Visa Interview in Seoul- Approved Today!

buff · December 14, 2007

Hi everyone. I lurk here, but everyone's information has been so helpful.

My husband's CR1 Visa was approved at his interview in Seoul today!

Here's what it was like for us:

We showed up and were first in line. Our number was called and we submitted our documents. In Korea, you bring all of packet 3 with you to the interview, I'm not sure how it is in other places. We had an issue with my parents' I-864. Rather than filling out an I-864 for one person and an I-864A for the other, they both filled out I-864's, but they had both checked that they were the only joint sponsors. We just realized their mistake the day before, so we didn't have time to correct it. We explained the situation to the person taking the documents and she said she would notify the officer reviewing our case and told my husband to wait for his name to be called. We were kind of listening to other people as they were doing interviews (those microphones are loud...everyone in the waiting area knows your business!) and to pass the time, we tried to predict approval/denial.

We paid the IV fee and sat around until my husband was summoned. There were two officers conducting interviews at first and they both seemed kind of stuffy and robotic and not the kind of people I wanted making a decision on my parents' technically incorrect I-864. I was getting nervous.

All of a sudden, a third window opened up and my husband's name was called. We got the friendliest government official I have ever met! He made small talk, asking about my husband's injured leg (he was on crutches), and he was very smiley. He asked us questions like "How long have you been married?" "How did you meet?", nothing special. He asked about my husband's law school and whether he was able to sit for US bar exams (he is). He asked me how long I had been living in Korea and when we planned on traveling to the US. All in all very pleasant...no intense interrogation.

I saw through the window that he had made some notes in red pen. They were possible issues with our case. One was my parents' I-864, the other was that he didn't have his old passport showing his previous F-1 visa from when he was a student in the U.S. He started marking "ok" on his checklist and stamping "approved" on documents until he came to my parents' I-864. He told us he would be right back, took the documents with him and returned a few minutes later. He stamped the last paper and said "Congratulations, your visa is approved. You'll receive your passport with the visa stamp via courier within 5 business days. You have 6 months to enter the US and you must file to remove your conditional status by your 2nd anniversary. Happy Holidays."

I still don't think it has sunken in yet, but I'm elated! A month from now I'll be back in the US with my husband!!!