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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 20, 2009: |
Sam and Ben
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We stayed at Le Dauphin Centre-Ville the night before, which was a five minute walk to the Consulate. (If you don't care much about complimentary breakfast, the hotel is a great place to stay. Their morning breakfast selection is very lacking, however.) Ashenflowers and her fiance bumped into us in the lobby, and recognized us from our picture. Was neat running into people we knew from VJ.
Our interview experience was fantastic, despite the cold. Knowing that a fair few VJ members would be arriving, we left very early, and were there for 5:30am. We were the first in line, then Ashen and Arabella joined us at around 6am with their fiances. Chatting with them made the wait seem like nothing at all.
The doors opened at 7:30am, and we were given letter A. Be mindful of the items you're not allowed to bring in. We were sent down a tall flight of stairs (hard to navigate with numb toes) to the waiting room in front of the elevators. We weren't given a sheet saying what documents they would want to collect, so we just looked at the one Ashen was given and put aside what documents were needed. Do NOT wait until you are sitting down to organize your paperwork fully, especially if you are one of the first in there, as you won't have very much time.
It took only minutes before we were let into the elevator and up to the 19th floor to sit in another waiting room. We finished off whatever minimal organizing we had to do. Ashen (B) was called first to a window, then we were.
The woman asked for:
-Medical envelope (sealed)
-Original police clearance letter
-Original and copy of long-form birth certificate
-Colour copy of passport biographical page
-Passport photos
-I-134 and evidence of support
She saw that I had the confirmation page ready for the DS-160, but waved it away and said that she already had all of the forms I had sent in with the Packet 3. (I only sent in exactly as instructed, not extra forms/evidence.)
She then sent us to pay. We paid, then waited to be called back up. She gave us a copy of the receipt, took our envelope and said we'd be called shortly by either letter or my name for the interview itself.
We sat down, and barely a couple of minutes later, "Sam and Ben" were called to Booth 8. The funny thing was, nowhere on our forms did it state our names as that, we always used our full names. So, immediately, I kind of figured we would be interviewed by someone who knew their way around VJ.
The interviewer was incredibly pleasant. He greeted us when we entered the booth and offered for us to take off our coats. He then began talking a bit about VJ, about how wonderful a tool it is for people like us, and how they love that we help everyone stay organized. I gave a smile and asked if he was the "Director" we'd all heard rumour about, and he said yes, then told me his actual title, which I've since forgotten. He said he understood that a lot of people were impatient with the process (yes, he mentioned one VJer by name, saying he was looking forward to meeting her), but that he wanted everyone to know how hard they are working to clear out the backlog, working until 6pm on weekdays and working weekends too. I told them we understand how hard they're working to get everyone cleared through, and that we look forward to seeing our friends receive interview dates quite soon.
We talked a tad bit more about VJ, and he again said how wonderful it was that the community works hard to make sure everyone is prepared, because the last thing they want to do is turn someone away due to missing a form or bit of paperwork. He also told me to tell everyone that the rumoured "mean lady" hasn't been seen at the interviews recently because she was fired several months ago.
He asked us what time we showed up this morning so we'd be first in line, and said 5:30. He laughed and said he wanted us to tell our VJ folks that it was far too early to be there, especially as it's now cold outside. I agree that it was a tad early (but wouldn't have known that if we hadn't shown), but it is only to your benefit to be there as early as you can.
After the VJ talk, he said we'd have to talk a bit about the two of us. His first question was "so, what guild are you in?" To which we both laughed. I explained how we met, then how we met on person, how it all seemed to click. He asked us how long into knowing each other online we knew we had something special. Ben told him it was always there, it was just that we were in different places, relationships, etc and it didn't seem possible at the time. Then when we gave it a shot, it just worked. The "Director" said he appreciated Ben being able to attend the interview with me, said he read that he was an electrician, asked if he was full or part time. He asked me what I did for a living, what my plan was for work once I moved. He asked what our living arrangements would be.
After doing some quick work on the computer, he said he could tell me that I was approved, and held up the sheet of paper that stating all of the items regarding the K1. He said he knew I would know all of this already, but he had to run through it anyhow, and told me all pertinent dates/timelines with activating the visa, getting married, etc. He also returned to me the original of my birth certificate.
It was an incredibly pleasant experience from start to end. All of my VJ friends were awesome to meet and talk with. Everyone who worked at the consulate itself were warm and friendly, very easy to deal with. The whole process was incredibly painless (except for waiting outside in the cold!).
We were out by 8:50am, and made it to breakfast at the hotel.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5274