Colombia Club

[TonyS 0]

Hey Jay I am happy for you! Very good description of the interview...brought back memories . My 2 cents is to dress business casual and if your fiancee is a Costenas, then bring a light jacket LOL. Be prepared to wait a long time...we got there early but was one of the last to get interviewed. 20-25 pictures together at different times and places is excellent. If you can go to the interview, then do it! I had a great time and I will remember it for the rest of my life. Well I'm off to the airport..c'yaaaaaaa!

[buck501 0]

Jay, very nice report. It really helps to have as much knowedge as possible to erase any fear's. Thanks for the tips. One of or the best report I have read here on the interview process. We are still waiting for our NOA2 but I have been sweating the interview. LOL. I expect us to be scutinized more as I am way older.

We will be going through Houston POE also. Good info on that too!!

How did you handle her airplane ticket? I can get her a round trip from the US for less then a one way or round trip from Colombia. Also I want her to be on the same flight as me and sit in the seat next to me on the way to the US. Seems the best way to go is to get her the same round trip ticket from the US as me. She will just not travel on the first leg.

[lucho562 0]

Buck,

I'm in the same shoes as you. I cant seem to find a one way ticket cheaper than a round trip!!! What gives?!?!? That sucks. Any tips on how to acquire cheap 1 way tickets??

[Mike and Adriana 0]

It is good that you are expecting to be scrutinized because in all likelihood you will. Be sure to bring plenty of proof of relationship and be sure that your fiancee is well versed. Age difference, from what I am told, is one of the primary "red flags."

I think you are pretty much screwed on the airline ticket. The airlines have got you. You'll pay either way. Here's what I see as the problem with your approach. If you get her a round trip ticket that originates in the U.S......and she does not show for the initial leg (which, of course, she won't...because she is in Colombia)...the airline typically cancels the rest of the ticket. So, to be sure you don't have a problem, you should book the ticket originating from Colombia. If you book her ticket and your ticket at the same time, there should be no problem getting seats next to each other on the flight back from Colombia.

Good luck.

Mike

I expect us to be scutinized more as I am way older.

We will be going through Houston POE also. Good info on that too!!

How did you handle her airplane ticket? I can get her a round trip from the US for less then a one way or round trip from Colombia. Also I want her to be on the same flight as me and sit in the seat next to me on the way to the US. Seems the best way to go is to get her the same round trip ticket from the US as me. She will just not travel on the first leg.

[HAL 9000 96]

Jay, very nice report. It really helps to have as much knowedge as possible to erase any fear's. Thanks for the tips. One of or the best report I have read here on the interview process. We are still waiting for our NOA2 but I have been sweating the interview. LOL. I expect us to be scutinized more as I am way older.

We will be going through Houston POE also. Good info on that too!!

How did you handle her airplane ticket? I can get her a round trip from the US for less then a one way or round trip from Colombia. Also I want her to be on the same flight as me and sit in the seat next to me on the way to the US. Seems the best way to go is to get her the same round trip ticket from the US as me. She will just not travel on the first leg.

How do you propose ticketing from the point of origin if the flyer won't be there to claim the flight? Won't that endanger the entire itinerary?

In my case I'll be using miles for her trip so it won't matter if its OW or RT. Actually I'll pay less in taxes for a OW.

[HAL 9000 96]

Oh I smell a get together in Bogotá.

I asked my beautiful bride, and she would enjoy meeting you guys and your novias, tambien!

Time permitting, the idea sounds great. PM me when you get the chance and hopefully all of us can meet somewhere in Zona T. Good pizza and salads at 1969.

[buck501 0]

I guess I need to bone up on the airline ticket thing. I just assumed that if you bought a round trip ticket and paid for it the seat would be available untill after failure to check in. Seems to not be the case. I have a lot of air miles built up so I can use those. I just did not want to wait and buy a ticket the day before we are due back in the US. The price goes way up for that.

We have gobs of evidence of a "real" realtionship except from when we first met. Neither of us had any idea that we would wind up getting engaged at that time, nor did I have any idea what would be expected for the K1 visa. After getting engaged and educated on the process, (thru this site) we have kept everything as well as having lot's of pics.

It sounds like if you your stuff in good order that approval is very likley. Thanks for the info and comments.

[Mononoke28 135]

I'm so jealous you guys. You're already talking about interviews and buying plane tickets when my case is just sitting at the NVC for it to generate all kinds of stuff. Patience!!!!! gotta have patice.

Luchito, I'm going for the CR-1 visa so mine is doing the turtle walk while yours is getting approved at the embassy.

Thanks for the tip about the vacs. I'll let my husband know about it. I tell ya' those suckers are expensive!!

Wishing you all the best!!!

Diana

[Mike and Adriana 0]

Cheer up....as your husband is getting the superior visa. You won't have to go through adjustment of status when you get here (including the paperwork, the fingerprinting, and the interview). Trust me, it's going to make many things easier (for example, your husband being able to travel with you to other countries without having to get a travel visa for him). In our situation, I am glad we did the K-3. But to anyone who feels they can wait the extra months, I'd recommend IR-1/CR-1.

Mike

I'm so jealous you guys. You're already talking about interviews and buying plane tickets when my case is just sitting at the NVC for it to generate all kinds of stuff. Patience!!!!! gotta have patice.

Wishing you all the best!!!

Diana

[parkpapa 0]

Buck,

I'm in the same shoes as you. I cant seem to find a one way ticket cheaper than a round trip!!! What gives?!?!? That sucks. Any tips on how to acquire cheap 1 way tickets??

Buck and Lucho...

The prices may have as much to do with where you are flying to as where you are flying from. I use expedia.com for booking flights and by far the cheapest one way flight from Bogota to Miami is through LAN (Chilean airline). They are almost a third less than anyone else.

As with you, there are times when I check and a round-trip ticket is the same or less than one way, but not always. Frankly, there doesn't seem to be much method to the madness on ticket prices.

[HAL 9000 96]

You guys may want to check Farecompare... it gives pretty decent info on current and future prices on a rolling basis... its a web browser plug in, too.

[Jay1234 2]

Glad the info was helpful.

As to the documents, we carried two manila folders. The first had all the documents, already in order, from the instruction in Packet 4. The second folder had all the additional documents (mainly proof of relationship, all the chat history documents, and additional photos than what we submitted in the 129F application). The photos themselves were in the envelope they came from at the Kodak place. We had about 15 photos, total with about two from each different place they were taken. They were loose in the envelope and on the back of each was written the date, place and a brief description of what they were pictures of (for example, May 2, Bogota, Catherine and Jason at Museo de Oro). I agree with Mike and Adriana about the most important part being that you have your documents organized). Remember, the proof of relationship is not turned in, you only have it if they ask to see it during the interview.

About the timing of when you are interviewed being dependent on where you get in line. All of this is speculation, but for us, everyone who was with us in line was interviewed within a few minutes of each other. My suspicion is that the important part is when you sign for your folder. After that (again, just my hunch) I imagine that they divide up the work among the "document review" representatives. So, for example, if there are 5 reps, the first rep probably gets number 1,6,11, and so on in order of when you signed up. The second rep gets 2,7,and 12. Once the first cohort of 5 is done, it seemed like all of us in that first group all were called for the interview in roughly that order. The variation would come if there is a longer interview before you. But we tracked our progress against four other couples, and we moved through at roughly the same time. Like I said, the only reason why I think this matters is for getting the visa the next day. I saw two couples who had to come back on the second day after the embassy stopped issuing visas on the first day after the interview. Both those couples were well behind us. Not that it matters that much, another days wait is not that bad, but I can tell you for us, psychologically having that visa in hand was a great relief. Plus Catherine then could call her family and tell them she had it. I don't think she relaxed until that point. jajaja.

As to dress, I don't mean to suggest that a suit is required or that you won't get approved without one. I think the dress has two factors that make it important. The first is the image you project to the consular officer. You won't go wrong with a suit, but business casual is fine and you won't get denied because of this. I work for the federal government, and I know that in my offices at least, appearances of the people we deal with matter. The second factor is how your dress makes you feel. To me, I thought of this like going to a job interview. I wanted to look my best, so in wearing a nice suit, I know I felt more confident. I also felt like I wanted to give us every edge we could, so I erred on the side of caution. But, Mike is correct in that the majority of folks who did wear a suit were Colombians. If your packet is messed up or missing something, your clothes won't matter. But, in my mind, projecting a good image makes the CO less likely to have questions and may make the interview go quicker. However, there were many approvals for folks wearing jeans and a collared shirt. I wouldn't freak on this one, just thought I'd add my perspective.

Catherine is from Barranquilla, too. She was cold most of the time in Bogota, so, I agree, a jacket is neccesary.

As far as flights, I booked mine round trip from Texas to Bogota. I booked Catherine's round trip Bogota to Texas even though we will not use the return trip anytime soon. I booked hers that way because one way tickets were about a third more than round trip. I booked by telephone to ensure we could get seated together. One factor to remember is that it is not unusual to have to wait more than a day after the interview to get the visa if approved. I booked our flights for three days after the interview. If you can do that, it may be a good idea. Will give you some more time to see Bogota together, too.

[lucho562 0]

Jay,

Thank you once again.

Anyone know how long will it take for us to know the date of our interview after we have sent packet 3?

[parkpapa 0]

Jay,

Thank you once again.

Anyone know how long will it take for us to know the date of our interview after we have sent packet 3?

I would give them until Monday or Tuesday and then you can call the Visa Services number. I think I listed it a page or two back from here. If they don't have a date when you call, try the next day.

[Mononoke28 135]

This may seem like an odd question but most of you who have gone through the interview process already keep saying that you were in there for about 5-6 hours. Do they have any snack/eatery type of thing in there? I tried to picture the day of our interview and if I have to get up at 4AM to get there at 6AM I'll be starving by 10AM or so.