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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on January 12, 2021: |
Cam & Elle
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My interview date was set for January 5th 2021 at 11.30am
I live in Sydney and was familiar with the area. If you are not the consulate is located on Martin place a short walk from the train station. It is currently under heavy constructions but there are signs everywhere with multiple entry points. the easiest way to enter is through the food court and make your way up. If in doubt ask reception, as I arrived later in the day the lift up to level 10 was unlocked so I went right up. Once you get out of the lifts there are signs to walk through to the security section of the consulate, it’s a corridor with a few twists and turns. I had arrived in the MLC building early after reading the reviews I thought I might be able to do the interview before my scheduled slot.
They asked me to come back at 11.15am (I believe due to COVID restrictions). My spouse was waiting downstairs the entire time so a long wait for her in this instance! when I arrived back up, they asked me to read a sign which asked if I had any symptoms or had been in any of the hotspots in the past 14 days, you can reply no to all if this does not impact you. They then ask you to walk down a set of stairs to the bathrooms to wash your hands.
Once my hands were washed you line up for the first desk and someone will take all the required documents for the interview, in my case it was cover sheet, payment confirmations, DS260 confirmation page, birth certificate, marriage license, police certificates, financial support documents, two 5x5 photos (write your full name on the back of each) and passport. I also had a large folder with other evidence but they do not require this to be sorted into a separate file. Once this had been sorted, they handed back a clear file with all the documents in the correct order (try to organize them before). There was nobody else in line when I arrived so I got quite lucky and this part was done in 5 minutes.
Next you go through airport style security, shoes off and all items out of your pockets. You go through a metal detector and then pick up any items at the other side. They then ask you to check in all electronics behind the counter into a small zip up bag and give you a number. I was able to take in my folder with additional evidence and my wallet. Once this is done you go out another door and they take you to an elevator which goes up to the main interview area.
As others have said you then take a number, from the machine you select what the purpose of the visit is on a screen and whether you are an American citizen this then spits out a little piece of paper with your number on it. There were 10 or so booths with officers performing interviews and chairs distanced 1.5 meters apart. Once you have your number you wait until you are called up to one of the booths so they can check all the documents and cross reference these to what have been uploaded online. They will take finger prints at this point, it is a small screen you press down on and is pretty straightforward. Once checked you sit back down, they will give you an orange laminated form to read which goes over some legislations relating to immigrating. You can listen to other interviews at this time, as others have said you can hear any other interviews going on.
Once called back up this will be when you do the Q&A portion of the interview. The interviewer will ask you to raise your right hand and take an oath that you will tell the truth. They will then give you a rundown of how the interview is structured. My interviewer was great, very friendly and cracked quite a few jokes while he was checking my documents against what had been submitted to CEAC. I was his last interview of the days so take this with a grain of salt, I didn’t hear any of the other officers joking around with the applicants. While he was checking my documents, he asked me to confirm who my petitioner was and who our joint sponsor was.
In terms of the questions asked:
1) Tell me about your relationship and how we met - with a few clarifying questions
2) Talk me through the first meeting what did you do?
3) What sort of trips have you been on together
4) Tell me about the wedding
5) When was the last time you saw your spouse (as I said she was waiting downstairs he asked why she hadn't attended with me but I think he was just being friendly as I said she had been waiting a while at that point because we arrived early)
6) What does she do for work
7) What did she study at university /what did I study
8) What I do for work and what I was planning to do in the states
9) Where are we going to live in the states
10) How many times I had been to America and in what capacity
11) What do her parents do for work and how many times I had met them (explained we had stayed with each other’s family’s multiple times)
12) How much her Mom made per year (joint sponsor it was on the forms but he wanted to hear this from me)
13) Where do we stay when we go to London (I had previous lived in London)
14) Does she have any pets and what are they called/what type of animal it was and the breed
15) What we had gotten each other for Christmas
16) Confirmation of our US address
17) what my plans were (timing wise) to enter the states and made sure I was aware the visa expires 6 months after the medical which I had already completed on the 18th of December (O’Connell street medical with Rosemary Aldous)
Overall quick answers were fine I rarely had to say more than one sentence to any of these and it was quite conversational. He did not ask for any of the additional proof I had with me (bank statements, tenancy contract, photos and copies of all important documents). I do recommend having a joint sponsor (we had enough in assets approx. 65k USD) but they want to see incomes. My wife is also a registered nurse and I feel this helped as its likely she will have a job within weeks of returning. I heard multiple applicants questioned heavily in terms of their finances and one person was asked to provide a joint sponsor (this can be done online after the interview so don’t stress if this happens to you or you have not arranged a joint sponsor) all assets need to be in joint accounts you both have access to if you wish to use assets to meet the requirements.
Once this section was done, he said I had been approved and I would receive my passport in the express post envelope I had provided. He then asked if I had any questions and said congratulations. The end of a 15-month process!!!
Overall, it was a positive experience no surprises after reading these reviews. after the interview I went downstairs to celebrate with my wife I will be coming into America in April after tying up some loose ends in Australia.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #28999