|
|
| Guyana |  Review on October 12, 2013: |
rade2rising
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Well first off my wife's interview was this past January and since then it has been crazy busy. this is the first time I really got to come on forums to write this review. A lot of ppl helped me go through the process as smooth as possible so I want to share the experience and hope it will help someone. Especially for the Georgetown Guyana consulate there are not many reviews.
All my vacation time was up so I had to beg my job to give me 4 days off so I could go for the interview. My wife was very nervous and for some odd reason I felt really calm. Almost as if it was just a formality....
Our appointment time was for 9:30am Monday so we got there at 7am. The line was really long. The line is supposed to be two separate lines; one for tourist visas and the other for family visas. Of course everyone lined up in 1 line and none of the guards could be bothered to separate the groups. I quickly realized that it is a complete waste of time showing up at the embassy early. WHY? Well you could be at the front of the line but unless your appt time is in the next 30mins they will not let you in. They kept calling for people with appt times that were coming up soon. A lot of these ppl were in the back of the line but they get waved in. So we spent 1.5hrs just standing at the front of the line.
Finally it was our turn to go through security check. They are super strict. They took our passports and proceeded to snap pics of the bio page. They do this for everyone visiting the embassy. Not sure why. They waved me through and told me to walk through the door and wait for my wife. She left the cellphone in a locker. I didn't want to leave her but I had to. After a few mins she came through security check. The place was packed. When you step out of security you are in an outdoor shaded area with benches. I proceeded to go up to the main building. Inside there they have the interview counters and a very limited number of seats and AC. It was so hot but no standing allowed there so we found a seat outside and waited. You have to wait for your name to be called over a loudspeaker and let me tell you it sounds similar to the announcement on the NY subway. Anyways we waited and waited and not hearing her name. 10am came and went. Then 11am. I started to get worried.
At 11:30am I heard a name that sounded familiar. It was my wife first name but the last name was from her previous marriage. I thought it was too much of a coincidence so I got up to inquire. They told me go to the last window. Standing there was a local woman and she was extremely annoyed. She claimed that she had been calling for us since 2hours now and we are wasting her damn time lol. I quickly apologized. I asked right away why she is calling my wife's previous surname?? She gave me this weird look. She asked my wife when is the last time you seen your ex. My wife told her it has been years. This woman's job is to look over the documents but she seemed very inquisitive. She asked a couple more questions. She seemed so upset. She looked over the file from NVC and quickly browse over the documents. These documents were less than a year old but guess what? That is not good enough. You have to have new copies. Thank god I had read about this and already got copies of the marriage certificate and birth certificate that was less than a month old. The packet instructions they had mailed to my wife said the documents have to be less than a year old. Guess they need to get on the same page. I provided the documents and she was definitely surprised. I know they can't be joking and laughing with you but she definitely made us felt like we were ruining her day. She told us to wait to be called again. This time I told my wife no sitting outside we were going to try and get a seat inside. As I am sitting there its dead quiet and the interview windows are so close together you can hear all the interviews. I felt so sorry for this elderly lady who was applying for a tourist visa at window 7. The guy told her I am sorry but I cannot approve your visa. The lady asked why not and he said I don't believe you will come back. So many sad faces there and just a handful of happy ones. In that 15mins we sat there they denied 4 people at window 7. Really scary.
They called us to window 12 I believe it was. It's the only window that is enclosed. Like a small office. I opened the door and we sat down. There was a mid 30's guy shuffling around papers typing on his computer. He gave my wife the form for abuse so she can look over it. He asked if my parents were citizens too and I told him yes. He said he was from New York. Then he started asking questions. He seemed to have some seniority there because another interviewer came over to ask him if he had to sign the paper for AP before giving it to the couple he was interviewing. He told him no just give it to them.
He asked how we met. It's quite an interesting story because it was an arranged marriage. I just got a phone number and called my wife and after a few months of talking I visited her and on that first visit we got married. Then later in the year we had a big celebration. He was not interested in the celebration or seeing pictures from it. He started asking my wife if we met while she was still married and stuff. She answered calmly. We were almost 15mins interviewing when it dawned on me that this was not a formality. With my petition I sent the marriage certificate and an affidavit signed by my mom. Nothing else and he wasn’t asking to see any pictures or phone logs or any evidence. So then I told him I called my wife multiple times a day and here are the phone logs. I pushed them under the window. He glanced through just page 1 and 2. I had about 50 pages. He said you have any pictures from this so called wedding and my heart started racing because I can see he did not believe our story. I gave him the pictures he asked about a couple people in the pics and handed them back. I told him I have tons more pictures but he was not interested to see. He kept typing for over 5mins while we sit there in total silence. Then he started asking more questions to my wife. And my wife was brave and she told him she loved me and that's why she got married to me and he was staring right at her as she was speaking. More silence. More typing. I then volunteered my travel info because I had set up all my boarding passes on one sheet of paper. He glanced at it. I think visiting my wife 3 times after getting married helped a lot.
Finally after what seemed an eternity he said everything is looking good. Come next Monday to pick up the Visa! I didn't know how to react. I stayed calm and looked at my wife. She seemed dazed. Right at that moment as he was typing away the other guy came back and was looking at the screen and said to him, I thought they are suppose to be in AP. Our interviewer said I am cancelling it. Up to this day I don't know if he was talking about us or a different case he was looking up. But I knew regardless we were very lucky to get approval. At that moment I thought to myself next Monday is a week away and I have to fly back in 2 days, Wednesday. Later my wife asked me if I was crazy but at that moment I asked him if it was possible to get the visa sooner because I was flying back this week and I would really like for my wife to accompany me. He looked at me for a couple seconds and he asked when I was going back. I told him Wednesday morning 5am. He typed some more. Then he said come back tomorrow after 1pm. I was so happy. I said thank you and picked up everything and opened the door for my wife. She was smiling. Everyone in the waiting room could tell we go approved. We went past security and picked up our cell phone and went outside. My wife was happy but also worried because it means she had one more day in Guyana and then we had to leave. I never really asked her when she wanted to leave lol. I was happy but being on VJ reading some of the horror stories I knew until we picked up the passport with the visa in it things can change in a hurry. Who to call first I was wondering lol. I called my mom and told her, and then she called her parents and told them. Then we called my aunt who was our chauffeur!
Next day we went back after 1pm and there were only 7 persons present, all picking up visas. They called my wife name last. She went up to the window. She was there for about 10mins. Finally she came with her packet and passport. She said they did not have her packet up front. They had to go look for it in the back! Thank god they found it. I checked the spelling of her name and the date. THEN I was really excited. I was so freaking happy. We went and had a nice lunch to celebrate. Then we booked my wife’s ticket.
Overall a good experience.
Main thing is get updated marriage and birth certificates and take it with you. The locals are abit rude and harsh but stay focused and answer all questions honestly.
Also when you send your petition send LOTS of evidence. I didn't and I still got approved but better be safe than sorry.
And best advise I can give for the entire process is READ THE GUIDES. It sounds cliche but all those nights I was up late missing my wife I read NVC thread from start to finish and I read Ling Che guide daily. It was an obsession but it helped and I am forever grateful to Saylin, Darnell, Dwheels and all the Vj'ers who help my wife and I on this journey.
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12992