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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on April 3, 2007: |
Jen&Aaron
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had to fly up from Melbourne for my interview so I stayed at the Travelodge in Phillip St - basic but comfortable enough and close enough to St James station if you are catching the train to and from the airport. It also doubles as the NSW Leagues Club which threw me for a bit when I first arrived as I wasn't sure I had the right place. Anyway, onto the interview ...
I got to the MLC building about 7.25am and went straight up the lifts to the 10th floor - I think they'd just opened as I noticed several people sitting in the lounge chairs near the lifts with folders of documents, obviously waiting for visa appointments also. We were told to queue in the hall until 8.45, at which time the security door opened and we went through. I was second in line, showed my appointment letter and passport, went through the metal detector twice as my shoes set it off the first time. I had to leave my handbag/mobile phone at the security desk for later collection, then I sat in the front row until about 8.00am. Our row was then called up to go to level 59. I managed to get in almost last so got out first.
At level 59 we lined up for a second security check, letter and passport checked again and had to take my shoes off a second time for the metal detector. Then walked into the waiting room, pressed the immigrant visa button and got ticket number 001. The ticket machine has a kind of wood laminate on it so it looks more like a cabinet than a ticket dispenser and I noticed it seems to confuse people when they first enter because of its unlikely looks!
I then had to wait about 20 minutes before being called to a counter - only non-immigrant visas and citizenship services seemed to be called up until that point. An older lady then opened her counter (the dragon lady?) and called up my number. She wasn't really dragon-like, just seemed a litte humourless and no greeting whatsoever, she didn't even look up for a few seconds when I approached the counter. I had to give her my appointment letter and my documents (she asked me first if they were in order) and the Express Post envelope for sending my passport with visa back to me. I'd made sure everything was out of the folder as soon as I'd sat down in the waiting area and I'd triple-checked the night before that the order of everything was correct. She checked my passport and had a quick look through my documents, asked me when I was planning to go to the US and then gave me the "Welcome to the US" pamphlet and letter. She then told me to take a seat while she checked through the documentation.
I sat back down and noticed her shuffling through all my documents, entering some things into the computer system, unclipping and reclipping things. After another 15-20 minutes my number came up again to reapproach the counter. She said everything looked OK to her and gave me back my original documents in a big disorderly pile! She then said I should wait until my number shows up again and go to counter 6 for my interview.
After about 5 minutes I was called to counter 6 and a young, pretty friendly guy greeted me. (So the interview was done at the counter in full earshot of everyone waiting!) The guy asked me if I was intending to go to the US to get married and I said yes. He got me to sign the DS156-K form and he witnessed it. I then had to raise my right hand and say yes when he asked if I was telling the truth. After that, I saw he had my I-129F petition and he started asking questions: How did we meet? What website? How long ago? Have I visited the US? When? Have I ever been married before? Has Aaron? Do either of us have any children? What does Aaron do? What do I do? Will I be able to work for [the company I work for] in the US? How is my health? Have I ever been hospitalised? Have I ever committed a crime? Have I ever lived in another country? Where do I intend to live in the US? Then, referring to mine and Aaron's photos from the I-129F, where were these taken? All of this was done in a conversational style of course. He then had a look through our internet chat transcripts and found them amusing because of the sheer volume! Then, "ok, your visa is approved!" - he double-checked that I'd supplied an envelope ... and that was it! All done by 9.00am.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1454