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| Sweden |  Review on July 30, 2012: |
GandK
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My interview appointment was at 9.00 am July 30th. I took a SJ night train from CPH at 22.00 and arrived in Stockholm central station at 6.30 am. There was plenty of time, so I decided to walk to the Embassy. It was about 3 km walk and took me around 30 minutes. Though I stopped to sit on a bench at the harbor and enjoyed the morning sun and fresh air for a while 
Got to the Embassy at around 8.20 am, there was about 25-30 people in Non-immigrant line and only 2 people in the immigrant line. After waiting in line for 5 minutes, I was let in through a security house with airport-like security screening. I left my phone there and they gave me a ticket, so I could retrieve it later.
I got inside the consular section, a lot smaller than I had pictured. There were about 40-50 people in there, the place was pretty packed with non-immigrant visa applicants ( mostly young people). I was told by the guard to proceed directly to window G for immigrant visa where the two people in front of me were also waiting there.
Afte 20 minutes, it was my turn. The woman at window G was very friendly, she smiled a lot. I saw my entire files and document in front of her. Everything we originally submitted with the I-129F was there in a 2-inches thick folder. There is also a nice counter right next to the window, so you can put your bag/folders down and organize your papers.
She asked for my passport, birth certificate, police certificate, non-drafted military letter, bank receipt, 3 passport photos. Then she handed out a big brown envelop and asked me to write my name and address in Denmark and put the stamps that I brought on it.
While I was watching the other people, I saw that they had sticker-type stamps. I, on the other hand, brought traditional stamps and I was pretty sure that I would have the pleasure of licking through all of the 295 SEK of them! But the woman saw that and took out a glue tube saying "you might need this" and saved my day.
Then, she asked if I had affidavit of support. I gave her my fiancee I-134 and told her that my fiancee just started working in January this year and that we had a co-sponsor if needed. She looked at my fiancee annual income (which is way above the poverty guideline) and said that she has been working for 6-7 months, that should be fine. I gave her my fiancee's letter of employment, pay-stubs, and tax return transcript 2009 and 2010 (Even though she didn't have income back then because she was in school)
During this time, she asked me a couple of questions. More like just to chat while she organized my papers. "Where did you meet your fiancee?", "When did I move to Denmark?" (I was born in Thailand)
"Did your family move with you?" She looked at my DS-156 and commented that I studied wind energy engineering in Denmark, one of the best place to study wind energy :-)
Then she told me to take a seat and wait for my name to be called.
So I sat down and waited for about 1-1.5 hours. It was going slow, so bring something to read. During the time I was at the embassy, there were about 4-5 people for immigrant visa and probably almost a hundred people for non-immigrant visa.
Finally, my name was called to go to window D. There was an american woman in her 40s. She was friendly and very professional. She took my fingerprints, asked me to take the oath. The whole interview itself took less than 2-3 minutes. She was mostly looking through my files in front of her and typed something in the computer. The questions asked were.
-"So tell, me how did you meet your fiancee?"
-"When did the romance start?"
-"Have you visited each other?" ( I told her I went to the USA five times to visit her and she came to Denmark 15 times.. she asked "How many times again?, then I explained to her that my fiancee came to study in London last year, so we saw each other often)
-"What does your fiancee work?"
It was pure formality and paperwork rather than to judge your relationship. I had a feeling that the decision was already made before the interview by reviewing your case and documentary evidences. She was not really looking at me when she asked questions nor listened to my answers, she was moving papers around, scanned barcodes and typed on the computer all the time.
Then she asked me to sign on my DS-156k and said "It seems like we have all the documents we need and your visa is approved. You should receive your passport back within two weeks" YAY!
I asked her if I would get my original birth certificate back. She wasn't sure, so she went to ask the lady from window G. I overheard them saying it may go in the brown envelope that must-not-be-opened, the one you give it to the CBP at the POE.
The woman from window G told her that they don't keep anything from the application and that I can have my original birth certificate back. So she asked me to wait while she went to take a photocopy of it.
When she came back, she asked me how I was going to get home. I told her I was taking the train, otherwise you can mail your passport to the embassy for visa later too.
Overall, it was a very good experience except the long waiting. No reason to be nervous at all as long as you have prepared all the documents. I was out of the embassy by 11.00 am
Some advices
- Better bring sticker stamps!
- Do have breakfast, the wait can be long. There is a vendor machine to buy snack but you need swedish coins. Danish coins did not work (damn....)
- There is restrooms in the waiting area.
- You can leave your electronics at the security house.
- No clock inside, bring a watch.
- If there is any important original documents that you want back, you should ask them for it. They will make a copy and keep the copy instead.
- Do go there early 20-30 minutes before your appointment time.
Things that I brought but they never asked for
- Appointment letter. ( The guard only asked for my passport but DO bring this anyway)
- Letters of intent from me and my fiancee.
- Co-sponsor I-134 and supporting documents
- Evidence of relationship
- Name change document ( I submitted a name change document with my original I-129F petition but bring it anyway!)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #10099