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| Naples, Italy |  Review on January 14, 2017: |
Carrie7003
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
It's hard to give the embassy a rating of 4 since we were approved. I'm sure most who are approved give it a 5 while those who were not either give it a 1 or don't come back to ever write anything. But I want to give an objective review of the experience. We stayed at Casa MiraNapoli which is a quaint and lovely bed and breakfast located a 5 minute walk of the embassy. It was great to be so close and the woman who runs the place is used to seeing nervous couples staying with her awaiting their embassy appointment. She was sweet and helpful and very accommodating. Wifi, computer and printer are available at Casa MiraNapoli which we found very helpful. It was clean, cozy and welcoming and a good environment to set up shop in. The owner called a driver for us to schedule our pickup the next morning for the medical visit. We kept his number on us and called on him again a couple of times during our stay too. The medical visit was scheduled by the consulate one day before the interview. Our medical was scheduled for 8:00 and we were there until 10:30. Our driver even expected us to finish at that time! (It was great to have people involved who were familiar with the process) The clinic where the medical is done is publicly run and and funded by the Italian government and has all Italian workers including the MDs. We found the process a bit unorganized. We walked in, handed over his passport, took a number and waited. We were called in, blood was taken, then we were sent to wait again. We were called again by a man not less than 80 years old who asked for the 4 passport photos, vaccine history, and 170 euro payment for the visit (you pay extra if you need additional vaccines). He also typed up our physical addresses and emails. Our first surprise was that he didn't accept the passport photos because the background was off white (not pure white). He was VERY SWEET though and directed to a photo kiosk down the street where we could take photos again. The kiosk prints 4 photos the right size for the medical form and 2 photos the right size for the consulate. After we reprinted photos we returned to the clinic and just walked in to where we knew the man had been seeing us earlier. He accepted our photos this time then directed us to a corridor where we waited for X-rays. Here we didn't get called by name. They just would open the door and yell out "consulate!" and the next person would get up to get their x-Ray. After this, we were sent to wait again. This was the longest wait as it was the wait to be seen by a doctor. Once we were called, he sat my fiancé down, took his medical history on the DS form (don't remember the number, but they provide it you don't have to), confirmed his vaccination history, took height weight blood pressure and listened to his lungs. After that he said, you're all set, all your documentation will be sent to the consulate for your appointment tomorrow. We spent the day and evening walking along the sea and had AMAZING pizza at 50 Kalò, also walking distance from the bed and breakfast. The following morning we walked over to the consulate at 7:00 for our 8:00 appointment. We left our cell phones at our room (since you aren't allowed to bring them in anyway) and took nothing other than our binder which we had very well prepared and organized. Despite getting there at 7:05, there were already 3 people in line ahead of us. At 7:45 a police came to the line and called out for anyone who had an 8:00 appointment. We were the only ones scheduled for 8:00 apparently, and so were let in first anyway. We went through security (like airport security) and were given a card with number 1 on it. Visa appointments were on the second floor, we went in and waited. At a little after 8:00, our number was called by an Italian worker from behind the glass. He gave us the medical documents from our medical visit the day prior in an envelope and said we would need them at Border Patrol. He then collected electronic fingerprints from my fiancé. He had our file open and a checklist for the documents and began going down the list. For each document, he requested the original and a copy. You must bring the copies yourself they don't make copies there. He compared the original and copy and then set originals aside to return to us at the end of the interview. He requested fiancé birth certificate, divorce certificates from both of us, police certificates (2 from Italy, 1 from Germany with translation, 1 from Albania that was sent directly from US embassy in Albania), I-134, and petitioner taxes from previous 2 years. I brought my employment letter and bank letter but he asked for neither. My fiancé also had 2 other police certificates from Albania but he did not request those either. Even though they weren't requested at the interview, I'm glad we had them prepared and ready to provide. Definitely bring anything that seems required or you feel will help your case. Better to be over prepared than under prepared! After he completed the document checklist he took confirmation of the visa payment and then we sat back down and waited to be called for interview by consular officer. At around 8:40, the officer called our number and we reported to her window. The interview was conducted behind the glass partition. She swore us in and we vowed to tell the truth. She then validated electronic fingerprints from my fiancé before starting the interview. The officer's manner was not friendly, but not rude. She was very straight forward, matter-of-fact, fair, and the right amount of skeptical. Here are the questions she asked: How did you meet, when did you meet, where did you meet, what was (fiancé) doing in US when you met, have you met his parents, how have you spoken to her parents, when were you divorced (both), how long did the marriages last, did you petition previously for anyone else, how long did those marriages last, how did you stay in touch after you met, how many times did you meet, what were the dates of those meetings, how do you pay for travel to see each other, what do you do for work, how does work allow that much vacation to see each other, fiancé-why were you denied entry to the US (when he tried to visit me), how many sisters does she have, do you know their names, do they have children, where do they live, what will you do for work when you get to US, what was your biggest fight, what don't you like about her/him, what is your religion, are you religious, where are you from, why didn't you get married, when did you decide to get married, what are your plans to marry once he gets there, how does a divorce work in Islam (she already knew because she finished my sentence- but then asked if that was done with my previous divorces). She did not request any evidence of communication or in-person meetings, we did however provide all that when we filed the I-129F. She was flipping through our file as she interviewed us, and constantly typing her notes from our responses. All in all, it actually seemed like she had more attention focused on me, the petitioner and we both felt afterward that it was extremely beneficial that I attended. This may not be the case for everyone, but for our background and case it may have helped a lot. We tripped up on some of our answers and I confused dates about visits/engagement etc but it didn't seem to matter. She knew we were nervous. The interview lasted about 15 minutes, and she concluded with "I am going to approve this petition, but you will need to go through this same process of interview and packet review at Border Patrol". We were concerned about this statement at first but relieved once our status changed to visa "issued" the following day at around 3pm. Overall, most of this process is in your own control. Be prepared with all the documents that are requested. As long as your are being honest and yourself, it's okay to be nervous as well. Good luck to all!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #21179