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| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Review on July 20, 2014: |
Gee&Cee
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We arrived at the consulate around 7:30AM for an 8:20AM appointment. There was a long line for nonimmigrant visa appointments and it was a little confusing at first. Quickly, one of the people working with the cell phone storage let us know where we needed to go, which was a little down the street, at the corner of Rua Mexico and Santa Luzia.
We arrived there and were the first in line for the next round of interviews (the 7:20am group was already in; I don't know if they'd let us in earlier had we arrived at the same time as the 7:20 group).
Before entering the consulate we left our cell phones with the storage service. They charged R$5 (reais) per cell phone and we picked them up at the end. No problems.
We waited in line until about 8:00-8:10. Alex showed up and checked who was in line (name, where we came from). We entered the consulate, passed through metal detector, and went up a couple sets of stairs. We arrived at a room full of stairs and 4-5 windows, within a privacy booth (not much privacy, but more than the nonimmigrant visa windows). Alex told us where to sit and handed us the sheets where we'd write our information. He asked us not to fill them in until he walked us through how to fill them out. (About that, I'll remind everyone to bring a pen! You'll need addresses (yours, your spouse, and where you're staying in Rio), email (yours, spouse, lawyer if applicable), case number.)
There's a water fountain in the room, and bathroom nearby. But I didn't see any food. No mirrors in the bathroom either!
After giving us time to fill out the paperwork, Alex called us one by one to have us ready with the documents we needed for pre-screening (what's in the interview letter).
At about 9:00-9:10 we were called for pre-screening. That's where I was fingerprinted, turned in the docs needed (in our case, just the medical and passport), they returned the original documents (in our case was none, since our lawyer only sent the originals, no copies. I had copies and planned on switching, but I ended up not doing so. That's probably a good time to do so, if you really need the docs back), collected my husband American passport, and can't remember what else!
Done with pre-screening/ fingerprinting, we waited for the actual interview with the consul. At about 10:00-10:05 my name was called. I was asked to put my left hand on the fingerprint machine. Then to raise my right hand and swear I'd tell the truth/etc. I was asked:
-Who petitioned for me? ("My husband"-pointing at him)
-When we met? Were you both students?
-When we got married? ("October... No August! We were just talking about when we adopted our dog-in Octover" - Did you adopt in Brazil or the US? "The US.")
-Have I been to the US before?
-Here, as anticipated by our lawyer, the consul said something about me having a note on the file about a two year residency requirement and asked if I had met the requirement. I handed in a memo our lawyer had prepared about how I had met that requirement, she read it.
- She asked if I was ready to live permanently in the US. ("Yes! I'm looking forward to being with my family"- Do you have children? "No, just the dog.") And then said I was approved!
The next steps were to go outside the consulate to the post office to pay for the return envelope. Then go back to the interview room and leave the receipt of payment for the post office there.
The interview itself was very short- max 5 minutes. The wait was long. Felt like it took a lifetime. My husband and I made a big effort to keep talking about things that were fun/ light for us. Our puppy was the main subject!
Everyone (cell phone storage, guards, Alex, consul...) was very kind. I also made an effort to filter out any negative vibe and keep a good attitude, smiles, etc.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #14872