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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 16, 2009: |
darkchilde794
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I was scheduled for my K1 visa interview on November 13 2009. My fiance and I arrived at about 6:30 in the morning on our interview date. We brought everything we could fit in a huge accordian folder, which included the P4 letter, P3 letter, multiple copies of DS-230, DS-160 + receipt, DS-156 and DS 156K, 2 passport pictures (with my name printed in the back), police clearance, sealed medical, I-134 with supporting documents (1040, bank letter, employer letter), my current and past passports, most current fiance/fiancee letter of intent and a whole plethora of other documents which I felt I needed to bring... just in case!
Of all my arsenal of paperwork, I only needed/had to submit the passport pictures, passport, letter of intent, sealed medical, and I-134 with supporting documents. As I had received the latest version of packet 3, I had submitted all the necessary forms to the consulate, which they used for my interview.
Around 7:45 am, the embassy doors opened and we were allowed to enter. My fiance and I showed our identification as well as our interview letter. After checking our passports, guard had asked what our relationship was, and though I was tempted to say, "my twin", I resisted and told him "fiance". We went through security smoothly as we only brought our paperwork, money and hotel key card to the interview.
We were given letter "A" and were told to wait in a small waiting area, before being brought up to the main consulate floor. Shortly after 8:30, my name was called and we proceeded to a booth managed by a female consul who began the initial processing of my paperwork. As I had changed status since submitting the necessary forms back in August, I had offered her the new set of documents I had brought with me. She declined, and instead edited my documents with me, making sure that I corrected and verified the information I had previously written on the forms. After retrieving my passport, pictures, sealed medical, I-134, fiancee/fiance letter of intent and police clearance, she asked us to proceed to the cashier and to return to her booth, after doing so.
My fiance and I brought the exact amount of money for the interview, which was a good since the cashier had no change that early in the day. She processed our payment, bade us congratulations and handed to me a two receipts (one copy for myself and one to take to the consul).
My fiance and I returned to the booth where the female consul worked on my papers and waited for her. When she returned, we handed her the receipt and she proceeded to take my finger prints. As my fingers are perpetually dry, she had a hard time getting a clear set of prints on me and had to repeat the fingerpinting a couple of times. Then, she asked us to return to the main waiting area to be called again for the actual interview.
A few minutes passed before our name was called and again, we were asked to return to one of the teller booth. A very nice man greeted us and asked us to swear to oath to tell the truth during the interview process.
He asked me how my fiance and I met and I explained the circumstance of our meeting. He asked my fiance what he did for a living, which my fiance responded to. He asked me what I got my bachelor's degree on and what I did after graduating from UMBC back in 2007. He was tinkering around the computer and told me that I had to get re-printed, as my prints did not scan right. After several more instances of rescanning my fingers, he commented that my prints appear to be someone who spends quite some time in front of a campfire!
While trying to get me printed, he asked us how long we waited for our interview. I told him that it was a little under 4 months, and he said that it didn't seem too horrible. I agreed, saying that the worse part is not really knowing what to do, and that I would be happy to wait just as long as I knew I had a date. The consul seemed to agree as well.
Finally, he got a satisfactory set of prints and asked my fiance and I to meet him in a more private booth. As I went to school in Maryland, he inquired about my previous F1 status and why I chose MD to go to school to. He asked me what I was planning to do with my current Canadian residency status as I can't be both a resident of the US and Canada. I got worried that holding a Canadian PR would affect my visa, and he said that it will have no affter whatsoever.
He didn't really ask more questions but commented that that my fiance and I have done quite a bit since we were together, from looking at the pictures from our original I-129F petition. I was warmed by his observation as he did take the time to look at our work. He was also pleased to know that my family and fiance's family know each other very well. He then asked me if I were excited about our move, and when our big date was.
My fiance said that we had planned to get married on Nov 25 as all our family members will be in town, surprising the consul quite a bit. The consul said that he will try his best to get my visa back as quickly as possible. He explained what will happen after the interview -- which includes cancelling any current visas I have of the US and replacing it with K1, which will remain active for 6 months or until I enter the US. Because my B1/B2 visa was in another passport, I gave that to him as well. He then handed me a sheet of paper, made very sure that I had taken down my tracking number from my xpresspost envelope. Afterwards, he bade us goodbye and wished us a happy wedding.
Leaving the booth, we were greeted by a round of congratulations and merry wishes from other K1 applicants still waiting to be interviewed. Both my fiance and I were extremely happy and left the building shortly after 9:30.
I definitely had a wonderful interview experience in Montreal. I have had previous dealings with other American consuls in my home country, Philippines, and have never had any who were very warm, kind and considerate. I felt extremely intimidated as I walked towards the booth during the initial process. But the consuls were very professional, putting my nerves at ease. I had this feeling that they seem to really care that I get my visa approved, that they were happy to see that both my fiance and I were there, and that the interview consul was very pleased at the strong relationship my fiance and I exhibited.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5238