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|  Review on January 14, 2009: |
ontheedge
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I flew to mbj on Saturday, visited with his parents and my grandmother and my uncles in St. Elizabeth and then we drove up to Kingston on Sunday afternoon. We stayed at Christar Villas and planned to walk to the embassy, but it looked like a hike, so G drove up and parked at a makeshift lot right across the street. You pay $300 Jamaican and your car is pretty much safe. We got there at 7 a.m. There were two lines in opposite directions, both lines fed into the embassy entrance. After standing in the longer line for a few minutes, we realized this was the line for visitor visas and that the the opposite line was for family-based visa appointments. Don't listen to the chicks in the yellow shirts. The guys in the black shirts know more of what's going on. The women were telling us it was based only on appointment time.
We went through security and went on another line and handed one of the officers our appointment letter and went into the waiting area. We got into the waiting area at about 8 am for our 9 am appointment time. (G strongly believed that it was first-come first-served.) We ended up waiting until around 10:30 a.m. to get called to the first window. The lady verified the info and told us we'd be called back up again.
This long wait allowed us to hear some of the questions other couples and family visa applicants were being asked. The young blond woman with the attitude was there living up to her reputation. She asked people some pretty rude and intrusive questions. "Have you ever been arrested?" "Are you sure about that," "Do you plan on being in trouble with the law?" She turned down one man who couldn't remember the names of his step kids and told him to bring his wife back.
I prayed she wouldn't be our interviewer.
She also turned down a lot of people applying for fiance visas. She requested that the fiance come back with them. She also told many children to come back when DNA had been confirmed.
Many couples were asked to speak into a phone separately. One interracial couple brought their gorgeous baby with them. This still didn't seem to be enough proof of their commitment to each other for the blond B. She asked them many questions separately for at least 20 minutes. They had a huge wedding album and a screaming baby. They finally got approved.
**Please know that they are watching you before you even go up for the interview. The waiting area has a camera. They've probably already made up their minds before you get up to the window. So if you go in there and don't interact with each other (even if its out of nervousness) they will notice.
Our second call up to the window was by another agent. My prayers had been answered. The blond woman didn't have our fate in her hands.
Our agent asked very few questions, mostly of me. "When did you get divorced?" I told her five years ago and she also asked whether I was born in Jamaica. I told her I had been. She barely asked G any questions. When did you meet? How long have you known each other? She also asked for proof of our relationship. She barely looked at the album we slipped under the window.
She had a smile on her face the whole time. We didn't get asked any questions separately. We didn't even have to lift up the phone.
She congratulated him and sent him to the DHL desk.
He'll pick it up in Mobay in two weeks.
I was expecting them to ask for the second copy of the Police certificate but they didn't.
When do we get our originals back???
I think the experience varies based on which agent gets your case. It might not have been so easy if the blond woman had been our agent.
Good luck to everyone waiting for the interview.
Advice: Have a positive attitude and try not to show nervousness.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #3807