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Visa Bulletin for July 2015

Britsimon said:
Finishing the VB numbers makes a lot of people assume that numbers are finished - when in fact, visas did get issued right into September. There were some oddball scenarios where one embassy was refusing to issue visas to the newborn children of a couple because visas were exhausted, whilst at the same time and for days later there were still visas being issued within that region. There will be oddball things this year also - but you can't control that - so just relax and not torment yourself with all the things that might go wrong.
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Simon, thanks for the good advice. better to wait for several weeks patiently and be positive. anyways, August is not yet September..
 
Britsimon said:
With the U2 success rate OF COURSE it is rare. It is an upper limit - that is all. It will be hit by Nepal, most likely Egypt, and has in the past by Iran
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And Bangladesh, when it was eligible - yet if you look at visas issued there are a number of countries that have exceeded 3500 visas in the past without (as far as I am aware) notices about visas running out (in other words implying that the real hard limit is based on 55k not 50k).
 
Candeu said:
You have a good memory, EURO2014). expecting 2nl.
Thank you!
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Congratulations Candeu, well deserved - let us know if we can assist, the true preparation stress is about to start, effectively now.... ;)
PS: you certainly will have no problems whatsoever with visa availability in August, don't get in any way distracted by this. The true question whether your plans will come to fruition depends on your interview performance and this, in turn, is largely determined by effective preparation from your end. Good luck!
 
SusieQQQ said:
And Bangladesh, when it was eligible - yet if you look at visas issued there are a number of countries that have exceeded 3500 visas in the past without (as far as I am aware) notices about visas running out (in other words implying that the real hard limit is based on 55k not 50k).
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Yep agreed.
 
EURO2014 said:
Congratulations Candeu, well deserved - let us know if we can assist, the true preparation stress is about to start, effectively now.... ;)
PS: you certainly will have no problems whatsoever with visa availability in August, don't get in any way distracted by this. The true question whether your plans will come to fruition depends on your interview performance and this, in turn, is largely determined by effective preparation from your end. Good luck!
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hi EURO2014. thanks for your words.
Do you think I should already start to apply for obtaining police certificates. If I apply today it takes 1 month to issue it. do you know how long is the police certificates' validity period after issuance date?
 
Candeu said:
hi EURO2014. thanks for your words.
Do you think I should already start to apply for obtaining police certificates. If I apply today it takes 1 month to issue it. do you know how long is the police certificates' validity period after issuance date?
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Absolutely, this is one of the things you'll need to initiate now. Depending on which countries are involved and whether or not an authorized translation of (this and other) documents will be required, these things can take always take longer than expected. Best thing is to get started right away - with a mid/end August interview date you don't have to worry about expiration dates etc. Euro2014 PS: I forgot whether you had mentioned, which US Consulate will you be interviewing with?
 
EURO2014 said:
Absolutely, this is one of the things you'll need to initiate now. Depending on which countries are involved and whether or not an authorized translation of (this and other) documents will be required, these things can take always take longer than expected. Best thing is to get started right away - with a mid/end August interview date you don't have to worry about expiration dates etc. Euro2014 PS: I forgot whether you had mentioned, which US Consulate will you be interviewing with?
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My interview location will be in Yerevan, Armenia US Embassy, but I should also arrange Russian police certificates, which take 1 month to be issued.
 
Candeu said:
My interview location will be in Yerevan, Armenia US Embassy, but I should also arrange Russian police certificates, which take 1 month to be issued.
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Try to get, as much as possible, concrete and reliable information about DV interviews at Yerevan then. If available, rely on official communication from the US Consulate itself (which in many cases are available) and add several different individual sources after their interview and build your own conclusions for your own preparation - processes in many cases tend to differ slightly from consulate to consulate. Make sure you'll get a good understanding on what you will be facing on the day of the interview - in all likelihood it will be simple, fast and straight forward for you, then...
 
EURO2014 said:
Try to get, as much as possible, concrete and reliable information about DV interviews at Yerevan then. If available, rely on official communication from the US Consulate itself (which in many cases are available) and add several different individual sources after their interview and build your own conclusions for your own preparation - processes in many cases tend to differ slightly from consulate to consulate. Make sure you'll get a good understanding on what you will be facing on the day of the interview - in all likelihood it will be simple, fast and straight forward for you, then...
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Do you think I can send inquiry on the required documents list to the Yerevan US Embassy Directly?
Will they answer?
If so, should I send that before or after 2nl?

There are some agents, which deal with these documentation in Yerevan also and I requested the list from them recently. I have prepared all these docs long ago actually. I just need to apply for police certificates and translate some of the docs.
 
EURO2014 said:
Try to get, as much as possible, concrete and reliable information about DV interviews at Yerevan then. If available, rely on official communication from the US Consulate itself (which in many cases are available) and add several different individual sources after their interview and build your own conclusions for your own preparation - processes in many cases tend to differ slightly from consulate to consulate. Make sure you'll get a good understanding on what you will be facing on the day of the interview - in all likelihood it will be simple, fast and straight forward for you, then...
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also do you know how long it takes to receive visas stamped in passport after the interview if there is no AP?
 
Candeu said:
Do you think I can send inquiry on the required documents list to the Yerevan US Embassy Directly?
Will they answer?
If so, should I send that before or after 2nl?

There are some agents, which deal with these documentation in Yerevan also and I requested the list from them recently. I have prepared all these docs long ago actually. I just need to apply for police certificates and translate some of the docs.
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Unfortunately it seems Yerevan, unlike other US Consulates, does not post official supplemental DV information - this would have been rather useful in fact:
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/pk 3 supplements/YRV - Yerevan.pdf
They might be posting information directly on local US Consulate websites, though, you'll need to do some research. Again, the objective is to get a good understanding of local DV processes and peculiarities, if any - there certainly is no harm to ask for local US Consulate advice and direction beyond general DoS information available here (I would wait until you have the exact appointment date with the Consulate):
http://travel.state.gov/content/vis...re-selected/prepare-supporting-documents.html#
As mentioned, it might also be useful to get some reliable first hand interview experiences from DV folks in Armenia, subsequent to their interview, this turned out to be rather useful in our case.
Last but not least: Passport & Visa Return after Interview (excl. additional AP etc.), anywhere from 2 to 14 days, the latter happened to be the case for us, for example.
 
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EURO2014 said:
Unfortunately it seems Yerevan, unlike other US Consulates, does not post official supplemental DV information - this would have been rather useful in fact:
http://travel.state.gov/content/dam/visas/pk 3 supplements/YRV - Yerevan.pdf
They might be posting information directly on local US Consulate websites, though, you'll need to do some research. Again, the objective is to get a good understanding of local DV processes and peculiarities, if any - there certainly is no harm to ask for local US Consulate advice and direction beyond general DoS information available here (I would wait until you have the exact appointment date with the Consulate):
http://travel.state.gov/content/vis...re-selected/prepare-supporting-documents.html#
As mentioned, it might also be useful to get some reliable first hand interview experiences from DV folks in Armenia, subsequent to their interview, this turned out to be rather useful in our case.
Last but not least: Passport & Visa Return after Interview (excl. additional AP etc.), anywhere from 2 to 14 days, the latter happened to be the case for us, for example.
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That is bad that I cannot plan for it as I need to buy fly back tickets from Yerevan to Russia. and how can I estimate the preparation and visa issuance time after the interview?
 
Candeu said:
That is bad that I cannot plan for it as I need to buy fly back tickets from Yerevan to Russia. and how can I estimate the preparation and visa issuance time after the interview?
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Problem is you can't, at least reliably - we flew in from the US, left 14 days between interview and US return flight date feeling pretty good about it and ended up needing every one of those days, even driving back to the US Consulate the afternoon before our return flights to pick up our passports with visa in person (which normally is not part of the process at all). You just don't know, that makes it difficult.... PS: when will you be doing your medicals in Armenia?
 
EURO2014 said:
Problem is you can't, at least reliably - we flew in from the US, left 14 days between interview and US return flight date feeling pretty good about it and ended up needing every one of those days, even driving back to the US Consulate the afternoon before our return flights to pick up our passports with visa in person (which normally is not part of the process at all). You just don't know, that makes it difficult.... PS: when will you be doing your medicals in Armenia?
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Shouldn't I wait for the interview date then decide the medicals date?
I plan to fly from Russia to Yerevan, prepare all the docs including medicals, hopefully, receive the visas and then fly back to Russia. How much time slot you think I should allocate for all these processes?
 
Candeu said:
Shouldn't I wait for the interview date then decide the medicals date?
I plan to fly from Russia to Yerevan, prepare all the docs including medicals, hopefully, receive the visas and then fly back to Russia. How much time slot you think I should allocate for all these processes?
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Yes, but this is right where important knowledge of local US Consulate processes comes in: some US Consulates allow an interview to take place even when respective medical information is not part of the consulate file that very day (you are just being put on brief AP until medical results have arrived), others do not and insist on having everything, including medicals, together on the day of the interview. See my point? Also, times between medicals taking place and being included in the file at the consulate tend to differ rather significantly. All of this and much, much more you'll need to find out before completing specific travel plans. One thing you luckily do not need to worry about is visas running out as long as you won't miss your interview appointment, are being put into a lengthy security AP etc. As I had said, the real stress for you in the process starts, about right now... ;)
 
EURO2014 said:
Yes, but this is right where important knowledge of local US Consulate processes comes in: some US Consulates allow an interview to take place even when respective medical information is not part of the consulate file that very day (you are just being put on brief AP until medical results have arrived), others do not and insist on having everything, including medicals, together on the day of the interview. See my point? Also, times between medicals taking place and being included in the file at the consulate tend to differ rather significantly. All of this and much, much more you'll need to find out before completing specific travel plans. One thing you luckily do not need to worry about is visas running out as long as you won't miss your interview appointment, are being put into a lengthy security AP etc. As I had said, the real stress for you in the process starts, about right now... ;)
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thanks a lot for the info!
 
Britsimon said:
Ahh ok - well they added 175 today - and in theory September numbers can go a little more since cases that go on AP from September interviews do not have to be "accounted for" for future months. In general I think SA is undershooting the target - so I think you have reason to be hopeful - even though I cannot say you are safe.
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I have been looking at you CEAC data and I could be wrong but I think they will add for the most 250 for September
 
hello, I have an UK police certificated from 19 Feb ..should I get another one? UK police are good for 1 year, I think.
My interview should be in August .. All other police certificates are from April..and valid for at least 6 months..
 
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