Nairobi Embassy Thread!

[Madwoman 2]

Hi Guys how is verything I hope everything is well; I'm worry about Nairobi Embassy are they too picky, how is the people who prescreen before my fiancee she see the counselor office are they rude or good.

Asante rafiki yangu

Dawarig,

We found everyone in the Nairobi embassy to be polite and not too picky at all. In fact my fiance's interview was about 2 minutes long! They basically asked how long we knew eachother and when did we first met. The interviewer complimented us on our K1 visa package. I agree that the guards are nice. The only negative is the waiting, but good things come to those who wait :innocent:

[Dawarig 1]

That is good as long as they are not too picky that is fine, so when they called your name did they asked you alot of evidence proof of relatonship or they accepted what ever you gave to them. Help me about this I want know more before I go to Nairobi Embassy.

Nairobi Embassy Thread lets help each other those who need help like new comers.

Thanks

[Madwoman 2]

That is good as long as they are not too picky that is fine, so when they called your name did they asked you alot of evidence proof of relatonship or they accepted what ever you gave to them. Help me about this I want know more before I go to Nairobi Embassy.

Nairobi Embassy Thread lets help each other those who need help like new comers.

Thanks

Dawarig,

If you read through the thread, you will find many experiences of people going through the Nairobi Embassy that should be really helpful. I believe they start around page 7. I am copying my post about my fiance's interview below. I hope you find it helpful! But you also really should look through the past thread pages to find more experiences. When is your fiancee's interview? Good luck!

Hey everyone--I am back this morning from our second trip to Nairobi--VISA IN HAND!!!!! kicking.gif kicking.gif kicking.gif kicking.gif kicking.gif kicking.gif Wow--I can't believe how easy the whole thing was--the most difficult part of the interview was waiting for it!

Here are some details:

We were able to move our interview date to Jan 7th--yesterday! (ARK we were right behind you!)

On Jan 6th Hiller picked up his medical results and completed his vaccinations (he had to pay 9,700 KSH for the vaccinations--ugh. They were the MMR triple combination, polio, and the first dose of varicella (for chicken pox). He already had his Yellow Fever shot.

We didn't have any problem with the embassy accepting the medical examination and didn't hear anything about a change in doctors.

Hiller's appointment was at 7 am the next day. We stayed at a cheap hotel right near the taxi park that I would recommend. It's no Holiday Inn, but it has hot water, comfortable, clean beds and is very cheap (we payed 1,200 a night). Breakfast is included. It takes only 20 min from the hotel to get to the Embassy via matatu (#106 near the post office).

We arrived at the Embassy at 6:30 am and after passing through security, began the long wait on the hard chairs inside the visa section. Hiller waited in line to be fingerprinted and then we waited for his name to be called. Finally, at 11:30 am "Pario, Hiller" was called. A few details:

1) I was able to walk right up to the window with my fiance for the interview! No problems, no questions asked.

2) I had WAY over prepared. I had compiled a big file of photos, e-mails and Skype calls--none of which was looked at. The consular basically just went from what was already in the original petition.

3) He asked only 2 questions: To Hiller: When did you meet your fiancee? Then (referring to the petition) "Who compiled these photos, and phone records?" I replied that I had. He told me I had done a good job and he would issue Hiller a visa. The man was SO NICE I couldn't believe it.

4) The consular then said that the K-1 visa would take a long time to process and we could pick it up on the 16th. We then asked very nicely if there was any way we could expedite it because Hiller lives in Uganda and needed to finish his last couple of weeks at work. The consular left to check if it was possible to speed things up, and when he returned he told us to go and sit and wait about 30 minutes for the visa! Well, the 30 minutes turned out to be about 4 hours but we weren't complaining! At 3:30 Hiller was issued his visa and given a packet to give to the officer at the POE. YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Also: As far as document--all they took were the two copies of the 156, two copies of the Fiance Visa non-immigrant application and only the first part of the 230. They also wanted a copy of Hiller's birth certificate. We had his original so they just made their own copy. Police certificate, 2 passport photos, medical exam forms, affidavit of support. I think that is all.

Also, while we were waiting, we chatted with a man from Eritrea whose job was translating for people from Eritrea, and Somalia. He has frequented the Embassy for a long time and is very familiar with the people working there. He told us that two months ago, a woman was doing immigrant interviews, and she was a lot stricter than the new guy! She would ask all sorts of questions and was basically a lot more difficult. He said that so many people got denied that USC family members started complaining. Anyway, she was replaced by this new guy, who is far nicer. We felt very lucky! Anway...we feel very lucky that, after all that worrying and heartache, things really went pretty smoothly. I am glad I came because I do think it helped, although I don't think it is essential.

I wish all of you still waiting the best of luck! NIMO--Congratlations on your wife's 10 year green card!!! ARK--I would love to hear your fiancee's experience!

If any of you have any more questions, I will try to get back to you--but I am still in Uganda until Feb 20 and on "African time" smile.gif

Maddelene

[shefellfromheaven 18]

Dawarig, on so many occassions i have told you to take time and read the posts from the first page.; Its all here

Edited October 7, 2009 by shefellfromheaven

[Dawarig 1]

Hi Maddelene thank you for your help, your information is helpful; I read alot thread Nairobi Embassy, I'm waiting noa2 I hope I will get it.

[Dawarig 1]

Hi everyone I send money to my fiancee is that problem in nairobi embassy, is gonna hurt the case? what do you guys think.

thanks.

[Madwoman 2]

Hi everyone I send money to my fiancee is that problem in nairobi embassy, is gonna hurt the case? what do you guys think.

thanks.

It shouldn't hurt your case since you are applying for a fiancee visa. This means that they really only look at YOUR finances and whether you can support her when she gets to the US. That's why they have you (and not her) fill out the affidavit of support with your tax returns, salary, etc. They never even glanced or asked about my fiance's finances so I don't think you should have a problem. But just to be sure, don't mention it in the interview!

Seriously though, people send money to their significant others all the time. No big deal

Madelene

[Dawarig 1]

Hi everyone I send money to my fiancee is that problem in nairobi embassy, is gonna hurt the case? what do you guys think.

thanks.

It shouldn't hurt your case since you are applying for a fiancee visa. This means that they really only look at YOUR finances and whether you can support her when she gets to the US. That's why they have you (and not her) fill out the affidavit of support with your tax returns, salary, etc. They never even glanced or asked about my fiance's finances so I don't think you should have a problem. But just to be sure, don't mention it in the interview!

Seriously though, people send money to their significant others all the time. No big deal

Madelene

That is good Thanks.

[katie & sifa 25]

Hello all! Got a letter today from the NVC saying they got my approved I-129F application (all this BEFORE it says anything on the USCIS website or I got any notification about NOA2...but since it says "...NVC has recently received an approved I-129F petition filed on behalf of your fiance..." I'm going with it

Here's my question: I REALLY want to go with my fiance to the interview. I think it would make both of us feel better. I know it's a big expense when we have a lot of other expenses coming up BUT my bigger concern is my time off from work. Because of my trip to see him earlier this year I'm pretty much out of PTO. I could probably take unpaid leave but that sucks up a lot of the money I've been putting aside to pay for visa related expenses that I would then have to put toward silly things like rent & electricity. We filed in September and NEVER expected to be approved so quickly!

Anyway my question... I've been looking at timelines and it seems like the interview date for Nairobi ranges anywhere from a month to 2 months (maybe longer?) from the embassy receiving the packet until interview. Can you kind of choose your date? If the interview was in January I could go since my 2010 PTO will kick in by then. Since it's almost November now I'm hopeful that we can put it off until the beginning of January & I can fly there to be with him at the embassy.

[Madwoman 2]

Hello all! Got a letter today from the NVC saying they got my approved I-129F application (all this BEFORE it says anything on the USCIS website or I got any notification about NOA2...but since it says "...NVC has recently received an approved I-129F petition filed on behalf of your fiance..." I'm going with it

Here's my question: I REALLY want to go with my fiance to the interview. I think it would make both of us feel better. I know it's a big expense when we have a lot of other expenses coming up BUT my bigger concern is my time off from work. Because of my trip to see him earlier this year I'm pretty much out of PTO. I could probably take unpaid leave but that sucks up a lot of the money I've been putting aside to pay for visa related expenses that I would then have to put toward silly things like rent & electricity. We filed in September and NEVER expected to be approved so quickly!

Anyway my question... I've been looking at timelines and it seems like the interview date for Nairobi ranges anywhere from a month to 2 months (maybe longer?) from the embassy receiving the packet until interview. Can you kind of choose your date? If the interview was in January I could go since my 2010 PTO will kick in by then. Since it's almost November now I'm hopeful that we can put it off until the beginning of January & I can fly there to be with him at the embassy.

Hi Katie, welcome to our thread! If you scroll through the pages, I am sure you will find all of the information really helpful. there were several of us going through the embassy at around the same time. Several of us wrote extensive and detailed accounts of our experience.

Wow, you are really lucky to have your petition approved so fast! It took us about 4 and a half months. Anyway we actually got approved around the same time as you and I accompanied my fiance to his interview in Jan. So I know from first hand experience that the embassy will let you pick out your interview date-- especially if you call that far in advance. One little catch: you have to have a medical appointment scheduled beforehand and they won't let you schedule the appointments more than about a month in advance (my experience). So..... I told a little white lie...

below is a copy of one of my posts from page 4 (I think the date was the beginning of November):

"GOOD NEWS! I was able to call the Nairobi Embassy just now and make our interview appointment for January 12th! The reason for this date is that I will be there with him, so we can travel to Nairobi together star_smile.gif star_smile.gif The lady at the Embassy was SO NICE, and let me pick out the date to have the interview. All I did was tell them that all our documents were ready and we already had a medical exam appointment (kinda fibbed on that one since the doctor wouldn't let us make an appt that far in advance--I have to call back the middle of Dec. It's not a lie if you know it will happen in the future right? whistling.gif )"

It took about a week for all the blood work to get back so once you schedule your interview, don't schedule your medical too close! If you have any more questions, just ask, but I really URGE you to browse the previous posts as well. Good luck!

Madelene

[shefellfromheaven 18]

Hongera

[katie & sifa 25]

Hongera

Asante!

And thanks for the advice Madwoman. The application hasn't arrived at the Embassy yet so I'll wait until it does & then call to try to set a date.

Still kind of walking around in shock that everything has gone so quickly!

[shefellfromheaven 18]

It is God's will, Congrats

[katie & sifa 25]

Has anyone else had the experience that the Nairobi Embassy sends the beneficiary an interview date WITH packet 3? My fiance received the packet & it said his interview date will be Dec 8. We want to have the interview in January, I'm hoping that if I call tomorrow morning (walked 60 miles in 3 days this weekend, wasn't able to get up before 7:30 am my time & the Embassy is already closed for the day there) they will be able to change it!! I haven't read about anyone else just getting an interview date with their packet!

[shefellfromheaven 18]

Seems that they have changed their system. Call the embassy to see if you could reschedule his interview day. May you find God's favor.