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| Argentina |  Review on September 18, 2020: |
peony
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My interview was yesterday, September 17th, 2020.
I arrived at the embassy at 10:10 (my appointment was at 10:30), the person on window 1 told me to wait, he'll call me when it's time. He called me by name and let me in.
As usual, you cannot take any electronics or liquids. They do have some hand sanitizer dispensers inside of the building.
Went through security, and then straight to the main building where interviews are made.
They called me to window 6, and asked me the required documents one by one. She put everything in a green folder, that I had no access to. (I guess this is how they do it now, with the pandemic and all).
She asked me for the vaccine record the Dr. gave me at my medical (the two-sheet paper the Dr. gives you.) I was very glad I took it with me even if they didn't require it in the embassy instructions, so I was able to provide it.
Two things came up at this point that made me worry a little:
-> The pictures:
- I had three sets of 5x5cm pictures.
- One set, I had a faint red line on my nose that was made by the face mask I was wearing seconds before it was taken, so she asked me for a different picture, just in case.
- Another set was kinda passable.
- And the third set of pictures was a year old, so she wouldn't take it. They require the pictures to be at most 6 months old.
So she took the first two and let the consul make the final decision.
So I guess I recommend to take more sets of pictures than neccessary, really good pictures, and check they follow the proper guidelines on their website.
-> Tax transcripts / returns
- The lady asked me to either give her my husband's Tax Transcript or any W-2s, since they only had his Tax Return (Form 1040) on file with no W-2s.
- But we have no Tax Transcript available since my husband paper filed his tax return this year (2019 taxes). With the pandemic, they stopped processing paper filed returns for MONTHS, and only recently they began to process them again, but this meant his Tax Transcript is not available yet.
- And also we don't have a W-2 since he wasn't working for an employer last year, and he was living in Argentina with me during 2019.
- She then told me to explain this to the consul.
In the end, I didn't have to explain it to the consul. I believe it's because he had access to the full information of our case.
I went back to my seat, and I waited to be called for the interview at window 5.
The interview was in Spanish, except for two questions that were made in English. He didn't asked me to choose a language, but he did ask the person interviewed before me.
Now that I'm writing the questions down, I feel like I was asked many more questions than other reviewers! But it must vary case by case, who knows.
If there are repeated questions it's because they were asked multiple times. There might have been a couple more questions, but this is all I remember.
First fingerprints, then I took an oath, and then the interview began.
- Who is petitioning you?
- What's his name?
- Is this your first marriage?
- Is this his first marriage?
- Have you ever been to America?
- Every time you entered America, you did so with a visa?
- Did you ever overstay your allowed time in America?
- Did you ever work in America?
- Have you ever lived in another country, besides Argentina?
- Do you have any other citizenship?
- Who is [my husband's mom, household member on the form I-864A]?
- Did you meet her in person?
- How did you meet your husband?
I wanted to tell a concise version of our love story, but during the interview I was so nervous I blurted out "On the internet." and nothing else, haha.
- When did you meet in person?
- When did you get married?
- What do you do for work currently?
- So, you said this is your first marriage?
- And it's your husband's first marriage?
- Suddenly, in English: "Do you speak English?"
It caught me off guard so I blurted out "SÃ!" in Spanish, haha.
- In English: "What does he do for work?"
I replied in English this time. And after that the interview went back to Spanish.
- If your visa is granted, what would you do for work in America?
- Where do you intend to live in America? Which state?
- Is your husband an American citizen by birth or was he naturalized?
- Do you have any proof to show me that he is a citizen by birth, like a copy of his passport?
I gave him my husband's birth certificate, but I did take with me a full copy of my husband's passport just in case, but didn't present it.
- So you said this is your first marriage? And your husband's first marriage as well?
- Did you ever have trouble with the law/police? (can't remember the exact wording)
No.
- Never?
Never.
- Nor here nor in another country?
I kinda chuckled and said again, "no." feeling like a goody two shoes.
- So you've been married for less than two years, correct?
I explained that no, it was two years and three months. And as I was saying this he began to ask "In which month of 2018 did you get married?" so we both ended up talking at the same time and it was awkward, haha. But I replied which month, and he said "okay."
He had to void my tourist visa, and he explained I cannot have a tourist visa and an immigration visa at the same time.
Then he began explaining that in America, going to the police for domestic violence will not be detrimental to my legal status in the US, and gave me two sheets of information about this subject.
And then he said that of course this means I was approved! Then gave me another sheet with information about the last fee we have to pay before traveling to America (the fee required for the issuance of the "Green Card"), and gave me my Alien Registration Number and explained everything in more detail.
A little note: At window 6, I presented a printout of my digitally signed birth certificate (partida de nacimiento) which is what I uploaded to CEAC, and forwarded the Buenos Aires City Goverment official email where they mailed me my BC (the embassy will request this a few days before the interview.) But I also took with me and presented an original physical copy of my birth certificate my mom found. At one point during the interview, the consul saw only the physical birth certificate, and told me since this is not what they had on file, I had to go back home and scan it, upload it to CEAC and let them know. So I was almost got sent home "empty handed", with no approval. But then he realized I also gave them the one they had on file, and sent the proper email two days before, so that's the one that counted, so I didn't have to scan the superfluous one I gave them that day after all.
He told me they'll contact me, probably next week, about picking up my passport in person at the embassy itself, since they're short-staffed because of the pandemic.
All in all, everyone was very nice, I was very nervous, I was a little awkward, but it went well!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #28579