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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Review on January 13, 2014: |
FulanoDeTal
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
On interview day (January 7, 2014) we took the Metro from Copacabana to the consulate at 6 a.m. and arrived downtown at 6:30 a.m. There were only a few people waiting, so we got something to eat across the street. When we got on the fiance line about 6:50 a.m., there were several single women in front of us and a couple behind us. More people joined the line later, so we arrived at a good time. At about 7 a.m. a girl appeared and went down the line checking people's names off of her list. I gathered from her that we were the first same-sex interview at the consulate, although no one ever specifically said so.
After we went through the street level check-in and security process everyone went upstairs to the second floor. If you read Claudia's consulate review (#13525 December 23, 2013) the process is almost exactly the same as we experienced, with the exception that the girl did not hand out any forms on the street, but instead passed them out once we were in the room upstairs.
The general atmosphere in the room was a little odd, because there was a lot of noise coming from all over the building and one couple had their kids in the play area making some noise as well. Things calmed down a little bit after they left. The girl did the intial document check at the rear table, which went fine. She told me that I should also accompany my fiance to the secondary document check at the front counter and to the interview, and that they would ask for my passport at the secondary document check. The middle-aged woman who did the secondary document check had a sense of humor and was making fun of my fiance's bad handwriting, and I agreed which lightened things up a bit. She asked me for my passport, took my fiance's fingerprints, and reviewed the documents again to confirm that all of the information was complete and correct. By the way, while the reception girl only spoke Portuguese to me, both
the woman at the counter and the consul spoke to me in English and to my fiance in Portuguese.
By the time our documents were approved we had been there about an hour and a half. We sat and waited for my Fiance's name to be called by the consul, whose window was down a hallway off to the side of the document reviewers, so you could not see him from the seating area. It was looking like a good morning; the three single women and the couple who were interviewed before us were all approved. You knew this because they emerge from the hallway with a smile, and ask for directions to the post office to get the Sedex label for the visa shipment.
The interviews went in 15-20 minute intervals. My fiance's name came over the speaker at about 10:30 a.m. As we walked down the hall, the consul sitting in the window looked all business -- no chit-chat or happy talk. He put my fiance under oath, and then immediately started with his questions in Portuguese:
1. How did you meet your fiance?
2. How did your relationship progress?
3. He then asked me (in English) whether I spoke Portuguese.
4. He asked my fiance if he spoke English.
5. He asked my fiance whether we communicate in Portuguese, and when told that we did, that was the end of the language discussion.
6. He asked my fiance if I had met his fiance's family.
7. He asked my fiance whether his mother had any opinions about our age difference.
8. He asked my fiance why he wanted to come to the U.S. My fiance gave a beautiful answer. He said that we have a strong relationship, that we want to be together always, and that his coming to the United States will allow that to happen. I was really touched.
At that point the consul said, "OK, seu visto foi aprovado" and "parabens." He handed me back my passport and the mailing ticket and we went to get the mailing label. What a relief!
We took the Metro back to Copacabana and took a nap and then went to the beach.
So, my main piece of advice for the interview is to be prepared. The consul did not ask to see any additional evidence of our relationship, but I had a thick file folder and placed it on the windowsill during the interview, so he surely knew that we would have additional evidence if he asked for it.
Boa sorte!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #13636