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| Bogota, Colombia |  Review on October 3, 2008: |
E-Man
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Carmen and I arrived at the embassy at 6:15 and stood in line 3 until about 6:50. During that wait they checked for the interview letter and looked at the passport. They also gave us green stickers to signify the K visa. We then waited in area 40 for the woman to check the paperwork and sign us in. She gave us a file to put the paperwork in order. Make sure to have the DS 230 Part 1 (even though the appointment letter does not mention it).
To have the paperwork signed in more quickly we sat on the stone benches as close to the sign 40 and table as we could. Even though we were close to the first people that got signed in we were one of the last to be called for the intial paperwork to be checked (Window 30)(about 11:30 - we were waiting close to 3.5 hours to be called to the window). They looked like they picked the order of people by random. Once Carmen went to this window the woman was asking Carmen how we met, how long we have known each other, how many times I had visited her, etc. It really looked like they do alot of the initial screening there. We then waited another 30 minutes for her to get the finger prints (window 2). We were finally interviewed at 12:30 at window 4. The lady was nice. Those that went to window 3 looked like they had a more difficult time. The interview took 5 only minutes. They simply asked how met asked and to see one photo. I guess the initial screener in window 30 must have put some notes in the file. We were finally approved for the Visa but needed to get a new passport since the passport was a little damaged. She basically told us that we were approved but needed to get a new passport. If we could return by 4:00PM with a new passport we didn't have to reschedule a new interview. We basically had to take a taxi to an area about 25 minutes away and get new passport photos and a new passport. This was plain torture since our flight was that night and we had to try to get a new passport and get back to the embassy in 2.5 hours. The passport center was very slow since the system went down a few times and there were about a 150 people ahead of us. We were praying to god that we could get the passport ASAP. It was very stressful since we didn't have the time and money to set up another interview and for Carmen to return to Bogota again. By 3:15 (we waited for about 2.5 hours to get the passport) we got the passport. We took a taxi and told the taxi driver to drive as fast as he could (which he did) and we made it back to the embassy at 3:45. The security guy would not let us in. After arguing and showing the paperwork, he let Carmen in. Most of the windows were closed. Finally she found an open window for them to prepare the Visa and she paid the Domesa.
The helpful tips are as follows:
1) have your paperwork in order
2) make sure to have a copy of the DS-230
3) Have the petitioner attend the interview since it minimizes the questions that are asked to the beneficiary.
4) getting there early did not help.
5) If you come as a couple, you should look like a couple since the people that are doing the interviews are watching the people that are waiting.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #3401