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| Ankara, Turkey |  Review on September 18, 2019: |
Nativityy
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My hubby's consulate experience took a total of 2.5 hours. He arrived there around 40 minutes before his interview and was called in almost immediately. He didn't bring any bags or electronics as instructed and had his confirmation letter and passport checked. It was crowded but there are separate counters serving green card applicants. Since the clock there was broken and no phones were allowed, I cannot say exactly how much he waited for his turn and how long the interview lasted, so I definitely recommend (not sure if it's allowed) bringing a non-digital watch if that stresses you out!
At one point he was finally called to the counter and handed civil documents, IRS transcripts, marriage book and the proof of our bona-fide relationship (note: as stated on here previously, get real photo prints) to a Turkish lady. It took more or less an hour for him to get called again, and many were not approved while he was waiting for reasons such as not having a w-2 copy (you need them if you or your joint sponsor filed taxes jointly).
When he was called again, the interviewer lady (she was American) asked which language he preferred, he said Turkish because he could be more confident but they later shifted to English to be more comfortable. Overall she was very nice and asked the usual questions we see on here like where we met and how he proposed and more personal ones according to your answers. Hubby said only the wait was the worst part.
She looked at the pictures but they had probably already looked at them in the back office (there were nearly 100 pics I chose with his family, my family, together with our friends, wedding and engagement parties as well as our trips together) so she gave them back without asking specific questions. By the way we had also brought our giant wedding album but they didn't want it. She asked for my paystubs after asking what my job was (I moved from Turkey a few months ago to establish domicile so had no previous income in the US).
She said our visa was approved and that was it. The case status was in administrative processing for 3 hours total before it was issued. Passport on hand 1 day after status said issued and 4 days after interview (2 business days).
My overall process in this journey took 18 months.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #27081