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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on February 23, 2006: |
mellie
Rating:  | Review Topic: Direct Consular Filing
Well... it was all very simple and straightforward really! Our appointment was at 8am, so we got there at about 7:15ish.... lol. You cant go up to the 10th floor until 7:30 (the elevator wont let you). Once you get up there, you sit in front of the door for about 10 minutes and wait till they open and then you go through round one of security. Then you sit in these chairs and wait until the 59th floor opens up. Go to the bathroom before you go up if you have to because there are no bathrooms on the consulate floor. Then they let groups of about 5-8 people go up at a time, and right after you get off the elevator you go through security again. If you have a cell phone or a camera with you, they take it and hold it until you are finished with your "interview." Then you go through a metal detector, very much like you were at an airport, and are directed to the consulate room. When you walk in, you walk straight ahead to the machine, push the "immigrant visa" button, and sit down and wait for your number to be called. We were number 001.  Hehehehehe.....
Anyways, it took Rose about 10 minutes before she was actually AT that window. Then the little screen said it was our turn. Now, having read stories about Rose, I was a little scared at first when I saw her. And I cant explain why, but I just KNEW it was here. She does look kinda scary.... but she is actually VERY sweet!!! As long as you have all the paperwork that you need, its all in order, have copies of everything underneath the original, and nothing is in plastic sleeves or binders when you go up there, you will be fine!! Make sure when you see her, your wearing your happy face!! Also, make sure that as soon as you sit down, you have your papers out, in hand, and ready to go. While your doing that if you have time, catch the view out the window in the back. BEAUT!!!
She called us up, and first we had to give her the I130 and I864 (thus sealing that we did NOT have to send it in before hand .. whew!) Then she took the rest of the documentation. Make sure its all in the exact order as it says on the instructions that it tells you on the sheet they send with the interview letter!! If not, she may send you back to your seat (it happened to the guy behind us, he was NOT happy, and then had to pick a new number and start all over again.) Then told us to go and pay the visa fees at another window, and then sit down and wait while she went through our paperwork. She would call us back and we would show her our reciept saying we paid and then she would let us know about the paperwork. So, my checking account took a US$570 wallop and we went and sat down. And we sat. And sat. And sat some more. And I was seriously starting to think that something was wrong when our number was called again. It took about 20 minutes in between the time that we sat down to when we were called again.
She said that everything was in order, filled out correctly, and that I didnt even NEED the cosponser paperwork that I had. Though she commended me for having it along just in case, because she said that you never know what might happen and you can NEVER be too prepared!! She then actually launched into about a 15 minute conversation with us about the teaching system in America and how it all works compared to the Australian system. She said she was just curious, wanted to know, and then wished us luck and sent us to sit down and wait to be called for our interview. She assured us she thought that there would be no problems. So we sat for about 5/10 minutes and we were called up to a WINDOW (I thought it would be all scary and across a desk or whatever for some reason) for our interview. First Scotts finerprints were scanned. Then he had to swear to the oath on the bottom of the second DS form that had to be signed. Then came the interview....
1. When were you married?
2. Where did you get married?
3. What type of work do you do sir?
4. And ma'am, what do you do?
He then said.. "Well, everything looks fine here. You can come pick your Visa up between 3:30 and 4 tomorrow afternoon."
Mellie: "Thats it?"
Consulate: "Yep, we will see you tomorrow."
Mellie: "So its approved?"
Consulate : "Yes, everything was perfect"
Mellie turns away stunned. :D
We left the building at 9:10am. And returned the next day to pick up our very expensive, well earned, hard to get sticker in Scotts passport.
As far as POE goes, we went through LA. We went through the American Citizen line, and when we handed him the big brown envelope, we were directed to some chairs in a waiting area. We were called up and the officer started going through our paperwork and told us to go get our luggage and then come back. We got our luggage, I went to the loo, (heehee) and then we went back. Scott had to sign a form, we were given some instructions on lifting conditions in two years, and then Scott was told "Welcome to America Sir. Your wife is beautiful and I wish the two of you the best of luck. You are a very great couple".
The end!!!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #432