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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on January 14, 2022: |
ashoparkes
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My interview was scheduled for 8am on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022. I arrived at the embassy around 7:45-7:50 and was let in right away after they asked my appointment time (there was no one in line). I was asked to give my name and passport to the person at the podium. They put a sticker on the back of my passport and put two copies of a ticket number inside my passport (they didn't tell me this, and my glasses were so fogged up from the cold that I didn't realize that they had, but this number is what they use to call you up to the windows). They told me to my belongings in the bins for the airport-style security. I brought my small purse and an expandable folder for my documents. I had to remove all of my "technology" to put it in one of the small lockers they provide there. From what people had said previously, I thought it would just be my phone and wireless headphones that I needed to put in there. Turns out, all of my charging cords, vehicle keys/remotes also needed to go in there. Everything fit into the locker no problem, but keep this in mind when you decide what to bring with you. After I put everything in the locker, I collected my items and was directed to take the elevator to the first floor.
The room was set up with rows of chairs. I didn't notice the TV on the wall right away (it's on the same wall as the elevator). Once I noticed the TV I swapped seats so I could see it better. The infamous clock on the wall was working. I waited until my number was called (around 8:05?) (the TV makes a sound/tone whenever a new number is called, if you're stuck waiting a while it's great fun to watch everyone's heads whip up every time the tone goes off), and went to the initial window. The woman there was very nice, and asked for my passport and one copy of my ticket number, then two passport-style photos. She walked away briefly, then came back and began to confirm my contact information (my address had changed, so we updated that), and then confirmed my fiance's contact info also. The woman at my window confirmed my fiance's contact info my reading it off to me, but the one at the next window seemed to be quizzing the people that went up to that one, so might be worth having your petitioner's phone number and address written down for your reference if you don't know it already. She then asked me for the following documents: original birth certificate and copy, my criminal record check, confirmation of payment for the interview, i-134, a copy of my fiance's 2020 tax transcript, a copy of his birth certificate, and a copy of the biographical page of my passport. That was everything that she wanted from me, so she asked me to take a seat again and wait for my number to be called. Handing over the documents, fingerprinting, etc took maybe 5-10 minutes.
My number was called again to another window at around 8:45. The interviewer was also nice, it definitely felt more like a conversation than an interview. Her speaker wasn't working, so it made it a little difficult to hear what she was saying through the glass, and with the other interviews going on at the windows to either side of me. She asked:
- tell me about your fiance
- how did you meet your fiance (gaming; she asked what game, and then made a joke that she was going to start keeping a tally of how many people met online vs gaming and see who wins)
- when we met
- when we met in person
- tell me about your travels outside of Canada and the US in the last five years (there were quite a few trips, I definitely didn't list them off in chronological order. When I mentioned that I'd been on a cruise, she asked which cruise line. I didn't say more than the country and the year I was there, and after I listed them off, she asked if they were just for vacation, which they were).
She was typing throughout the entire conversation, which didn't last more than 5 minutes. After I was done answering, she told me that she was recommending my application for approval and to expect my passport and visa within 2-3 weeks. I got my passport back today (January 14th, 2022).
All in all, very quick and straightforward! I was definitely more anxious than I needed to be.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #30627