Another VISA question

[Gringo Joe]

I received my fiancee's approval letter from the Vermont Service center. From what I have read it is going to take about 2 weeks to be sent to the VISA service center then it will take about a week to be mailed to the US Embassy in Bogota? Am I correct on the sequence and time table? Also does Colombia approve the VISA the same day of the interview or is it a couple of days for approval?
Any information would be appreciated.

[Fuzzyone]

 When it gets to Bogota it will take them a month or more to schedule a interview. Be fore warned they can and have demanded that you the petitioner be there. Also if she know no english and you know little spanish you could also be hit. The embassy there is always packed so have fun!

[Ray]

Joe,

About 1-2 weeks in the NVC is about right. If there is any problem with the security checks it may take longer but I believe that is fairly uncommon.

I think they usually deliver the visa by courier in a week or so after approval. Are you going down for the interview? If you do, it wouldn’t hurt to ask the consular officer if you can pick up the visa sooner so you can travel together. All they can do is say no…

[Gator]

It can be picked up the next day at 4 PM unless the approval is on a Friday, Then it's picked up the following Monday.

[sean126]

G.J.
I also did the K-1 visa and I had to go through the Nebraska center. I filed April 27 2005.   Here is my time line I had....

Receipt Notice....4/27

approval Notice...8/16

Some letter from the State Dept. saying within a week the petition will be forwarded to Bogota....9/5

Letter saying Bogota began processing the visa and fiance was sent the packet 3...9/12

Letter giving my fiance the date for the interview in Bogota...10/25

Visa interview in Bogota...11/29.  Yes, they approved her the same day.

She recieved the visa the next day after 4pm...11/30....Yes, she can pick up the visa the next day in person after 4pm.  I don't think they use the courier service any more unless you specifically ask for it.

I did not go to the interview, nor was I demanded to appear.  

In my experience....The dates on the letters and when I actually recieved them were two different days.  They posted on the bogota website the interview dates before my fiance was sent anything...I knew when her interview date and time was about a week before they sent her that particular letter.  She recieved the letter about a week before she was to appear...I recieved MY copy about 1 day before she was to appear.  

[Gringo Joe]

Sean,

Thanx for the info. Do most interviews take over 2 months to schedule? Did you overnight the package 3 back to Bogota? Does package 3 also have the medical exam information with it or is that sent after the package 3 is returned?

[sean126]

Well, the letter itself says: " The Embassy will notify your fiance(e) of his/her appointment approximately two months after the above information has been recieved."

I'd say that's an approximation.

also, I would highly encourage you to go to visa journey....that's where I got most of my info from.  You can see which forms you will need in advance and most you can download from there or the U.S.'s website dealing with visa stuff.  

I believe the medical paper comes with the packet she recieves.....I would get her to go to her family doctor NOW and get all the immunizations she needs for her age....some require more than one shot, but needs to be spaced a few months apart and it will save you money if you have it done there rather than here.  She will also need them for the medical part of the visa stuff anyway..so why wait?  I didn't "over night" anything, but I always used Fedex....I did enough research on the computer to anticipate what we would need in advance.  She will need to see a cival service doctor after she comes over at some point....and if she has all or most of her vaccinations already...it will definitely save you money.

They sent packet 3 directly to her.  I didn't recieve any of packet 3, only a letter informing me that they are sending it to her.  I honestly forgot all of what Packet 3 contains....but I do know from looking at the paper in front of me one form you can download is Form DS-230 part one.  the other is OF-169 which comes in the packet saying that she has all the paperwork necessary for the interview.  They give you a list of things she will need.  She sends these two to the Embassy in advance...the others, she takes with her.  

In my case, the only medical appointment she could get (in Bogota for the interview) was a week before the appointment.  I think it takes a few days to get the results back anyway, so that's about right.  Plan on spending money for her to spend at least a week there I would think.  

this is only my situation....others experience's are probably different.

Again, you can do the question and answer thing on visa journey...theres lots of info there.