XP: Vancouver Interview Experience

[bctoboston11 0]

Ok all - I've finally had some time to decompress, so I'll throw in my two cents on the Vancouver Consulate.

First off - the whole thing can get a bit confusing - you walk up to the building on West Pender and there's a bunch of lines, most of them are by appointment time. So, Dave and I have an appointment at 10 am so we just get in that line. After 5 minutes, Dave heads up to the front of the line to ask if he has time to run and grab coffee, the security guy asked what visa he was there for, he tells him a K-1, and the guy says, "Oh well, you should be walking right in here"

So, tip #1 - find the sign that reads "ACS" if you're applying for a K-Visa there, and you get to go right through security, instead of waiting in the long appointment lines.

Next is security itself... when they said no cell phones, I just thought that meant turn them off (I know, should have read more closely)

So tip #2 - don't bring your cell phone, they won't let you in with one, BUT if you forget like Dave did, you can run the cell phone across the street to "Godfather's Cafe" and they'll hold it there for $5. Also, pack light, they make you take EVERYTHING out of your pockets several times. You'll also go through security downstairs AND upstairs. Oh and go to the bathroom before you get in there, it's on the 2nd floor and you have to go all the way back through security in order to get back upstairs!

Once you actually get upstairs (20th floor), go to the waiting room on your left, that's where all the K-visas are taken care of.

First - they'll call you up to a window to make sure all your paperwork is in order... you'll sit down, wait some more, then they'll call the non-USC up for fingerprints... only then will you finally be called up for your interview.

Now in our case we waited 3.5 HOURS... Yes, 3.5 hours for all of this. They told us the computers were down so they couldn't enter anything into the system... needless to say Dave finally got called up to the window.

They asked him:

How we met, where we met?

How many times have we gone back and forth?

Why is he moving to Boston?

What do I do for work there?

That was pretty much it... they told us it was an open and shut case so it was really quick and we were approved.

The visa was ready by 2:30 pm, so we had lunch and went back and picked it up, all fairly simple. The majority of K-Visas you can get the same day in Vancouver, very convenient.

All in all fairly painless... if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask away. :-)

[iceyspots 0]

[Waiting in Vancouver 6]

CONGRATS !! Glad to see you had zero problems at the interview !!

[Cristy 4]

Great tips!! Thanks. Congrats again on your approval!