|
|
| Dublin, Ireland |  Review on January 12, 2015: |
MGill
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Hi Folks,
I’m just going to give you quick synopsis of my experience with the US Embassy.
I had my interview January 5th 2015 at 1pm. (1pm is the standard time for any one by the looks of it and generally on a Monday with a K-1 (just my experience)). I was originally scheduled for January 12th 2015 at 1pm but I chanced my arm and dropped them an email (dublincons@state.gov) December 15th 2014 to see if I could get in sooner and they rang me on December 16th approving my request. (I’m as lucky as a black cat, so I’ve been told)
I got to the Embassy about 12.30pm and parked the car near the embassy (plenty of space to park - €2.90 per hour on-street parking – I threw in €5.80 for two hours). I waited in the car until 12.50pm and then went to the Embassy.
I was asked for ID and went through standard airport security screening, everything out of pockets and belt off etc. Then they asked me to put my keys and phone (electronics) in a small locker and gave me the key and a neck ID pass. Then I was told to go up the ramp to the left. Through the doors another security officer asks what kind of visa (immigrant/non-immigrant), the K-1 is treated as an immigrant visa and is on the right as you enter FYI.
I waited about 5/10 minutes and then was called. Sometime it was hard to hear them because they are behind a glass window. They have an intercom system but they turn it when they’re not talking to you and forget to turn it back on lol. I gave in the Postal order fee (€212); however it’s changed since, so it’s ~€226 or $265. I didn’t have any euros to top up the €212, so I just paid for the whole lot on my debit card. I could have gone out to the ATM, there’s a BOI one around the corner but I figured screwed it I’ll get it done now.
I sat back down another 5/10 minutes and was called again. The lady they went through a checklist of what’s needed…birth cert, police cert (I’ve lived in Ireland and the US (J-1 for 12 months) but only had to give an Irish police cert), medical (they open it up and give you back a CD of your chest x-ray), photographs and affidavit of support and they also ask for other stuff that wasn’t applicable to me such as divorce and military service. The lady told me my case would be suspended as I didn’t have an affidavit of support from my fiancée (didn’t think we needed it), her parents had signed two affidavits for us, so we assumed (incorrectly) that she didn’t need one.
Again sat down for another 10 minutes and then was called up by the CO for the interview. She had a copy of everything we had submitted (I forgot that the application was as big as an encyclopedia). She then had me swear that everything I knew was the truth etc and took my finger prints (left hand finger, right hand finger and the two thumbs).
The CO then asked a few standard questions:
->When/how we met?
->What my fiancée does?
->Has she ever been to Ireland to see my family?
She then re-informed me about the missing form and gave me a checklist stating that it was needed. She told me that my fiancée could just post it directly to the embassy rather than to me and it would save time. It had to be an original signature. I was fairly ticked off with myself for such a schoolboy error but c’est la vie!
I was told that once she gets the original form, the visa will be issued.
Overall, everyone I dealt with was sound. They were all friendly and the entire process there went really quickly. I was back in my car at 1.45pm (waste of money on 2hours parking lol).
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #15948