Interview Experience in Rio de Janeiro

[BruceH 0]

Hi All! Marlene and I returned together from Brazil last Friday and we have both been very busy settling in together. This is the first time I have had to spend some time to tell about our interview experience on the 23rd of February at the Rio Consulate.

We arrived at the Consulate quite early - 7AM for our 8AM appointment. We got there early since we were quite excited and couldn't sleep anyway. Also since there were 17 other people scheduled for K-1 interviews that day we thought we should get there early.

Frankly it really doesn't make much difference as long as you are there at 8 AM. By the way, everyone else is scheduled at 8AM too!

Shortly after 8AM the group of people waiting for K-1's were allowed in the building and we were ushered up to a room on the second floor. Once everyone was in the room, a lady handed out a sheet which listed the documents needed and the order in which they were to be presented. This list has been listed in posts by several other posters and is exactly the same as their posts.

Since we had the list of documents from other posts, we were able to quickly get our papers in order and we were second out of the 18 other interviewees to get in line to submit them. (There was one lady who beat us to the first position!!! - Must have read VJ too!!!) It took about an hour for all the people in the room to submit their documents and occasionally a person was asked to come forward to fill out different sections or provide clarification - we did note several people leaving and coming back - we guessed they had forgotten a copy or perhaps a document)

Finally, everyone had submitted their documents. We were not sure the order in which people would be called for their interviews and given the large number of people there that day, we were all set to spend a VERY long time waiting! However, much to our relief the order of interviews was based on the order in which you submitted your paperwork that morning. A GOOD REASON TO HAVE THE DOCUMENTS IN ORDER - SO READ THE LIST OTHERS HAVE PROVIDED!

Anyhow, we were second and both Marlene and I both went to the window for the interview. Even though I knew I might not be able to participate, I just went up to the window with her and sat down. Apparently it is acceptable and normal for the fiance to participate in the interview if they are there. No problem at all.

The first question the CO had was whether Marlene spoke English and whether I spoke Portuguese. Marlene responded that she spoke English a little but would prefer the interview be conducted in Portuguese. She also said I spoke little or no Portuguese. This was no problem for the CO, he just said "OK, I will do it in both" He then administered an oath to Marlene in Portuguese and one in English to me in which we both swore we would tell the truth.

Once the oath was administered he then asked Marlene to tell the "story" of our relationship from the beginning. Marlene then told him at length of our relationship from our first contact, through its development by e-mail, then webcam and then very frequent phone calls. She went through each of the three visits I had made to see her including meeting her parents, her brothers, sisters including asking her father and oldest brother for permission to marry. She was very nervous, but handled herself exceptionally well with confidence and poise, giving quite a bit of detail, but in a very polished fashion.

During the course of her telling the story, the CO was listening as well as going through all the paperwork in front of him. As he would reach various papers requiring her signature, he would pass them through the window for her to sign as she continued her story without interupting her. At one point her turned to me and asked if I had a 16 year old daughter. Marlene had said 26, but he misheard her and asked me. I said my oldest daughter was 26 and he then confirmed it with Marlene. She said, "I didn't say 16, I said 26." No problem although he did ask me if I had any dependents other than Marlene who I was financially responsible. I answered: "No."

He spent a fair amount of time looking at my tax returns - they are lengthy and complicated. He then asked: "You have your own business?" I answered I used to have, but now was a regular fulltime employee. Since I only had been an employee for a couple of weeks, I thought there would be more questions on the subject, but there were not.

He then had her sign a few more documents and asked how she wanted to receive her visa - either by courier or by picking it up at the consulate in 48 hours. We opted to pick it up of course since we had a flight to the US already booked.

He asked for no additional proof of anything e.g. income, relationship, etc. He asked for nothing else. It was very comforting though knowing that had he requested something more, we could have provided it. No matter what he might have wanted.

One thing is ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THOUGH - YOU MUST HAVE THE DOCUMENTS REQUESTED AND THEY MUST BE FULLY AND CORRECTLY COMPLETED. If you do that, I think you are home free. It is also important to have thought through ahead of time, the narration of your "relationship and visits"

The Consular Officer was neither friendly or unfriendly, the best way to describe him was as completely professional. He seems to know exacly what he was doing and if you had what was expected you would be approved. I am sure he would have just as professionally denied us if we did not have everything he wanted.

OK, Folks, that is our story! It worked out well for us and now we are together, happy as clams and planning our wedding.

Good luck to all of you who are still waiting. If there is any way we can assist any of you, please do not hesitate to ask!

Bruce and Marlene

[Oly 0]

Congratulations and thanks so much for the details about your interview. Thats always helpful

OLY AND DIDIER

[LiszyandKenny 5]

YAY !!! Thanks, Bruce Seems it was really easy for Marlene

Good everything went smooth and now you are together ready for the new life

Thanks for the info !!

[road2kros 0]

That's great, Congratulations.

[Carol&Marc 0]

Glad we helped you buddie!!! You knew what was coming...

Congrats for both!!!

Carol & Marc

[BruceH 0]

Yep, thanks Carol! Largely because of what you had posted, Marlene was able to think ahead of time about the "story" of our relationship. I think that was very helpful for us in our process. I had told her to be prepared for the question.

Thanks again! Hope you guys are doing well and happy. We sure are!!!

(PS - It is so wonderful knowing she is in bed sleeping only a few feet from me as I write this. Sure as heck beats having her 4,000 miles away!!!!!)

Bruce

[Jasman0717 9]

Congratulations

[Luiz&Isabela 0]

Congratulations once again, Marlene's interview were same as Isabelas.

Luiz

[C_S 0]

Congratulations!!! Thanks for all the info you provided.

I've a question. Do you need 2 copies of the 3 federal income taxes? And should these copies be certified or just normal copies?

Simonne

[Carol&Marc 0]

Congratulations!!! Thanks for all the info you provided.

I've a question. Do you need 2 copies of the 3 federal income taxes? And should these copies be certified or just normal copies?

Simonne

Hi Simonne!

You just need 1 simple copy from your originals documents... The only document you need to notarize is the I-134.

Good luck!

Carol

[C_S 0]

Thanks Carol!!

[BruceH 0]

Simonne, Carol is right. All you need are one copy of each tax return. I used the client copies which were given to me by my accountant. Since they were client copies, I had not even signed them. They were NOT notarized. When we submitted them to the consulate, we included an additional copy of each, but they handed the copies back to Marlene saying they did not need a copy.

Bruce

[C_S 0]

Thanks Bruce!!

[john_and_marlene 162]

yay!