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| Bogota, Colombia |  Review on December 6, 2021: |
MCOBAQ
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Overall a professional and positive experience at the US Embassy for my fiancé’s K-1 visa interview. We arrived at the visa applicant entrance a few minutes before the appointment time and an attendant checked his passport and appointment sticker (which had been placed on his passport at the fingerprint appointment). I double checked that I was allowed in as the US citizen petitioner, and she confirmed that I was. We waited in a line specifically for K-1 visa and immigrant visa applicants (next to us were lines for non-immigrant visas and for US citizen services) for a few minutes. During this time we were given a laminated card that listed the order in which they wanted the applicant to have the documents ready. The line moved along through security at a reasonable pace, but there was plenty of time to get the documents ready.
Once inside (you’re inside the door but it’s kind of an outdoor environment protected from the sun but open to the elements - and beware of any birds hanging out on the beams above you…they might just leave you a present!) there are signs directing you to wash your hands - not everyone complies.
The first window you come to is really just to confirm the type of visa you’re applying for and to review your documents. I stood a couple of feet behind my fiancé as he spoke with the officer and handed over documents. Once everything was in the proper order, we were directed to a waiting area for the immigrant visa officers.
We waited roughly 20-30 minutes until my fiancé’s name was called. He stepped up to the window and spoke with the officer via the phone, and again I stood a couple of feet behind him to indicate I was there with him but that I did not want to intrude. While I could not hear the questions, I could tell from my fiancé’s answers that they were rather straightforward questions about how we met, how many times I’d visited, if we both spoke the same languages, what type of work we both did, etc. The officer asked where I was at the moment, because my fiancé pointed to me over his shoulder. This lead to a polite smile and wave between me and the officer. Many documents were passed to the officer and quickly reviewed and passed back to my fiancé, including the evidence of ongoing relationship since the I-129F had been filed. I had given my fiancé the I-134 Affidavit of Support and many more financial documents than the instruction packet asked for, and he handed over all of that to the officer - and he kept it all. In the end, the officer tucked my fiancé’s passport into a file folder (at this point I knew we were getting good news) and told him he’d been approved and would received the passport with the visa via DHL in about 2 weeks.
All together, we were at the embassy for 2 hours. The actual interview lasted about 5-10 minutes.
We stayed at the Hyatt Place hotel, which was about an 8-10 minute walk down the street from the embassy. The room was comfortable and perfectly clean, breakfast was included each morning, and the service was friendly.
(updated on December 9, 2021)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #30472