 year
 
Update below
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I finally had some time and wrote up a clear (hopefully) summary, perhaps for a pinned post.  If you want to ask the admins and they agree to pin it, I will make a new topic with it.  Just my way of giving a bit back to VJ, with the help of Family!
 
Proposal for pinned post
 
Topic:  Need to delay your case at NVC?  Here is the BEST way!
 
After my wife and stepdaughter were approved by USCIS, we received the welcome letters from NVC. We later realized that we are going to have to postpone getting the visas and moving to the U.S.  The delay might be one year, two years, or longer.  We don’t want to lose the fees we paid and start all over, so we are delaying.
 
I asked here on VJ about how to delay and got good advice from several members.  I also asked NVC via the AskNVC web portal.  The advice can be slightly confusing, so I am sharing what I have learned.
 
Please note:  This only applies to cases that are at NVC.  After your case goes to the embassy, this no longer applies.
 
Facts:
NVC will keep your case open indefinitely if you contact them once a year. NVC has been known to mistakenly close cases even though there was contact within the required window.  It is up to you to prove that you contacted them by providing contact evidence. Regardless of delaying, your DS 260 must be submitted to NVC within one year of your NVC welcome letter. There are three options to contact NVC and keep your delayed case open.By phone.  Downsides:  Long waits, might be expensive, and you have no paper trail of your contact. Log into your CEAC account.  Downsides:  This does not work for cases that were submitted by mail, and you have no paper trail of your contact. Use the AskNVC web portal.  Only a simple message is required, such as “I need more time for our case.  This is my record of annual NVC contact.”  Upside:  You will receive an immediate automated e-mail record of your contact with NVC including all the communication detail.  In the e-mail, it states: “Please retain this email as a record of your contact with NVC”. AskNVC is the BEST option.  Just logging into your CEAC account does not provide the safety of having a paper trail of your contact.  Logging in does not work for non-electronic cases filed by mail.  Keep your NVC automated responses and perhaps keep a tickler file to remind you when to send another annual contact at AskNVC.
 
AskNVC:
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/ask-nvc.html
 
I hope this information will help others who need to safely delay their cases at NVC.
 

Hello,
Thank you so much for tagging relevant post. It’s really helpful.
yes l have filled the DS-260 long a go. I am doing online consular processing long ago.

This may be helpful.  You can delay cases at NVC indefinitely, but you may need to add newer documents along the way.  I don’t think being DQ’d matters, but others may know better.  Have you filled out the DS260 yet?
 
Good Luck!