Manila Interview on Jan 19

[Tahoma 2,292]

mdog1156...Don't take your eye off of the ball. The consular officer isn't going to ask your fiancée any relationship questions she shouldn't already know the answer to.

However, she's going to have a big problem at her interview if you've explained your work history to her the same way you've explained it to us here on VJ. It simply doesn't make sense.

Your fiancée needs to have an accurate picture of your work history and income for the past couple of years, and she must understand that she needs to focus the pre-screener's and consular officer's attention on the fact that you now have a full-time job with a current sustained income which puts you above 125% of the poverty line for your household size. It is up to you and your fiancée to prove that she won't become a public charge in the U.S.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I got a cheat sheet on some of the questions they may ask or have asked in the past from my lawyer.... some of them are pretty crazy, I actually had to think back myself to figure out the correct answer.. lol

Here is what I got:

Attached Interview Questions:

If the Consulate officer wants to ask a few questions while reviewing documentation, here are some examples of what to expect:

1.) How did you meet your fiancée?

2.) When did you first meet?

3.) Did you use a marriage broker?

4.) What is the name and location of the marriage broker?

5.) Does your fiancé (e) have any criminal convictions?

6.) Where does he/she work?

7.) Where does he/she live?

8.) Has he/she been married before? If so, ho many times? Where do the ex-spouses currently reside?

9.) Does he/she have any children? If so, how many and how old? What are the children’s names?

The following two questions are also sometimes asked:

1.) Do you intend to work in the U.S. ? Answer: “I have no specific intention to work.”

2.) Do you intent to go to school in the U.S. ? Answer: “I have no specific intention to attend school.”

These answers are correct since your fiancée does not have work lined up and has not been accepted to any school. Her purpose in coming to the U.S. is to be your fiancée.

If the case goes to interrogation there is no set list of questions. The line of questioning will depend on the issues involved. Generally, if the documentation is in order, there should not be a problem. However, please find attached a short sampling of questions a Consulate officer can ask of the foreigner at a K visa interview. This sampling is simply to give you some idea about what can be asked. It is only an example of the types of questions they may ask, and is not limited to the questions provided in the attachment.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONSULAR INTERVIEWS

Arrival at the Consulate:

Your fiancée (“Beneficiary”) should appear at least one hour prior to the scheduled time, dressed in business attire. There should be two separate folders containing documentation. Your fiancée should plan to remain at the Consulate most of the day.

Documentation:

A primary folder should contain all of the documentation requested by the Consulate. Generally, this would be the Consulate checklist form OF-169. Early on this process we have you a sample form OF-169 checklist to help get a head start on document preparations. More recently, the Consulate would have provided our fiancée with its own, similar checklist.

The second folder may contain any items not specifically requested by the Consulate on its checklist, such as further evidence of your relationship and anything else your fiancée may want to bring. Evidence of your relationship includes such things as additional emails, phone bills, phone card logs, extra photos together, letters, cards, engagement ring receipt, plane tickets, boarding passes from more recent trips, and money transfer receipts. We collected some of these items from you early on. The items that we did not use as part of our filing should have been returned to you by this time. We encourage you to prepare this information in some form of a portfolio or album so it is well organized and presents well. At the interview your fiancée should have these comprehensive documents to show your relationship through to the time of the interview.

The only item on the form OF-169 checklist list involving you is the financial documentation. By this time, we should have prepared and sent to you a completed financial “I-134” package (the “financials”) for your review and signature. You must forward the financials on to your fiancée if you have not already done so since they are needed at the time of the interview. If you are mailing the financial packet to your fiancée, you should also include any further evidence of your relationship indicated above. If the financials are not yet complete please contact us immediately.

Your fiancée should be prepared to present all items in the first folder. The extra items, portfolio, or album should be offered to the Consulate officer and made available for their viewing. Consulate officers are very busy and want to get through their work quickly. Generally, if the Consulate officer has all that is required to issue the visa and your fiancée is polite, the officer will ask, “Is everything in the file true?” If the reply is, “yes,” then they will be told to wait for their visa. This is our goal.

Prior to the Consulate interview, your fiancée should make a complete copy of all documentation presented to the Consulate. Consulate officers tend to lose documentation and then can claim they never received it.

CONSULATE SAMPLE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Personal information about the U.S. Citizen:

1. What high school did the U.S. Citizen attend?

2. What college did the U.S. Citizen attend?

3. What year did the U.S. Citizen buy their car?

4. What color is their car?

5. How old is the U.S. Citizen?

6. What is the U.S. Citizen’s email address?

Prior marriages:

1. How many times has the U.S. Citizen been married?

2. What are the names of each ex-spouse?

3. Where does the ex-spouse live now?

Child Issues:

1. How many children does the U.S. Citizen have?

2. What are their names?

3. What are their ages?

4. Where do they reside?

5. Where do they go to school?

6. Have the foreigner’s children (if any) met the U.S. Citizen?

7. Have the U.S. Citizen’s children and the foreigner children (if any) talked or met before?

8. Do the children still live in the home (if any)?

9. Does the U.S. Citizen have any grandchildren? How many?

10. Do you have or plan to have children? What is your child’s first birthday? Where was your child born?

Other Family Members:

1. Are the U.S. Citizen’s parents alive?

2. Where do they reside?

3. How many brothers and sisters does the U.S. Citizen have?

Couple’s Relationship:

1. How did you first meet?

2. Where did you meet?

3. How do you communicate with each other?

4. Does the U.S. Citizen speak a foreign language? If yes, do you have proof?

5. How many times has the U.S. Citizen been to visit you and for how long?

6. What website did you meet on?

7. When is the most recent time you and the U.S. Citizen were together in person?

Employment Issues:

1. Where does the U.S. Citizen work?

2. How much per year does the U.S. Citizen earn?

3. What year did the U.S. Citizen start working?

4. How long has the U.S. Citizen been working?

5. What does the U.S. Citizen do for a living?

U.S. Residence:

1. Where does the U.S. Citizen live in the U.S.?

2. Who lives in the household?

3. Does the U.S. Citizen live in an apartment or house?

Crimes:

1. How many crimes has the U.S. Citizen been convicted of?

2. Where were the convictions?

3. What were the convictions?

4. Has the U.S. Citizen been in prison before?

5. You still want to marry this person? Why?

Sex:

1. Are you planning on having children?

2. Are you on birth control? What kind?

3. When was the most recent time you had sex?

If the foreigner feels uncomfortable answering personal questions about sexual activities, then the foreigner should

speak up and state that he or she feels very uncomfortable answering such private questions. Immigration officers

should not make applicants feel uncomfortable in this regard. If the officer presses for the information, then the

foreigner should try and answer the question as best as possible. The foreigner has the burden of proof in showing the

relationship is genuine

Questions/Concerns for your case manager

If you have ANY questions about the above information, please phone to discuss with your case manager. The only

way we will be aware of issues is if you have shared them with us in advance of the interview.

Special Note Regarding Denials:

If at all possible, try and avoid signing an interview summary affidavit prepared by an interviewing officer. Tell the

officer that you would like to take the statement to your attorney for review and comment before signing.

Interview affidavits prepared by interviewing officers often include damaging information. If you must sign over

an objection, then read the statement very carefully and handwrite any edits or changes on the document before

you sign. You should not be forced to sign your name to any statement you believe does not contain truthful

information. If you do not understand English well enough, write somewhere on the document “I do not

understand English well”.

My fiancee wasn't asked any of those questions. The IO asked what color was the truck I drive, where I work, and what I do for a living, the color of my eyes, how many brothers and sisters I have, and where they live.

[adiiann 163]

Just trying to remember the question CO asked me....

Oh... He only asked why it's almost a year since my husband (fiance then) visited me in the Philippines. I simply replied that we're saving for our church wedding here in US. Then, he returned to me the pictures we submitted in the K1-visa filing.

My interview was less than 5 mins. I waited more on paying for my passport delivery.

[Cazwik 11]

Just trying to remember the question CO asked me....

Oh... He only asked why it's almost a year since my husband (fiance then) visited me in the Philippines. I simply replied that we're saving for our church wedding here in US. Then, he returned to me the pictures we submitted in the K1-visa filing.

My interview was less than 5 mins. I waited more on paying for my passport delivery.

Her interview is in about 7 hours ... man We are shaking in our boots right now .... Paranoid that we may not have something , Man. I just hope its as easy as your guys

[Cazwik 11]

She is really nervous too because she said she had her CFO yesterday and they asked her so many questions on the divorce and took 3 of her pictures of us.... I thought CFO was just a seminar? I hope the CO asking the questions isn't as curious

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

She is really nervous too because she said she had her CFO yesterday and they asked her so many questions on the divorce and took 3 of her pictures of us.... I thought CFO was just a seminar? I hope the CO asking the questions isn't as curious

No, the CFO thing is a bureaucratic power trip. If you survived the CFO, you will probable find the embassy interview a lot easier.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

For most the CFO is worse than the USEM portion of the process.

The Filipino "prescreener" at the embassy sometimes seems to be a bit of a hassle but generally the Kano CO is a breeze once they get to that point.