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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on April 17, 2018: |
Frano
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I had my interview scheduled at 10am so I arrived at the building at 9:30am. I took the lift up to the lobby on level 8 before taking another lift up to the consulate on level 10. Once there I followed the signs to security where there were several checkpoints to move past. The first was a lady that checked I had my document cover sheet and gave me a plastic sleeve to organize my documents in. Next I had to go through security, removing my shoes and belt and putting my documents through the scanner. Finally I had to leave my phone downstairs in the cubby holes (in exchange I received a number to claim it back). Once that was complete I sat in a row of seats and they called one row at a time to be escorted up the lift to level 59. I took a ticket and sat down. After listening for a short time I realized that your appointment time seemed to be more of a 'soft' time. People were called up not by name but by order of ticket number (so if you're running late for any reason, don't stress). 2-3 counters seemed dedicated for the first part (collection of documents) and 2-3 counters were dedicated to the second part (interview). As previous reviews have mentioned, the interviewers use a speaker system that is very audible to everyone waiting so you can hear everyone's interviews.
I heard such a wide variety of cases from people that met online and had only visited each other a few times to others that were pregnant and needed to go over there to be with their partners, people from all different countries including Vietnam, Syria, Russia. No one got denied but a lot of people had only just completed their medicals so they got conditional approval pending the results of their medical. Moral of the story get your interview scheduled as soon as you receive your appointment letter!
After approximately an hour wait I was called to the first window for the collection of documents. I had seen mixed lists online of what they actually needed at the interview with some people advising to bring everything while others saying you only needed what was on the cover sheet. To be safe we had printed all our civil and AOS documents. Turns out she only needed what was explicitly listed on the document cover sheet. She kept all my original documents and I returned to my seat for another 30 min or so. Finally I was called up to the interview window where I was asked 4 questions 1) Who is the petitioner 2) where did we meet 3) When did we meet 4) What does her father do (he was the financial sponsor). All up the actual interview took 2 min and was a breeze.
I will mention that I needed two police checks one from New Zealand and one from Australia which I got a month in advance. I emailed the consulate several days before the interview to check they had received them and I got a response the day before the interview saying they had not! Cue a very stressful night. I had previously emailed the Auckland consulate and they had confirmed that Sydney had received my police report so I printed all email correspondence and receipts and bought them along. Turns out they had had them the whole time and I stressed for nothing.
I was told my passport will be posted back and I will receive it in 1-2 weeks!
I hope this helps and feel free to message me if you have any questions.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #23644