Applied for renewal in Dec 2021, got conditional approval in about a month. I checked for interviews in Blaine every two or three weeks, nothing available. A friend’s wife had been waiting for an interview since sometime in 2020. Last month she got a letter saying she was approved, card is in the mail. So I logged in to check my status - no change in status but suddenly appointments are available in Blaine. Had my interview today, received approval an hour later.
The guy said they sometimes take walk-ins if they’re not busy and you’re prepared to wait a couple of hours, but it sounded like a bit of a crap shoot.