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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on October 23, 2015: |
Aussiegal85
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I had my interview 6 October at 9am.
I went to the consulate around 8.40am assuming I would be very early, but there were already lots of people there. You go through security at level 10 after presenting your appointment letter and passport, and then your paperwork is checked and sorted by one of two people on the same floor. Most of the documents I was asked to bring were not even looked at, they only looked at my birth certificate, our marriage certificate, my police check and my husband's financial information.
After that, you are seated and wait for the guard to take you to a lift which takes you to level 59. This place is like a large waiting area for the bank, or for Medicare. There is a little play room for children in one area, but no bathrooms or even any clocks. You aren't allowed to bring any electronic equipment either, so maybe bring a magazine or be prepared to spend a lot of time contemplating life.
After a taking a ticket, you take a seat and wait for your number to be called, first for your paperwork to be taken off you and for your finger prints to be taken. After this you take a seat again, and then your number is called for your interview.
Be warned - the interviews are not private at all. The interviewer is on a mic and all the questions are heard easily, and although your answers will be a little harder to hear, most people will be able to hear everything you are saying.
On my day, most people were but into administrative processing, mostly because financial paperwork was missing or because their medical exam hadn't been completed yet. One guy was not approved because his partner couldn't prove she met the minimum financial requirements for the petition.
I was called to the window for my interview after about an hour. My interviewer was a friendly American lady. She handed me a piece of paper about domestic violence and said my partner hadn't been convicted of any domestic violence offenses in the states. Then she went through my paperwork and as she did she asked me the following questions:
How long have you been married?
Where did you meet?
Where did you get married?
Where is your husband now?
I think there was one more, but nothing was personal or anything more than generic. She didn't look at any of my photos or anything else I brought to prove our relationship was legit. She was really nice and then handed me back my original documents and said our visa was approved and I would get it in a week.
My interview only took 5 minutes, but be prepared to wait. The earlier you get there, the shorter your wait time will be.
I received my visa two weeks later which was a bit of pain because I really wanted to book my flights ASAP but am happy that it's over
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #18129