theneriea

Hello, I suspect your fiance already went but if not, I got my certificate yesterday. I can confirm that the GCP form with the QR Code (no barcode) will be ok. I think they meant the QR code to be the barcode. Just make sure she brings all the applicable requirements listed on that form.

Hello, I am a CR1 applicant and I am sharing here details of my experience of my visa interview for anyone curious. Mine was on May 23rd, 2024 scheduled for 7:30 am. 6 am - arrived outside the embassy, lined up at the 7:30 am line (there were lines for 6:30, 7:30, 8:30 and so on and these were just for waiting to be allowed in, no documents asked at this point yet). Only waited 5 mins before 7:30 people were let forward to line up at the actual entrance to get in 6:30 am (-ish - didn't have a watch on me) - showed passport and DS-260 form, got sticker on back of passport and entered embassy - was told to look for "Area C" but the line managers redirected us to sit at seats outside Area C first since it was full at the moment 6:40 am (found out time from someone with a watch) - already lined up in Area C for preliminary interview (1st step). Note, there is no "Area C" on any signs, so just show your passport sticker and let the line managers direct you to the correct place. They were very helpful and answered questions and made sure noone got lost during the process. Just explain what you've already finished and been told and they will know where to direct you next. At this point I don't know how much time passed so I'm recounting it in steps according to how they divided the lines: Step 1: Preliminary interview - was asked to show the DS-260, passport, PSA Marriage Certificate, NBI Clearance 1st attempt - Before the interviewer could begin, he said my photo was not in their system (it was, but I suspect since it was older than 6 months, they wanted the more recent 2x2 photo uploaded) so they asked me to go to another counter where they could scan the 2x2 photo I brought with me. I stepped out of the line and went to the other counter and had mine scanned without issues. However, the person in front of me had a printed copy of their photo and they didn't like it. They wanted it on photo paper and so he presented another. But that didn't work for them either, as she said his hair was long in it and he currently had short hair. So she told him to go to the Kodak booth outside (it was still within the embassy but outside of the room we were in). I don't remember how much it cost as I only walked by it briefly but prepare some cash in case this may happen to you for whatever reason. 2nd attempt - I lined up again for Step 1 and got a different interviewer. He asked for the same documents mentioned above, and asked some questions. There was just a lot of dead air in between his questions where he was just reading and maybe updating my file. Some questions I remember: - What is your name? - When is your birthday? - When were you married? - Spouse's name? - Spouse's foreign address? - Your current address? - Your phone number? - Have you lived or worked abroad before? If so, when and where? - How many people does your spouse live with at his address? (I said 2 - his parents) - Are you currently employed? - Have you applied for a US visa before? He then told me to go to a specific counter number to have my fingerprints scanned Step 2: Fingerprint scanning - was asked for DS-260 - you do not get this back, as this is used to forward to the final interviewer. This seemed to take longer than it usually should, as there was only one counter and the window next to hers was rolled down so the other person may have been absent or late that day. Based on others' encounters there are usually 2 people scanning fingerprints. She scanned my fingerprints and told me to sit down and wait for my name to be called. Note - I had stood at the end of the line formed in front of the counter, however I didn't notice that there were maybe 8 people seated in that area (I was seated in that same place "Area C" before but to wait for Step 1, so I thought it was just people waiting for Step 1 and not Step 2). I only realized too late when the line manager had them stand up and line up after me that I had inadvertently cut in front of them. I didn't step out though because at that point there were closer to 20 people in line then and noone had admonished me - I imagine everyone was too nervous to even notice and the line managers had been too busy to tell me where the end of the line was.) Step 3: Final Interview People's names were called randomly but it may just have been because their system assigned a few people each to the 9 counters/interviewers and their pacing differed. The applicant next to me noticed one specific counter would process people very quickly, like 3-5 mins tops, and I happened to get her! And my seatmate was right, it was a breeze with her. I was nervous to get another interviewer because they had been using their intercom and not their localized speaker to talk to their applicants, so that meant they were blasting their questions to the entire room/building. Though we couldn't hear the applicants's answers, it was nerve-wracking hearing him question them demandingly for extra documents that they couldn't produce. Luckily a boss/leader stepped out (too late really) and finally told him to fix his speaker situation. His speakers ended up still being a little loud (we were seated over 20 feet away so this was impressive) so we could still hear some of his questions after that. The other interviewers had different volumes of speakers, some we could faintly hear from where we sat and some not at all unless they turned on their intercoms. My own interview was probably under 5 mins, see below some questions/documents she asked: - Who is your petitioner? - How did you meet? - When did you last see him? - When did you get married? - Have you lived or worked abroad? If so when and where? - What is your spouse's profession? - Please show your marriage documents from USA (on top of the PSA ones) - I suspect she wanted this since we got married online via Zoom and wanted more papers - Was your spouse married before? (Yes) - Present his divorce papers please (she also commented that the first interviewer missed out on asking for these earlier) - She asked again whether either of us were married before? (I said him yes, me no) - Is your spouse currently working? - Are you currently employed? - Do you have any criminal records? And that was it, I passed! She said to expect my passport in 1-2 weeks. I got back to our room at Bayview Hotel across the street by 8:30 am. Overall very quick! We picked up my passport with visa on May 30th (7 days later). LBC had actually sent a text message the day before (6th day) to say we could pick it up already but there was a rainstorm and I couldn't get a ride in time before LBC closed at 7 pm so we went the next morning. Went online immediately after and was able to schedule the CFO requirement for June 4th. At the time there were dozens of openings every day for the entire month of June. I don't think you need to be too concerned about getting a CFO slot these days. I am open for any questions you might have. I will post my CFO experience later on too. Hope this helped!

Thank you so much, this clears it all up for me. All my names match all that. I'm relieved that the AKA field doesn't apply based on what you've said. Have a good one!

Hi, CR1 applicant here and recently changed my name on my passport. I am in the process of obtaining my interview requirements. Since my NBI Clearance expired I obtained a new one a couple of hours ago and came across issues. According to the embassy's explicit instructions, we're to add our maiden name in the AKA field. I filled in the AKA field except with my new MARRIED name since my maiden name was what I registered with. But when I was at the NBI branch, the official rejected and removed my married name from the AKA field since I didn't have proof that it was required. He also explained that since all the names on the NBI clearance already included my married name (there was a field called HUSBAND'S SURNAME that he said should suffice), it would not be an issue. I want to try again - this time I will print out the embassy's instructions and try to be more insistent and convince them to add my married name back into the AKA field. My concern is that, the instructions say to add the MAIDEN name and not implicitly the MARRIED name. I am afraid I would still be rejected because I am trying to add my MARRIED name and not my MAIDEN name. How do I convince them with the instructions above? I already called customer service at the embassy and all they said was to follow the instructions, and if NBI doesn't let you include the AKA field, to disclose that at the interview. And I had asked, wouldn't that be risking my getting rejected because of that missing field? She said yes but to disclose that to the interviewer anyway. But I am not willing to take that risk. Now, I opted to request my NBI Clearance with my original NBI account (with the maiden name) and update the information to show that I am married. It then let me add my husband's surname. However, the Family Name field still showed my Maiden name and not my New Last Name. It did have a field showing Husband's Surname which the NBI guy said should count as one of my names (also why he didn't want to add the same names to the AKA field). That is why I wanted to add my married name in the AKA field instead of the maiden name. I have noticed online that some other applicants mentioned they opted to do the opposite, which is register on the NBI site with a new account in the married name, and then add their maiden name in the AKA field. Which sounds like it would at least pass if I presented the instructions from the embassy above. I don't know if those applicants were on an old version of the online NBI application form though, because when I tried to register my new name, it would still show my maiden name as my last name and the information (before submitting a request for an appointment) would look similar to my old account with my maiden name. If this is still an option, please let me know what step by step instructions I could try. The most recent information from a comment on Reddit around 10 days ago mentioned that when they called customer service about it, they were told to update their info on their existing account so that's what I followed. It just doesn't mention what they did with the AKA field. To summarize - I'd like to know how to convince NBI to include my married name in the AKA field; and - I'd like to know whether there are other acceptable steps to follow that will lead to the embassy accepting my NBI clearance (Is skipping the AKA field an option? Should I attempt to register a new account with my new name instead, and if so, how?) I have scoured online and am not finding consistent and recent information so would appreciate hearing from recent applicants who've had their interviews this year. Thanks in advance!