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| Hong Kong, China |  Review on October 31, 2023: |
Bao & Bei
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
A good and straight forward experience overall. Arrived at 8.45 for a 9am appointment. Security was straight forward, just remember the limitations on the bag size and other non-allowed items. Switched off phone, went through screening, then up to the second floor into the Immigrant Visa Unit.
Wait my turn to be called up to counter 3 for initial document collection. The following original documents were collected:
Passport, Marriage Certificate, Divorce certificate, Birth Certificate, Criminal Records from Italy, 2x2 picture.
Questions asked at this stage were:
-Who is petitioning me?
-Is this my first marriage, is it my wife's first marriage?
-How long have I been living in Hong Kong?
-Was I born in Italy?
-Why does Italy have two different criminal records?
-What's my HK contact number.
I was handed a leaflet about Domestic Violence and asked to take a seat.
About 20 mins later I got called up to the next window: friendly consular officer. First thing was the oath sworn, then fingerprints. Questions asked were:
-Who is petitioning me?
-When did we get married?
-Is it my first marriage? Is it my wife's first marriage?
-Do we have any kids?
-Anywhere I lived for longer than 12 months other than Italy and Hong Kong?
-How long did I previously live in the U.S. for?
-What do I do for a living?
Officer typed the answers as I was giving them, then said your visa is approved and cancelled my crew and tourist visas. Asked if I can get the passport back earlier than 7 business days as I need it for work, was told it should be ok.
Exit the consulate at 9.45. Actual time at counters: 10 mins total. Very good experience and very straight forward process. Our I-864 income was below the threshold but we had given proof of assets at NVC stage; was NOT asked about it nor requested updated bank statements.
That being said, 3 out of 4 applicants ahead of me where given either blue or white slips, either because of missing documents or lack of medical reports. Therefore, make sure you have all the needed docs and do everything ahead of time. As of now, medical reports take 2 weeks to be processed.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #32663