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| Islamabad, Pakistan |  Review on November 27, 2008: |
dhobee
Rating:  | Review Topic: K3 Visa
Best to get to the Convention Center area by 6:00.
My husband went with me, which made life much easier for me since he carried the "burden of evidence"  throughout. I wear a hijab and an abaya and had actually been told by some people (not on VJ though) that the CO is bound to use that against me.
Once we were inside the embassy, after fingerprinting, my husband and I were told to go to the waiting area and wait for my name to be called out. I was the third one they called for immigrant visa.
First Window: Took Rs. 11,330 (didn't have $ on me).
Second Window:
GUY: Who's here with you?
ME: My husband.
I called my husband.
GUY (to my husband): How are you, sir! When did you arrive?
HUSBAND: A year ago.
The guy rose his eyebrows at that.
GUY: What have you been doing here all this time?
My husband told him he's still working for his employer in the US.
The guy wrote this down on a yellow sticky and put it on a paper. We were sure things were going to go downhill from there.
Window Three:
American woman, looked like a high school teacher. VERY nice. My husband was standing next to me.
CO: Do you need a translator?
ME: No, I am good.
CO: And who is this standing next to you?
ME: My husband.
She said Hi to him and asked him to take a seat while she interviews me. He went back.
CO: How did you meet your husband?
Ours was a semi-arranged marriage, I told her the entire story.
CO: So when did you get married?
I told her.
CO: And what have you been doing since then?
ME: I've been working.
CO: How long has your husband been here?
I told her the long story of how my visa was taking forever and I was getting really depressed and my husband spoke to his boss about it and they let him return to Pakistan to wait for the visa and work from there. I showed her emails that his boss had written to him and others. The CO read through a couple of them and looked at the dates. I also showed her some of the recent emails where my husband wrote to his boss that he's expecting to be back by January'09 for a meeting.
CO: How many times did he visit you after your marriage?
ME: At least twice. I have his boarding passes.
I started to look for them, and couldn't find them!!!
CO: Don't worry about it.
CO: What does your husband like to do in free time?
ME: Well, he watches movies.
CO: Oh yeah, what kind of movies?
ME: Animations, basically.
CO: Does the like Japanese animations?
ME: I don't think I've heard of those, just the regular ones.
CO: What's his favorite?
ME: The Bee movie.
CO: Oh, my kids love it too.
She looked at her PC and looked a bit perplexed. That's when I got really nervous.
CO: Just a second, let me look at something here.
I was going crazy at this point. I was sure she has received some "signal" from her PC and they were going to throw me into AP because of a hit on my husband's name or mine, or because I spent sixteen years of my life in the Middle East.
CO: So are you excited about going to the US?
ME: YES! (I nearly shrieked)
CO: Have you ever been to the US before?
ME: No.
CO: Have you traveled outside Pakistan? (This was the question I feared the most)
ME: Well, I was born in _______ (a not-so-favorite Middle-Eastern country of the West).
CO: Yeah! I noticed.
ME: My dad worked there. I've also traveled to _____ (a country in Europe) for a workshop. I have certificates from the workshop if you want to see.
CO: No, I don't have to see them.
CO: Where is the rest of his family?
I told her.
CO: Okay, you can call your husband now.
I called him. I was still pretty sure she's going to tell us we have to wait for 6 weeks and the rest of the lie.
CO (to him): Are you excited to go back?
HUSBAND: Oh yes.
CO: Well, you'll get your passport back within 7-10 business days...
After that, all my senses just shut down. I plain stopped listening to her or looking at her. She asked my husband something about what he likes about Texas but I was jumping in my place. She had to wave and what not to get my attention to tell me about the courier and stuff but I knew all that already (from my friends on VJ)... I was just looking at my husband, waiting for him to re-confirm what I had heard the CO saying. He was smiling and that comforted me but I still had to be sure. I was just walking away but she called again to return my original documents to me and to give me a receipt of the visa fee I had paid... and now that I think about it, she looked a bit confused at my hysteria.
We were out of the embassy by 8:55.
The reason for my hysteria: We were on AP at the USCIS stage (ever heard of that?!?!) for TWENTY-SEVEN MONTHS. At so many points, we were just going to give up on the idea of living in the US but Alhamdulillah... we came out victorious. 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #3640