K1 Approval

[Kas&Isaac 2]

Good Morning VJ:

Had my visa Interview yesterday morning and was approved. I wanted to thank this site for providing the guidance to me and my Fiance during this process. It is true when it is said that you can never be too prepared.

My interview was in Vancouver. I had been waiting for an interview date to become available and saw one day that an interview date opened up and was available in 8 days. I quickly booked my hotel and flights and advised work that I needed to attend the interview and booked my time off. I arrived in Vancouver late last Thursday night. My hotel reservation was at the Days Inn Vancouver downtown because it is just down the street from where the consulate is located. When you arrive at the airport, you can take a SkyTrain (Canada Line) straight to the nearest station to your hotel. The closest station to my hotel was either the Waterfront or Burrard. Canada Line goes straight to Waterfront so I headed there. It was midnight by the time I arrived at the station, with all my luggage and bags in hand and I had no idea where I was in relation to my hotel. I ended up coming out of the station right onto the same street my hotel was on so I walked the few blocks to the hotel and checked in. My medical exam with Dr. Cheema was for 9:15 a.m. the next morning, so I woke up early and headed to the Burrard station to take a train to Surrey. If you are taking transit in Vancouver, it is very easy to get around the city once you learn the routes. And where the SkyTrain can't take you, a city bus can. There are 2 other trains from the Canada Line that can take you around the area. Expo Line is the train that takes you into Surrey, while the other, Millenium Line, takes you through Vancouver and into Burnaby (goes in a loop). I got off at the Scott Station in Surrey because I knew that there would be a bus outside that station that I can take straight to the medical office (Bus #319). The medical office is located on Scott Rd (also known as 120th St). The 319 bus takes you as far as the Strawberry Hills shopping center, where the Scott Exchange is. I got off there and walked the block down to the medical office. I was quite early for my appointment so I checked in, filled out the necessary forms and then was told to come back in an hour. I went down another 2 blocks to the McDonald's and had some breakfast and returned for my medical.

Dr. Cheema is a very nice, soft spoken man. He came in to the examination room and introduced himself. He noted that I was from Saskatoon and said that his wife was from Saskatchewan and that he had trained at the University Hospital there. We spoke about Saskatoon and what I did some more and then he asked the usual medical questions and did a brief examination of my lower abdomen, my ears and mouth. It probably took no longer than 15 minutes and then I was told to go to the reception to get further instructions. I was told that I needed to go to the medical offices that would perform my x-ray and my blookwork. Those offices are located in the same building (the x-ray is the first floor and the bloodwork is located on the 2nd floor) on 84th Avenue. I took the 319 bus back towards the Scott Station and got off at 84th Ave. The x-ray and bloodwork are simple and quick. Then I caught the next 319 bus back to the Scott Station and took the Expo Line back to the Burrard Station and returned to my hotel. I ended up going to Vancouver alone, which can make a trip like this a little lonely. Fortunately I have a cousin who lives there and I ended up meeting up with her to explore the city in the downtime between my medical and Interview. I picked up my medical report on Monday and then went to the Consulate at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

There was a small line of people waiting outside the Consulate. There, security asks you what your visit is for, then tells you to wait in a line and once you are called up, they do a search on your belongings. I had left my purse and phone and everything back at the hotel, so all they had to do was search through my very large and heavy binder. After their throughough search, they instruct you to go up the stairs where you wait until it is your turn to go through the second security checkpoint. After you pass this checkpoint, you are redirected to an elevator and you come out on the 20th floor and are led into a small room where the interviews are held. I had brought a 3 inch binder to my interview that contained pictures, chat logs, copies of hotel receipts and receipts from vacations we had taken together in case the interviewer wanted to see them. All I had to turn over was the Police Certificate, Medical Report, Letters of Intent, Affidavit of Support (I-134), my passport and a copy of my birth certificate.

The interviewer was a pleasant young man. When my number was called he looked at my file quickly, noticed it was a K1 file and politely asked me to take a seat while he reviewed my file. Then he called me back up and asked me simple questions such as, Where do you live? What do you do for a living? How often do you visit each other? Has he met your family? Have you met his family? How and when did he propose? All the while typing things into his computer. Once he finished he looked up at me and smiled and said "Your visa has been approved. Congratulations." I was then instructed to return to another window to receive further instructions on my visa. The woman at that window also Congratulated me on my visa approval and gave me further instructions on the visa expiration date, and the deadline to marry once I have crossed the border. She further instructed me on how the visa would be sent back to me and explained to not open the sealed envelope when I received it.

I left the consulate, picked up my luggage from the hotel and walked to the Waterfront station to take the Canada Line back to the airport to return home.

All in all the process was quite painless, the interview was smooth and I had some fun doing some sightseeing and shopping while in Vancouver.

Next steps are selling my car and getting ready to move down to be with my Fiance.

[Marco&Bettina 502]

Congrats!

[Zedayn 485]

Congrats!

[Maria4Garrett 5]

Congratulations !

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to K1 Progress Forum~