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| Bangkok, Thailand |  Review on June 21, 2007: |
Ron in Thailand
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Had our interview scheduled for 8:30 on June 21, but we were worried about traffic so left early from home and got to the consulate about 6:45. We went straight in, ignoring the line, I just showed them my US passport. Window 5 opened about 7am, and I was the first there to turn in my wife's documents. The lady was nice, and handed back some documents I had included "just in case". She then gave me a pay-in slip to take to the cashier. Professional, polite service.
The cashier wasn't open, and didn't open until almost 8am, by which time there was a line of 6 or 7 people. I was first in line, and paid my $380 ($45 fingerprint fee, $335 filing fee). I took the receipt back to window 5, which by now had a line, but the nice lady there saw me and waived me over to window 6 and took the receipt. She then told me that there was a meeting with the people doing the interviews across the street, and they wouldn't start interviewing until 9am, in case we wanted to get something to eat and come back. I declined as it would involve going back thru security, and we may lose our seats (not nearly enough seats for all that are waiting).
About 9:15 the interviewers came, but they were on the phone, talking to each other, and interviews didn't start until 10am. Only one window was interviewing for immigrant visas (window 4), but it seemed that some staff tried to open window 5 and 6 to interview but the mike wasn't working, so they gave up.
3 or 4 of the 20 immigrant visa applicants were called up with problems and they left early. At least 2 ran out and ran back in, likely to get their Thai ID card from the guard in front (who takes ID's to put with the phones that they keep at the gate).
Each interview seemed to last 4 to 6 minutes, and the people that sat around us for fiancee visas all were approved. There were several inturuptions to the interview process, especially by Americans that would wander to the window doing interviews and get into long q&A sessions about God knows what. We were finally called around 11:45 (almost 5 hour wait). The guy said he had one question for me, and several for my wife. He asked me if I was domicled in the US or in Thailand, and to answer yes or no only - he then explained that if I said yes I would qualify, and if I said no I would not qualify. I said yes  .
He then looked at the papers for a bit and asked me another question, how much did I make last year, and that I didn't ive a copy of my tax forms for last year. I said that I did provide a copy in my affidavit of support as well as the same from a joint sponsor. He looked again, found the forms, and then initialed the form in several places as approved.
He then asked my wife how did we meet and she answered that three years ago we met in a bookstore. He looked at the computer some again, then wrote a form for us to come back the next day at 3pm to pick up the visa. He asked her to place her left index finger, then her right, on the scanner.
I then asked him two questions, the first was when/how would my wife get her green card. He said that when she arrived in the states carring her file (sealed) that the visa in her passport would be changed, and a stamp entered that would act as a temp green card until the card arrived in around 45 days.
Then I asked how she would get her social security card (there was a box for her to check on the DS 230 part 2 if she wanted them to apply for her, which she did. He said that would be explained the next day when she picked up her package and visa. We left about 12:00.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1727