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| South Africa |  Review on September 19, 2012: |
tfospc
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Before the Interview:
We ended up having to call the consulate and have them re-send Packet 3 by email. When my fiancé called, they claimed that they had sent it a couple weeks before but we never received it and checked both our spam and regular inbox several times a day. So it might be important to call the consulate if you still haven't received anything via email a couple of weeks after the NVC has sent the documentation to the consulate.
It is also important to send the 'Notification of Applicant Readiness' with the 'DS-230 Part 1' back to the Consulate after they send you Packet 3 in order for you to get a Visa Appointment Letter. My fiancé had called to ask which documents he was supposed to send and was instructed to only send the "DS-230 Part 1"; however, he ended up sending both, which was what was actually needed to obtain an interview date.
Also, the visa appointment letter stated that only unabridged/full birth certificates that are computer generated would be accepted, which we had never seen before then. My fiancé had gotten his full birth certificate as a child and they did not have computer generated ones then so this caused quite a worry. The hand-written unabridged birth certificate ended up being accepted because it was issued before 2000. However, we managed to get one within a week through Home Affairs because of a very nice regional Home Affairs office (Malmesbury) and calling the regional Home Affairs office every day to check up on it. We were very lucky that that Home Affairs office was very nice and marked the birth certificate as urgent as well as checking up on it in Pretoria constantly! I do not think it is common for someone to get a birth certificate that quickly so it is better to get one well in advance.
At the interview:
My fiancé went an hour before his interview time. He just sat outside and waited until security came out at 1pm. He said you have to have your appointment letter with you to show security before you can go inside. He was told to keep his appointment letter in his hand along with his passport until he got inside.
After security screening to get inside, he went into a waiting area in front of the counters where the interviews are conducted. It took him about 15 minutes to get called up to the counter. My fiancé was then asked for all the forms that he had filled out, birth certificate, police certificate, new evidence of relationship and a wedding invitation. Our wedding had been set and planned during the whole K-1 visa process and we had sent out invitations to everyone so this might not be something that everyone needs to have. But the officer really stressed showing our actual wedding invite and specifically looked for the date on the invitation. Luckily I had sent him one of our wedding invites as proof!
Then my fiancé had to go around to the cashier and pay the fee. He said they do not take U.S. 100 dollar bills issued before 2003. He didn't have that so he paid by credit card instead.
Then he was told to sit down in the same waiting area again to wait to be called up to a different counter. He waited about 20 minutes before he got called up to a different counter. The Consular Officer then asked him a few more questions about our relationship. Then my fiancé signed a form and was given a lot of his documentation back and was told that he could come pick up the passport with his visa in it the next day. The Consular Officer gave him a receipt that he had to take with him the next day in order to pick up his visa.
The next day he showed security his receipt to get into the consulate and he had to go sit in the same waiting room, except this time he was given a ticket with a number on it and he was called up by that number instead of by name like the day before. When his number was called up to the counter, he gave them his receipt and they gave him his passport with his visa in it. He was then asked to check that the visa was correct. It was and a few days later he flew to the U.S.!!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #10449