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| Switzerland |  Review on April 29, 2009: |
donandjacky
Rating:  | Review Topic: Direct Consular Filing
My (USC) husband had to file I-130 in person at the US Embassy in Bern, Switzerland. We got married on 6/24/06 and filed I-130 on 6/27/06 in Bern. It was a fairly fast process;
Our appointment was at 9:30am and we got there 15 minutes early. They told us to wait in line outside the Embassy until we're given a number. Half an hour later we got to go in. The security gards were rather unfriendly to both of us and we were told that we were late for our appointment (Hello? You made us wait outside in line??!!) Anyway, we were told to take a seat and wait. After about 5 minutes one of the ladies working there came up to us and asked us what exactly we were wanting to file today - we had given here the I-130 outside in exchange for Q-number - but she didn't seem to know what I-130 was! After being sent to another part of the Embassy and back again, we finally got to the right lady who looked at our I-130 as well as the I-864 (Affidavit of Support that my hubby had to bring so he could sign it and have it notarized as he won't be here when I have my visa interview). We were told that everything looked good, to please pay the fee ($190)and wait until they call my husband for his "interview".
The "interview" was really short and is nothing to worry about! They asked him:
How did you met?
How many brothers and sisters does your wife have?
If he had met my family yet?
What our wedding was like?
And when I intended to move to theStates?
That was it! We were approved right there and I was given the information package (I already had the info package - I requested it when I called to make our I-130 apointment so I could go ahead and get all the apropriate documents ahead of time).
Visa (CR-1) interview:
I got the the Emabssy at 10:45am (my appointment was for 11am) and got in line, there were 5 other people waiting outside... right away the security guard came up to me and asked to see my passport and tried to find me on her list... but I wasn't on it! Thank God I had my appointment letter with me.... One of the women working at the Embassy came up to me and asked me for my documents.... I told her that I i.e. my husband had already submitted my form (I-130) She was a bit suprised and again, nobody seemed to know about the DCF process. I gave her my cover letter that I wrote to the Embassy when I submitted the Visa Application and she still didn't understand... She went away with it, came back 5 minutes later and told me I was in the wrong line (again, I was told to stand in line - but don't argue with them!) I was escorted past all the people waiting, through security check and into the building. The security guard gave me a ticket, told me to slip it under window 6 and to sit down. I didnt have to wait long, maybe 5 minutes and was called to window 6. The officer, a lady, looked through all my documents and asked me some questions (mainly about a name change I had when I was 11). After that I had to pay the fee and wait again - this time about 40 minutes. I was then called to window 4 for the interview itself with a diffrent officer. He asked me:
Where am I going to live in the US?
When did we meet?
When did we get married?
When am I intending on going over to the States?
After answering those few questions, he said; looks good to me.. we got everything here.. do you want us to mail you the visa or are you picking it up? (they don't do same day service anymore) I asked for it to be mailed and that was that.
DCF in Switzerland was a very pleasent experience - it took us exactly 1 month start to finish; We filed I-130 on June 27th and the visa issue date was July 27th, 2006!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4307