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| Frankfurt, Germany |  Review on December 27, 2016: |
darcmarc
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Since our appointment was at 7:45am on a Monday we stayed the night at the hotel "Arena Villa am Wasserpark" just around the corner so we could get to the consulate on foot within 10 minutes.
We were told to stand in line outside on the left side under the canopy with about 20 other people. Processing was smooth with 2 counters being operated and taking turns calling up the next in line. At the counter we had to show the appointment printout as well as my passport and received a waiting number in return. It was no problem for my wife to enter as well since she was the visa's petitioner.
After that we were directed to a guy with a cart outside the entrance on the other side of the canopy who handed us a plastic bag in which we had to put everything that was in our pockets as well as my belt.
With the bag in hand we had to stand in front of the security area until it was cleared of previous visitors that had to go through security. Once in it was like airport security.
Upon exiting the security building we had to go through the courtyard into the next building where we had the chance to unpack the plastic bag and return it before entering the big waiting hall.
We showed our appointment confirmation and waiting number to the front desk that was set up at the entrance and were directed to go to the counter 22 at the other end of the hall to pay the visa fees (in EUR or USD). They also kept my passport there.
After that we had to sit down and wait for about 5 mins until we got called to counter 18 where a lady went through the data of my DS-260 form to re-confirm my entries (in German). She had my file (incl my passport) in front of her on which a checklist was placed. After looking over it she said "All boxes are checked. That's going to be a quick one today." So that was a relief.
We had to sit down and wait for another about 10 mins until we were called to counter 16 where we had the interview with the consul. He asked how we met and what my wife is going to do for work stateside. That was it.
Nobody wanted to see the xray CD from my medical that I was told to bring.
Consul said that passport would be mailed and it arrived only 4 days later.
All in all a very smooth and nice experience. Having had all the expectations built up after all these months of waiting about how this was going to go, I must say the consulate was a very anti-climactic experience for me, despite having read all the previous reviews. Dunno what I expected (confetti? a big "approved" stamp?).
Anyhow, glad that it went so well. 10/10 experience. Would apply again. 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #21109