Visa # & CP Interview

RK_0629

Registered Users (C)
Folks,

My attorney has been in touch with the consulate requesting them to accomodate our interview in mid December due to my wife's inability to travel out. The consulate, astonishingly was very accomodative and yesterday we received an email from the Consualte's vice Consul saying that our interview will be "tentatively" scheduled for 11th December 03 and packet-4 will be sent out ASAP, but they'll need to get visa # from the State Department in the mean time. From the tone of the email it seemed like the folks at the Consulate were pretty confident about the visa #.

The question is whether getting the visa # is a complex process and how long would it take them to get one. We're hoping to receive a confirmation on the visa # from the Consulate by coming Monday latest as this affects our travel plan.

Would appreciate your experience/comments on the visa #.

PS: We did not produce any medical certificates to the Consulate, my attorney just sent email stating our condition.

Thanks,

RK
 
This is an internal process. For every month the consulate
requests for, and is allocated a certain number of visas by
the Dept. of State.

This is pretty normal and you should hear from them soon.
This is not case specific, and they can not process any cases
till the Dept. of State allocated the quota for that particular
month.

Raju
 
Thanks for your comment Raju. So the question is whether they can get an extra visa # to accomodate us in December. The Consulate seems confident but is that realistic ??

Today is Nov 20 and they want us to be there for the interview on 11th Dec and they don't have a visa # yet....so I don't know if this thing will work out ...?? But can they do our interview first and say 10 days later when the visa # becomes available (assuming a successful interview) issue the visa.

My main concern at this stage is the air ticket and the cancellation cost.... and ideally I want to have the interview confirmation and the air ticket and not one w/o the other.

Would appreciate your comment/response.

RK
 
hang in there

there is no way to predict if the visa# will arrive on time or not - you'll just have to keep calling the consulate and checking.

the usual lists for dec are already out, so your case is by exception i imagine.

i wouldn't buy tickets (booking is a different matter). my interview was delayed by 2 months due to security clearances not arriving on time.
 
You may have to call the consulate and confirm about the interview. They may still keep the interview even if they dont get the visa numbers and will issue visa once they get visa # after interview. depending on your category and the timing of the interview, you might be able to get the visa without problems. For example, many people (including me) who go for cp interview towards the end of the month (last couple of working days of the month) to the chennai consulate dont get the visa till the first week of next month even after clearing the interview. Also, you have to prepare yourself for spending more time in India if they had to do additional security clearance (if there is a hit in the name check or if there is anything suspicious). So, make arrangements to pay rent and bill for couple of months, and asks friends to collect mails or forward them to your friend.
 
RK_0629,

Obtaining the visa numbers is something the consulate does
every month and you don't have to worry about this yourself.

I agree, it is possible that your interview takes place and the
consulate would ask you to wait few days for actually giving
you the visa. But I think this would be an exception rather
than a rule.

Same case with 'getting a hit' on name check. This is happening
randomly and is difficult to apply to oneself and be prepared.
For this, the probablity will be more if your's is a very common
name. You would be the better judge on assessing the risk.

My suggestion would be to go with a positive attitude, but
have a back up plan, for delay in coming back and so on.

As the saying goes, 'Hope for the best but prepare for the
worst'.

Raju
 
Guys,

The good news is that the Consulate has confirmed my interview date and I am assuming that the visa # problem is addressed also.

At this stage I do not want to think about the random name check issues though I have some worries about it since my NVC processing took full 8 week window for reason unknown. Do you guys think I should be concerned.... ??

Appreciate your comments.

Thanks,

RK
 
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