Vancouver Experience

[Eli 0]

Our Medical/Interview day...

...Started at 5:30am. My medical was at Woking Medical Services in Vancouver of course, and mercifully was only a block from our hotel (Century-Plaza) on Burrard St. It was pouring rain, foggy, and pitch-black in the morning, and generally miserable. We didn't actually get to the place until 6:30am, and everyone was already in the waiting room filling their forms. I wasn't too worried because I phoned ahead the week before and asked if there would be any problems getting to my interview on time, and I was assured that if I reminded them of this they would make sure I got out in time. There was a line of people handing back in their completed paperwork who were being given a number. I got the papers after waiting in line, filled them out quickly, and returned them to be 9th in line. Overall it took about 2 hours to get finished, but it wasn't too boring or slow because things were done in intervals - first blood was taken, then back to the waiting room, then x-ray, then wait, then the examination. Geoffrey came with me and we passed the time reading and talking. When I finished the receptionist wished me good luck at the interview.

We then had to walk the few blocks to the consulate. The rain had just stopped and we headed out - in the wrong direction. We walked south (thinking we were walking north!) for about 20 minutes before we flagged a taxi to drive us. We still made it to the consulate just before 10am (Geoffrey tried to join the line for 10:00 but thanks to you guys I knew better!). I hadn't let the consulate know he was coming with me because he hadn't been cleared for time off until the week before, but it wasn't an issue. Security directed us to the elevator to the 20th floor (which took forever to arrive, by the way) and then (after more security of course) we were escorted to the little waiting room for K-1s. There were two other women and another couple already waiting. The non-immigrant section right outside the door was so full that they constantly had to rotate people arriving into and out of the K1 area, but we were the last K-1s to arrive. The lady that took our papers seems frazzled, but when I told her I'd had my medical today she just nodded and said that I needed to bring the results back later (I had emailed the consulate this so she might have known, and/or it is 'common' practice). She only wanted the forms on the checklist and wouldn't take any of our additional evidence. I figured the consular officer would ask for them, as Geoffrey didn't have any previous tax returns to confirm his earnings that he reported on the Affidavit of Support. Finally, the 6 of us waiting in the K1 room were shuffled out to the Non-Immigrant waiting area to have our prints taken and to wait for our interviews. Geoffrey and I were getting really anxious at this point, as the couple ahead of us were getting questioned pretty intensely on their religious backgrounds and such (they looked Mennonite or Amish or something similar). We were then called back into the K1 waiting room to be interviewed by a different officer, and being back in the quiet and empty room was rather relieving. We were asked how we met, and Geoff was asked what he does for a living and what he studies in college. He asked Geoff if he was financially independant from his parents and if he had his own apartment. He then asked me if I knew how much Geoff earned on a monthly basis or what his wage was (I wrote up the whole affidavit of support for Geoff and even wrote a letter summarizing our various pieces of evidence supporting his income since we didn't have tax returns, so I think I was better suited to answer those two questions than Geoff would have been!). He then flipped through the rest of the pages, and said that everything looked good. He asked how much Geoff's rent was as a sort of afterthought, and then told me to come back later in the day as soon as I had gotten my medical results. He didn't outright say that we had been approved, but that was the implication as we left. We were totally flabbergasted because he didn't have any evidence whatsoever to prove the amount of income we'd put on the affidavit of support, just the letter from Geoffrey's work stating the nature of his employment and his wage. I assume he accepted it because it would be breaking laws to put something false, and because his income will be reviewed at AOS. Either way, we were stunned at how easy it was, and how much paper we had wasted on all the supporting evidence we had brought.

We got out of the consulate around 12:30, and my medical results were to be ready to be picked up at 2pm that day. We ate lunch on Pender St. and then walked back from the consulate as it was only a few blocks away, and overall it wasn't too bad outside anymore. The receptionist asked how the interview went and congratulated me. When we returned to the consulate, the security guards told Geoff to wait outside while I went to give my results. The K1 waiting room, where I'd been told to return to at the interview, was empty and no one was inside the wickets. I waited about 20 minutes someone came by - it was the lady who had taken the papers first thing in the morning. She was nearly tripping over herself apologizing, saying that she had been waiting for me and that she was supposed to have been called when I got there. She was incredibly friendly then. I waited about half an hour after she took my medical results and disappeared, presumably while someone was reviewing it and printing out my visa. She came back with my visa and explained entering the USA and how to file for AOS. After that I was done, and Geoffrey and I returned to the hotel exhausted, and had a good, long nap.

We had a flight scheduled for 6:30am the next morning. We figured we should get to the airport by 4am to give us enough time to get through immigration and security, which meant getting up at 3am (yay ). Little did we know that the actual terminal inside doesn't open until 5am, and US Customs and Immigration at 5:30am. Anyhow, we checked in electronically since we didn't have any bags to check, and waited outside the closed entrance to the terminal. Thank goodness we did, because during the hour we waited, the check-in desks began to open, and a HUGE line of people started up behind us. Once into the terminal at 5am we were again first in line for US Customs and Immigration, and first into Secondary at 5:30. The person who activated my visa must not have had a good sleep or his coffee because he was very smart-alecky to me (he accused me of already moving to the US since I had come to visit for a couple of months previous to getting the visa and was generally rude). Geoff wasn't allowed in with me but he was told to stay in the waiting room in Secondary while I was having my visa activated. Apparently one of the Border Officials in the Waiting Room was not in a good mood either, because when I got to leave Geoff was getting very aggravated at how rudely the US Official was treating the people waiting. At any rate, it took nearly a half hour for the US Border Official to activate my visa while I stood at the booth. When he finished, he quite flatly told me that I had 90 days to marry, and dismissively slid my passport to me (thanks for making me feel welcome buddy ) Our plane began boarding at 6am, which was when we got out of Secondary, and thankfully the lines in security were short. Two of our three bags were pulled off the conveyor to be hand inspected, and I was nearly beside myself with impatience (ironically, the only bag not inspected was the one carrying a new pair of surprisingly sharp tweezers and a new set of nail clippers). We made it to the gate just as they were starting to board, THANK GOODNESS. Tired and annoyed, but happy to be through, we slept our way into the USA.

Which more or less (lengthily) concludes my K1 Vancouver experience. From my experience, doing the medical on the same day as the interview is completely fine as long as you can handle the early morning, and flying out of Vancouver first thing in the morning is a VERY BAD IDEA. There were only three officers interviewing the travellers pulled into Secondary, and they were doing it at a leisurely pace. If I had been even fifth in line instead of first, Geoffrey and I would have definitely missed our flight. Other than that, everything was easier than we expected. The experience at the consulate was good, and people were generally quite nice. It was very busy, and all the people working there, although curt, were still friendly and would smile from time to time. Most of our anxiety was related to Geoff's financial situation, but this did not come up. For everyone who has no worries in regards to finances or criminal history, the interview is going to be an absolute breeze and you have nothing to worry about at all in Vancouver.

-Eli-

[misa 2]

Thanks for writing up that review and again, congratulations!

[Jersey Girl 2]

Wow. After all you've been through, I'd have thought the harrowing experiences were in the past. Thank you for giving others a heads up so they know there's still another leg to the journey, where an arbitrary decision could make you miss your flight or worse. I'm very glad you persevered and made it safely through!

[Eli 0]

Heh heh, thanks. And I didn't realize this was so long when I wrote it

[Ecalos 0]

Thanks for writing that up!

I'm somewhat surprised to hear about all the questioning in regards to finances. Has me a little worried, because Rob is in school currently and isn't even working. We have 2 Co-Sponsors (his two parents) so I'm hoping everything will be ok

So sorry to hear about your PoE experience I wonder if it would have gotten better as the day progressed? Maybe they're just not morning people

[A-PhiJill 0]

Glad you got thru but sorry for the hell. DH's was easy because I knew most of the guards at the Blaine, WA posts. They used to come in where I worked