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| Frankfurt, Germany |  Review on September 22, 2016: |
Kuegs
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Our appointment was at 10 am. We had to take the train to Frankfurt, got there at 9 am and were able to make it in time using the U-Bahn U4 and bus 34 (since the U5 is currently still not running)
We left all our valuables, including phones, in a locker at the train station and paid 4€ for it.
It was a little hard to find the embassy for us without phone access, but the friendly owner of the kiosk pointed us in the right direction. 
Once we got there, we waited in line (outside) for "all other visas" and quickly got our pass and were sent to wait in line for the first security officer. He gave us a plastic bag and advised us to put everything in it that we had on us (wallet, change, key to locker).
He didn't communicate it very well that we had to take a few steps forward after that to wait at the white line on he ground for someone to open the door for us and let us in for the next security check.
Once they let us in we had to go through the airport like metal detector and put our belongings on the conveyor belt for the baggage check.
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After that we finally got to walk out of that small building and headed straight to the actual consulate building. There we were issued a waiting number and got told to walk directly to window 22 (to the very left, behind the pink wall) to pay our fee.
The man there was very friendly and told us to take a seat and wait for our number to be called (i.e. shown...)
When it was our turn, we went to window 17 where we reviewed and verified the data of my DS 260 and my fingerprints were taken. He woman there was also very friendly. While my English is fluent, I had to give her my phone number in German, simply because my brain was having trouble "translating" it. lol
It was not a problem as the lady spoke perfect German.
After that we got to wait yet again (there's a large area with seating for up to 299 people).
Finally, we got called to yet another window where we talked to a consular officer - the actual "interview." The consular officer was very friendly. She asked us how we met each other and when I told her it was through a school exchange program, she asked "and how was that?"
So I explained it a little bit (reciprocal visits / GAPP program, for those who've heard about it...)
She also asked my husband whether he had worked in Germany and what he was going to do stateside - he explained that he had gotten a job offer from his old company and that the offer was included in our paperwork and that he had since signed it.
That was sufficient for her and she said, "well, this is just too easy. Everything is fine."
Then she immediately started explaining about issuing the visa and that it should happen either today or within he next few days - as apparently the machines are a bit "fickle."
So I guess that means: don't get too anxious if you check your status online and it doesn't say "issued" yet.
She also showed us what the visa package will look like and to not open the sealed envelope etc.
And that was that.
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All in all it was a good experience. Everyone at the consulate was very friendly and minus the initial confusion upon entering the premises, it was easy and swift.
I do think it's annoying, though, that they only offer the interview in Frankfurt directly as we traveled 10 hours to and from Frankfurt just for an hour at the consulate. (And I had to leave my ten months old baby and 2.5 year old son in the care of someone else for almost a whole day.)
Immigrant visa / more specifically IR1 also doesn't seem to be that common, as there was basically no line for us, other than outside for the security check.
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We did the whole process through DCF, which took 5.5 months in total. Had we known we needed to file taxes despite staying under the taxable amount, we could have saved 3 months and been done in only 2 - 2.5 months.
But it was still fast and the consulate was very efficient.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #20474