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| Mumbai, India |  Review on May 2, 2018: |
adidas
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
US Consulate Entry
Look for purple/pink shirt guy coming out of the US Consulate. As soon as you see him walking out, cross the road and head in his direction, but specifically head towards a pole where a security guard (along with the purple shirt) will tell people to form the line. This pole is on the footpath and to the right side of the embassy. We got there at 6:50am and the guy came out shortly after we arrived. So definitely get there around 6:45am.
US Consulate Token
After getting in the building, a line starts to form and US Consulate staff (all Indians) come by the line and help arrange everyone’s papers. Once everyone’s papers are arranged accordingly the line starts to move, and everyone goes to window 1, shows the NVC letter and receives a token. This is also the time to request Hindi/Punjabi/Telugu/Malyalam translator. Ours was P602, I am guessing P stands for Punjabi.
Next, after about an hour long wait our token number got called, and this time the Indian staff behind the counter asked basic questions like where are you going, who’s calling you. But he also looks at the civil documents like birth certificate, marriage certificate, and provides any documents that the petitioner had sent to NVC.
Third visit to the counter is when the token or name gets called and this time it’s the interview with the American staff along with a translator. This interview lasted around 7 minutes.
Interview Questions
Interviewer: White woman
Translator: Punjabi Guy
* Who is calling you?
* Where are you going?
* How many people attended your wedding?
* Who lives with your husband?
* Has anyone visited you in India? Yes, parents visited earlier and husband is with me now.
* Does he send you money? Yes (I recharged phone using paytm and sent via my parents)
* How did you two meet? Arranged marriage
* Why did you decide to marry him? He is nice to talk to, respects woman, same goal of living in joint family.
Interviewer did not request any pictures, WhatsApp or any other wedding evidence. But I did observe that she asked another person to show the wedding album, so it’s definitely worth taking the album, pictures etc with you to the interview.
Hotels
- Trident or Sofitel: Right across from the US Embassy, and make an excellent choice for staying overnight before a morning interview. Sure they can be pricey, but the added convenience of not having to worry about taxi/auto/traffic makes it worth it. Cost is Rs 9,600+
- Kohinoor Elite: Conveniently located around 10 KM from the US Consulate, this hotel is good for staying the night after the interview or 2 nights before the interview if you happen to visit Mumbai in advance of your interview. It’s a budget friendly 3-star hotel, with complimentary airport pickup and drop off, and complimentary breakfast, lunch and dinner. Food isn’t the best if you are a picky eater, but it’s very close (5 min) the Phoenix Mall that offers a convenient
Food
- Cream Centre: This restaurant in the Phoenix Mall became our go to place. It’s a vegetarian restaurant with a decent selection of North Indian food.
- Oye Kake: Another good North Indian restaurant, this one is near Gateway of India.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #23728