My Jan 30 CR1 Interview Experience

[mikeandlani 0]

Arrival.

my sked was at 6:30am. i arrived around 6:20am. one of the guards at the entrance told me 9am interviewees are to wait at the waiting area. i told him i had a 630 sked and he looked surprised (i guess they were so used to applicant's qeueing up 2 or 3 hours before the appointed time and couldn't believe what he just heard from me. hehehehe! heck! i'm not the late lani for nothing. ) after presenting my appointment letter and an identification card, i was let in. i got into the immigrant visa section at exactly 630am, after the xray and the security checks

Immigrant Visa Section.

from the security check, you exit and turn left to enter the main building. then you make 2 more right turns to get to the Immigrant Visa Section.

as i stepped into the room, i was ushered into the blue seats to wait for my number to be issued. 15 mins after, it was our row's turn to line up for the number--i got my number 2 mins after. got back to my seat and waited for my number to flash on the board. it was about an hour after, around 740am that i heard my name called to approach window 16 for fingerscanning (biometrics), after 2 tries, i went back to my seat again to wait for the pre-screening.

Pre-Screening and Consular Interview.

15 minutes after, i saw my number flashing on the board to take window 18. almost missed it, since i was enjoying my chat with a lola who was being petitioned by her children.

Here's a transcript of my interview with the pre-screener:

Pre-Screener: Who is your petitioner?

Me : My Husband......(gave my mike's name)

PS : What is your name?

Me : Leilani.........(gave my complete name)

PS : Would you know how long your husband has been in the US? (during this exchange she had me sign the Part II of DS230--signed it in my maiden signature)

Me : He was 18 when he got there, so that would be around 198x

PS : Have you known your husband since then?

Me : No. We met later on.

PS : How did you meet?

Me : A mutual friend introduced us

PS : Is this mutual friend in America?

Me : No, she lives in Manila

PS : How did she and your husband meet?

Me : They were classmates in High School.

PS : How about you, how did you get to be friends with her?

Me : She's the wife of a good friend of mine.

PS : When did you get married?

Me : Civil ceremony was April 2006, while our Church rites was April 2007.

PS : Is this the first marriage for both of you?

Me : For me, yes. My husband has been married before.

PS : How did his past marriage end? Death? Divorce?

Me : He was divorced from his first wife.

PS : (while going over the documents in my packet, handed me the CENOMAR we previously submitted to the USCIS. As well as the Police Clearance we submitted in the DS230 application, she was going over my NBI Clearance when...)

Is this the most recent clearance you have? Its dated May 29, 2007.

Me : (i saw that Delbros already did their document verification as i could see they already have a copy of the CEMAR, and another copy in secpa of my birth certificate as well as our marriage certificate)

Yes, it is. Its said to be effective for a year.

PS : If in case your visa isn't issued by May 29, 2008, please submit to us a new one.

Me : Hmmm....i sure hope i have the visa way before May 29, 2008.

PS : I do too. As this would be less work for us...(smiles)

PS : Where have you travelled? I meant to the US. You went to the US twice? How long did you stay?

Me : Yes. The longest i've stayed was a month.

PS : Is your US visa in this passport?

Me : Yes it is.

PS : When was the last time you saw your husband.

Me : Last April. although, i was supposed to visit him last Christmas, we had to forego the plan once we received the approval and opted to save the airfare for the after visa release.

PS : Do you have pictures together?

Me : (i brought out an album......)

PS : Oh, that wouldn't fit in the slot, you might want to remove some pictures from the album, as the consul will ask

for it later. That will be all for now. Please wait for your number to be called again for the Consular Interview.

Me : Ok then. Have a Good Day!

got back to my seat again and chatted right back with lola....good thing i was talking to her and her companions, as i was really getting sleepy with all the waiting... B) about an hour and a half later, around 940am, long after lola and her companions had gone, i finally saw my number on the board again to proceed to room 29. i sat at the seat near the door and waited for the applicants inside to finish. since the sliding door was about two inches open, i peeped in to check how my consular officer conducts his interviews....hmmm...looked tough. he was a burly, curly and colored guy, and doesnt smile much...about 10 minutes later, the interviewees stepped out and i got in. the CO greeted me good morning and i greeted him right back. he excused himself for a moment to finish encoding his notes and comments on the applicants before me, i told him it was alright. i got my puzzlebook from my bag, and started filling it out. after about 7 minutes he was ready to interview me...:

"CO : Thank you for your patience. Who is your petitioner?

Me : My Husband x x x

CO : When did you get married?

Me : We married twice. Civil was last April 2006 and Church was April 2007

CO : You last saw your husband April last year?

Me : Yes.

CO : What does your husband do?

Me : He's a system administrator.

CO : What about you?

Me : Im a lawyer.

CO : Did you bring pictures of you together?

Me : Yes, but its our wedding album, i dont think it will fit in the slot.

CO : Its okay, you can just flip the album there so i can see.

(i got the mini album from my briefcase and started flipping it for him to see the photos inside)

CO : Where is this church?

Me : its in x x x.

CO : that's a pretty elaborate dress you have there...ok. that's about it. i wish you well and goodluck. you can go back outside and wait for your number to be called again.

Me : thank you so much and have a good day."

it took all 7 minutes for the interview. i went back to the seats and 10 minutes after, i heard my name over the PA to go to window 37. went there and a Filipino post interviewer was there. he handed me my appointment letter with a pink slip stapled on it. as i was about to leave, he asked me about my work and my husband's work. he got into a couple more chit chats and told me to proceed to the delbros counter and pay for the visa delivery fee and after which i can leave. paid delbros and took my leave. was out of the embassy 1015am.

that's about it. my interview experience turned SONA. hahaha!

now i am praying and keeping my fingers crossed that i can get the visa in hand soon...next review will be the POE.

thank you so much VJ! i have learned so much from this site. to Rina, Ness and Keith and to everyone who have been so good in replying to my queries, my special thanks to you. Goodluck to all who are still to have their interview. special holler to docjazzie, i hope this SONA of mine will help you prepare for your interview. And to those who have yet to receive their visas as well as their approvals, including case complete, don't fret, we will soon receive what we ask for. let's continue to pray for one another.

God bless everyone!

lani

[c-Low 0]

Woohooo congratulations!!!

[Longwait2 0]

Wowwwwwwww!!! Congratulations!!!

[David-and-Mae 15]

Congartulations, Lani! And you have a very impressive way of narrating your experience. Well done!

--Mae

[djturbo 0]

Congratulations!!!

[mikeandlani 0]

Woohooo congratulations!!!

Wowwwwwwww!!! Congratulations!!!

Congartulations, Lani! And you have a very impressive way of narrating your experience. Well done!

--Mae

Congratulations!!!

thanks guys!

to c-Low and djturbo goodluck on your respective interviews.

Longwait2, congratulations go to you as well for your visa receipt. finally! the wait is over

and Mae thanks for the compliments as well

[joemaria 0]

Congrats!

And welcome soon here in US!!!

[warwick8 0]

WoW!!!!! congratulations, attorney Lani!

that was very detailed. Thank you for sharing us your experience. I'm certain it will help a lot of us who are waiting to be interviewed

Congratulations again! so happy and excited for you

PS...the minialbum you showed the consul is like the minialbum we get from the wedding photographer we hired? am planning to bring mine too.

Thank you again!

mwah!

[sofia2009 1]

Arrival.

my sked was at 6:30am. i arrived around 6:20am. one of the guards at the entrance told me 9am interviewees are to wait at the waiting area. i told him i had a 630 sked and he looked surprised (i guess they were so used to applicant's qeueing up 2 or 3 hours before the appointed time and couldn't believe what he just heard from me. hehehehe! heck! i'm not the late lani for nothing. ) after presenting my appointment letter and an identification card, i was let in. i got into the immigrant visa section at exactly 630am, after the xray and the security checks

Immigrant Visa Section.

from the security check, you exit and turn left to enter the main building. then you make 2 more right turns to get to the Immigrant Visa Section.

as i stepped into the room, i was ushered into the blue seats to wait for my number to be issued. 15 mins after, it was our row's turn to line up for the number--i got my number 2 mins after. got back to my seat and waited for my number to flash on the board. it was about an hour after, around 740am that i heard my name called to approach window 16 for fingerscanning (biometrics), after 2 tries, i went back to my seat again to wait for the pre-screening.

Pre-Screening and Consular Interview.

15 minutes after, i saw my number flashing on the board to take window 18. almost missed it, since i was enjoying my chat with a lola who was being petitioned by her children.

Here's a transcript of my interview with the pre-screener:

Pre-Screener: Who is your petitioner?

Me : My Husband......(gave my mike's name)

PS : What is your name?

Me : Leilani.........(gave my complete name)

PS : Would you know how long your husband has been in the US? (during this exchange she had me sign the Part II of DS230--signed it in my maiden signature)

Me : He was 18 when he got there, so that would be around 198x

PS : Have you known your husband since then?

Me : No. We met later on.

PS : How did you meet?

Me : A mutual friend introduced us

PS : Is this mutual friend in America?

Me : No, she lives in Manila

PS : How did she and your husband meet?

Me : They were classmates in High School.

PS : How about you, how did you get to be friends with her?

Me : She's the wife of a good friend of mine.

PS : When did you get married?

Me : Civil ceremony was April 2006, while our Church rites was April 2007.

PS : Is this the first marriage for both of you?

Me : For me, yes. My husband has been married before.

PS : How did his past marriage end? Death? Divorce?

Me : He was divorced from his first wife.

PS : (while going over the documents in my packet, handed me the CENOMAR we previously submitted to the USCIS. As well as the Police Clearance we submitted in the DS230 application, she was going over my NBI Clearance when...)

Is this the most recent clearance you have? Its dated May 29, 2007.

Me : (i saw that Delbros already did their document verification as i could see they already have a copy of the CEMAR, and another copy in secpa of my birth certificate as well as our marriage certificate)

Yes, it is. Its said to be effective for a year.

PS : If in case your visa isn't issued by May 29, 2008, please submit to us a new one.

Me : Hmmm....i sure hope i have the visa way before May 29, 2008.

PS : I do too. As this would be less work for us...(smiles)

PS : Where have you travelled? I meant to the US. You went to the US twice? How long did you stay?

Me : Yes. The longest i've stayed was a month.

PS : Is your US visa in this passport?

Me : Yes it is.

PS : When was the last time you saw your husband.

Me : Last April. although, i was supposed to visit him last Christmas, we had to forego the plan once we received the approval and opted to save the airfare for the after visa release.

PS : Do you have pictures together?

Me : (i brought out an album......)

PS : Oh, that wouldn't fit in the slot, you might want to remove some pictures from the album, as the consul will ask

for it later. That will be all for now. Please wait for your number to be called again for the Consular Interview.

Me : Ok then. Have a Good Day!

got back to my seat again and chatted right back with lola....good thing i was talking to her and her companions, as i was really getting sleepy with all the waiting... B) about an hour and a half later, around 940am, long after lola and her companions had gone, i finally saw my number on the board again to proceed to room 29. i sat at the seat near the door and waited for the applicants inside to finish. since the sliding door was about two inches open, i peeped in to check how my consular officer conducts his interviews....hmmm...looked tough. he was a burly, curly and colored guy, and doesnt smile much...about 10 minutes later, the interviewees stepped out and i got in. the CO greeted me good morning and i greeted him right back. he excused himself for a moment to finish encoding his notes and comments on the applicants before me, i told him it was alright. i got my puzzlebook from my bag, and started filling it out. after about 7 minutes he was ready to interview me...:

"CO : Thank you for your patience. Who is your petitioner?

Me : My Husband x x x

CO : When did you get married?

Me : We married twice. Civil was last April 2006 and Church was April 2007

CO : You last saw your husband April last year?

Me : Yes.

CO : What does your husband do?

Me : He's a system administrator.

CO : What about you?

Me : Im a lawyer.

CO : Did you bring pictures of you together?

Me : Yes, but its our wedding album, i dont think it will fit in the slot.

CO : Its okay, you can just flip the album there so i can see.

(i got the mini album from my briefcase and started flipping it for him to see the photos inside)

CO : Where is this church?

Me : its in x x x.

CO : that's a pretty elaborate dress you have there...ok. that's about it. i wish you well and goodluck. you can go back outside and wait for your number to be called again.

Me : thank you so much and have a good day."

it took all 7 minutes for the interview. i went back to the seats and 10 minutes after, i heard my name over the PA to go to window 37. went there and a Filipino post interviewer was there. he handed me my appointment letter with a pink slip stapled on it. as i was about to leave, he asked me about my work and my husband's work. he got into a couple more chit chats and told me to proceed to the delbros counter and pay for the visa delivery fee and after which i can leave. paid delbros and took my leave. was out of the embassy 1015am.

that's about it. my interview experience turned SONA. hahaha!

now i am praying and keeping my fingers crossed that i can get the visa in hand soon...next review will be the POE.

thank you so much VJ! i have learned so much from this site. to Rina, Ness and Keith and to everyone who have been so good in replying to my queries, my special thanks to you. Goodluck to all who are still to have their interview. special holler to docjazzie, i hope this SONA of mine will help you prepare for your interview. And to those who have yet to receive their visas as well as their approvals, including case complete, don't fret, we will soon receive what we ask for. let's continue to pray for one another.

God bless everyone!

lani

Congrats!!very nice experience!!

[marie_9 0]

thank you for the wonderful post,

Edited January 30, 2008 by marie_9

[edp333 9]

Congratulations !! and thanks for posting the detailed experience.

[honeybear 0]

Congratulations!!!!

[Roserick 0]

WoW!! What a great detailed Interview Experience..

Let me CONGRATULATE you for the VISA APPROVAL!!! I hope you get you VISA asap.. Since looking at your Interview experience.. I didn't see any issues with your documents other than the NBI Clearance, which was clearly not expired.

Thank You so much.. You lessens the tense and pressure for my wife's upcoming interview...

I see that they haven't even requested any Financial docs from the I-864.. WoW!! This is looking good.. But I will still come prepared with my co-sponsored I-864 if asked..

Good Luck to all.. Keep this Interview Experience going..

BTW what type of VISA classification did you get? Assuming you have a IR-1?

[Brian&Mel 0]

Congrats!!!

[lirachadsbaby 0]

congrats