Warsaw embassy K1 interview

[Chris and Tanya 0]

Oki so I am now sitting here, my passport weighed down by a fresh visa print beside me, a little confused but happy nonetheless. Here is my review of the Warsaw embassy trip:

Trip experience - skip this part for the actual embassy review

I set out to Warsaw on Weds the 28th - straight after work, hoping to get dinner and a book or two bought before the night. I had everything, documents, photos, a freshly pressed shirt, change of clothes, nice tie, shaving kit - everything......

I was sure of it heading for the tram but no! It suddenly dawned on me - PASSPORT! So instead of calmly catching the 5pm train I ended up rushing home and catching a cab then the 6pm one.

Lenin and Stalin probably spin so hard in their mausoleums that they could power a small country if plugged into the grid - but this is slowed ever so slightly by places like the Logos hotel in Warsaw. The reception is ok but the room was not - it was somewhere along the lines of Stalinist revival.

The furniture is late 50's to 60's, carpets old and frayed and in room sink (bathrooms we will get too later) looks to be at least 40 years old with tiles to match. Whilst the room was kept clean, it couldn't help the rest - there was a significant (couple of inches) gap between the carpet and tiles exposing bare concrete, grime and things I better not think of.

The bathroom was even worse - the urinal and lav looked as if from the 50's if not earlier - and the shower was newer - maybe early 80's. All in grimy post soviet glory. In the end my attempts at getting myself clean were more work on not getting myself more dirty.

Most of Poland has moved forward - even parts of the hotel intended for foreign guests (bathrooms in room, keycard access, modern furniture etc) - but this part was firmly rooted in the past.

The embassy experience

My appointment was at 09:30 but to be sure I showed up just after 08:00. To my horror I found my aftershave had leaked in my bag and now created a stench cloud around me whenever I moved the bag - to the great annoyance of anyone sitting near me.

Stage 1 - security and "check in"

At security you need to hand in your cell phone and any other electronic equipment - if you don't have a watch you can say goodbye to any sense of timekeeping during the whole process.

Before you enter the main room your invitation is checked again. You are not given a number - you need to go to one of the active interview booths, wait for the person currently using it to finish and ask for a number card to be printed.

Stage II - document check

First off the document check, signing and so on - it went ok apart from a couple of hitches - I didn't get the 157 form - so I had to fill that out on the go. Filled in everything and was told to pay - this was odd as I should have been told to pay after fingerprinting.

Stage III - Payment

It should have been simple, easy and without a problem - but you can not pay for K1 visas by card, unlike all the classic immigrant visas. I short trip to the nearest cash machine ensued and I had to take my laptop bag with me - my head trying desperately to disappear below my collar due to the rolling cloud of aftershave smell that trailed me (damn stuff wont wash out).

Stage IV - Fingerprinting and problems

A problem popped up - the location of passport issue - now this is a pain for everyone with UK passports as far as I am aware - the vast majority of them are sent by post - so you can't say London or anywhere else - just UKPA at worst. A big discussion ensued and all I could do was kick my bag to gas some more people like some sort of sadistic Gillette salesman. Fingerprinting however went ok and then I was told to wait for the consul interview.

Stage V - The interview

All in all I had a long wait and people who had later numbers ended up having earlier interviews - and during the wait I felt like in a hospital waiting room, regular chimes, the screaming babies, people sitting in rows etc - the only thing lacking was people in tracksuits with head injuries. After a long wait my turn came to speak to the consular officer.

I came up and was asked to swear everything I entered and said was true or face the consequences etc.

After this the CO asked me where I met my girlfriend, how and then after about one line of explanation cut me off, asking for 1 photo from each year of us knowing each other.

I fished out about 3 from the stack of photos I had ready and handed them to him. Once these were taken I was told that I should come back the next day at 15:00 to pick up my passport.

After I managed to pick my jaw up from the floor I just asked - "so does that mean I have the visa" - "Yep, pretty much".

Evening and next day

I walked out shellshocked - that is it? 1 question and 3 photos? It's like a John Woo film, the bad guys are slowly hatching their plan while the hero works against them.

The buildup and pressure is tremendous, Hans Zimmer epic music moves from bass to high notes, the villains start revving up the engines of their car as police/army/the hero storm towards them. The makings of an epic chase, explosions, dramatic close shaves, air sea and land......

But then the bad guys turn of their engines, put their hands up and say "nah on second thoughts this is a bad idea" as the hero looks on in disbelief.

Well that is how I felt - a ton of paperwork, supporting documents, statements from friends in the US, contacts, photos, videos, a load of chatlog printouts, emails, wedding rings and so on - all not used. Of course this will be good for adjustment of status and so on - but it just felt like a sort of bizarre anticlimax after all I read and the requirements.

In the end I had to call up my boss to say I wouldn't be in the next day and killed time by going to the cinema, getting a book and random tram trips.

After 10 years in Poland I was a bit sad to have to spend some of the last days stuck in Warsaw instead of elsewhere but I can survive that.

The next day the pickup was easy, after 15:00 I picked up the visa, still unsure if this was some sort of trick or bizarre joke - but nope - its a visa and I leave next Wednesday.

__________________________

Well I hope someone reads this random drivel and makes something of it

[carolynhotstuff 252]

Congratulations i wish everyone a smooth interview like you had.

[Seb928s 2]

Hopefully my Joanna won't have problems there for her interview. She was not giving a B-2 Visa twice now so she could visit me here in Florida. Congrats and have a safe trip to your new home.

[Francksgirl 0]

Congratulations! Thank you for posting your story! Maybe the guy didn't ask you that many questions cuz of the amount of cologne! So in fact something good came out of the spill afterall. ####### always seems to happen at the worse possible times... That is for sure!

Oki so I am now sitting here, my passport weighed down by a fresh visa print beside me, a little confused but happy nonetheless. Here is my review of the Warsaw embassy trip:

Trip experience - skip this part for the actual embassy review

I set out to Warsaw on Weds the 28th - straight after work, hoping to get dinner and a book or two bought before the night. I had everything, documents, photos, a freshly pressed shirt, change of clothes, nice tie, shaving kit - everything......

I was sure of it heading for the tram but no! It suddenly dawned on me - PASSPORT! So instead of calmly catching the 5pm train I ended up rushing home and catching a cab then the 6pm one.

Lenin and Stalin probably spin so hard in their mausoleums that they could power a small country if plugged into the grid - but this is slowed ever so slightly by places like the Logos hotel in Warsaw. The reception is ok but the room was not - it was somewhere along the lines of Stalinist revival.

The furniture is late 50's to 60's, carpets old and frayed and in room sink (bathrooms we will get too later) looks to be at least 40 years old with tiles to match. Whilst the room was kept clean, it couldn't help the rest - there was a significant (couple of inches) gap between the carpet and tiles exposing bare concrete, grime and things I better not think of.

The bathroom was even worse - the urinal and lav looked as if from the 50's if not earlier - and the shower was newer - maybe early 80's. All in grimy post soviet glory. In the end my attempts at getting myself clean were more work on not getting myself more dirty.

Most of Poland has moved forward - even parts of the hotel intended for foreign guests (bathrooms in room, keycard access, modern furniture etc) - but this part was firmly rooted in the past.

The embassy experience

My appointment was at 09:30 but to be sure I showed up just after 08:00. To my horror I found my aftershave had leaked in my bag and now created a stench cloud around me whenever I moved the bag - to the great annoyance of anyone sitting near me.

Stage 1 - security and "check in"

At security you need to hand in your cell phone and any other electronic equipment - if you don't have a watch you can say goodbye to any sense of timekeeping during the whole process.

Before you enter the main room your invitation is checked again. You are not given a number - you need to go to one of the active interview booths, wait for the person currently using it to finish and ask for a number card to be printed.

Stage II - document check

First off the document check, signing and so on - it went ok apart from a couple of hitches - I didn't get the 157 form - so I had to fill that out on the go. Filled in everything and was told to pay - this was odd as I should have been told to pay after fingerprinting.

Stage III - Payment

It should have been simple, easy and without a problem - but you can not pay for K1 visas by card, unlike all the classic immigrant visas. I short trip to the nearest cash machine ensued and I had to take my laptop bag with me - my head trying desperately to disappear below my collar due to the rolling cloud of aftershave smell that trailed me (damn stuff wont wash out).

Stage IV - Fingerprinting and problems

A problem popped up - the location of passport issue - now this is a pain for everyone with UK passports as far as I am aware - the vast majority of them are sent by post - so you can't say London or anywhere else - just UKPA at worst. A big discussion ensued and all I could do was kick my bag to gas some more people like some sort of sadistic Gillette salesman. Fingerprinting however went ok and then I was told to wait for the consul interview.

Stage V - The interview

All in all I had a long wait and people who had later numbers ended up having earlier interviews - and during the wait I felt like in a hospital waiting room, regular chimes, the screaming babies, people sitting in rows etc - the only thing lacking was people in tracksuits with head injuries. After a long wait my turn came to speak to the consular officer.

I came up and was asked to swear everything I entered and said was true or face the consequences etc.

After this the CO asked me where I met my girlfriend, how and then after about one line of explanation cut me off, asking for 1 photo from each year of us knowing each other.

I fished out about 3 from the stack of photos I had ready and handed them to him. Once these were taken I was told that I should come back the next day at 15:00 to pick up my passport.

After I managed to pick my jaw up from the floor I just asked - "so does that mean I have the visa" - "Yep, pretty much".

Evening and next day

I walked out shellshocked - that is it? 1 question and 3 photos? It's like a John Woo film, the bad guys are slowly hatching their plan while the hero works against them.

The buildup and pressure is tremendous, Hans Zimmer epic music moves from bass to high notes, the villains start revving up the engines of their car as police/army/the hero storm towards them. The makings of an epic chase, explosions, dramatic close shaves, air sea and land......

But then the bad guys turn of their engines, put their hands up and say "nah on second thoughts this is a bad idea" as the hero looks on in disbelief.

Well that is how I felt - a ton of paperwork, supporting documents, statements from friends in the US, contacts, photos, videos, a load of chatlog printouts, emails, wedding rings and so on - all not used. Of course this will be good for adjustment of status and so on - but it just felt like a sort of bizarre anticlimax after all I read and the requirements.

In the end I had to call up my boss to say I wouldn't be in the next day and killed time by going to the cinema, getting a book and random tram trips.

After 10 years in Poland I was a bit sad to have to spend some of the last days stuck in Warsaw instead of elsewhere but I can survive that.

The next day the pickup was easy, after 15:00 I picked up the visa, still unsure if this was some sort of trick or bizarre joke - but nope - its a visa and I leave next Wednesday.

__________________________

Well I hope someone reads this random drivel and makes something of it

[Darnell 8,478]

congratulations !!!

Good Luck with packing !!!

just a quickie ps -

any liquids going into the 'checked luggage' - make sure you put them in a plastic bag, and SEAL the bag !!! Sometimes I forget, when I'm coming back from China, and I get beer popped over everything. ZIPLOCKS or BAGGIES !!