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| Naples, Italy |  Review on July 17, 2013: |
Apapaia
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I had my interview on July 16th 2013 and here I'll try to explain my experience, give you tips to move around in Naples (it's my hometown) and what to do to try save some money at the medical.
Let's start from the day you get your interview date. When you get your email/letter telling you when you have your interview, make sure you have all the documents requested. If you sent the originals to the NVC you can bring copies of them (like I did) just in case they'll ask for them but if you have them on hand you can bring the originals.
Once you're done with the documents, start digging in all of your drawers and find the most recent vaccination certificate you have. If you don't have one you can go get it at your local ASL (or ask your doctor how to get one) and make sure you got anti tetanus less than 10 years ago and the "trivalente" for mumps, measles, rubella which in Italian are called orecchioni, morbillo, rosolia. If you've got your antitetanus vaccination more than 10 years ago and never go vaccinated with the "trivalente" shot, you can get it for free in public hospitals and ASL or anyways paying a little price. If you get these shots done and bring the updated vaccination certificate to the medical you have good chances that you won't have to pay for additional shots and the total price of your medical will be 170 Euros. Now, I am not a doctor and I am not sure if by the time you go to your medical, things will be different but this is what happened to me and the doctor said I didn't need any extra shot because the shots they usually need to give you are the two mentioned above.
THE DAY BEFORE THE INTERVIEW
The medical was fast because that day there were less than 10 people. I was done in 1.5 hours. This is what they did to me in this order: took some blood to check if I had syphilis, gave me a chest x-ray (ladies wear a sport bra so you don't have to take your bra off), checked my passport and shots vaccinations and made me pay, took me to the doctor office to check my blood pressure, weight, height, sight (they made me look at the board with letters. I was wearing contacts and they said it was okay and didn't need to take them out), listened to my heartbeat and "poked" my spleen and liver. The doctor will ask you few things like if you have any drug addiction or if you need medication or ever checked into a hospital or got surgeries. After all of this I was free to go and they said I'd have to go to the consulate at 2pm so they could take my fingerprints. The results of the medical were brought to the consulate by the clinic I didn't have to go back and forth. Once I was done with the medical I was free to do whatever.
I went to the consulate, went through security, waited for them to call my name, showed my passport and did the fingerprint thing. They told me to show up there the day after at 7.30.
DAY OF THE INTERVIEW
The day of the interview I showed up at 7.15 and there were already people there. The guards will let you in one at the time and in the order you arrived. If you want to get in the office first, you should get there as soon as possible. At the security point you will have to leave all your electronic stuff and you can pick it up once you get out so if you have to call a cab or talk to your beloved one right after the interview, you will be able to do so.
Once I got in the office (btw there's air conditioning there so if you're the kind of person that doesn't like cold air, bring a long sleeve shirt so you won't freeze to death and there's a water dispenser for you so you don't have to worry about bringing water in although I went in there with a bottle of water with no problems at all) I waited for them to call my number, they checked my paperwork and they noticed my visa application was wrong. There was a part where I was supposed to write names of my parents but I put my husband's parents instead of mine but that wasn't a problem because the lady just made me change them with a pen and everything was fixed. After that I had a pretty long wait. The consul had to call for the interview and although the interviews were pretty fast, the waiting time between each one of them was kinda long and there were calling with no specific order.
A lot of people didn't have all their document so they couldn't get an approval. Someone forgot to mail them the affidavit of support, someone forgot to send the tax return of the cosponsor and someone else forgot to bring the military record. None of them got approved that day but they had the chance to bring the documents in the next days OR email some the same day so that the approval could happen in the next few days.
Unfortunately seems like sometimes they're not this nice and flexible. I was talking to a couple that had the interview that same day and because of a misunderstanding (she was applying for the wrong kind of visa) she ended up in the "undesirable people list" and she was pretty much yelled at and kicked out so make sure that you have everything but at the same time do not stress too much if you hear that something is missing because they might give you a quick and easy solution.
The interview itself was very fast. Once the consul called me, she took my fingerprints (yes, again) and made me swear that I was telling the truth. She then asked me how I met my husband and where I was going to live when I go to the States. When I mentioned if she wanted to see the pics I brought as evidence she said "It's okay I just want to talk to you now". Overall they all were very very very nice and full of smiles and I on the other hand was trying to look as calm as possible. I think they start asking a lot of questions and behaving "mean" if they suspect your relationship is fake and use the "mean face" to make you stumble in your own lies (IF you're lying). Once the interview was over they told me I could go pick up the passport and my visa the day after at 5pm. They will tell you to go to an office "Mail boxes etc" and you can go right away and talk to them and figure out how they're going to send it to your city. If you are like me and go to pick it up the day after, you'll pay only 7 euros.
Now I'll give you some info about the places and how to get there.
The places where you'll need to go are not too far away from each other but unfortunately traffic in Naples is crazy and public transportation is that great so I strongly suggest you call a taxi the morning of the interview and the morning of the medical, unless you enjoy going out very very early to make sure you won't be late.
How to get to the CLINIC VARELLI:
Is in Soccavo neighborhood and it's easy to get there by bus or train but you need to make sure you go out in time. If you'll stay in hotel, chances are that you'll stay somewhere by the consulate or somewhere in between the consulate and the clinic.
-If you're staying by the consulate I suggest you walk to Piazza Vittoria and get on a bus that will take you very very close to the clinic. The ticket for the bus and the train is called GIRANAPOLI and at the moment is 1.30 euros and you can travel for 90 minutes (you do not need to change ticket if you change bus or train). The shortest route is the one by the C18 bus here is the link (if you look closely you'll see that google maps tells you where to stop and what way you have to go to get to the clinic. You can always ask the driver to tell you when you need to get off the bus)
https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=piazza+vittoria+napoli&daddr=Via+Cornelia+dei+Gracchi,+Napoli&hl=en&ll=40.83482,14.202726&spn=0.010699,0.024784&sll=40.835105,14.221442&sspn=0.021397,0.049567&geocode=FfIMbwIdiE_ZAClLFnHyqgk7EzG2kWomIxP9tA%3BFSYybwIdaKnYAClDhyR_1gg7EzFGAfwOenbWlA&oq=via+cornelia+dei+gracchi&t=h&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ltm&z=16&start=1
-If you're in a place somewhere in between the consulate and the clinic you'll probably be in the neighborhood called Fuorigrotta. From there I suggest you reach Via Giacomo Leopardi and get either on the C7 bus or C18. I suggest you walk there instead of waiting for a bus because it'll save time in the long run since every bus will go there anyways. Here on google maps you can see the route
https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=via+giacomo+leopardi&daddr=Via+Cornelia+dei+Gracchi,+Napoli&hl=en&ll=40.837353,14.204121&spn=0.021397,0.049567&sll=40.832127,14.195371&sspn=0.021398,0.049567&geocode=FS4BbwIdUKbYACkhhuoFMgk7EzHZ6NPTCnYPHQ%3BFSYybwIdaKnYAClDhyR_1gg7EzFGAfwOenbWlA&t=h&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ls&z=15&start=2
FROM THE CLINIC TO THE CONSULATE
I think this is the best way to get to the consulate by bus. You can either chose the bus C12 or the C18. Check google maps again
https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=Via+Cornelia+dei+Gracchi,+Napoli&daddr=Piazza+della+Repubblica,+Naples,+Province+of+Naples&hl=en&ll=40.83909,14.20485&spn=0.010698,0.024784&sll=40.828976,14.21206&sspn=0.021399,0.049567&geocode=FSYybwIdaKnYAClDhyR_1gg7EzFGAfwOenbWlA%3BFa0KbwId5RLZACmH_JmZHAk7EzEoGlCkn6QUIw&oq=via+corne&t=h&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ls&z=16&start=1
TO THE CONSULATE FROM A CLOSE NEIGHBORHOOD
As I said before, if you're not staying somewhere in between the clinic and the consulate it'll probably be easier for you to go to the metro station in Campi Flegrei, get on the train (ask which one is the right direction) and get off at the stop "Mergellina". From there is very very easy to walk to the consulate. you could also get on the bus 151 or R7 as shown.
https://maps.google.it/maps?saddr=Piazzale+Tecchio&daddr=Piazza+della+Repubblica,+Naples,+Province+of+Naples&hl=en&sll=40.827482,14.210601&sspn=0.0214,0.049567&geocode=Ff7nbgId05PYAClL8tMpNQk7EzGg-PoAp4UH7g%3BFa0KbwId5RLZACmH_JmZHAk7EzEoGlCkn6QUIw&oq=Piazzale+&t=h&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ls&z=15&start=1
At the moment this is all. If anything comes in my mind I'll add it later. If you have any question just send a message. I might add your question to the review and it could be useful for other people.
Good luck to you all
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12348