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| Cambodia |  Review on November 7, 2019: |
Brian74
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We had our interview at the USA embassy in Phnom Penh. I attended with my fiancee. We arrived at about 9:00 am for our 9:30 am appointment. We had to wait until 9:20 am before they would allow us to queue up for a 9:30 appointment.
At the window, before they let you into the embassy they will verify that you have an appointment. We just had to give them our passports; they did not ask for the interview letter or the DS-160 conformation page.
Once inside, you will need to go through security. You must have a national ID card or drivers license in addition to your passport. Your ID card will be left with security. You cannot bring any bags inside the embassy with you - they will remain with security, as will your cell phone. We had to remove all of our paperwork from our file folder and carry it that way.
Once through the security checkpoint, you enter the next building and go through security again. However, you don't leave any items at this checkpoint. Right past this checkpoint is the visa interview/waiting room.
I found the Khemi security at all 3 checkpoints to be friendly and professional.
For immigrant visas, you go to window 7 to get a number; You'll also have to show your passport(s). When your number is called, you'll hand in all of your documentation. Your number will then be called a second time for fingerprints and then finally a 3rd time for the actual interview.
We where the last ones to be interviewed, and my fiancee was getting increasingly nervous, as the CO (there was only one doing K1 visa interviews) was giving everyone a pretty hard time. When our turn came, she was so nervous she was trembling a bit - and the interview hadn't even started yet.
My fiancee speaks English at about a 90% level. However, she was so nervous she had trouble getting her answers out. The CO eventually called over a translator, and that did seem to help.
The questions:
1) How did you meet for the first time?
Note: She didn't really like how we met; or acted like she didn't.
2) How did you afford to travel to Bangkok to meet him for the first time?
3) What sort of work have you done since you graduated university?
4) Why was your 2015 visa for the USA rejected? This was a tourist visa and she could not demonstrate that she had strong ties to Cambodia.
5) What will you do in the USA for work?
Those where all of the questions, but due to how nervous she was - she had started stuttering, it took a bit to get through them.
The CO was a bit harsh to my finance, but very polite to me.
Questions for me:
1) What are your wedding plans?
2) Do you think you've spent enough time together? Our total face time was about 4 weeks. At this point I realized she had not really looked at the evidence packet I put together, as she didn't realize we had just met again in person 3 months ago for a vacation to Thailand. She made a note of that in the computer.
3) Are you OK with all of this? No concerns?
That was all she asked me.
She then handed us the blue pick up slip for the visa. My fiancee was a bit shocked; she seemed to think the interview was going badly, but I wasn't surprised. I don't think my fiancee realized that the CO is looking for reasons to say no.
Of the other interviews before us:
One was delayed because she forgot her original birth certificate. Another one the CO grilled them pretty harshly - she didn't speak English and her fiance, who attended with her spoke no Khemi. The CO didn't like that. They also met via her family in the USA, and she didn't like that either. They also had no call logs or chat logs in their evidence packet because they thought they could bring their phones to the interview. The CO wasn't amused. However, she approved them and the guy was clearly shocked - he sounded like he expected a denial at that point. The CO asked them at least 20 questions, maybe more.
I could not hear the questions or results of the other interviews, as they where too far away from me.
All in all, it went how I expected, though I didn't quite expect them to give my fiancee such a hard time. The CO attitude towards me was quite different; friendly and joking.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #27438