K1 Visa approved in Albania

[Creel 0]

My fiance had his K1 interview at the embassy in Albania on November 30th. I had inquired with the embassy if I was allowed to go to the interview with them and they said it was not necessary. I could never get them to say yes or no, only that it was not necessary. I also called before I bought my ticket to confirm that the interview was indeed taking place and told them I was buying my ticket.

Imagine my surprise when we showed up for his 9 am appointment and I was told that I was not allowed to go inside! He was inside for almost 2 hours. When they finally saw him they collected the a fee of $100 even though our paperwork said it would be $380, and his packet 4 and told him to come back at 1 for the interview.

At 1 we returned and I was again denied entry. I asked the Albanian security guard to please call inside as I basically had permission to attend the interview. He refused.

My fiance inquired inside and they said it would be fine if I waited with him, but they would not call the front gate. Between 2 and 4 M-Th they allow Americans into the embassy for questions, so luckily his interview was not actually until 3 so I came in under the pretense to ask questions and then joined him while he waited.

Unlike other descriptions I have read, in Albania they interview you at a window where everyone can see and hear what is going on. This played to our advantage as we could hear all previous questions and one of the two windows was positioned to allow the interviewer to watch our interaction while we waited.

We were quite worried by the time they had called his name as most of the interviews took 20-40 minutes and only about half of the people interviewed were told they could get their fiance or spouse visa.

When are turn came we both approached the window, but I was told to sit back down. They started talking in English, but when my fiance said he did not speak English they brought over an interpreter. His interview lasted about 5 minutes. They asked how we met, and he gave them a spill about our whole relationship and then they asked to view pictures. Asked two questions about the pictures and then said to come back on Wednesday, Dec 6 for his Visa.

With any luck he will be here this weekend.

[raymaga 25]

Congrats on the successful interview.

Hope your Sweetie is home for the weekend!!!!

[*julez* 124]

Glad it all worked out for you! Now relax and enjoy basking in your togetherness!! Congatulations!!

[LunaBianca 0]

CONGRATS CREEL I AM VERY HAPPY FOR YOU. I know what you must have gone through at the interview because I felt the same thing when we were interviewed for our I-130. I can't wait until my husband recieves packet 4, I am so worried that they might find something wrong or everything will not be all right. By the way since your fiance went to the interview you did get the police records from Greece right?

[U.S. Wendy 0]

Congratulations!!!! All your hard work and persistence finally paid off!!! I'm happy for you.

About not getting a straight answer from a Government official, sounds familiar. I work for the gov't and no one wants to make a statement that might paint them into a corner, instead they committ to very little and give vague responses to avoid any backlash.

So the Visa processing fee was less than expected? I wonder why?

What were some of the reasons why other couples had their visas denied that day?

[Creel 0]

I actually am trying to not get too excited until he has the visa in hand because when they checked his documents at 9 am they said the Greek report wasn't in his packet and would check if it was at the Embassy. When they did his interview at 3 they didn't even mention it so I don't know if it was there and ok or if they overlooked it!

With regards as to why many were turned down. My opinions as to why:

I was the only American by birth, all the other spouses/fiances were Albanian by birth and I don't know if they were US citizens or just residents.

There stories tended to be inconsistent and they answered all questions with a simple one sentence answer. My fiance talked for several minutes when he was asked a question.

Our photo's were an actual alblum I keep at my desk, so they were not just of us. They included family members, him alone, and even my pets here in the States.

They asked the other people questions like: Where did you meet? When was the next time you saw them? Was your parents at the wedding or just theirs? Did you consummate your wedding?!? She had to reask him so he could understand by saying have you had sex with your wife! They asked why the parents were not in the photo's if they were at the wedding. My fiance even heard them ask when the Father-n-laws birthday was!!

Obviously they do not know the answers to these questions and are just trying to gauge the response of the person being interviewed to see if they are telling the truth.

Again, our interview went very easy. I don't know if our packets were in better shape or if by watching us for an hour she realized it was a real relationship, so didn't feel the need to press us.