CR-1 Interview in Athens, Greece: Athens Embassy is Great!

[akatagirl 0]

My husband's appointment was at 8:30am in the morning. He had to fly into Athens since he lives very far from there. He stayed at a hotel 5 minutes walking distance from the Embassy. He got there at 8am in the morning and was not seen finished until almost 1 or 2 pm. Most of the time is spent waiting because there are so many people with appointments.

He came very prepared, equipped and well organized with the following evidence:

DS 230 part II, ready to be signed in the presence of the consular officers

I864 ez affadavit of support with 2007 taxes and w-2's ( I fed-exed this too him the week prior), also submitted current employment verification letter

2 passport photos (He had to retake the photos he brought because the embassy said they were too small)

Current Passport

Police Report originals along with Certfied Copies (Cyprus, Turkish police report with translated copy * although the translator who did this nearly ruined our interview because she wrote that her translation is not certified unless its done by the ministry of foreign affairs!- The consular officers did give him hard time about this but he explained that this woman was indeed the towns only certified translator!(--Word of Caution, be careful who choose to translate your documents! )Ghana police report and Greek Police Report which is requested through greek district you live in and sent directly to the Embassy which is called something like (e-quiraki-kristae)

Birth and Marriage Certificatte along with Certified Copies

an entire copy of the k-3 paperwork just in case they needed any infor from that

an entire copy of the 1-130 paperwork

Evidence that We Met:

Plane tickets from our first meeting

Pictures ( 2 photo albums ) He brought along the 11x14 scrapbook that I made but because of its enormous size they didnt allow it in the visa section of the embassy so my hubby had to show them the pictures through the glass window.

Plane tickets, bus and train stubs of our last meeting

Pictures from our most recent time together

Evidence of Ongoing Relationship:

Cell Phone Bills Dated from the time we started talking on the phone until now. I highlighted ever time he sent me a text or called me and also highlighted all incoming texts and calls from his family and friends

Recent printout of PINGO calling card which gives really good details of all our phone calls

70 various yahoo chats gathered from over 600 pages of yahoo chats

Envelopes, Cards and Letters, postcards that we sent each other from the time we met until now

Interview Questions:

How did we meet?

When did we marry?

What does your spouse do for a living?

Where was your spouse born?

Where does she live now?

How do you keep in touch?

When did you last see each other?

He said 2 encountered consular officers: One named Joyce, a very nice lady with whom we called several times in regards to this CR-1 interview and a man name Chad, who my husband also said is very nice. I have talked with Joyce several times and in fact, many times when I called the Athens Embassy, they have always been polite, professional, and very helpful.

All the evidence he brought was inspected carefully by the consular officers and it was then did he realize the value of having an lots of proof! After the asked those interview questions, the consular officer congratulated him and told him to come back at 4pm to pick up his visa!

My husband did say he felt so bad for this other fellow who was there for the same interview. He was also a man from West Africa and he had very little evidence with him. The consular officers told the fellow that they will call him after some time which sounds like (they are doing administrative review or putting his visa issuance on hold) He also said the poor fellow seemed awfully nervous, so for all those reading this review...when its time for your interview, you have to remain cool, confident and organized.

All in all, my husband says it was a stressful day but ended on a very positive note! He went back at 4pm to pick up his visa and they gave him that mysterious brown envelope to give be turned in at the point of entry into USA!

We are very grateful to have done the interview at the Athens, Embassy because they have made these few steps in the visa process stress free! My rating of this embassy is a 12 on a scale of 10 because they are so helpful, professional and kind. They were kind enough to issue us our interview date prior to the packet 3 sent and returned to them because we had told them that we had gathered all the police reports when were pursuing the k-3 visa. Even when called them everyday to bother them and explain to the local government what type of greek police report they needed, they were very accomodating! Our interview date from the time of case completion and case recieved in Athens was roughly 1 month The Athens Embassy in my opinion should serve a model for all other embassies that need help in terms of being more courteous, professional and speedy

[SimoFati 0]

My husband's appointment was at 8:30am in the morning. He had to fly into Athens since he lives very far from there. He stayed at a hotel 5 minutes walking distance from the Embassy. He got there at 8am in the morning and was not seen finished until almost 1 or 2 pm. Most of the time is spent waiting because there are so many people with appointments.

He came very prepared, equipped and well organized with the following evidence:

DS 230 part II, ready to be signed in the presence of the consular officers

I864 ez affadavit of support with 2007 taxes and w-2's ( I fed-exed this too him the week prior), also submitted current employment verification letter

2 passport photos (He had to retake the photos he brought because the embassy said they were too small)

Current Passport

Police Report originals along with Certfied Copies (Cyprus, Turkish police report with translated copy * although the translator who did this nearly ruined our interview because she wrote that her translation is not certified unless its done by the ministry of foreign affairs!- The consular officers did give him hard time about this but he explained that this woman was indeed the towns only certified translator!(--Word of Caution, be careful who choose to translate your documents! )Ghana police report and Greek Police Report which is requested through greek district you live in and sent directly to the Embassy which is called something like (e-quiraki-kristae)

Birth and Marriage Certificatte along with Certified Copies

an entire copy of the k-3 paperwork just in case they needed any infor from that

an entire copy of the 1-130 paperwork

Evidence that We Met:

Plane tickets from our first meeting

Pictures ( 2 photo albums ) He brought along the 11x14 scrapbook that I made but because of its enormous size they didnt allow it in the visa section of the embassy so my hubby had to show them the pictures through the glass window.

Plane tickets, bus and train stubs of our last meeting

Pictures from our most recent time together

Evidence of Ongoing Relationship:

Cell Phone Bills Dated from the time we started talking on the phone until now. I highlighted ever time he sent me a text or called me and also highlighted all incoming texts and calls from his family and friends

Recent printout of PINGO calling card which gives really good details of all our phone calls

70 various yahoo chats gathered from over 600 pages of yahoo chats

Envelopes, Cards and Letters, postcards that we sent each other from the time we met until now

Interview Questions:

How did we meet?

When did we marry?

What does your spouse do for a living?

Where was your spouse born?

Where does she live now?

How do you keep in touch?

When did you last see each other?

He said 2 encountered consular officers: One named Joyce, a very nice lady with whom we called several times in regards to this CR-1 interview and a man name Chad, who my husband also said is very nice. I have talked with Joyce several times and in fact, many times when I called the Athens Embassy, they have always been polite, professional, and very helpful.

All the evidence he brought was inspected carefully by the consular officers and it was then did he realize the value of having an lots of proof! After the asked those interview questions, the consular officer congratulated him and told him to come back at 4pm to pick up his visa!

My husband did say he felt so bad for this other fellow who was there for the same interview. He was also a man from West Africa and he had very little evidence with him. The consular officers told the fellow that they will call him after some time which sounds like (they are doing administrative review or putting his visa issuance on hold) He also said the poor fellow seemed awfully nervous, so for all those reading this review...when its time for your interview, you have to remain cool, confident and organized.

All in all, my husband says it was a stressful day but ended on a very positive note! He went back at 4pm to pick up his visa and they gave him that mysterious brown envelope to give be turned in at the point of entry into USA!

We are very grateful to have done the interview at the Athens, Embassy because they have made these few steps in the visa process stress free! My rating of this embassy is a 12 on a scale of 10 because they are so helpful, professional and kind. They were kind enough to issue us our interview date prior to the packet 3 sent and returned to them because we had told them that we had gathered all the police reports when were pursuing the k-3 visa. Even when called them everyday to bother them and explain to the local government what type of greek police report they needed, they were very accomodating! Our interview date from the time of case completion and case recieved in Athens was roughly 1 month The Athens Embassy in my opinion should serve a model for all other embassies that need help in terms of being more courteous, professional and speedy

congratulationsssssssss[/size]