|
|
| Ghana |  Review on December 1, 2006: |
a&o
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Going to pick up packet 3 and then packet 4 (appointment letter) at the Ghana embassy takes ALL DAY. Be prepared to be cold in the waiting room, too.
The email address to use is either the U.S. Citizen Services (if you are the USC) acsaccra@state.gov or Consulateaccra@state.gov if you are not the USC. Put the NVC assigned case number in the subject line or body of the message. Phone calls to the consulate are usually unsuccessful.
O had a good experience with the American consular officer. He was kind and friendly. Here's how it went down:
- Arrived 7:00 for 7:30 a.m. appointment.
- Let in at 7:30. Sat for about 30 minutes.
- A Ghanaian woman then called his name and asked for O's papers. O asked which papers she wanted. She would not tell him. She was not friendly and didn't want to help. Finally O just gave her everything and she picked through it and tossed back the rest in a messy pile. She took the evidence of relationship photos, the I-134s, the DS-156, DS-156k, DS-230 part II, passport photos, birth cert, and police cert. She didn't accept the letter from my employer, my statement about finances, the extra stuff attached to the I-134 for me and for co-sponsor. (Which pissed me off because I carefully put it together to paint a better picture of the financial situation than just my tax return from last year shows!) She also gave him a DS-157 to fill out, but we had already filled it out, which was good, so O noticed that and turned it in. She then asked him if that was all he had. He asked her if there was somethign else he needed to give her but she just remained silent in a crabby manner. She just ignored him and drank her tea, then got up and left him at the desk.
- Ghanaian lady gave O a form to go and pay visa fee in cedis (950,000 cedis is supposedly the equivalent of US$100 in the consulate's warped exchange rate, I guess). He did have to pay in cedis.
- O brought receipt back to Ghanaian lady, who then told him "Sit down!"
- Then an American man consular officer called him to the window. He was very nice, friendly, patient. O was asked to swear to tell the truth, then he was fingerprinted (two index fingers).
- Questions asked were:
Tell me about your fiancee.
When did she come to Ghana?
Where did you meet her?
How does your family feel about your fiancee?
Was your fiancee married before?
Who is (my co-sponsor's name)?
Who is (my brother's name)?
Have you ever been married?
Do you have children?
What kind of work does your fiancee's parents do?
Where are you going to live in the U.S.?
How do your fiancee's parents feel about you?
Where does your fiancee work?
What does she do for a living?
Why aren't your fiancee's parents the co-sponsor?
Are you going to miss Ghana?
Then he told O that everything was perfect except that the police report needs to be re-issued because it can't be altered in any way. O told him that they wouldn't give him a new one, but the consular officer said he should go and tell them he lost it so he needs a new one. The consular officer asked how fast O can get a new one. O then told him that we have tickets for 12 Dec. and showed him the proof. So the consular officer consulted with his colleague and gave him a date to come back (Dec 6) if we can possibly bring the new police report then. O has a yellow sheet asking for that police report. He said at that time he will be able to give him the blue paper that will be the visa issuance paper and then get the visa on 8 Dec. (2 days processing time).
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1064