Interview Review

[Vanessa1 7]

My husband got inside at 8:00am and gave his passport, pictures, and interview letter to the person at the first window. He was asked to wait until his name was called. After an hour he was called to a window and was asked for the medical exam results and given back additional documents, including our marriage contract, and copies of the documents we submitted to the NVC. Each time he went to a different window he was asked if he was ever married before and if he had family in the USA. Also, they asked him if he speaks English and he did the interview in English. Then they did the biometrics and asked him to wait. He waited about 3 hours before he was called to the window. He got the male CO who asked the following questions:

1. What do you do for a living?

2. Have you ever been to the USA?

3. Have you ever been in a relationship?

4. What does your wife do for a living?

5. Did she go to college?

6. Has she traveled to other places?

7. Why did you marry her?

My husband said the CO quickly asked the questions and hardly gave him time to answer before asking the next question. My husband said the CO seemed to already know the answers and kept looking at his computer. Then the CO asked if he had pictures of the wedding. We had prepared a small photo album with 50 pictures that he could open up and fit through the window. We chose each picture very carefully and put a very cute one that shows our personality together as the first one. We had pictures of our travels together, the henna ceremony, pictures with his family, signing the marriage contract, and the wedding celebration. The CO looked at every single photo. I also gave my husband my old passport with the stamps from my first visit (8 weeks long) as well as my new one with my married name and the stamp from this visit, along with the boarding pass with my date of return for this visit, showing I will be here for several weeks. The CO looked at these as well but did not ask to see any other evidence. We had it just in case.

Then the CO told him “Congratulations you can come back to pick up your visa on Thursday at 3pm” and was given a small green ticket with a number on it to bring back to claim his passport with the visa in it. Up to this point it was a pretty great experience with the consulate.

As a point of information, my husband said there were around 50 people interviewed that day including non-family based visas and there were no fiancé visa applicants at the time. He said out of the outcomes he could hear all but one was approved and that case was not family-based.

About 30 minutes after he emerged from the embassy he received a call stating they needed another copy of his court record. We pulled out the copies of the documents the embassy had, not to mention the letter from the NVC stating it had already been received, and he went to the window at 1:00pm and he was told to go back at 1:30. When he went back to try to explain that they already had the document, the man at the window was quite rude with him and said that if they called and said they needed it then he had to bring it and would not listen to my husband when he tried to explain and show the copy from the consulate. So, we made the journey back to his home and the next day he went to the court to get another report and have it translated.

I also emailed the embassy to see if he would be able to pick up the visa the same day or if he needed to make other arrangements as the embassy is 7 hours from his home. They still have not replied to that email. In hindsight, I should have just called but I had emailed two other times before the interview and their responses had been quick. My husband rode a train all night to be sure to get to the embassy when it opened at 8:00am and to give them the paper and *maybe* get the visa the same day. He was told to come back at 1:30pm. I was told by a friend that had they given him a paper it would have notated that was the correct time but they did not tell him over the phone so we were not happy with that. He went back at 3:00pm, gave the paper, and was told to come pick up the visa on Friday, so he stayed overnight in the area.

On Friday he returned and his visa was not ready. He was one of four or five others who were in a similar situation so the man at the window had them write down their names, went inside, and checked their status. He told my husband to return on Tuesday at 3:00pm, as Monday is a holiday and the embassy will be closed.

He will go back on Tuesday and hopefully his visa will be ready. We just are not happy with the lack of information and incorrect information because it’s not like the embassy is anywhere close and he has already had to make several trips between the medical exam, interview, and giving them the document requested and waiting for the visa to be issued.

[Vanessa1 7]

I should also note my husband does not have a record. I should have said the court report and not record. It's free and clear!

[CasandraYounes 0]

Congrats...that approval seems to be an eternity. The same happened to us with the CO, she seemed to already know what she needed to know based on what she had in her computer. They also don't give you enough time to respond. Sorry about the runaround though, hope that he is able to pick up that visa soon.

[Crossed_fingers 128]

Thank you for taking the time to write up your experiences!! It is very helpful to those of us who are earlier in the process.