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| Guayaquil, Ecuador |  Review on August 20, 2015: |
bluebook14
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
GETTING THERE & FIRST WAIT
We woke up that day at 5:00 AM, and took a taxi to the consulate at 6:30 AM (was $7 from Alborada/Garzota). It was surprisingly quick - we got there around 6:45 AM; there were already quite a few people there. About 7:10 they started setting up security and setting up inspection tables. When that was done, they started letting people in.
They said tourist visas must have their DS-160 and picture at the gate, but "Resident Visas" (these include K-1) just had to state their name and type of visa, and would present it later on. They checked a spreadsheet and her name was on the list. They crossed it out and let us inside
SECURITY
We went through very rigorous (but very polite) security twice, and they made us empty our pockets and checked every pocket and crevice of our bags and wallets. I had tried to sneak in some nicotine gum (I'm a smoker) and they asked us (politely) to throw it out; same as with some cookies and my lighter (which I accidentally had in my pocket). They also didn't allow any CDs (we "mistakenly" took the medical CD there).
If you do bring "contraband" they will make you throw it out. If it's something very important they might let you keep it in a locker with your Cédula. Take them very literal when they say nothing except your papers are allowed; though they did let us enter with our wallets and keys, and a little breath freshener spray bottle, interestingly enough.
Any documents or purses or wallets are placed into trays which you bring with you inside. Once inside security inspects you with a handheld metal detector. Once that's done, you go through a outdoor hall of sorts, and before the entrance you take your items from the tray and return the tray to security. Before entering the waiting area, you pass through yet another metal detector.
WAITING INSIDE
"Resident Visas" (This includes K1) are seated on green chairs. The chairs had little stickers on them saying what to bring to the ventanilla for the interview. Tourist visas are on yellow/orange chairs; the chairs claim that you are interviewed in order of arrival, but it seemed as if you are interviewed in order of the time you scheduled the appointment (we scheduled it very late).
OBSERVATIONS OF OTHER INTERVIEWS
There were quite a few people in the visa interview, we couldn't tell what they wanted or who was approved, but it seemed most left disappointed and the COs seemed rather stern (but not mean). Most of the visa applications were for family visas (non K1 and CR-1). There were three other people who seemed to be either K-1 or spousal applicants. Two of the couples had the petitioner there, and another one had just the Ecuadorian lady. We couldn't tell if they got approved or not, but none of them seemed very happy.
OUR INTERVIEW
We were dead last (probably because we barely managed to get squeezed into our date). This was after a 3 hour wait.
We were first called by an Ecuadorian lady who said "give me all the documents" and we started giving her what we had, and the things she accepted were:
* I-134, tax transcripts, job letter (I believe they actually looked at the job letter)
* Passport bio page (copy)
* Passport
* Birth certificate (original & copy & translation)
* Police clearance & translatio (They also asked about her native police clearance, as she wasn't born in Ecuador, but we also showed her the Movimiento Migratorio document which showed she hadn't left ECU since she was 7. They took it)
* Scans of my passport stamps
She also took her fingerprints
We also offered her other information such as additional pictures, emails, etc. - but she didn't take our pictures or giant pack of extra evidence. If you have extra evidence, put it in the I-129F, aka "front load".
She asked:
* When did we meet?
* How did we meet?
* Why did your fiancee have a different name (it was changed when my parents' divorce was finalized and took on my mom's maiden name - when USC was a boy)
* What is your (USC) fiancee's job? She said USC's job
* What do you (ECU) do for a living? She said her job
* What are your wedding plans? Small ceremony in the US, religious ceremony in ECU
* Have you ever been to the US? No
* Do you have family in the US? No
* How did you learn English? (dad is english teacher, translator)
* Have you ever been married before? No
After those questions, we were re-seated again and waited for a second interview. After about 20 minutes we were called forward by a steel-haired American man. First he greeted us and asked us in Spanish "En cual idioma hablan entre ustedes". I (the USC) fiancee answered "English", and the CO said something like "well then, let's do this in English". He seemed reaally happy to speak in English and said it wasn't very common in these types of interviews.
He checked our documents, and he made us both raise our hands and swear to tell "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".
He didn't asked any questions but asked us to basically tell him our story, and the interview was mainly done as a conversation rather than directed questions. He seemed content that we were able to talk a lot about ourselves, and he also seemed to be interested in our case since she was Russian and thought it was fascinating that we were speaking in English. He asked me a bit about my job, and asked her about her job (she used to be a sales associate at a bookstore and apparently he bought a book there recently). We told him how we met and he didn't seem to ask pointed questions as to the specific dates. He did want to know what I was doing in Guayaquil, and I explained that I telecommute - he even knew the distance between my home city and my work HQ, saying his car broke down in the area in snow a while back.
KEY POINTS OF CONVERSATION (2nd) INTERVIEW WITH CO:
* How did we meet?
* What do we both do for a living?
* How did you learn English?
* Have you ever been to the US?
* Have you travelled together?
Once done, he said "Congratulations, Your resident visa is now approved!", and he did say we were under the obligation to get married under 90 days. He gave us a blue+yellow+blue slip. The yellow slip provides a "link" to a survey about the medical, the blue slip provides instructions for how to get the passport via DHL, and the green slip contains information about domestic violence etc.
CONCLUSION
I still think it is invaluable to have the USC there, but more importantly to be able to include the CO and relate to him/her as if you were a couple and engaging in conversation together. They didn't ask us to give specific answers to things. Our assessment is that this should still be considered a tough consulate, and while nobody was mean to us, they all still seemed very serious.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #17589