Interview went well (Montreal)

[mozplay 29]

Well, at 6:00 a.m. (ok.. 6-ish) when the guy at the hotel's front desk said it was -30 outside I decided not to go line up by 7:00 a.m. as planned. To hell with it - I'm not a penguin after all!

So at 7:15 I left the safety of the nice warm hotel room and walked the 50 steps or so over to the consulate with my scarf wrapped around my head like an old Italian granny. I was the first person there and by the time they unlocked the doors and invited me in at about 7:25, I truly began to question whether this visa was actually worth standing outside in the freezing cold for. Ok.. not really, but I did consider just coming back later.

Then the doors were opened and all was forgotten. It was definitely more pleasant than going through airport security. I did not have to take my shoes off and the guards/officers were very nice. After the security check, I was given a chit which read "A - window #9". The guard told me not to lose it cause it meant I was first in line. I was shown downstairs to the waiting/elevator area. Two other girls joined me. At exactly 7:45 a guard came down and took us up to the 19th floor. At window 9 we gave up our passports and interview letters. By 8:00 I had already been called up to window 12 (first and by name) to hand over all the necessary documents and then directed to pay at window 14 when it opened at 8:10 and leave the receipt at window 12 when I was done.

By 8:30 I was called into interview room #8 to (of course) be interviewed. The guy was very nice, in fact everyone was very nice. He asked me how we met, what first attracted me to David, what David does, what my plans are for work in the US and then whether I had any convictions or problems crossing the border. When I told him that I'd never been prevented from crossing, but pulled into secondary last August, he waved it off, calling it 'special attention' and saying it was common and not held against us.

He then took my index prints for the extra screening that they are doing, which consists of name checks and FBI checks mostly to look for overstays and law trouble in the US. Strangely enough he mentioned that part of this was already done. I can't remember if it was the name or FBI check. He told me that my case was cut and dry and that they'd probably be mailing my visa out today or tomorrow and that I'd get it either tomorrow, or by Friday or Monday for the latest.

I confirmed that I was good to go once the security checks came back and he said yes and wished me luck. And that was it. I said goodbye and left. I left the embassy by 8:50 and by that time there was quite a lineup waiting to clear security. After seeing that I was glad I decided not to be a big baby and stick out the 10 mins I had to wait in the cold earlier. Of course I was so hyped by this point that I forgot to wrap up like an old Italian granny again and by the time I got back to the hotel I really did think I'd never be able to feel my ears again. Damn Montreal was cold!!!!!

Strangely enough, once I got over last week's panic attack, I have felt no worry at all and did not feel nervous at the embassy today. In fact, thanks to VJ and you guys, I felt like an old hand. There was another young woman there who was doing the K3 process and of course did not know that Montreal had changed their 'next day' policy. She was told to go buy an xpresspost envelope and come back (was given a golden ticket to do so). She and her husband had already paid 2 lawyers to get this far. Of course I told her about VisaJourney and she ended up asking me all sorts of questions about what happens next. Her lawyer told her that she would probably be given her greencard today at the interview. Anyone else ever hear of that? Anyway, I was glad to give what advice I could.

We drove back to Toronto almost right away and now I am safely at home. I plan to sleep like a rock tonight.

So that's my interview over. I'll keep you updated as to when I actually get the visa in the mail, though it sounds to me like they are just buying time.

Good luck everyone still interviewing this week!

Monique

[Flames9_RN 358]

Congrats!!!

[CutienPurg 0]

[MissStacey 1]

Congrats!! It sounds like the Interview was a breeze for you!

[girl 37 7]

[cdngrl 0]

wow .. thanks monique for that update. my appn't is coming up in march so your detailed experience definitely puts me at ease. the weather is nuts up there in the winter ... as soon as i know my appn't, i'll be booking with via just in case the weather prevents me from driving come my interview week. i'm coming from the windsor/london area so that would be quite the treacherous trip in bad weather.

oh yes and ... congratulations!!

~l

[Amanda-Lise 0]

congrats mo! glad it all went well for you.

[riblet 0]

Congratulations!! And thanks for the full review

[knowledge 0]

I was mostly attentive to how you write than what happened there; you must be a writer, no doubt! thanks for sharing everything and Congratulations!!!

[jg_am 0]

Congrats Mo! It's funny reading the reviews now after being at the consulate since I can picture everything you described.

[Kipster 0]

Hey Mo! If only the 24 hours prior to the interview had been as much of a breeze for us as the interview itself (separate post). The interview was easy-peasy..no problems at all. Having spent so much time here on VJ, checking the paperwork and having it all thoroughly organized, that made the interview practically a non-event. The only thing about our time at the consulate that surprised me was that the lady at window 12 actually asked my fiancee to sign the DS-156 there at the window. She whited it out and asked her to sign it again. I think that is really bizarre, in light of the new instructions for the DS-156 included in the Oct. version of page 3 of packet 3, but since it was not a problem, oh well. I kept thinking to myself after it was all over, how ironic it is that we had to spend so much money and time, not to mention all the emotional stress, for 3 minutes in a cubicle with an American gov't worker behind glass asking questions that he has answers to already by just reading the petition and all the paperwork included with it. My fiancee went to sit in the chair and he said, "Oh, its ok, you can stand, this will only be a moment" He was surprised at the speed with which we moved from the meeting online stage to when we filed the petition, so my fiancee told him that we both knew exactly what we wanted and that we shared the same faith and basically that we didn't feel the need for a prolonged courtship. He was ok with that..and it was over.

Thanks to the folks here at VJ posting their own experiences, it paved the way for an extremely smooth interview. I feel sorry for those who go into this without a support group like this place.

[misa 2]

Congrats and glad to hear everything went well.

[Mephys 2]

Wow congrats Monique!!! Im so happy to hear that everything went smooth as hell

Just make sure to cover your ears next time, you only have one pair!

And by the way I really really feel sorry for the poor girl that paid 2 lawyers and was thinking she would receive her green card today...omg lawyers are idiots sometimes. We are so glad we went with the cheapest, easiest, fastest and more precise way of having a VIsa....VJ!

Mephys

[wrumug 0]

Congratulation!!

[software 0]

Congratulations!