Sorryyyyyyyyy !

[NickyFromBelgium 0]

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Sorry about the flemish, thought that I would find someone here from Belgium !

Well, I live in Belgium, engaged to american citizen from New Jersey and I have my K1 interview this monday at the american embassy in Brussels.

Can anyone help me out what I can expect there ?

Thanks,

Nicky

[William33 110]

It's all good!!!

Go to this part of the board, they will be able to help you.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180

Good luck with your interview!!!

[NickyFromBelgium 0]

It's all good!!!

Go to this part of the board, they will be able to help you.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180

Good luck with your interview!!!

Thanks William

[YuAndDan 153]

Here are some experiances I found:

Brussels, Belgium -1

Name: Lianne (US) & Thierry (Belgium)

Interview date: Aug 1, 2000

On August 1, 2000 my husband Thierry called me shortly after 10 AM my time to tell me he had received his visa at the consulate in Brussels... it took only 22 days from start to finish! Here is our timeline:

July 8, 2000: Got married in Thierry's home town, Boom, Belgium

July 11, 2000: Filed I-130, DCF at the US Consulate in Brussels

July 18, 2000: Thierry had first part of medical exam.

July 20, 2000: Final medical, rec'd tetanus vaccine.

July 23, 2000: Thierry e-mailed consulate as instructed to let them know he had all items on checklist completed.

July 25, 2000: Consulate calls Thierry w/ interview date: August 1.

Aug 1, 2000: Thierry has his "interview" & receives his visa.

Thierry told me there really wasn't much in the way of an interview. His appointment was for 1:30 PM & he got there at 1:00 so he was the first person in line. He went through security, went to the immigrant visa window & told the guy there that he had an interview appointment. He handed all of his checklist items over and was asked to have a seat. Thierry waited about 30 minutes and was called back up and told that everything looked fine, to go to the cashier to pay the filing fee (which was $325). After paying, Thierry took his receipt back to the window and was asked to wait again. After another 30 minutes, he was called to different window by the consul. He was asked to sign the OF-230, then the consul asked Thierry if everything on the paperwork was true. He then told Thierry it would take them about 45 minutes to put the visa together and asked him to have a seat again. Thierry was called back up a few minutes later to sign 3 copies of a paper reminding him that he would have to file for removal of his conditional status 1 year and 9 months after he enters the US and was given a copy to keep. After waiting about 30 more minutes, he was called up one last time and given "THE" brown envelope, with a corner cut off so that they could attach the visa to the other documents inside. Thierry said they explained that he would be turning that over at the POE, reminded him again about filing to change his status in time or he'd have to start all over again, and wished him luck.... DONE!! Thierry told me that on his way out of the consulate he thought it was a funny coincidence that the song "Celebrate" was playing over the Consulate's sound system! We both feel that we're extremely lucky to have been able to do DCF in Belgium, where the consulate has one of the fastest processing times for I-130s. Now we're just impatient to start our married life together, but he'll be here in North Carolina soon!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -2

Name: Wendy

Filing date: May 31 2002

Interview date: June 17 2002

We went through DCF at the US embassy in Belgium, here's our timeline:

May 31: filed the I-130

June 11:medical examination

June 17:final interview, got my immigrant visa!!!!

The consular officers at the embassy are all very nice! We got married on May 30 and went to the embassy the next day, the person who took care of our I-130 noticed we just got married and congratulated us )

My husband was only present when we filed the I-130 (he had to go back on June 1st) so I had to go to the final interview alone, which is no problem at all. I had an appointment at 1.30pm and I walked out holding my immigrant visa around 3.40pm!

If anybody wants information, you can contact me at laguna_smb@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -3

Name: Aloisia and Alexandre

Filing date: 29 May 2002

Interview date: 2 July 2002

First of all, I need to say a big THANK YOU, especially to Alvena, Andy, Rete, etc., for all the stories, advice, answers, etc., etc., etc. given everyday in this newsgroup. I have been lurking here since the beginning of 2001 and finally have our story to post. And I know that there have been some recent questions about DCF/marriage in Belgium, but I did not want to post anything until we were successful.

But today, my husband, Alexandre, is the proud holder of an immigrant visa.

Our History

19 November 2001 - met on internet (Aloisia in Philadelphia, Alexandre in Namur, Belgium)

1 February 2001 - met in person (Paris)

24 April 2001 - Aloisia moves to Belgium

1 June 2001 - marriage in Switzerland

24 February 2002 - daughter, Andrea Morgan, born (Brussels)

Detailed Visa Timeline

29 May 2002 - file petition for immigrant visa, pay $130; receive packet 3

3 June 2002 - medical exam, pay €71.79, includes €18.79 fee for vaccine; receive Belgian police certificate

6 June 2002 - receive x-rays, pay €30.00

14 June 2002 - receive Affidavit of Support from joint sponsor in the US

17 June 2002 - receive military certificate

20 June 2002 - receive copy of passport/birth certificate from joint sponsor

24 June 2002 - called and received appointment date of 2 July

2 July 2002 - appointment, approved, pay $335, receive visa and packet for POE

On 29 May, we arrived at the embassy to file the petition for immigrant visa. We filed forms I-130, DS-230 Part I, G-325's for both of us. We used the fill-in forms available from the INS website. You must apply between 2pm and 3pm; we arrived at 2:30pm and left at about 3pm. When the consul spoke with us, he gave us packet 3 and mentioned that I did not include my Affidavit of Support. He was going to give me the papers, when I told him that I had already downloaded them from the internet. He asked when we were planning on going to the US. I said either the end of August or the end of November. He started to say something, when I told him that, of course, we would be within the six-month window to use the visa. After all this, he said that I knew everything we needed and did I want his job. He explained that they at the embassy merely put together the packets to show to the INS at the POE. He said that because of that, they will be very strict with the paperwork. He said that when we return, if everything is in order, we should receive the visa that day. (We knew that.) He said that usually everything is NOT in order and they cannot issue the visa that day.

We called that day to schedule the medical exam, which was held on the 3 June. No problems and Alexandre only needed one vaccine. The x-rays were ready 6 June. We spent the next few weeks obtaining the other documents.

Our joint sponsor was my stepfather. They completed the Affidavit of Support and included tax transcripts for the three years and pay stubs for his employment. One thing to note: for the year 2001, he filed married, filing separately; for 2000 and 1999, he filed jointly with my mother. In those circumstances, you normally need to provide W-2's/1099's to show his individual income. My mother could not find them so they requested the W-2 information when they requested the tax transcripts. The woman with whom they spoke at the IRS explained that they destroy W-2's and that they could not give them any information related to them. Seemed strange considering it is listed on the Form 4506 you use to order the tax transcripts. Therefore, my stepfather's employer created a letter verifying his current employment. On this letter, they listed my stepfather's reported income for the last three years. When I put their Affidavit together, I stapled each year's tax transcript together (as requested by the embassy). Then I stapled this letter to his pay stubs. I was prepared to explain to the embassy why we had not included W-2's, but they did not ask. Of course, after we received the Affidavit from the US, I realized that we did not have my stepfather's proof of nationality. So they had to send that as well.

It took longer to obtain some other papers, like the military certificate, which is required even if you never had to serve. Turns out the requesting commune had ordered it from the wrong place. On 17 June, we called embassy to report completion of packet 3 and was told to call back Friday, 21 June, because they had not received any responses from the background investigation. I called the morning of 21 June to be told that noone from the immigrant visa section was available and that I could call another number between 4pm and 5pm when someone would be there. Big mistake. Between 4pm and 5pm, I called both numbers about 20 times, but noone answered. On Monday, 24 June, I called at 9am and was given the interview date of 2 July.

Tuesday, 2 July: We arrived at the embassy at about 1:15pm for our 1:30pm appointment. We were the first in line. There was one other couple with a 1:30pm appointment. We were told to hand over all of our paperwork and to have a seat. At about 2:30pm, we were called and told that everything was in order. We paid the $335 fee. (NOTE TO EVERYONE: try to pay in US dollars with a credit card or cash. We had to pay in Euros because we did not have enough money in our US account to use our debit MasterCard, and we did not think about buying some dollars at the bank. With the current exchange rate between the dollar and Euro, we should have paid no more than €340. But, of course, the embassy uses the conversion rate of 1 dollar = 1.20 Euro, so we ended up paying €402. Of course, we would have paid anything for the visa, but this is ridiculous.)

At about 3pm, the consul (the same from the first day) spoke with us. He and I spoke about New Jersey, where he was from and where I lived briefly before departing for Belgium. He remarked how cute our baby was (she is!). He then asked Alexandre to the sign the DS-230 Part II ( Sworn Statement). We expected to be asked questions, especially regarding the joint sponsor. But he asked nothing. Instead, he said, "Well, it looks like you got it right." He gave us three copies of a letter to sign. This is the letter that states when and how to remove conditions. But the consul then started to say that we need to file to remove conditions in the 90 days before the second anniversary of the MARRIAGE! Knowing the response already, I asked him whether he meant the marriage or the date Alexandre becomes a conditional permanent resident. He said the marriage. So I tell him that the letter states to remove conditions within the 90 days before the second anniversary of the date he becomes a conditional permanent resident. He looks closely at the letter and reads it. The consul then says that he is going to look into that because apparently he has been telling everyone the same thing (second anniversary of marriage). He then says that it will take about an hour to prepare the visa. I tell him that I need to sign my Affidavit of Support. We do that and then we wait.

At about 4:45pm, our visa was ready. We were given instructions for the POE, and we had a few questions. We were also told to take Alexandre's x-rays in our luggage and the keep them for one year.

The other couple was also approved. Another couple with three children (all of them to immigrate) had problems with their Affidavit of Support.

Sorry this is so long. And, once again, thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -4

Name: Noortje and Tod

Filing date: Friday, July 16th, 2004

Interview date: Monday, August 30th, 2004

Hi!

I think I have had the most hectic two months in my entire life, although I know I have to be grateful that I have probably had one of the easiest visa-processes of all.

Collecting all the paperwork started in December 2003 for us. In Belgium, before a couple can get married, they have to give notification of their marriage in the town administration where they are to get married and sign the notification papers. After the notification, in my town Ghent, you have to wait at least 6 weeks (and 6 months maximum) before you can be officially wife and husband. For the notification, we needed all sorts of paperwork... some of them hard to retrieve in the US.

My husband had to bring:

- his birth certificate

- a proof that he was not married

- a proof of his residence

- a proof of his nationality.

The birth certificate was easy to get of course. He got the proof that he was not married from the state of RI, apparently signed by a notary public. For the proof of residence, he could use his voter's registration since his home address is written on there.

The proof of nationality was harder to get. The logic in the States is: "well, isn't your passport proof enough??". Understandable of course. But anyway, luckily, the American Embassy here in Belgium does provide a proof of nationality to American citizens. It had to be legalized afterwards by the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

My husband (then fiancé) came to Belgium in March 2004 (with the three required documents from the US) and we both signed the notification of marriage in my town administration after we got the proof of nationality from the Embassy and had it legalized at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Since he couldn't stay here for 6 weeks (he has a job!), he went back to the US. Our marriage was scheduled Friday, July 16, 2004. He came to Belgium on Thursday July 15th and we had our little legal marriage ceremony at the Ghent town hall the next day at 9 am in the morning. That same day, in the afternoon, we went to the American Embassy in Brussels to start the DCF process. We had already filled out the forms I-130, DS-230 Part I and G-325A. We also showed our passports, we had one color photo for each of us, although mine was too small (it was a Belgian size passport photo) but it was okay for that day. I also had to show my ID card to prove that I am legally residing in Belgium. To prove our relationship, our marriage booklet sufficed for the time being. Because we got married that same day, it was impossible to get an exact certified copy of our marriage certificate.

Also, since I had read on these boards that my husband could sign the Affidavit of Support (I-864) in front of consular officer during our first visit to the Embassy, we wanted to do that too. So we made sure that my husband had already filled out the Affidavit of Support and brought all the supporting documents for the Affidavit with him. He could sign the Affidavit with no problem on July 16th, so that was a worry less for the next time! All the documents were approved by the consular officer (a nice lady). We payed the $185 fee and that was it.

The whole process didn't really take very long. They gave us a little packet of sheets of paper and instructions on what to do next. The consular officer highlighted on the sheet with the instructions what I still had to do and told me to contact the Embassy when I had all my paperwork in order. The consular officer told me that the photo requirements changed and that I also needed 2 larger photos front-face and a couple of those 3/4 pictures... There was a photo-place close to the Embassy and that's where we took the pictures after we got out of the Embassy that Friday. I am Muslim and am wearing a headscarf, but my ear and hairline had to be visible on the pictures, so I wore my scarf bandana-like on the pictures and made sure my hairline is visible.

That was it for the time being. My husband and I went to Turkey on Monday July 19th for our wedding reception that was held on Sunday, July 25th. It was very beautiful. After our reception, we spent another week in Turkey. We came back on Monday, August 2nd and my husband left for the US on Thursday, August 5th.

From that moment on, I had no time whatsoever to keep busy with the visa-process since I still had a thesis to hand in on August 16th for my graduation. After I handed in my thesis, I started working on the visa-process again. Luckily, I had already applied for my police records beginning of July and I had received them within a week. Really, the only thing I still had to do was to undergo my medical examination and get a certified copy of my marriage certificate. I already had my pictures and police certificates. Our Affidavit of Support was signed previously too.

On Tuesday, August 10th, I called the doctor's office in Brussels to make an appointment for my medical examination. The lady on the phone told me "to come tomorrow" but I had to refuse (my thesis, remember??). So she gave me an appointment for the next week Monday. I couldn't go again! That's the day that I had to hand in my thesis in university.. So anyway, we agreed on Wednesday, August 18th. I went to the Centre Medical Meyser in Brussels (apparently, it's in the same street where the NATO building is). First, there was a short, old guy who took my chest X-rays. Then I had to wait a little bit until the doctor came for my examination. He filled in some forms for the Embassy, he asked me some questions (do you smoke, do you drink, do you have this or that disease, etc. etc.), he measured and weighed me. He took blood and gave me a tetanus booster (in my arm and it was swollen and red and burny and itchy and it hurt for the next week!). Anyway, after that and having paid close to € 90, I could go. He told me I could pick up the results on Monday the 23rd, before noon. It was a big brown envelope with all the documents. On the envelope it said "Visa OK".

The next day, on Thursday, August 19th, I got my marriage certificate and in the afternoon, I called the Embassy to make an appointment for my final visa interview. The lady on the phone told me Tuesday, 24th but since I had to undergo surgery that day to get my 4 wisdom teeth removed, I had to refuse. So she told me to come on Monday, August 30th.

I went to the Embassy on Monday the 30th. The appointment was at 2 pm but it didn't really matter because you have to form a line in front of window 1 or 2 anyway. There was just one guy before me and when it was my turn, the lady already recognized me. Must be from the previous time I was there with my husband and the countless emails I've written them. She checked all the documents they already had. Then I handed over my marriage certificate, the police certificate, my passport and the pictures. Apparently, by that time, they only wanted the front-face pictures and not the 3/4 pictures anymore. I only had two front-face pictures. One she used for my passport and one on the brown envelope. So she just used the 3/4 on the couple of other documents that required it. She wasn't giving me a hard time over it at all. After completing the pile of documents I could go and pay the $335 fee.

Then I had to wait and wait and wait... until the consular officer (a young guy this time) came. He said hello and then said "you finally reached the end of a long process, huh?". He checked all the paperwork and then I had to raise my right hand and swear that all the information that I filled out in form DS-230 Part II is true. After I swore, I could sign the paper. Then he took my fingerprints with a scanner (left and right index finger). He said that was it and I could take a seat until everything could be processed. There were no questions whatsoever asked.

It was a long wait but fun nevertheless. I talked to another young woman who was there for a fiancé visa, I could listen to the adventures of some American tourists in Belgium who got their passports stolen, I could look at little babies of a couple of weeks old who were there with their parents to get an American passport, etc. I was the last one to leave the Embassy that day... but it didn't matter, because I had my brand new visa in my passport AND the sealed not-so-mysterious-anymore brown envelope in my hands, ready to go to the US to join my sweetheart. The next day, I bought my one-way ticket to Boston.

I have had so much help from several places online. The information I got is priceless. Thanks to that, my process went smoothly and painless.

Thank you!!

Take care all and good luck.

Source:

http://www.kamya.com/interview/130int.html#BE

[NickyFromBelgium 0]

Here are some experiances I found:

Brussels, Belgium -1

Name: Lianne (US) & Thierry (Belgium)

Interview date: Aug 1, 2000

On August 1, 2000 my husband Thierry called me shortly after 10 AM my time to tell me he had received his visa at the consulate in Brussels... it took only 22 days from start to finish! Here is our timeline:

July 8, 2000: Got married in Thierry's home town, Boom, Belgium

July 11, 2000: Filed I-130, DCF at the US Consulate in Brussels

July 18, 2000: Thierry had first part of medical exam.

July 20, 2000: Final medical, rec'd tetanus vaccine.

July 23, 2000: Thierry e-mailed consulate as instructed to let them know he had all items on checklist completed.

July 25, 2000: Consulate calls Thierry w/ interview date: August 1.

Aug 1, 2000: Thierry has his "interview" & receives his visa.

Thierry told me there really wasn't much in the way of an interview. His appointment was for 1:30 PM & he got there at 1:00 so he was the first person in line. He went through security, went to the immigrant visa window & told the guy there that he had an interview appointment. He handed all of his checklist items over and was asked to have a seat. Thierry waited about 30 minutes and was called back up and told that everything looked fine, to go to the cashier to pay the filing fee (which was $325). After paying, Thierry took his receipt back to the window and was asked to wait again. After another 30 minutes, he was called to different window by the consul. He was asked to sign the OF-230, then the consul asked Thierry if everything on the paperwork was true. He then told Thierry it would take them about 45 minutes to put the visa together and asked him to have a seat again. Thierry was called back up a few minutes later to sign 3 copies of a paper reminding him that he would have to file for removal of his conditional status 1 year and 9 months after he enters the US and was given a copy to keep. After waiting about 30 more minutes, he was called up one last time and given "THE" brown envelope, with a corner cut off so that they could attach the visa to the other documents inside. Thierry said they explained that he would be turning that over at the POE, reminded him again about filing to change his status in time or he'd have to start all over again, and wished him luck.... DONE!! Thierry told me that on his way out of the consulate he thought it was a funny coincidence that the song "Celebrate" was playing over the Consulate's sound system! We both feel that we're extremely lucky to have been able to do DCF in Belgium, where the consulate has one of the fastest processing times for I-130s. Now we're just impatient to start our married life together, but he'll be here in North Carolina soon!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -2

Name: Wendy

Filing date: May 31 2002

Interview date: June 17 2002

We went through DCF at the US embassy in Belgium, here's our timeline:

May 31: filed the I-130

June 11:medical examination

June 17:final interview, got my immigrant visa!!!!

The consular officers at the embassy are all very nice! We got married on May 30 and went to the embassy the next day, the person who took care of our I-130 noticed we just got married and congratulated us )

My husband was only present when we filed the I-130 (he had to go back on June 1st) so I had to go to the final interview alone, which is no problem at all. I had an appointment at 1.30pm and I walked out holding my immigrant visa around 3.40pm!

If anybody wants information, you can contact me at laguna_smb@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -3

Name: Aloisia and Alexandre

Filing date: 29 May 2002

Interview date: 2 July 2002

First of all, I need to say a big THANK YOU, especially to Alvena, Andy, Rete, etc., for all the stories, advice, answers, etc., etc., etc. given everyday in this newsgroup. I have been lurking here since the beginning of 2001 and finally have our story to post. And I know that there have been some recent questions about DCF/marriage in Belgium, but I did not want to post anything until we were successful.

But today, my husband, Alexandre, is the proud holder of an immigrant visa.

Our History

19 November 2001 - met on internet (Aloisia in Philadelphia, Alexandre in Namur, Belgium)

1 February 2001 - met in person (Paris)

24 April 2001 - Aloisia moves to Belgium

1 June 2001 - marriage in Switzerland

24 February 2002 - daughter, Andrea Morgan, born (Brussels)

Detailed Visa Timeline

29 May 2002 - file petition for immigrant visa, pay $130; receive packet 3

3 June 2002 - medical exam, pay €71.79, includes €18.79 fee for vaccine; receive Belgian police certificate

6 June 2002 - receive x-rays, pay €30.00

14 June 2002 - receive Affidavit of Support from joint sponsor in the US

17 June 2002 - receive military certificate

20 June 2002 - receive copy of passport/birth certificate from joint sponsor

24 June 2002 - called and received appointment date of 2 July

2 July 2002 - appointment, approved, pay $335, receive visa and packet for POE

On 29 May, we arrived at the embassy to file the petition for immigrant visa. We filed forms I-130, DS-230 Part I, G-325's for both of us. We used the fill-in forms available from the INS website. You must apply between 2pm and 3pm; we arrived at 2:30pm and left at about 3pm. When the consul spoke with us, he gave us packet 3 and mentioned that I did not include my Affidavit of Support. He was going to give me the papers, when I told him that I had already downloaded them from the internet. He asked when we were planning on going to the US. I said either the end of August or the end of November. He started to say something, when I told him that, of course, we would be within the six-month window to use the visa. After all this, he said that I knew everything we needed and did I want his job. He explained that they at the embassy merely put together the packets to show to the INS at the POE. He said that because of that, they will be very strict with the paperwork. He said that when we return, if everything is in order, we should receive the visa that day. (We knew that.) He said that usually everything is NOT in order and they cannot issue the visa that day.

We called that day to schedule the medical exam, which was held on the 3 June. No problems and Alexandre only needed one vaccine. The x-rays were ready 6 June. We spent the next few weeks obtaining the other documents.

Our joint sponsor was my stepfather. They completed the Affidavit of Support and included tax transcripts for the three years and pay stubs for his employment. One thing to note: for the year 2001, he filed married, filing separately; for 2000 and 1999, he filed jointly with my mother. In those circumstances, you normally need to provide W-2's/1099's to show his individual income. My mother could not find them so they requested the W-2 information when they requested the tax transcripts. The woman with whom they spoke at the IRS explained that they destroy W-2's and that they could not give them any information related to them. Seemed strange considering it is listed on the Form 4506 you use to order the tax transcripts. Therefore, my stepfather's employer created a letter verifying his current employment. On this letter, they listed my stepfather's reported income for the last three years. When I put their Affidavit together, I stapled each year's tax transcript together (as requested by the embassy). Then I stapled this letter to his pay stubs. I was prepared to explain to the embassy why we had not included W-2's, but they did not ask. Of course, after we received the Affidavit from the US, I realized that we did not have my stepfather's proof of nationality. So they had to send that as well.

It took longer to obtain some other papers, like the military certificate, which is required even if you never had to serve. Turns out the requesting commune had ordered it from the wrong place. On 17 June, we called embassy to report completion of packet 3 and was told to call back Friday, 21 June, because they had not received any responses from the background investigation. I called the morning of 21 June to be told that noone from the immigrant visa section was available and that I could call another number between 4pm and 5pm when someone would be there. Big mistake. Between 4pm and 5pm, I called both numbers about 20 times, but noone answered. On Monday, 24 June, I called at 9am and was given the interview date of 2 July.

Tuesday, 2 July: We arrived at the embassy at about 1:15pm for our 1:30pm appointment. We were the first in line. There was one other couple with a 1:30pm appointment. We were told to hand over all of our paperwork and to have a seat. At about 2:30pm, we were called and told that everything was in order. We paid the $335 fee. (NOTE TO EVERYONE: try to pay in US dollars with a credit card or cash. We had to pay in Euros because we did not have enough money in our US account to use our debit MasterCard, and we did not think about buying some dollars at the bank. With the current exchange rate between the dollar and Euro, we should have paid no more than €340. But, of course, the embassy uses the conversion rate of 1 dollar = 1.20 Euro, so we ended up paying €402. Of course, we would have paid anything for the visa, but this is ridiculous.)

At about 3pm, the consul (the same from the first day) spoke with us. He and I spoke about New Jersey, where he was from and where I lived briefly before departing for Belgium. He remarked how cute our baby was (she is!). He then asked Alexandre to the sign the DS-230 Part II ( Sworn Statement). We expected to be asked questions, especially regarding the joint sponsor. But he asked nothing. Instead, he said, "Well, it looks like you got it right." He gave us three copies of a letter to sign. This is the letter that states when and how to remove conditions. But the consul then started to say that we need to file to remove conditions in the 90 days before the second anniversary of the MARRIAGE! Knowing the response already, I asked him whether he meant the marriage or the date Alexandre becomes a conditional permanent resident. He said the marriage. So I tell him that the letter states to remove conditions within the 90 days before the second anniversary of the date he becomes a conditional permanent resident. He looks closely at the letter and reads it. The consul then says that he is going to look into that because apparently he has been telling everyone the same thing (second anniversary of marriage). He then says that it will take about an hour to prepare the visa. I tell him that I need to sign my Affidavit of Support. We do that and then we wait.

At about 4:45pm, our visa was ready. We were given instructions for the POE, and we had a few questions. We were also told to take Alexandre's x-rays in our luggage and the keep them for one year.

The other couple was also approved. Another couple with three children (all of them to immigrate) had problems with their Affidavit of Support.

Sorry this is so long. And, once again, thank you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brussels, Belgium -4

Name: Noortje and Tod

Filing date: Friday, July 16th, 2004

Interview date: Monday, August 30th, 2004

Hi!

I think I have had the most hectic two months in my entire life, although I know I have to be grateful that I have probably had one of the easiest visa-processes of all.

Collecting all the paperwork started in December 2003 for us. In Belgium, before a couple can get married, they have to give notification of their marriage in the town administration where they are to get married and sign the notification papers. After the notification, in my town Ghent, you have to wait at least 6 weeks (and 6 months maximum) before you can be officially wife and husband. For the notification, we needed all sorts of paperwork... some of them hard to retrieve in the US.

My husband had to bring:

- his birth certificate

- a proof that he was not married

- a proof of his residence

- a proof of his nationality.

The birth certificate was easy to get of course. He got the proof that he was not married from the state of RI, apparently signed by a notary public. For the proof of residence, he could use his voter's registration since his home address is written on there.

The proof of nationality was harder to get. The logic in the States is: "well, isn't your passport proof enough??". Understandable of course. But anyway, luckily, the American Embassy here in Belgium does provide a proof of nationality to American citizens. It had to be legalized afterwards by the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

My husband (then fiancé) came to Belgium in March 2004 (with the three required documents from the US) and we both signed the notification of marriage in my town administration after we got the proof of nationality from the Embassy and had it legalized at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Since he couldn't stay here for 6 weeks (he has a job!), he went back to the US. Our marriage was scheduled Friday, July 16, 2004. He came to Belgium on Thursday July 15th and we had our little legal marriage ceremony at the Ghent town hall the next day at 9 am in the morning. That same day, in the afternoon, we went to the American Embassy in Brussels to start the DCF process. We had already filled out the forms I-130, DS-230 Part I and G-325A. We also showed our passports, we had one color photo for each of us, although mine was too small (it was a Belgian size passport photo) but it was okay for that day. I also had to show my ID card to prove that I am legally residing in Belgium. To prove our relationship, our marriage booklet sufficed for the time being. Because we got married that same day, it was impossible to get an exact certified copy of our marriage certificate.

Also, since I had read on these boards that my husband could sign the Affidavit of Support (I-864) in front of consular officer during our first visit to the Embassy, we wanted to do that too. So we made sure that my husband had already filled out the Affidavit of Support and brought all the supporting documents for the Affidavit with him. He could sign the Affidavit with no problem on July 16th, so that was a worry less for the next time! All the documents were approved by the consular officer (a nice lady). We payed the $185 fee and that was it.

The whole process didn't really take very long. They gave us a little packet of sheets of paper and instructions on what to do next. The consular officer highlighted on the sheet with the instructions what I still had to do and told me to contact the Embassy when I had all my paperwork in order. The consular officer told me that the photo requirements changed and that I also needed 2 larger photos front-face and a couple of those 3/4 pictures... There was a photo-place close to the Embassy and that's where we took the pictures after we got out of the Embassy that Friday. I am Muslim and am wearing a headscarf, but my ear and hairline had to be visible on the pictures, so I wore my scarf bandana-like on the pictures and made sure my hairline is visible.

That was it for the time being. My husband and I went to Turkey on Monday July 19th for our wedding reception that was held on Sunday, July 25th. It was very beautiful. After our reception, we spent another week in Turkey. We came back on Monday, August 2nd and my husband left for the US on Thursday, August 5th.

From that moment on, I had no time whatsoever to keep busy with the visa-process since I still had a thesis to hand in on August 16th for my graduation. After I handed in my thesis, I started working on the visa-process again. Luckily, I had already applied for my police records beginning of July and I had received them within a week. Really, the only thing I still had to do was to undergo my medical examination and get a certified copy of my marriage certificate. I already had my pictures and police certificates. Our Affidavit of Support was signed previously too.

On Tuesday, August 10th, I called the doctor's office in Brussels to make an appointment for my medical examination. The lady on the phone told me "to come tomorrow" but I had to refuse (my thesis, remember??). So she gave me an appointment for the next week Monday. I couldn't go again! That's the day that I had to hand in my thesis in university.. So anyway, we agreed on Wednesday, August 18th. I went to the Centre Medical Meyser in Brussels (apparently, it's in the same street where the NATO building is). First, there was a short, old guy who took my chest X-rays. Then I had to wait a little bit until the doctor came for my examination. He filled in some forms for the Embassy, he asked me some questions (do you smoke, do you drink, do you have this or that disease, etc. etc.), he measured and weighed me. He took blood and gave me a tetanus booster (in my arm and it was swollen and red and burny and itchy and it hurt for the next week!). Anyway, after that and having paid close to € 90, I could go. He told me I could pick up the results on Monday the 23rd, before noon. It was a big brown envelope with all the documents. On the envelope it said "Visa OK".

The next day, on Thursday, August 19th, I got my marriage certificate and in the afternoon, I called the Embassy to make an appointment for my final visa interview. The lady on the phone told me Tuesday, 24th but since I had to undergo surgery that day to get my 4 wisdom teeth removed, I had to refuse. So she told me to come on Monday, August 30th.

I went to the Embassy on Monday the 30th. The appointment was at 2 pm but it didn't really matter because you have to form a line in front of window 1 or 2 anyway. There was just one guy before me and when it was my turn, the lady already recognized me. Must be from the previous time I was there with my husband and the countless emails I've written them. She checked all the documents they already had. Then I handed over my marriage certificate, the police certificate, my passport and the pictures. Apparently, by that time, they only wanted the front-face pictures and not the 3/4 pictures anymore. I only had two front-face pictures. One she used for my passport and one on the brown envelope. So she just used the 3/4 on the couple of other documents that required it. She wasn't giving me a hard time over it at all. After completing the pile of documents I could go and pay the $335 fee.

Then I had to wait and wait and wait... until the consular officer (a young guy this time) came. He said hello and then said "you finally reached the end of a long process, huh?". He checked all the paperwork and then I had to raise my right hand and swear that all the information that I filled out in form DS-230 Part II is true. After I swore, I could sign the paper. Then he took my fingerprints with a scanner (left and right index finger). He said that was it and I could take a seat until everything could be processed. There were no questions whatsoever asked.

It was a long wait but fun nevertheless. I talked to another young woman who was there for a fiancé visa, I could listen to the adventures of some American tourists in Belgium who got their passports stolen, I could look at little babies of a couple of weeks old who were there with their parents to get an American passport, etc. I was the last one to leave the Embassy that day... but it didn't matter, because I had my brand new visa in my passport AND the sealed not-so-mysterious-anymore brown envelope in my hands, ready to go to the US to join my sweetheart. The next day, I bought my one-way ticket to Boston.

I have had so much help from several places online. The information I got is priceless. Thanks to that, my process went smoothly and painless.

Thank you!!

Take care all and good luck.

Source:

http://www.kamya.com/interview/130int.html#BE

Hi

Thanks for all the information BUT my fiancé is living in New Jersey and we are planning to get married there,

as soon as I have my fiancée visa, I will join him there.

So I hop that I have it this monday !

I've been nervous for the last couple of weeks,

no idea what will happen there at the embassy but our love is for real, so I know that I don't have to worry about nothing.

Do you know anyone who did it our way ?

Thanks,

Nicky

[YuAndDan 153]

Unfortunatly I have no info for K1, but reading those experiences should give you an idea what it is like at that consulate.

Good luck, If you have all your paperwork and evidence in order and with you, you should have no problem.

[NickyFromBelgium 0]

Unfortunatly I have no info for K1, but reading those experiences should give you an idea what it is like at that consulate.

Good luck, If you have all your paperwork and evidence in order and with you, you should hav

Thank you so much and yes, i do have everything they ask for and all the evidence of the relationship..........but this is all new for me and very stressfull !!!

You were very helpfull and I will let you know, on monday how things went.

Have a great weekend

Bye ............Nicky

[Mew 0]

You can search for reviews of interviews held in Belgium here: http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php

Here are some example questions: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...age=exampleq#k1

Good luck!