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| Dublin, Ireland |  Review on March 27, 2021: |
Ben and Jen
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I am now the proud bearer of a piece of paper that says “Congratulations! Your immigrant visa has been approved.†I had my interview in the Dublin embassy on March 26th, 2021 and here’s how it went:
Once inside you take off your belt, jacket, and empty your pockets. You put electronics, liquids and coins in a tray, and walk through a metal detector. It’s just like a normal airport routine. Then you have to put your phone and liquids in a lock box. The lock boxes are quite small, but you’re not supposed to bring any other electronics to the embassy so it makes sense. The guards give you a visitor’s lanyard to wear and you take the key to your lock box with you.
Once you walk across the courtyard, the guard at the main building will ask you what you are there for, and direct you to the right hand side for K1 visas. I’d been to the embassy a few times before for visas, but this time it looked so different! The room was completely empty, I was the only person in the section! The last few times I was there it was so busy, with nervous faces everywhere, and you could hear the distant voices of people being interviewed. This time you could hear a pin drop! Since there was no queue, I went straight to the front of the marked line and waited.
After a few minutes I was called to window 4 to submit my documents. The woman was very pleasant and made me feel at ease. She took the essential documents like police certificates, birth certificates, passport, and a passport photo (she took one photo, scanned it and gave it back). I was told to sit down and wait. While I was sitting I could see the Consular Officer at the interview window reviewing my file and the documents that I had just given to the clerk. After five minutes I was called back to the clerk’s window and asked for the I-134 and tax returns. I think she had forgotten to ask for them the first time. I sat back down and was called by the CO for my interview another five minutes later.
After we greeted each other, the CO asked me to raise my hand and take an oath that everything I was going to say would be true and faithful. Then he asked me the following questions:
1) Who is your fiancée and how did you meet?
2) When and how did you know that you wanted to marry her?
3) What is her job?
4) Do you have any wedding plans?
5) Do you intend to work when you arrive in the US?
6) Did you read about your rights as an immigrant to the US?
While I answered the questions he was nodding and typing quickly. I think he was making a written transcript of everything that I said. When I finished answering all his questions he said “It is my honour and privilege to recommend you for a K1 visa approvalâ€. The CO didn’t ask for any updated proof – no photos, correspondence, no updated letter of intent to marry, or chat logs. We had included proof of meeting within 2 years in our initial I-129F application, so he didn’t ask for that either.
Then he asked if I was part of the Milligan lawsuit (I am) and explained that my visa will be issued within 10 working days, but there could be some delay because of Covid19. He then asked me some questions to see if I qualified for a National Interest Exemption (NIE). He asked if I had ever served in the military, if I were the parent of a US citizen, or had qualifying medical grounds. Finally he explained that due to proclamations still in place, that I would have to quarantine in another country not subject to proclamations for 14 days before entering the US, and if I tried to enter the US directly from Ireland or without spending the 14 days, that I would be turned away at the border. He asked if I knew about this and what my plans were.
He gave me a piece of paper that said congratulations and we said goodbye to one another. He was a very nice guy, made me feel relaxed throughout, and explained everything very clearly and professionally to me. It took 50 minutes from the time I entered the embassy to leaving; which might seem long, but is nothing compared to the 558 days we’ve waited for that moment since submitting our I-129F. Overall, I had a great experience at the embassy and I am thankful to the staff for their help and so grateful for the result. There’s no better feeling than knowing I’ll be reunited with the person I love very soon! =)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #29406