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| Chile |  Review on April 5, 2021: |
Tplatt80
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Medical Exam: This was the hardest and probably most confusing part of the whole process to be honest. There is a general lack of information about what to expect so I will write our process. There is only one doctor in all of Chile who can complete this. Considering how long Chile is, it is quite a pain. Luckily she lives in the region of ValparaÃso, but I truly feel bad for people from Arica or Punta Arenas who need to go through with this. The doctor was never rude, but the lack of information he provided and the attitude he had didn't give us much faith in him helping us if their was a hiccup, so I want to go in to detail about the process we had to do.
We first contacted the doctor about 1.5 months before our interview to which he replied that we are scheduling too soon and we should call back in March. We called again on March 1st and the doctor was more accomodating, but didnt explain any of the process to us. He simply told us to tell him a date that we would come in for him to see us. He is available daily from 1pm-6pm so we scheduled for 1pm on a friday and he told us just to call him when we were outside. He didn't explain anything about what to expect or to bring. Using the .gov website provided by the embassy we brought all the documents that we thought we might need. On the first visit the doctor talked to my wife and sent her off to have some exams, she didn't yet need any of the photos or paperwork that we had brought. He told her that she would need to contact the embassy to get the paperwork for the exam for when she comes back (this is the paperwork that he, the doctor, has to fill out... but a simple email to the embassy and they provided my wife with this.) My wife had to have a urine analysis and one vaccination. At the end of the day the exams cost about $100.000 CLP seperate of the $120.000 that we had to pay to the doctor. My wife could not find all of her vaccination records but the doctor is knowledgeable and relaxed about the vaccines you must get. The doctor provides you with the address of the clinic to go to which is about 10 minutes away walking next to the Plaza Italia. We got to the doctors right at 1pm when he opened and luckily could schedule the other exams on the same day. It takes about 1 week to get the results. We called the doctor the day before we went to get the results so that we could have the exam on the same day as we got the results. When we arrived we called him to say we were outside. He had forgotten that we were coming, so my wife had to be firm about insisting that she had an appointment. During the exam the doctor just did the typical things you would expect from a physical and asked about her family medical history. He then informed her that the results would be ready next week (we went on a friday) and that we would need to come back to get them before the interview. We could have gone back the day before the interview but due the COVID restrictions changing daily and the doctor not seeming too structured we went to Santiago to get the results as soon as they were ready. In total we had to go to the doctor a total of 4 times in the span of 1.5 - 2 weeks. We suggest that you be firm with the doctor about getting everything done as soon as possible. Especially if you are doing this process while Chile has COVID lockdowns that could change day to day. The doctor didn't use any thing that involved the internet whatsoever so the odds of him helping with you getting a Permiso to go to Santiago for an appointment seemed slim.
EMBASSY/INTERVIEW: This was pretty straight forward. Through the whole process I had sent emails to the embassy asking specific questions about the chilean documents they accept and about the interview process and they always responded very quickly and cordially. I was very surprised by this service. You will have to park a few blocks away from the embassy and walk to the interview. If your interview is during COVID lockdown the embassy informed me that getting a Permiso to go to the interview "is a problem we would need to resolve with the chilean authorities". But fortunately our interview was the day before Santiago was put in to lockdown. My wife had her interview in the morning and arrived 15 minutes before as instructed. Only the interviewee is allowed to enter. From entering to exiting the embassy the whole process took a little less than an hour. Once inside it is similar to going to a bank as far as the look of the interview area and the other reviews you can find on this website. My wife brought all of the paperwork she could imagine. They asked her who was the petitioner and who was the sponsor. When was the last time we saw each other and then the officer said she had good news for her and that her visa was approved! That was the whole interview. Despite this, we don't suggest going in to the interview thinking that it will be easy. We are sure that the officer looks at some sort of summary of your information before sitting down with you because with my wife and other interviewees that were there she seemed to hone in on any part of the application that would need clarification. (Example, I had been visiting my wife as a tourist for 5 months before the interview but I claimed on the application that I was living in the USA and Also she asked my wife about the cosponsor. My wife answered honestly to these and there was no problem. To another interviewee, the first and only question was about something that required the person to reschedule the interview due to lack of documentation.) Before my wife left they informed her about some of her rights as an immigrant and when do expect to pick up her passport. The interview was on a friday and 3 business days later the visa was available to pick up in the nearest DHL Office to us.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #29436