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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on May 7, 2013: |
Toff
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Today I had my interview at the US Consulate. We live about 90 minutes north of Sydney, so it was an easy matter for us to get there about half an hour early, as we planned. For what it's worth, I wore decent jeans, a short-sleeved plain casual shirt and shoes (not runners), and had shaved that morning so I looked fairly presentable (well, for me, anyway).
The Consulate office is on the 59th floor, but don't be fooled - get off at the 10th floor, which is where reception actually is. There was nothing on any of my correspondence to tell us that - somebody on another floor in the building had to fill us in.
Anyway, we got off at the 10th floor, and it was like an airport security check. Everything out of your pockets, all your bags, etc., through a scanner, then you walk through a scanner too. They kept our mobile phones, our bags - anything except what we actually needed for the interview (passport, documents, etc.). In our case that included a pram (as we had our little one with us) and emergency bub supplies.
In my case, the documents advising of my interview had specified that nobody need accompany me to the interview (despite my entire application hanging on my wife's US citizenship), and people on this forum had told me that in that case, my wife shouldn't accompany me as she wouldn't even be allowed up to the 59th floor.
However, in an email from the Consulate replying to my question, they said that my wife should go with me. So, she did.
On the 10th floor they said that my wife couldn't go up with me (just as forum members here had advised) but I said that we'd had an email from the Consulate saying she should come, so they said fine, she can go up with you. So the three of us (me, wife, bub) went up.
On the 59th floor a friendly guard told us exactly what kind of ticket to get (numbered ticket waiting system), and when we sat down to wait it was twenty-five minutes prior to the actual interview time. Less than five minutes later my number came up, so off I went to the right window.
The woman there wasn't terribly friendly, but nor was she unfriendly - she just had a job to do and was doing it. She asked for a photo and my passport, checked a few things on the forms they had and asked me about my medical check information. I told her I hadn't had it yet and that it was scheduled for the next day (I couldn't get an appointment for it before the interview). She said that was fine and told me to sit down again, and somebody would call me with the same number I already had (the numbered ticket I got when I first went in).
About ten minutes later I realised that one of the staff was calling me - but by my last name, not by number. When I got to her window, she said she'd been calling me for a couple of minutes before I responded. Trap for young players - listen for your name, as well as your number.
The woman at this window was quite friendly, and went through the DS-230 with me, scrawling 'N/A' in a couple of fields where I hadn't and asking a couple of questions about it (they asked for my mum's address, as on the DS-230 I'd actually put in "see attached" and put the full address on an attachment). She asked about children - whether my wife or I had any from other relationships and if we just had the one from our relationship, and whether she (our one child) was a US citizen. She also asked me about my medical check information and I told her that I hadn't had it yet. No drama. I gathered that her job was to check that all the forms were good and that we were thus actually ready for the interview. She told me to sit down and wait to be called.
Perhaps ten minutes later I was called again - this time by number. The first time I was 'called' it wasn't a call at all - they have a little board that says "Now serving ticket C#### at window X" and when my number came up, I went to that window. But the other times I was called up it was actually a call - the officer at a window called out my name/number and the window to go to.
This time was, apparently, the actual interview. The woman there was quite friendly, and had all my papers in front of her. She gave me back the originals of the documents I'd previously submitted to the NVC (birth certificates, police check, etc.) and told me that she had a few standard questions to ask, then she'd ask some more specific to my case.
The standard questions were just that - standard. How many times have you been to the US, what was your longest stay there, did you ever have trouble with the border/immigration/customs officials there, have you ever been arrested. I answered all those easily (I'd already answered them on the forms).
She then moved on to more specific questions and asked when my wife and I had met and, when I replied with the date and told her it was via internet, when we first met in person. Then she asked about our wedding (which was here, in Australia) - who attended (I told her about those members of my wife's family who came out from the US to attend). She asked if, since my wife had moved here permanently, we had always lived together and who XXX was (XXX was the name I'd put down in the "Where do you want your green card mailed?" box - the answer was that it was my wife's mum). She also asked where we plan to settle and how I planned to support myself there, and we told her our plans (to be supported by the joint sponsor until I could get a job). We've come into a bit of money since I sent in all the forms, and I took a bank statement along showing that, and offered it to her as further evidence that I could support myself, but she said she didn't need it - the joint sponsor information I'd already supplied was enough.
And that was it. She noted that I didn't have my medical results and said that unless something unexpected came up at it, they'd issue my visa. The next thing I'll hear from them (she said) would be my visa in about two weeks, in the envelope I supplied.
We walked out just under forty-five minutes after the scheduled interview time. None of the staff were remotely officious - most were friendly, with a couple not unfriendly, just doing their job. There was no feeling of being interrogated or checked-up on - it was all very informal and easy-going.
A couple of things to note - despite what they'd said to me in an email, there was no need for my wife to be there at all (unless just seeing her was helpful to them). She could have stayed home with our bub. They didn't specifically ask her anything, and all the questions that related to her I answered easily. That might have been different had our relationship not got quite a history (we've been married and living here almost ten years and have a child together, so I doubt they had any concerns about the genuineness of our relationship).
Also, I'd emailed them before the interview to check a couple of things (one of which was whether or not my wife should attend the interview) and in two separate emails they advised that there were problems with the joint sponsorship documents we'd provided. Once they said they would need extra W2s and, when I sent them a copy of what we'd already sent to the NVC, they said that what I'd sent didn't match what the NVC had sent them, so I better bring in everything to the interview. Of course, at the actual interview they didn't ask to look at anything I'd brought at all, and there was no mention of any problem at all with the joint sponsorship. So if you happen to communicate with them before the interview and they suggest there might be some problem, don't despair - it might just be (as it apparently was in my case) that the person telling you that hasn't done a full review of all the documents.
The last thing to note - as advised, I took in 2 passport/style photos, but they only took 1 off me. I offered them another one, but they said they had enough - perhaps they were able to use the other ones I'd already submitted.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #11922