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| Finland |  Review on August 1, 2013: |
Lynkali
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
The K-1 interview was very painless, and somewhat anti-climactic since we were so well prepared and had waited so long (260 days between filing I-129f and the interview). It seems like July is a vacation time for them, since although we notified the embassy we were ready for the interview on June 25, they scheduled the interview for a month later, July 24.
The interviews are not held at the actual consulate, but rather at an annex very close to the main train station in Helsinki, on Kaisaniemenkatu 3 B/C. It's a strange place for an "embassy" -- there are hotels and cafes and shops on the ground floor, and a buzzer to let you in the door where you go up to the 5th floor for the interview process. I'm the US citizen fiance, and I was able to be in Finland during the interview (my choice, just moral support), but I wasn't allowed into the building at all -- I waited downstairs at a cafe for the whole time. (We had emailed in advance requesting permision, but the response was "she can wait downstairs at a cafe" so we didn't push it!)
We arrived 15 minutes before the interview time, and Mikko was buzzed in and went up the elevator. There he had to wait in the stairwell area with other candidates, until his name was called and he was let through security. He waited about 20 minutes before security let him in, with no chairs, just standing in a stairwell area. After going through security (papers were separated even from pens, and he'd already left his cell phone with me, so no electronics allowed), he went through the normal process of document intake. They asked for various documents by name (medical, police, birth certificate, DS forms, I-134) and he passed them under the window to the officers, who must have looked through them fairly quickly; there weren't any problems anyway. I do think it was a mistake that they did NOT ask for any new passport photos -- he had them but never gave them to anyone, so we were a little concerned that they had forgotten to ask. I've since read that they may ask for them at POE, since they won't be in the envelope with everything else. They did not ask for any further evidence of relationship, or any photos of the two of us, although we had some extra things along just in case they wanted them.
Then a bit more waiting before he was called to have his fingerprints taken.
After more waiting (after security, there was a waiting room with chairs, couch and tv), he was eventually called to a window for the 5-minute interview with an American woman, who had him sign the form, then asked a few basic questions. Nothing that was intended to trip him up, so a very straightforward process:
- When and where did you meet? (online 2006)
- Have you been to the USA? (yes)
- Have you met her family? (yes)
- Has she been to Finland? (yes)
- Has she met your family? (yes)
- What does she do for a living? (...)
- What do you do for a living? (...)
- Do you have any children? (no)
- Does she have any children? (no)
- Do you have any children together? (no)
- What are you going to do in the USA? (he answered "marry and live with her and find a job after I have employment authorization", good answer I think!)
There weren't any questions about the financial support forms, so there must have been no issues there, even though I (USC) was a little concerned about meeting the requirements with two part-time jobs. But they accepted the paperwork with no comments and no questions, and no need for the co-sponsor paperwork which we had held in reserve if it were necessary (never even took it out to show them, though).
After the questions were over, the lady said something along the lines of "everything seems to be in order, and you'll get your package/visa in the mail in about a week" -- and that was it! There was no need for any purchased envelope: the embassy sends the visa packet using postal registered mail (kirjattu kirje) at no charge to the applicant.
The entire time spent inside was just under an hour, most of which was waiting. Mikko thinks he was the only K-1 that day: the other applicants were student and tourist visas, at least for the morning interviews.
We had the interview on Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night our CEAC online status had changed to VISA ISSUED. Friday morning he received a notice from the post office that he had a registered package to pick up, and he picked it up on Monday with the visa and "do not open" packet inside. Overall, very easy experience and no hassles.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12440