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| Guatemala |  Review on May 24, 2013: |
Gringa Chapina
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My husband, Dennis, had his greencard interview for IR-1 status yesterday (5/22/13) in the US Embassy in Guatemala.
He arrived for his 7:30am appointment at 6:25am and was issued ticket #7 for the day. He waited for a bit and was called to a window to confirm application information. The worker at the window was a woman and she specifically asked who the co-sponsor was to my husband (his father-in-law). She then went to retrieve our petition package from somewhere and commented "wow, this has alot in it".(Probably due to the hundreds of pages of skype messages javascript:emoticon(' '). To which my husband replied with some remark about how anal I am as he was standing with an exact replica in his arms and an extra folder labeled "additional evidence". The whole process at this window took about 10 minutes. My husband was then told to sit and wait for his name to be called for the interview.
My husband waited and then suddenly had the urge to use the restroom. Of course, as he was in the restroom his name was called and someone informed him when he came out. This ended up being in his favor because the worker he eventually interviewed with was really kind and my husband said had he stayed in his chair he would have been interviewed by someone else who may not have been as kind. He was finally called to the window to interview with the kind officer. He asked my husband things like: 1) Where did you meet your wife/when? 2) What language did you speak when you met? 3) What does she do for a living? 4) What did she do when she lived in Guatemala? 5) Where and when did you get married? 6)What do you do for a living?
When questioned, my husband offered to show pictures as proof of his answers. At first, the officer declined saying he had already seen them in our petition package but then my husband pulled out a nice picture of us kissing at our wedding and the officer said, "oh, this is helpful" and began to look at other pictures. The interview took less than 10 minutes and my husband was told he was approved! YEAH!!!! He was also told he could pick up the visa and his passport the next day and he was given instructions of how to pay the new greencard fee online. He received approval around 9am so all in all the whole process took less than 3 hours total after arriving there.
****WORDS OF ADVICE****
- ARRIVE AT LEAST 1 HOUR EARLIER THAN YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME!: the earlier you get a ticket the earlier you will be called!
- HAVE ALL OF YOUR DOCUMENTS NEATLY ORGANIZED AND PREPARED!:my husband said he saw alot of people being turned away at the windows and told that they had to come back another time because they were missing information.
- SHOW PICTURES WHEN YOU CAN!: the officers may not ask to see pictures. If you have the opportunity to back up your word with a picture or other evidence, do it!
I hope this information helps someone else out there! I am grateful to others who have gone before me and posted their experiences! It is invaluable to me! Thank you Visa Journey Community!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12004