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| Warsaw, Poland |  Review on May 13, 2008: |
Alex and Ania
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Note: I'm paraphrasing comments made by my fiancee, who was the interviewee.
Ania says that she liked the atmosphere at the U.S. embassy, Warsaw. The appointment was scheduled for 8:45 am. We were confused about the time, since her paperwork had two times listed, 8:45 and 9:30 am. We assumed that she should arrive at the earlier time.
Ania arrived at the embassy at 8:30 and waited in line about 15 minutes to get through security checkpoint. Upon entry, she had to present her bag for inspection and hand over her cell phone for the duration of the visit. She then proceeded to the consular section where she waited an additional 20 minutes, paid the fees and handed over visa forms, medical test results, photographs and police documentation to the clerks.
After an hour, she was called by an official who took her fingerprints and gave her a receipt for fees. She waited 45 minutes until she was called by the consular officer that was adjudicating the K-1 application.
The interview was brief. Ania was sworn in. She told the consul that she spoke English, and that so the interview proceeded in English. The consul asked several questions such as:
"Have you ever had problems with the law?"
"Have you ever been married?"
"Do you have children?"
That was essentially the whole of the interview. Ania asked the consular officer if she wanted to see other documentation in support of the relationship, etc. The officer said that she was satisfied with what she had already seen.
The consul then told Ania that she should receive the visa within five business days. She then received an information sheet and the interview was over. The interview took less than 15 minutes.
From talking with Ania, I got the impression that the embassy staff were professional, competent and courteous.
We had some minor issues leading up to the interview that were resolved without much drama. There were some minor problems with the information packet that Ania received from the embassy (packet 3). The appointment date was almost illegible, and two appointment times were presented. Two pages of instructions were omitted (these pages contained the contact information for the labs that performed the medical tests in Warsaw.) We received the information after contacting the embassy by e-mail (turn around for e-mail information requests is 8-10 business days, and talking to someone by phone costs 5 PLN/minute (about $2.50/minute).
Some of the instructions were somewhat confusing as well, but we apparently got that right.
Another aside, the consul was apparently pleased with our paperwork and mentioned that she wished that other applicants were that organized/thorough. Presumably, this accounted for the brevity of the interview. I think I can credit the advice that I received on VJ for that 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #2864