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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on February 26, 2010: |
andyw1
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We got to the Consulate around 6:45 AM and were second in line (I think FIFO was there first) and we all huddled under the doorstep to keep out of the snow. People started arriving around 7pm started lining up on both sides of the door. When the guards opened up at about 7:30, everyone had to move to left hand side of the door (as you look at it). The guards were very friendly, but only allowing a couple of people to go through the door at a time. As we went in, we had to show invitation letter and passport. Once inside the security area, they check our names against a list and gave us a letter, first couple got a A, we got a B. (you have to put your stuff through the x-ray and you walk through a metal detector).
We went down to a small waiting room, with a photo-booth incase you’ve forgotten your pictures (only 4$ for four) and waited for another security guard to come. After about 5 minutes, the room had filled up, and people with letter A, B, C, D, E were invited to go with the guard in the lift. This seemed to be a very slow lift, but it takes you to the 19th floor (great views of a snow covered Montreal) and were directed to sit and wait till we were called. I think that we were sitting down ~ 7:50
There were 3 parts to the interview: Document review, finger printing and interview.
Document Review: After waiting for a little bit, we were called to window #11. The guy was pleasant and friendly, but told me to relax (because I wasn’t laughing at his jokes and I was nervous. I handed in
1 - Express Post Envelope
2- Medical Report (without the X-Ray)
3 - Pictures
4 – Original and translation of my Birth Certificate (which he copied for me as I’d forgotten to bring additional copies)
5 – He asked for updated financial information including 2009 W2 (he commented that he was impressed we’d started doing our taxes – which we hadn’t, just had the W2)
6 – I gave him an updated copy of the DS230 and I864 since things had changed since we first submitted.
He asked a couple of questions, name of father and mother and places I had lived and compared it to information on the forms. After that we went back to the waiting room (~8:20) while he reviewed the docs
Letter A were called up to do finger prints and then shortly after we were called. Nothing to that, putting left hand fingers on the pad, then right hand, and then the two thumbs. Takes about 2 mins and then it’s back to the waiting room.
At about 8:45 they called letter "A" and then shortly after letter “C”. We were called up just after letter “A” had left.
The interview room is very small, with a low chair, useful for putting your documents on, but not for sitting and talking with the interviewer (it’s like going to the bank). The interviewer was a nice guy and was really friendly and put you at ease. We both raised our right hand and took the oath. After that he asked us:
- What did you meet?
- What did we do
- Do we have kids
He then went through the file and gave me my originals back.Then he reached down and pulled out a paper and said, "Welcome to USA" and told us that we would get paperwork in the mail and then should just cross the border. The actually green card would be triggered at that point and mailed to the address in the US. I asked if I could stay and pick up the visa but he said no, that it would be mailed and I should get it early next week. After that we left and headed back to the hotel, back there at 9:30.
The staff at the consulate did their best to make us (me, I was nervous) feel comfortable and the whole experience was very easy.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5734