Wife got her IR1 in Chennai on 7th January

zenguy · January 19, 2008

The wife and I went to the embassy at 7:30 am for our 8:00 am interview appointment. The following events document our experience at the Chennai U.S consulate:

1. Showed my U.S passport and the wife's interview letter to the guard outside and gained entry into the consulate

2. Went through the security checkpoint inside (separate for men and women)

3. Was led to the building at the back to the immigrant visa section and was made to sit in the first two rows opposite counters 12 to 16

4. Interview letters were collected from us and two other IV cases

5. At 8:10 am, an Indian staff official called my wife and me to the counter. The following questions were asked:

a)When were we married?

b)Was it an arranged marriage?

c)I was asked for my U.S passport, and my visits to India since I got married were reviewed and verified using the entry/exit stamps

d)My wife's birth certificate was reviewed

e)My employment status was verified

At this stage, we were told that all our papers were in order, and were given a token with a number on it. We were told that another Consulate official would call us for the final interview soon. Note that no photo albums were requested. The lady found the photographs that I had submitted to the NVC during the I-130 process to be sufficient.

6. At around 9:15 am, my wife was called to the same counter and asked to provide fingerprints of her right index finger.

7. While we waited for the next interview, it was obvious to us that the non-immigrant visa interviews were being given priority. there were at least 100 to 200 people having their business/tourist/misc. non-immigrant visa interviews in the adjoining section.

8. At around 12:15 pm, we saw an American consulate official take her place at one of the immigrant visa counters. As luck would have it, we saw her pick our file and carefully review all the documents in it. After about 10 minutes of thorough reviews of all the documents in our case, the lady called my wife's name. When she learned that i was also present, she called for me to join my wife. The following questions were asked:

a)My wife had to swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Then, the first question asked was, "When were you married?"

b)Where were you(my wife) staying so far ?

c)She asked for my passport and verified the entry and exit stamps of my visits to India

d)She reviewed the photographs that I had submitted to the NVC.

e)She then told us that all our papers were in order and the visa was granted.

f)she asked my wife if I had warned her that pittsburgh would be very cold this time of the year

g)I jokingly told her that Pittsburgh deserved a better rap than that.

h)I asked her if we could pick up the visa on the same day. She said that they don't do same day Immigrant visas in Chennai, and requested us to contact the local VFS office the next day to pick up the passport and the sealed envelope.

We were out of the consulate by 12:30 pm

VFS goofed up, and in spite of being told that we would pick up the passport and sealed envelope, they sent it by courier to our Bangalore address. We received it on the 11th.

The interview process was a breeze, and I had a tougher time asking my wife to stay cool and not lose it. The staff were very courteous and forthcoming with information.

We landed at JFK on the 15th. The immigration process was a breeze there too. The secondary processing area is in the baggage claim area behind the immigration counters. the sealed packet is opened by the immigration agent at one of the counters and reviewed. He verified the wedding date and correctly wrote IR1 as the visa category, along with the A number, on my wife's passport. He then asked us to go to the secondary processing area. In the secondary processing area, they collected her file, reviewed it for about a minute, asked her to sign a form, took her fingerprints again, verified the address where she wanted her green card mailed to, and sent her on her way. We spent a total of 10 minutes from immigration counter to clearing immigration for her. Our PoE experience was also a positive and painless experience.

So there you have it. End of the line. Well,almost. I'll mark the case as closed when we get the green card mailed to us.

A big thank you to everyone at VisaJourney for the pointers, encouragement and information.