Is Mumbai consulate scheduling interviews for IR5 (Parent of a U.S. citizen)

[vmsk0716]

AlienKanpur a question for you if you have a few minutes. Both my parents' were DQ on Aug 18 2022. My father unfortunately passed away August 31st. Do I need to withdraw his application? If so, I'm unable to do it online. Any thoughts? I also don't want to inadvertently have this withdrawal / notification affect my mother's processing. Pls let me know. Does it make sense to do something after IL is received? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

[raviies]

Ravi- Thank You very much for detailing your experience. It is very helpful. Also heartiest congratulation. One question regarding 2021 tax transcripts, I am in similar situation. Should I just print it and give it to my father for his interview or do I need to upload now before the interview? Thanks again.

I strongly encourage you do both

• Upload the doc before the Interview --- if the website lets you do it. In my situation since the case was already transferred to NVC - I was not able to upload new docs.
• Print out the Transcript and give it your father

Best of luck with the Interview

[AlienKanpur]

AlienKanpur a question for you if you have a few minutes. Both my parents' were DQ on Aug 18 2022. My father unfortunately passed away August 31st. Do I need to withdraw his application? If so, I'm unable to do it online. Any thoughts? I also don't want to inadvertently have this withdrawal / notification affect my mother's processing. Pls let me know. Does it make sense to do something after IL is received? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

Dear vmsk0716,
it is really tragic to hear that your father passed away, specially when they were so close to getting their green cards. My heartiest condolences. May the Almighty give you courage to all of you to bear this colossal loss.
There is no point in doing anything at this point of time. Four months have already elapsed since the tragic demise. You may like to fill up the enquiry form at the NVC website, as the petitioner, informing about your fathers demise. But either way it will make no difference. If I were you I would just keep quiet and handle the situation during the interview. Best wishes.

[Rahul57]

Dear vmsk0716,
it is really tragic to hear that your father passed away, specially when they were so close to getting their green cards. My heartiest condolences. May the Almighty give you courage to all of you to bear this colossal loss.
There is no point in doing anything at this point of time. Four months have already elapsed since the tragic demise. You may like to fill up the enquiry form at the NVC website, as the petitioner, informing about your fathers demise. But either way it will make no difference. If I were you I would just keep quiet and handle the situation during the interview. Best wishes.

Dear vmsk0716,
Deepest condolences for you father. I suggest that your mother carry your dad’s death certificate with her to the interview. All the best for a successful interview.
Take Care

[asg1957]

Hello All,

Here's milestones on the 474 day ordeal for my Parent's IV approval.

Milestone	Date	Interval
Application Start	Sep 18 2021
IV Case Creation	Feb 21 2022	156
PCC Uploaded	March 19 2022	26
My Mom Documentarily Qualified	June 2 2022	75
My Dad Documentarily Qualified	Aug 11 2022	70
Interview Letter	Nov 18 2022	99
Interview	Dec 30 2022	42
221g Response and Passport Drop-off	Jan 2 2023	3
Passport with IV	Jan 5 2023	3
Total Days (end-end)		474

Both my parents and I were really proactive throughout 474 days and tried to gather documents as quickly as we can. However here are some areas that others could benefit from:

1. I don't know if we could have started the Police Clearance Process before, we waited until IV Case Creation and transfer to NVC before we started the PCC. We could have saved time on PCC
2. My mom's app was DQed on Jun 2, 2022. For my dad they said I had to resubmit DS-264 because one of the pages was missing from PDF. That's bit carelessness on my part because while scanning I forgot to attach the last page even though it was completely empty. If my dad was DQed at same time as my mom, maybe we could have received the Interview letter early.
3. I did not look at these forums until very recently and had booked La Hotel Metro --- it's a 2 start hotel with lots of negatives (no lift - my parents had to climb up to 2nd floor, noisy behind local train station, crampy - not fit for 2 people). I recommend booking Trident or Sofitel.
4. Finally when I submitted the docs on Feb 21, 2022 - I did not file my 2021 taxes yet. So I had printed out my IRS Tax Transcript from 2018 until 2021 but did not include it with supporting documentation for my parents Interview. During the Interview they received a 221g asking us to upload 2021 IRS Tax transcript and then use dropbox for Passport drop-off. Important Lesson IRS Tax transcript is a good document to include along with Petioner's Tax return and W2
5. I booked my ticket to India assuming that I'll be able to accompany my 75yr old dad for the Interview - in actuality they do not let anybody in other than applicants for the interview.

Interview Experience

• My parents had a 8.30 am Interview on Friday Dec 30
• We went in around 7 am to Bandra Kurla complex
• We could see a crowd of 500 on all the 3 opposite sides of the Consulate
• At 7.25am they announced for 7 am batch
• My parents decided to join the line just to try their luck
• They were able to get in
• At 8.30am their documents were verified
• At 11, it was their time for interview --- their Interviewer was an Asian women. She asked the usual questions:
  • About Petitioner, Petitioner's family, Petitioner's first time travel to US, Petitioner's Workplace
  • About Applicants, Travel to US, Last time their travel, length of stay
• Interestingly at end of interview, the Interviewer said that she needed an additional document (IRS Transcript) and hence issued 221g. She assured my parents that as soon as they respond to 221g they will get the visa. She also told them they could use a dropbox for 221g and made sure to take missing fingerprints. The 221g letter provided clear instructions on how to upload the document. And specifically called out for no need for an appointment.

Dropbox Experience

• There was bit of a confusion on location of Dropbox facility in Bengaluru; the location mentioned in USTraveksDocs.com is no longer valid
• VFS location in Bengaluru is bit odd -the security people at the entrance is not familiar with 221g they were asking for appointment. Luckily one of the security guys was aware of 221g and let us in.
• VFS US Consulate opens at 10am, they accepted our passport and asked us to pay Rs. 650 per passport on (this was Monday Jan 2)
• On Thursday Jan 5, my parents received their passports with IV (this was totally unexpected because the timelines suggested by VFS was 3 weeks). Interestingly the BlueDart courier asked my parents to pay another Rs.650 each for expedited passport delivery

Thanks to everyone on this forum that provide so much valuable information on the IV interview process particularly atmakur and AlienKanpur among others.

Please reach out to me if I can be of any further assistance.
Ravi

Dear Ravi,
Congratulations for your loving parents getting their IR5 visa after such an ordeal. Excellent post where we in the queue have learnt so much. Thanks for such a detailed report and best wishes for the future.

[asg1957]

AlienKanpur a question for you if you have a few minutes. Both my parents' were DQ on Aug 18 2022. My father unfortunately passed away August 31st. Do I need to withdraw his application? If so, I'm unable to do it online. Any thoughts? I also don't want to inadvertently have this withdrawal / notification affect my mother's processing. Pls let me know. Does it make sense to do something after IL is received? Any thoughts would be much appreciated. thanks in advance.

Dear vmsk0716,
My heartfelt condolences for the sudden demise of your respected father. May his soul rest in peace. My friend had a similar situation like yours. Please DO NOT do anything at this stage. Just get your father's DEATH CERTIFICATE and give it to your mother to show it during the interview at the Mumbai Consulate. Best of luck for the adjudication process.

[Aviask2]

Hello All,

Here's milestones on the 474 day ordeal for my Parent's IV approval.

Milestone	Date	Interval
Application Start	Sep 18 2021
IV Case Creation	Feb 21 2022	156
PCC Uploaded	March 19 2022	26
My Mom Documentarily Qualified	June 2 2022	75
My Dad Documentarily Qualified	Aug 11 2022	70
Interview Letter	Nov 18 2022	99
Interview	Dec 30 2022	42
221g Response and Passport Drop-off	Jan 2 2023	3
Passport with IV	Jan 5 2023	3
Total Days (end-end)		474

Both my parents and I were really proactive throughout 474 days and tried to gather documents as quickly as we can. However here are some areas that others could benefit from:

1. I don't know if we could have started the Police Clearance Process before, we waited until IV Case Creation and transfer to NVC before we started the PCC. We could have saved time on PCC
2. My mom's app was DQed on Jun 2, 2022. For my dad they said I had to resubmit DS-264 because one of the pages was missing from PDF. That's bit carelessness on my part because while scanning I forgot to attach the last page even though it was completely empty. If my dad was DQed at same time as my mom, maybe we could have received the Interview letter early.
3. I did not look at these forums until very recently and had booked La Hotel Metro --- it's a 2 start hotel with lots of negatives (no lift - my parents had to climb up to 2nd floor, noisy behind local train station, crampy - not fit for 2 people). I recommend booking Trident or Sofitel.
4. Finally when I submitted the docs on Feb 21, 2022 - I did not file my 2021 taxes yet. So I had printed out my IRS Tax Transcript from 2018 until 2021 but did not include it with supporting documentation for my parents Interview. During the Interview they received a 221g asking us to upload 2021 IRS Tax transcript and then use dropbox for Passport drop-off. Important Lesson IRS Tax transcript is a good document to include along with Petioner's Tax return and W2
5. I booked my ticket to India assuming that I'll be able to accompany my 75yr old dad for the Interview - in actuality they do not let anybody in other than applicants for the interview.

Interview Experience

• My parents had a 8.30 am Interview on Friday Dec 30
• We went in around 7 am to Bandra Kurla complex
• We could see a crowd of 500 on all the 3 opposite sides of the Consulate
• At 7.25am they announced for 7 am batch
• My parents decided to join the line just to try their luck
• They were able to get in
• At 8.30am their documents were verified
• At 11, it was their time for interview --- their Interviewer was an Asian women. She asked the usual questions:
  • About Petitioner, Petitioner's family, Petitioner's first time travel to US, Petitioner's Workplace
  • About Applicants, Travel to US, Last time their travel, length of stay
• Interestingly at end of interview, the Interviewer said that she needed an additional document (IRS Transcript) and hence issued 221g. She assured my parents that as soon as they respond to 221g they will get the visa. She also told them they could use a dropbox for 221g and made sure to take missing fingerprints. The 221g letter provided clear instructions on how to upload the document. And specifically called out for no need for an appointment.

Dropbox Experience

• There was bit of a confusion on location of Dropbox facility in Bengaluru; the location mentioned in USTraveksDocs.com is no longer valid
• VFS location in Bengaluru is bit odd -the security people at the entrance is not familiar with 221g they were asking for appointment. Luckily one of the security guys was aware of 221g and let us in.
• VFS US Consulate opens at 10am, they accepted our passport and asked us to pay Rs. 650 per passport on (this was Monday Jan 2)
• On Thursday Jan 5, my parents received their passports with IV (this was totally unexpected because the timelines suggested by VFS was 3 weeks). Interestingly the BlueDart courier asked my parents to pay another Rs.650 each for expedited passport delivery

Thanks to everyone on this forum that provide so much valuable information on the IV interview process particularly atmakur and AlienKanpur among others.

Please reach out to me if I can be of any further assistance.
Ravi

Dear Ravi,

Thanks for posting the details (very helpful for future applicants) and congratulations to your parents. I have two follow-up questions:

1. From what you wrote, it seems your PCC took less than a month from application to approval. After attending the interview at regional Passport Office, did your parents visit the local police station for verification of residence/identity on their own ? Or, did the local police station contact your parents for the next step ? I hope to do my mother's PCC in a month of two (still waiting for I-130 approval), so was curious about exact steps. Anything your parents did to get PCC in time will be very helpful.

2. I am not sure if you submitted affidavit from relatives/friends as secondary proof for your parents birth/marriage. If you did, did you get them notarized just before uploading in NVC? Or, did you do that a few months before ? I am worried that, if we get those affidavits notarized right now and my mother's I-130 takes several more months to be approved, we may be asked to prepare them again.

Like you and your parents, we also plan to proactively keep everything ready to be submitted, just want to make sure we are doing it the right way.

Best wishes.

[bobray2022]

Hello All,
My widowed mother is 77 years old. Her DQ date is Sept 2022. I’m waiting for IL. I’m trying to prepare documents for the visa interview in Mumbai.

As part of the civil document set, I had stated that my mother does not have an official birth certificate since she was born before 1970. I referred to https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...try/India.html in my civil document set and provided other documents :
- Certificate of non-availability of birth certificate
- Indian Government PAN card
- Indian Government issued Aadhaar card
- Self notarized affidavit (by my mother i.e. applicant) stating her own date of birth and place of birth (does not state her parents names)

The civil documents were accepted and we are DQ right now.

My two questions are related to this Mumbai interview checklist: https://travel.state.gov/content/tra...view_checklist

Q1) The above checklist mentions that my mother needs to submit secondary evidence like affidavit executed by older relative. There is no older relative available to create this affidavit. Is the civil document set I uploaded as part of NVC DQ process sufficient? OR do I need to do something more to create additional secondary evidence for the Mumbai interview?

Q2) The checklist also says that Original or certified copies of birth certificates for all children of the principal applicant (even if he or she is not accompanying) have to be shown during the interview. Does this mean I have to produce birth certificate for my brother who is not involved in the immigration process?
Appreciate any help for these two questions.

Thanks

[ggg1234]

Hi,

I applied for IR5 of my parents. My parents went through the medical examination, my father was cleared but my mother had to go through the sputum test. My dad went to the interview and got the visa. Interview date was Nov 20, 2022. Medical Examination was on Nov 8, 2022. My mother called Max medical center Mohali to inquire about the results of her Sputum test since its been 2 months now. They said they will let her know tomorrow. I was looking to schedule her visa interview. I created another profile in CGI website for her since she is the only one for interview this time. When I entered her information and tried to save, it showed me error that the profile data already exist tied to my fathers profile from where I booked their OFC and Visa interview. My question is from which account should I book her OFC and visa interview, If I book from my fathers profile then my mother is listed as dependent and it does not let me book just for my mother. If I try to create another profile it shows me error, it asks me to transfer information which I know takes some days, Last time it happened to my fathers profile and I got late booking their appointment.
So I have 2 options
1. Book appointment from my fathers profile, it will be booked for both parents, my father and mother. My father already got the visa.
2. Create new profile for my mother and transfer the information, which might take few days
I am considering number 1, given that it would not cause any issues to my fathers visa.

If anyone can help in this matter that would be great! Thank you in advance.

[vmsk0716]

Dear vmsk0716,
it is really tragic to hear that your father passed away, specially when they were so close to getting their green cards. My heartiest condolences. May the Almighty give you courage to all of you to bear this colossal loss.
There is no point in doing anything at this point of time. Four months have already elapsed since the tragic demise. You may like to fill up the enquiry form at the NVC website, as the petitioner, informing about your fathers demise. But either way it will make no difference. If I were you I would just keep quiet and handle the situation during the interview. Best wishes.

Dear AlienKanpur Rahul57 asg1957 - thank you so much for your condolences, really appreciate it. This group is amazing! You have confirmed what i was thinking so will plan to have mom carry the death certificate to the interview. Although, at this point who knows when the interview will come waiting and waiting. Hope there's some movement in the next couple of months since she was DQ'ed in august. Thank you all for your continued support.

[h1bguy80]

Hello All,

My mom had her medical done yesterday at Apollo hospitals in Chennai. All went well and she was told that the medical reports will be directly sent to the embassy and will not be handed to her. She was given the records of her vaccinations and a CD containing the X-ray. A couple of questions I had regarding this and would appreciate if some members can clarify:

1. I thought the medical reports would be handed to the applicant in person to be taken to the interview but it seems not. Is it usual that the hospital directly sends the reports to the embassy?

2. Would the reports be handed back to my mom after the IR5 interview in Mumbai?

Appreciate if members can clarify. Thank you.

Thanks,

AV

[AlienKanpur]

Hello All,

My mom had her medical done yesterday at Apollo hospitals in Chennai. All went well and she was told that the medical reports will be directly sent to the embassy and will not be handed to her. She was given the records of her vaccinations and a CD containing the X-ray. A couple of questions I had regarding this and would appreciate if some members can clarify:

1. I thought the medical reports would be handed to the applicant in person to be taken to the interview but it seems not. Is it usual that the hospital directly sends the reports to the embassy?

2. Would the reports be handed back to my mom after the IR5 interview in Mumbai?

Appreciate if members can clarify. Thank you.

Thanks,

AV

Dear h1bguy80,
heartiest congratulations for the all clear medical examination.
1. It is perfectly routine that the record of vaccinations is given as well as the CD. The complete details of the medical examination are directly uploaded to the consulate website. During the interview the medical documents handed over will be needed.
2. No one ever asked for the medical records. The consulate will not hand over the details.
However, this is an important issue. Technically one has the right to see one’s own medical records. May be one can demand the same. But I would rather do so only after reaching USA.

[Sky12]

Hello All,

Here's milestones on the 474 day ordeal for my Parent's IV approval.

Milestone	Date	Interval
Application Start	Sep 18 2021
IV Case Creation	Feb 21 2022	156
PCC Uploaded	March 19 2022	26
My Mom Documentarily Qualified	June 2 2022	75
My Dad Documentarily Qualified	Aug 11 2022	70
Interview Letter	Nov 18 2022	99
Interview	Dec 30 2022	42
221g Response and Passport Drop-off	Jan 2 2023	3
Passport with IV	Jan 5 2023	3
Total Days (end-end)		474

Both my parents and I were really proactive throughout 474 days and tried to gather documents as quickly as we can. However here are some areas that others could benefit from:

1. I don't know if we could have started the Police Clearance Process before, we waited until IV Case Creation and transfer to NVC before we started the PCC. We could have saved time on PCC
2. My mom's app was DQed on Jun 2, 2022. For my dad they said I had to resubmit DS-264 because one of the pages was missing from PDF. That's bit carelessness on my part because while scanning I forgot to attach the last page even though it was completely empty. If my dad was DQed at same time as my mom, maybe we could have received the Interview letter early.
3. I did not look at these forums until very recently and had booked La Hotel Metro --- it's a 2 start hotel with lots of negatives (no lift - my parents had to climb up to 2nd floor, noisy behind local train station, crampy - not fit for 2 people). I recommend booking Trident or Sofitel.
4. Finally when I submitted the docs on Feb 21, 2022 - I did not file my 2021 taxes yet. So I had printed out my IRS Tax Transcript from 2018 until 2021 but did not include it with supporting documentation for my parents Interview. During the Interview they received a 221g asking us to upload 2021 IRS Tax transcript and then use dropbox for Passport drop-off. Important Lesson IRS Tax transcript is a good document to include along with Petioner's Tax return and W2
5. I booked my ticket to India assuming that I'll be able to accompany my 75yr old dad for the Interview - in actuality they do not let anybody in other than applicants for the interview.

Interview Experience

• My parents had a 8.30 am Interview on Friday Dec 30
• We went in around 7 am to Bandra Kurla complex
• We could see a crowd of 500 on all the 3 opposite sides of the Consulate
• At 7.25am they announced for 7 am batch
• My parents decided to join the line just to try their luck
• They were able to get in
• At 8.30am their documents were verified
• At 11, it was their time for interview --- their Interviewer was an Asian women. She asked the usual questions:
  • About Petitioner, Petitioner's family, Petitioner's first time travel to US, Petitioner's Workplace
  • About Applicants, Travel to US, Last time their travel, length of stay
• Interestingly at end of interview, the Interviewer said that she needed an additional document (IRS Transcript) and hence issued 221g. She assured my parents that as soon as they respond to 221g they will get the visa. She also told them they could use a dropbox for 221g and made sure to take missing fingerprints. The 221g letter provided clear instructions on how to upload the document. And specifically called out for no need for an appointment.

Dropbox Experience

• There was bit of a confusion on location of Dropbox facility in Bengaluru; the location mentioned in USTraveksDocs.com is no longer valid
• VFS location in Bengaluru is bit odd -the security people at the entrance is not familiar with 221g they were asking for appointment. Luckily one of the security guys was aware of 221g and let us in.
• VFS US Consulate opens at 10am, they accepted our passport and asked us to pay Rs. 650 per passport on (this was Monday Jan 2)
• On Thursday Jan 5, my parents received their passports with IV (this was totally unexpected because the timelines suggested by VFS was 3 weeks). Interestingly the BlueDart courier asked my parents to pay another Rs.650 each for expedited passport delivery

Thanks to everyone on this forum that provide so much valuable information on the IV interview process particularly atmakur and AlienKanpur among others.

Please reach out to me if I can be of any further assistance.
Ravi

hi there, thank you for the detailed description. just wanted to confirm that your mom's DQ was in June 2022? My parents DQ is in July 2022, therefore I am hoping to receive their IL sometime soon.

[ggg1234]

ggg1234 your father should still go for the interview and ensure that his visa is secure. Your mother's interview will be automatically cancelled. She will need to do Sputum test and wait for about 8 to 9 weeks until she gets her results. If the results says that she is all clear, you will have to re-schedule her appointment on the CGI Federal website. Additionally, you will also get email from the Embassy that they have received her medical reports and provide instructions on how to re-schedule the appointment - which is usually under Class B Medical.

Note - you will have to do bio-metrics again as well, which you HAVE to attend, followed by the interview date. But all of this comes after the Sputum test is all clear.

I would def suggest that your father go to interview and let your mother go through the process as directed. Although it may seem worry-some, it is just time and patience. Before you know it, all will be clear and they will be in time to travel together.

I hope this answers your question.

Thanks,
A

Hi Thank you,

My father got the visa on Nov 22, 2022. My mothers sputum results arrived negative. My mother got call from US Consulate of Mumbai, They said to come for visa interview on Jan 24, 2023. She asked them about fingerprint appointment. They told her to book one. I am little confused now. I did not get any official email. The number they called from was +91 22 26724000. I went ahead and scheduled the fingerprint for Jan 22, 2023 and Visa appointment for Jan 24, 2022 on CGI website. I also confirmed from Max hospital that they sent my mothers report to Embassy and we are good to schedule appointment. Now the problem is, the interview I scheduled was from my fathers profile where my mother is listed as dependent. Should I keep the appointment and should my mother go for the interview. My father already got the visa, he will be accompanying her to Mumbai for interview.
I could not create separate profile for my mother as it was complaining that her information is already in database linked to my fathers profile

[h1bguy80]

Dear h1bguy80,
heartiest congratulations for the all clear medical examination.
1. It is perfectly routine that the record of vaccinations is given as well as the CD. The complete details of the medical examination are directly uploaded to the consulate website. During the interview the medical documents handed over will be needed.
2. No one ever asked for the medical records. The consulate will not hand over the details.
However, this is an important issue. Technically one has the right to see one’s own medical records. May be one can demand the same. But I would rather do so only after reaching USA.

Hi AlienKanpur,

Thank you very much for your quick response. Much appreciated. You mention in your note 1 that medical documents handed over will be needed, however no medical documents were handed over to my mom after the medical check. Can you clarify? Thanks.