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| Vancouver, Canada |  Review on March 13, 2010: |
jc79
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I went with my fiancee to her interview at the Vancouver consulate, scheduled at 1pm. We took the skytrain there, since she lives close to the skytrain station in New Westminster. Get off at Burrard station, then just walk a short block east to Pender street, then another short block north to the consulate (overall about a 5 minute walk from the station).
Got to the consulate at about 12:40, where we were told by security we can't bring my backpack in (I had lots of stuff prepared, especially for proof of relationship, that I didn't want to carry individually on the skytrain). So, off we go across the street to leave my backpack with the cigar shop to hold for a service fee of $5 (we tried leaving it with the Starbucks, but they said they can't hold it for security reasons because technically it's the same building as the consulate).
Back to the consulate, it's now 12:45, and we go through security, who were fairly nice and professional. Showed them her appointment letter first, and then hand them all our papers, which they go through. Then empty our pockets, and take off my belt to go through the metal detector.
Get our stuff back from security, get on the elevator and tell them we're here for a K1 interview. Elevator lady pushes the button for the 20th floor, where we get out. Having read previous reviews, I'm now expecting to go through security again, which I see another security guard and metal detector. But they just direct us right into the waiting room where we have a seat.
Wait for awhile, and then she's called up to window 2 to the side of the waiting room, to hand in all our papers. This is where the only problem we have comes up. The police report we have from China (my fiancee is a Chinese citizen in Canada on a student visa) is the same one she used to get her Canadian student visa and dated August 2008. The consulate officer says it's now expired since it's beyond a year since it was issued and we need to get a new one. We argue the point that she's never left Canada since she arrived, so there's no possibility the results of her police report from China could have changed, but to no avail.
So, after handing in all her papers, we sit back down, somewhat angry at the whole situation with the police report. We wait a while longer, when she's called up to window 6 to have her fingerprints taken, then sit back down to wait some more.
Called back up to window 6 to have her interview. Interviewer is a heavier set middle aged Caucasian man who seems a bit intimidating at first, but turns out to be fairly nice. He asks her when we met and how, what she's doing in Canada and when she arrived, if she has any family in the US. Then asks me where I live, and then shoots the breeze a little by asking about a few restaurants in the Portland area and if I would recommend them. I tell him my recommendations, and say if he's in the Portland area, definitely try some the microbrews there 
He seems satisfied with our interview after just those few questions (making all the records/reciepts/photos I lugged to the interview for proof of relationship a moot point, lol) and says everything looks fine except for the police report. The interviewer then says to have a seat and he'll check with his co-worker to see if they actually can accept the old one we presented. He has no luck with that though, as we're call back to window 2 a bit later and told she will get her visa once we bring back a new police report from China.
In all, the process took about 2 hours, and was fairly easy except for the issue with the China police report, and even that should be fairly easy to resolve.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5789