K-1 Interview - Approved

[jmd77 1]

Here is our review of our K-1 Interview. Our interview was this morning, and we're chilling for a bit so I thought I'd post before we forget anything (you know block it out and move to the next step... lol).

Anyway, we booked a hotel on hotwire.com, and ended up at the Maritime. It's decent, and we certainly can't complain for what we paid for it. It's a 13 block walk down Boulvard Rene-Levesque. We left the hotel at 6:30 and walked. My only complaint was how cold and windy it was, but otherwise it was a nice walk.

We arrived at the consulate about 6:50-6:55. We were first in line, and it was only a few minutes before Bern and JohnD were behind us. If there is one piece of advice we took for granted, it was how important it is to be there early. Being one of the first five in line made this process so much less stressful.

We chatted amongst ourselves and made some new friends who understand this process. The consulate opened the doors between 7:45 and 8 (we didn't have a watch). We had arranged everything in a binder. No belts, no phones, no bags. We took our binder, a book, his x-ray, and his wallet. We were called through the door, and into security where they gave us the letter "A" and took us through the metal detector. We were told to go down the stairs and wait, so we did.

Shortly after that, the first five in line (including Bern and johnD) were waiting in the waiting room. In reading the letter they gave us, we realized we hadn't written my fiance's name on the back of his pictures. So we added that, and the guard asked all of us to get on the elevator.

The door opened and he told us to sit under the sign that said "US Citizen Services." Seemed like the wrong sign, but hey we weren't questioning anything. We were called back first to window 11. She asked us for his passport and a copy of the first page, his long form birth certificate and a copy, his original police record, his medical, my affidavit of support with a copy of the evidence, and my new letter of intent. They showed us the 156 form we submitted with packet 3 and asked us if any information had changed. We told her his employment status and his last visit. She made notes on the side of the form reflecting the changes, and handed us a payment form. She told us to go to window 14 and pay the $131 fee.

The cashier was the most nerve wracking part. We tried to eliminate taking anything extra to the consulate, which meant we took the cash we needed. When we got to the window one of the watermarks on a US $5 bill wouldn't show up on the scanner. The woman behind the counter looked through a shot glass at it, held it up the light, put it under the scanner. This went on for what felt like an eternity, and finally she said it's ok and printed our receipt.

We went back to the waiting area and were called back to the window for fingerprints. Once his fingerprints were scanned, we went back to sit down until they called us to an interview room.

We were called to room 7 about 5 minutes later. The gentleman asking us questions was very nice. He asked us how we met, how long we had known each other, when we were getting married, if it was the first marriage, if we had any children together or from previous relationships, and some background questions about how we met. I think the latter questions were pure curiosity because he was by then already printing our "K1 what to know" sheet.

He told us that he was happy to say welcome to the USA and gave us the original birth certificate back. We had the wrong Xpresspost envelope, so know that you need a 12X15, prepaid envelope. I didn't know the size when I went to the post office in Fort Erie, and they insisted that all they had was a much smaller envelope. The consular officer told us there was a pharmacy with a Canada Post at the end of the block, and gave us a ticket to allow re-entry. We thanked him, stopped and talked for a moment with our new friends, and had to figure out how to get out of there (the elevator is the obvious answer, but the arrows don't point for leaving that way). We ran to the pharmacy and picked up the right envelope.

The consulate let us back in immediately, and in less than 5 minutes they had our envelope. We walked back and stopped for breakfast at Tim Hortons.

Our advice -

1) have the right size Xpresspost envelope (12X15 minimum, prepaid)

2) write your name on your pictures before you get there (even though they didn't take our pictures)

3) Have everything organized in a binder/folder that you know right where it is, so when they ask you, it's easy to find.

4) MOST IMPORTANT, be there at 7... being early in the line was key. We left the hotel at 6:30, were approved, had breakfast, went to the bank, and we back at the hotel by 9:45.

Thanks for the support all - this forum has been key background research for us. For those of you next week, best of luck!

[Kimbear 53]

Congratulations!

[toronto nonie 0]

Congratulations!!!

[AandB 3]

Congrats and thanks for the review!!

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Congrats!!!

[lilacvioletiris 11]

Congratulations!

[antda 13]

Hi jmd77,

Congrats on your approval and thanks for sharing about that here on VJ!

Good luck with the rest of your journey and with your upcoming POE!

Welcome to America!

Ant

Here is our review of our K-1 Interview. Our interview was this morning, and we're chilling for a bit so I thought I'd post before we forget anything (you know block it out and move to the next step... lol).

Anyway, we booked a hotel on hotwire.com, and ended up at the Maritime. It's decent, and we certainly can't complain for what we paid for it. It's a 13 block walk down Boulvard Rene-Levesque. We left the hotel at 6:30 and walked. My only complaint was how cold and windy it was, but otherwise it was a nice walk.

We arrived at the consulate about 6:50-6:55. We were first in line, and it was only a few minutes before Bern and JohnD were behind us. If there is one piece of advice we took for granted, it was how important it is to be there early. Being one of the first five in line made this process so much less stressful.

We chatted amongst ourselves and made some new friends who understand this process. The consulate opened the doors between 7:45 and 8 (we didn't have a watch). We had arranged everything in a binder. No belts, no phones, no bags. We took our binder, a book, his x-ray, and his wallet. We were called through the door, and into security where they gave us the letter "A" and took us through the metal detector. We were told to go down the stairs and wait, so we did.

Shortly after that, the first five in line (including Bern and johnD) were waiting in the waiting room. In reading the letter they gave us, we realized we hadn't written my fiance's name on the back of his pictures. So we added that, and the guard asked all of us to get on the elevator.

The door opened and he told us to sit under the sign that said "US Citizen Services." Seemed like the wrong sign, but hey we weren't questioning anything. We were called back first to window 11. She asked us for his passport and a copy of the first page, his long form birth certificate and a copy, his original police record, his medical, my affidavit of support with a copy of the evidence, and my new letter of intent. They showed us the 156 form we submitted with packet 3 and asked us if any information had changed. We told her his employment status and his last visit. She made notes on the side of the form reflecting the changes, and handed us a payment form. She told us to go to window 14 and pay the $131 fee.

The cashier was the most nerve wracking part. We tried to eliminate taking anything extra to the consulate, which meant we took the cash we needed. When we got to the window one of the watermarks on a US $5 bill wouldn't show up on the scanner. The woman behind the counter looked through a shot glass at it, held it up the light, put it under the scanner. This went on for what felt like an eternity, and finally she said it's ok and printed our receipt.

We went back to the waiting area and were called back to the window for fingerprints. Once his fingerprints were scanned, we went back to sit down until they called us to an interview room.

We were called to room 7 about 5 minutes later. The gentleman asking us questions was very nice. He asked us how we met, how long we had known each other, when we were getting married, if it was the first marriage, if we had any children together or from previous relationships, and some background questions about how we met. I think the latter questions were pure curiosity because he was by then already printing our "K1 what to know" sheet.

He told us that he was happy to say welcome to the USA and gave us the original birth certificate back. We had the wrong Xpresspost envelope, so know that you need a 12X15, prepaid envelope. I didn't know the size when I went to the post office in Fort Erie, and they insisted that all they had was a much smaller envelope. The consular officer told us there was a pharmacy with a Canada Post at the end of the block, and gave us a ticket to allow re-entry. We thanked him, stopped and talked for a moment with our new friends, and had to figure out how to get out of there (the elevator is the obvious answer, but the arrows don't point for leaving that way). We ran to the pharmacy and picked up the right envelope.

The consulate let us back in immediately, and in less than 5 minutes they had our envelope. We walked back and stopped for breakfast at Tim Hortons.

Our advice -

1) have the right size Xpresspost envelope (12X15 minimum, prepaid)

2) write your name on your pictures before you get there (even though they didn't take our pictures)

3) Have everything organized in a binder/folder that you know right where it is, so when they ask you, it's easy to find.

4) MOST IMPORTANT, be there at 7... being early in the line was key. We left the hotel at 6:30, were approved, had breakfast, went to the bank, and we back at the hotel by 9:45.

Thanks for the support all - this forum has been key background research for us. For those of you next week, best of luck!

[leonsgal70 3]

[quote name=jmd77' date='26 March 2010 - 10:44 AM' timestamp='1269614653' post='3826023

Our advice -

1) have the right size Xpresspost envelope (12X15 minimum, prepaid)

2) write your name on your pictures before you get there (even though they didn't take our pictures)

3) Have everything organized in a binder/folder that you know right where it is, so when they ask you, it's easy to find.

4) MOST IMPORTANT, be there at 7... being early in the line was key. We left the hotel at 6:30, were approved, had breakfast, went to the bank, and we back at the hotel by 9:45.

Congrats jmd77!!!! Thank you for sharing and for giving the advice! I am taking notes for our big day! And shame on you for trying to use a counterfeit $5 bill! lol

Best Wishes!

[OBX 51]

Great review! Congratulations and all the best on the rest of your journey.

[Bern. 3]

Even though I said congrats in person, CONGRATS AGAIN. <3

And happy wedding.

[Sam and Ben 2]

Congrats on such a smooth interview!

It's funny you mention that about the elevator. My then-fiance and I were stumped as to how to leave as well, as we were the first ones done. We finally asked a maintenance guy if it was alright to use the elevator to leave, and he jokingly said, "unless you'd feel more comfortable with jumping through the window," and laughed...

Good luck with your POE and upcoming wedding!