Good Luck on Friday the 13th!

[Peachey 10]

Alright, so here's my review:

Left the hotel at 6:30. Got half way to the consulate and realized we forgot Varba's passport in our hotel room. Came back to the hotel to get it. Got in line (about 12th in line) at about 7:05 AM. We met some really nice people in line. Not "from" VJ, but they've read all the guides so they were well prepared.

Consulate doors opened at 7:35. Darkchilde was the first in and I was very jelous . Gave our passports to the security guard and had our appointment letter at Page 3 for him so he wouldn't have to fuss.

Went though security and had to leave my car keys down there because they are "electronic". Security guy told us to go down the stairs and wait for the security guard to take us up.

Security guy came out and asked who had letters E and F. Most of us were confused because we didn't get letters. He took us all on the elevator and told us to get in line at the cashier. I thought we were just paying but this is where we got our "letter". We got C2. Accidentally bumped in line and felt super bad about it .

So we sit down and get our things in order. It takes about an hour for C1 to be called (letters A-F were being called first). Half hour later they call C2, we get round of applause from the people still waiting (yipee!). Called to window 10 where the nice lady tells me she needs ALL my stuff.

This is for you guys who got the old packet 3, I had to give her:

Passport

Pictures

Medical

Police Check

Birth Certificate (+ copy)

I-134 + evidence

Xpresspost envelope

DS-156 (2 copies)

DS-156k

DS-160 and confirmation page (where then the lady said "I don't understand why they need this one, you filled it in online").

She then fixed a bunch of stuff on my forms. Oh and make sure your forms are typed, if they aren't you need to type them up on the computer. Mine were all typed, but we saw a few people need to use the computer.

She then sent us to pay. We paid, and came back and she was gone. We waited for 5-10 mins and she came back. In the mean time I was singing to Varba, he was happy she came back. She took my finger prints and told us to go wait in the waiting room again and they'll call us for the actual interview.

45 minutes later our "number" gets called to room 7. We closed the door and she told us we could take off our jackets if we wanted. So we did. She asked how we were and I said I have a cold and can barely talk and she said "Oh, it's ok, I won't be asking you many questions" but then looked down at her sheet and said "oh sorry, I will, you're the one moving!". She verified my left index finger with the scanner and I was so tired I had to figure out what was left and right. She then told us to raise our right hands, so I did and Varba didn't, and he says "me too" and she said "Well, if you want to play yes, if you don't want to play you can leave the room" (She said this in a joking voice). So Varba raises his right hand and she swears us in.

She asked us how we met and when, and when we met in person and if he met my mom on that trip. She then asked what we have in common other than liking video games and I told her we're both pretty weird, and we compliment each other. She asked Varba what state he lives in then asked me if I had ever been and I said yes and she asked if I approved of PA. I said it kinda stinks where he lives.

She then said she was approving our visa, gave us the schpeel and couldn't answer my question so told me to call the border where I would be crossing.

So we came out and some of the people we were talking to congratulated us (as did borgatnoir ). We came back to the hotel and slept all afternoon.

[CDAgirlMI 51]

Congrats to all that were approved today!!!

Can't wait to be in your shoes a week today!!

[sdhiman 0]

Congratulations everyone!

Peachey: Thanks for the review and I hope you feel better now.

[Peachey 10]

Congratulations everyone!

Peachey: Thanks for the review and I hope you feel better now.

haha, I can't talk at all now. Going out to eat should be interesting

[bogartnoir 1]

i never believed it either, but it was seriously VERY easy and everyone was super nice!

if you're prepared- it's a freaking cakewalk! and by prepared i mean just having your paperwork situated.

the interview is no big deal whatsoever. i felt like puking before we went in, but i left crying and happy and relieved .

no sign of the infamous "angry woman"! whew!

[Arabella 4]

i never believed it either, but it was seriously VERY easy and everyone was super nice!

if you're prepared- it's a freaking cakewalk! and by prepared i mean just having your paperwork situated.

the interview is no big deal whatsoever. i felt like puking before we went in, but i left crying and happy and relieved .

no sign of the infamous "angry woman"! whew!

I was just thinking today that I will be disappointed if they don't ask us any "questions" so I am glad they asked Varba/Peachey some real questions.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

I bet the "angry lady" reads this and is upset everyone thinks she's mean. Maybe she's nice now because of it!

Glad everything went well for you guys!! Nice review Peachey. I'm surprised you didn't kick Varba in the unmentionables for forgetting his passport in the room (I so would have) Hopefully you can talk soon!

[Arabella 4]

I bet the "angry lady" reads this and is upset everyone thinks she's mean. Maybe she's nice now because of it!

Glad everything went well for you guys!! Nice review Peachey. I'm surprised you didn't kick Varba in the unmentionables for forgetting his passport in the room (I so would have) Hopefully you can talk soon!

One of the slots in my file folder is labled "passports and copy of bio page." Sean's passport is going in my file folder as soon as I see him!

[OBX 51]

Congratulations to all those approved today!

[Jo&Si 9]

Congrats everyone for your approval!!

Thanks for the review Peachey!

Take care and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

jo

[Sam and Ben 2]

I bet the "angry lady" reads this and is upset everyone thinks she's mean. Maybe she's nice now because of it!

Glad everything went well for you guys!! Nice review Peachey. I'm surprised you didn't kick Varba in the unmentionables for forgetting his passport in the room (I so would have) Hopefully you can talk soon!

One of the slots in my file folder is labled "passports and copy of bio page." Sean's passport is going in my file folder as soon as I see him!

I daresay you've crawled into my brain, Arabella, heh.

I've got a slot specifically for those too...

[darkchilde794 5]

Here is a blurb about what happened to me and the hunny today -- though I will post a more official review in my timeline later.

As Peachey said, me and the hunny were first in line! Woohoo! To be honest, we didnt think we'd be first because my right foot flared the whole evening and I could barely move it. And of course I had to pick the hotel that was a good 15 minute walk from the place So at 6 am, we started walking ever so slowly to the consulate.

Note: if you are going to walk to the consulate from the east or west direction, use Rene-Levesque Blvd. My fiance and I walked St. Catherine, which was really... eye opening The street has all these sex shops and at one point, one man was walking around asking people where he can find drugs... I was pretty scared. Im really glad my fiance came with me for the interview.

So at 6:25 we got to the embassy, saw that we were alone, and headed to Tims which was a block west from Alexander St. We came back and saw nobody and just waited. Later that morning my fiance remarked that he was glad we got to the place early as the waiting room was packed with applicants.

We were given letter A and were asked to approach one of the windows for the initial paperwork. As I received the new P3 format, I had submitted my paperwork along with P3. I had told the lady that I had re-filled a new set of paperwork because some things have changed since August (ie. I finished grad school and am now unemployed ) but she said that was fine and just updated my old paperwork. She was very, very nice and was very thorough and even made sure I verified each "answer" I wrote in the original paperwork I completed. She then asked me to pay and me and my fiance went to the cashiers. We paid exactly 131, which was good as the cashier lady said that she didnt have change yet. Then she handed me a receipt and remarked, "Congratulations!". I felt that maybe we were half-way being approved!

We then went back to the first lady and I was finger printed. The finger printing process took a bit of time as my fingers werent scanning right Finally, the lady asked us to go back to the waiting room and wait to be called again for our interview.

A few minutes later, we were called by a really nice man who interviewed us. I was actually interviewed initially in the same area where my paperwork was first looked at, as my finger prints didnt scan right and had to be printed again. The man was really sweet and even apologetic, saying that he normally interviews people in the booths for more privacy, but my pinky finger didnt scan right. Anyway, we were sworn to tell the truth during the interview and he asked us some questions while working on printing me again. The questions he asked included how my fiance and I met, what my fiance did for a living (which my fiance answered himself), what I did for a living (which I answered, perennial student). When I finally got printed, he asked us to meet him in one of the booths and asked us more questions. He seemed pretty interested of my F1 student status in the US and even asked questions about my old school in Maryland. He then remarked that my fiance and I seemed to have been together for quite some time and he saw that we've travelled a lot through our pictures. I was so happy to hear that because we included a lot of pictures in our original I-129F petition, and he had taken time to look at them! I offered to show him more, and he chuckled and said that it was alright. He also seemed really happy that my fiance has been to the Philippines, and that our families know each other quite well.

He also asked us when our big date is, and my fiance said that we booked a wedding court date for Nov 25th. The man was mildly surprised and said that they will try their best to complete our visa so that our wedding can happen! He then explained what will happen next (ie. taking passport and paperwork to assembly final K1 visa). He said they need to cancel my current B1/B2 visa. He also asked me what I will do with my current Canadian permanent resident status, and I said that I am planning to cancel it.

Finally he congratulated us and wished us a happy wedding, handed us a sheet of paper explaining the K1 visa status and wished us well. I was sooooo deliriously happy (still am actually). When we got out, a lot of people congratulated us (thank you!). Today is definitely one of my top 10 best experiences ever.

To top it off, we were out of the building by 9:30 am and made it back to the hotel with 10 minutes to spare before the end of our free breakfast!

However, I did forget my birth certificate, which I emailed Montreal about. Someone replied late in the afternoon that it will be included in the xpresspost. Thank you OP5!!!

[Sam and Ben 2]

Thank you for the reviews, guys.

I keep thinking that the more I read, the less nervous I will be... and though that doesn't seem to be the case yet, at least it's nice to hear that everyone's having an easy time of it.

[Peachey 10]

I gave darkchilde a hug, she deserved it

I hope I didn't give her my germs.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Congratulations, everyone! Great reviews !