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|  Review on February 24, 2008: |
John and Celia
Rating:  | Review Topic: K3 Visa
I'll try to be as in depth as possible. I've been to the Buenos Aires embassy several times over the years, and I'll try to describe the whole structure from start to finish. First off, there is alot of security at the embassy, much different than the other embassies downtown located in buildings directly on the street. The whole compound is surrounded by fencing, and security on the outside is provided by an unarmed local security company, with light blue pants and white shirts. During the interview process you'll never see a Marine around, just lots of the security guys.
There are two main entrances at the embassy, one on Colombia avenue across from the zoo and the other around the bend. The entrance close to the zoo is the one to enter for all visa interview and consular assistance to Americans. You have to register at a little booth before going in, they give you a number and then you either line up or, for immigration visas, you pretty much go straight in. They conduct most of the immigrant visa interviews during the afternoon, with the tourist visas during the morning. Usually the have no more than 5 or 6 interviews per day because of paperwork and more in-depth questioning, handled by the same consular officer (rotating on a daily basis). When you enter through security, you have to hand over your cellphone and other metal objects, walk through the metal detector, and then they give you a small card with a number on it to retrieve your belonging on the way out. Very straightfoward!
As you exit to your right, you'll see a small building on the left. That's the DHL office, and there you'll have to pay for them to deliver the passport later on after the interview. The current rate is 24 local, and goes up depending on the area of Argentina (up to about 50 pesos I think). If you ask them to hold the passport there, what they do is find the office closest to where you're staying and they'll have it there for you to pick up (instead of delivering to your home address).
You'll head to a larger building nearly straight ahead. There you'll enter and find yourself facing another security booth. Basically tell the guard inside that you're there for a visa interview. You'll head to your left and through a door that the guard clicks open for you.
Once inside, you'll see lots of seats and on the wall in front of you there will be various windows. On the left side are the visa interview booths, starting with numbers 5 and ending with number 11. Numbers 5 and 6 are blue (immigration visas) and numbers 7 through 11 are tourist/non-immigration. Numbers 12 and 13 are cashier's booths, and 14-17 are for consular affairs (assistance to Americans and other paperwork). The immigration interviews are normally held in booth 5, all the way to the left, which is more like a little cubbyhole than just a regular window.
Before entering the compound they'll give you a number. When you get into the waiting area, just take a seat and they'll call your number to turn in your original paperwork to a secretary. They'll ask you paper by paper what you need to turn in, just follow their lead. MAKE SURE THAT ALL YOUR DOCUMENTS ARE ORIGINALS OR CERTIFIED COPIES!!! They won't take regular copies and you'll fail the process right there!
Take a seat once again and they'll call your name. Once you enter booth number 5 ( I don't know why there are no booths 1-4?) the officer will start the process and ask the foreign spouse to be fingerprinted. There's a little box on the left side of the window with a green light shining out of it. First you have to put the left hand four fingers, then right hand four fingers, and then the two thumbs together. The officer will ask you about the paperwork, information about your spouse to verify the authenticity of the marriage. If the US spouse is present, make sure that they don't answer any questions directed to the foreign spouse, because the officer will get irritated (and less chance of a visa!). The foreign spouse will probably have to answer certain basic questions such as what the US spouse's name, birthday, and age are, as well as how did you meet. There may be more in depth questions if the officer suspects it to be a sham marriage, so try and be as honest and concise as possible. A little hand-holding might be in order to prove the validity of intimacy.
After the officer approves you, he'll give you the original paperwork back (make sure and check that you get all originals before the interview is over). He'll direct you to DHL outside. The officer will say up to a week to process the visa, but what actually happens is the fingerprints are sent to the US to do a quick background check (Adam Walsh act), which takes about 24-48 to complete if there are no complications. You can probably pick up the passport in two days (or the next day in the afternoon), but you'll have to push for it to happen.
The officer will send you on your way, just head outside to the little building on the right (DHL), give them your name, address, or where you'd like to pick up your passport. You'll have to pay a fee even if you want to pick it up at the office, but it's a small price to pay for getting the passport quickly.
Hope this helps everyone who applies at the Buenos Aires embassy! Good luck to all!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #2510