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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on January 25, 2007: |
mozplay
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Well, at 6:00 a.m. (ok.. 6-ish) when the guy at the hotel's front desk said it was -30 outside I decided not to go line up by 7:00 a.m. as planned. To hell with it - I'm not a penguin after all!
So at 7:15 I left the safety of the nice warm hotel room and walked the 50 steps or so over to the consulate with my scarf wrapped around my head like an old Italian granny. I was the first person there and by the time they unlocked the doors and invited me in at about 7:25, I truly began to question whether this visa was actually worth standing outside in the freezing cold for. Ok.. not really, but I did consider just coming back later.
Then the doors were opened and all was forgotten. It was definitely more pleasant than going through airport security. I did not have to take my shoes off and the guards/officers were very nice. After the security check, I was given a chit which read "A - window #9". The guard told me not to lose it cause it meant I was first in line. I was shown downstairs to the waiting/elevator area. Two other girls joined me. At exactly 7:45 a guard came down and took us up to the 19th floor. At window 9 we gave up our passports and interview letters. By 8:00 I had already been called up to window 12 (first and by name) to hand over all the necessary documents and then directed to pay at window 14 when it opened at 8:10 and leave the receipt at window 12 when I was done.
By 8:30 I was called into interview room #8 to (of course) be interviewed. The guy was very nice, in fact everyone was very nice. He asked me how we met, what first attracted me to David, what David does, what my plans are for work in the US and then whether I had any convictions or problems crossing the border. When I told him that I'd never been prevented from crossing, but pulled into secondary last August, he waved it off, calling it 'special attention' and saying it was common and not held against us.
He then took my index prints for the extra screening that they are doing, which consists of name checks and FBI checks mostly to look for overstays and law trouble in the US. Strangely enough he mentioned that part of this was already done. I can't remember if it was the name or FBI check. He told me that my case was cut and dry and that they'd probably be mailing my visa out today or tomorrow and that I'd get it either tomorrow, or by Friday or Monday for the latest.
I confirmed that I was good to go once the security checks came back and he said yes and wished me luck. And that was it. I said goodbye and left. I left the embassy by 8:50 and by that time there was quite a lineup waiting to clear security. After seeing that I was glad I decided not to be a big baby and stick out the 10 mins I had to wait in the cold earlier. Of course I was so hyped by this point that I forgot to wrap up like an old Italian granny again and by the time I got back to the hotel I really did think I'd never be able to feel my ears again. Damn Montreal was cold!!!!!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1222