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| Sweden |  Review on May 29, 2018: |
ML915
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had my interview at the USE in Stockholm on 24. May. My appointment was at 8.30 and I was about an hour early so there I was the first person in the immigration line. Like people have noted before there's a line inside a glass "waiting room" and then there's the line for immigration visas just outside on the sidewalk (you can see pictures of this on google street view if you wanna see for yourself before you get there) where I got in line. Just past 08.00 I was called to the window of the security building you need to go through where I showed my passport through the window and opened my bag so they could see it's content. I was told to take my jacket off, turn around, lift my feet so they could see the bottom of my shoes and then I was let inside to do the metal detector/airport type screening. There they took my phone, charger and lighter, and I got a "coat ticket" so I could get them when I left. I was told to follow the yellow line which leads you onto a sidewalk where you walk 50 m or something to the building where your interview takes place.
VERY LONG STORY
A security man asked me what visa I was interviewing for and directed me to window 7 (Side note: The security people don't know which visas are which categories - multiple people tried asking them when we were in line. If you're K1 you're there for immigration purpose so stick to the immigration line). As I was the first one there I was awkwardly standing by the window with no one in it for a few minutes before a Swedish man came up and told me he was gonna take my documents. He took my DS-160 and my birth certificate, then started hesitating and talking to himself, so naturally I panicked. He told me they were training staff across the different departments and this was the first time he had done this. He had to check with a colleague that my flerspråklig fødselsattest was ok to use (even though it's in English), he also told me my police certificate (exhaustive - ordered online specifically for US immigration) was invalid because the signature wasn't original which really made me panic. He asked his colleague in the back and she literally just shrugged and said it's fine and normal. Then he went on to ask for my other documents - 134 and support, relationship evidence. He asked when I did my medical (25. April) and he told me they would receive it soon, even though I saw a copy of it in HIS copy of my file!! So I replied they already sent it a while ago - I didn't want them to put me in some "waiting pile", he said yeah sure I'm sure it'll get here soon and I awkwardly kept going no I think it's here, I'm pretty sure, cause I didn't know how to tell him it was right under his nose! I convinced him to look through the papers to be sure so he did find it. Despite almost killing me multiple times he was really lovely about it and he made small talk about our relationship throughout. He then asked me if I had my envelope, at this point he's made so many "mistakes" that I just told him "I'm meant to get one from you" so he laughed and started looking for one and asked me if I had brought a stamp for it, which I obviously hadn't and the same colleague half shouted from the back "we give her the stamp as well" - it was casual, it was tense, it was super weird!
I sat back down for 40 minutes before I was called for the actual interview with an American guy. This guy was really confusing - something about him made me feel like my very existence was an inconvenience to him and I just didn't feel welcome at all which was the complete opposite of the first guy and all the reviews I've read. At first he wasn't so much asking questions as he was fact checking specific things that he seemed to already know (Tell me how you met/So you guys met in London?). This made me assume that he knew our whole story so there was some confused back and forth and I felt like a rambling mess. He was taking notes on his computer as I was talking and explaining, looking at me occasionally when he asked questions like he didn't really care what I was saying. I was convinced after two minutes that I was gonna be denied cause he just looked like he didn't believe anything my rambling ass was saying. Towards the end he asked questions about me specifically (what do you wanna do in America/Do you like LA so far?) and then told me my visa was approved and I could expect to get my passport back within two weeks in the most aloof manner.
I don't know if he was also in a new department which made him uncomfortable or he was just having a bad day or whatever but although he was just doing his job it was definitely more uncomfortable than I thought it would be.
TLDR; They are training staff across departments which makes for some confusion so try to stay calm and trust your eight months of preparation.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #23894