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| Costa Rica |  Review on June 8, 2016: |
rebedylan
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Our interview appointment was scheduled for Monday, 6/6. On our confirmation, it said that my fiancé was supposed to go alone. I called the Embassy to ask if it was possible to attend since everyone had left reviews that they had attended the interview with their fiancés. The person I spoke to told me that I couldn't attend, but I decided to take a chance and make the trip down any way. I'm glad I did! They let us both in without a problem. They honestly acted like they were expecting me to come with him. There are two portions of the interview – the document review, which consists of some questions along with the review, and then the actual interview by the consular officer.
A few things:
- The process takes about two hours in a room that is kind of like a bank office. The officers are all behind teller windows and they speak into microphones. There’s not much privacy to the whole thing.
- We quadruple checked all of our documents a couple of days before the appointment and made sure we had everything that was outlined in the packet. Make sure you do this! They have a checklist that they go off of and you must have everything required for you in the packet (ex. digital birth certificates for your children born in Costa Rica, unexpired criminal records)
- It seemed to be expected that all documents in Spanish would have a certified English translation. We got my fiancé’s birth certificate, civil status, and criminal record translated by an awesome certified translator. If you’re in Costa Rica and need a great affordable translator, PM me and I will give you his contact information.
- Plan for the unexpected. We had everything in order and our document review went very well. Once the review was over, the agent told us to take a seat and wait for my fiancé’s name to be called for the interview. We waited about an hour and a half until we were informed that the computer systems were down and we would have to come back on Wednesday (6/8). I had to be back at work on 6/8, so I couldn’t attend the interview with my fiancé. Although everything went well for us and we were approved, the Embassy was backed up due to the system outage and told him that it would likely be about two weeks before he received his passport. Luckily, our plane tickets had been bought for four weeks out just in case.
- Answer truthfully and be confident. The officers ask very open ended questions and control their facial expressions, which can feel kind of weird. Below are some of the questions they asked us:
o What is your name? What is your fiancé’s name?
o What is your address? What is your fiancé’s address?
o How old are you? How old is your fiancé?
o When and where did you meet your fiancé?
o How long have you been dating? When did you start dating?
o How did you manage to keep in touch throughout the years?
o What does your fiancé do? Where does she work? What does her employer do?
o Do you have wedding plans? What are they?
o Do you want to immigrate to the United States to start your life with your fiancé?
Long story short – besides being disappointed that we couldn’t finish the entire process together, we did not have a bad experience at the Embassy. Everyone was very respectful and professional! Just be prepared, have all of your documents ready to go, make sure your answers match your paperwork, and be confident!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #19692