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| Korea |  Review on October 25, 2013: |
mrss13
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We arrived at around 7:10am and were third in line. The doors opened at 7:30 and we were allowed to go in. Only my husband's name was on the list, but as a passport holding US citizen and his sponsor I was allowed to join him without any issues. We were directed to the third floor. Took our number, sat down. At 8 am on the dot they opened the windows. Two ladies dealt with paperwork and one window was for the interviews. First, they take your documents. The lady reviews all of them carefully. We had copies of the criminal record checks but we had to provide the originals. Thankfully we had them on hand. We had a copy of our marriage license and certified translation. She asked to see the original but permitted us to keep it after she compared it to the copies. So be sure to bring the originals of all of your documents, just in case. She took the items from our checklist. I asked if she need the relationship proofs and the proof of domicile (I am a US citizen living abroad while my husband is a Canadian). She took the domicile proofs but said the relationship documentation would only be needed if requested by the interviewer.
Another important note: even though I told her that we were leaving Korea and our jobs were not continuing in the US, she told me that my income was to be counted as sufficient for sponsorship. I had prepared paperwork for my father to be the co-sponsor but she gave it back because it wasn't needed. It seems that each consulate varies on if they accept income earned in their country for DCF. I would probably prepare documents for a co-sponsor anyway, just in case.
The cashier didn't open until 8:30, so we waited. Paid 230 USD and went back upstairs. We didn't need to take another number. We just presented the receipt to the same lady. My husband was then called up to get his fingerprints taken. Not long after that, we had our interview.
Our interview was very short. He looked through the documents. He didn't look at our relationship proofs. He asked how we met and how long we were married. Then he looked at his computer screen for a long time... left, looked again, left again... we were very nervous at this point. He said that my husband has a very common English name and even said "Don't name your children such a common name. It will cause them many troubles". Apparently his name caused a "hit" on the database of another person who.. broke a law? Overstayed a visa? Not sure. We pointed out that we had submitted several fingerprint based background checks and forms of ID but it didn't matter. Still, he seemed like he was trying to find a solution and said to wait. He wanted to review it with his supervisor to see what could be done.
We waited for about an hour. He called us up again and said that he had to send our papers to another agency to verify that my husband wasn't this other individual. We were so sad and upset! Even so, he was kind and he really seemed like he had tried to help the outcome be different. He said that everything else was in order and that it would probably just take a few weeks. He kept our passport and said they would mail it to us when the visa was approved and that we would be contacted if they needed anything else.
So yeah.. if you have a common first and last name, it's very possible that your visa will be delayed. 
It's hard to rate the embassy.. we were very hurt and annoyed that all the hard work and expensive background checks were for nothing (why not just check everyone with the database instead of requiring background checks?!), but I have to say that everyone at the embassy was kind and seemed to be doing their best. I cannot fault the gentleman for just trying to do his job. I just hope that we get our visa within a few weeks, as he said.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #13098