US Embassy Dakar

BIG_O · January 15, 2008

Hello everyone, sorry for not providing an update any sooner. I just returned from a 30 day stay in Senegal and I am still a little jetlagged...

The interview lasted about 10 minutes. We arrived at the embassy at 7:30am. There wasn't a very long line at all, perhaps 10 other people. Your are asked to turn in your passports at the guard booth before joining the line, which we did. Then another guard calls your names per passport surrendered. Meaning that my fiancee got called in first, then I followed. The guard were all very pleasant. They conduct a security check on your person and belongings, then issue you a ticket number. You are then led to a general waiting area. When your number is called, you go to the assigned station. I think there were 4. We were asked for her original birth certificate & the certified translation, her police reports and my I-134. That was it. She was then fingerprinted and asked to wait in a second waiting area. This area is very small and the interviews are handled right there at the same stations. Just think DMV type of setting... About an hour later, my fiancee was called to the window and I followed here there. There were 2 COs behind the glass. One of them looked at me and after greeting me asked me who I was. I told him I was the fiance. He turned to the other CO and said: the fiance is here... He then said Ok, would you mind having a seat while we talk to your fiancee? I obliged, of course. By the way, I was carrying a briefcase full of all kinds of goodies (phone bills, bank statements, western union receipts, employment letters, tax forms...)

They asked my fiancee how we met, where we met... How often we talked, the medium... That was it. A total of 3 questions.

They then asked her to call me up to the window. They announced with genuine enthusiasm that they had granted the visa, to be picked up the following wednesday. They even commented that the circumstances of our meeting were so "cute".

The visa was issued on 01/02/08.

Bassi and Zainab · January 15, 2008

Hooray!!

Thanks for coming on to give us an update! You know we live and breathe other people's successes while we wait. Your note was appreciated and we are all sooooo happy you finally got through!!

Congratulations!