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| Frankfurt, Germany |  Review on May 22, 2006: |
stinger157
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
The day started good. After a short night I got up at 3am. No, I don't have a long way to go to Frankfurt. Just one hour. But I think it is necessary that you prepare yourself very good. Like for any other important appointment.
Arriving at the consulate at 6.45 I saw already a small line of maybe 20 people or so. Even they say the parking space is limited I found a parking space close to the entrance and joined the line. (Don't expect to find a parking space there if your appointment is after 8am)
And don't use the parking lot on the consulate ground itself. It is for employees and I am sure they don't hesitate to tow your car away.
At 7.13am a man made an announcement that people with non-immigrant visas with appointments at 8.30am or later should go to have a walk or to eat something and that they should be there 5 minutes before their appointment time. The appointment time is for the time you have to be in front of the consulate, not inside. He reminded also everyone that electronic devices of any kind are not allowed inside the building. So leave them at home, inside the car or - what he also mentioned - at a gas station nearby.
Also something to the uniformed members of this forum. You should show up in normal clothes, not in uniform.
After that they started to let people in, the line in front of me got shorter and shorter and finally I was at the window and I had to show them my passport, the invitation and the reciept for the visa fee. Done at that window I joined another line in front of the consulate entrance. Inside the building there were the normal security checks. After going to another building you enter the halls where things are ending that started a long time before with a decission and a few papers that got sent to one of the Service Centers.
You sit down and wait for your number to show up on two screens that are at the wall. After waiting 20 minutes or so i had my first walk to window 23. There I had to hand over my passport, they wanted to have a passport picture and you get the envelope. I don't write more about the envelope because I think that shows up in any report. But about the pictures..., while in the united states I went to Kinko's and got passport pictures. Thinking that they know what they do I took the pictures and I thought I am fine. Big mistake! I was wearing glasses. Whenever you get pictures, make sure you are not wearing glasses of any kind, that your ears are visible and that they are not covered by hair or something else.
Then the next problem showed up. Being prepared that something can go wrong I had enough money with me. Make sure you don`t have bills bigger than 20 Euro with you. You won't be able to change it. 20 Euro is the biggest banknote the machine accepts. I found a nice guy who was able to help me out and after taking the picture - back to window 23 to hand over the picture.
Sitting down for another 15 or 20 minutes my next walk was to window 18.
There I had to put my fiancees name in one document and the lady went with me over the documents, asked for some information, nothing big and explains things that will happen when you are entering the united states. She also reminds you not to ... feed them after midnight... (oh, wrong movie) not to open the sealed envelope that is inside the envelope you prepared before with your address and stamps.
Sitting down again I had a long wait. Back at my seat at 8.45am I had to wait until 10.45am before I saw my number again. Now window 17 for my appointment with the consul. It was quite nice. The consul looked at first over the entire application. Then you have to give two finger prints (the same way you give them every time at the port of entry) you swear to tell the truth and then the interview is going to start.
Also nothing big. How did I meet my fiancee, when did I meet her, what is my job, what is her job. Also a bit small talk.
Then I got the information I should expect my visa within the next two weeks.
One point is to say about the police record. I had a long and exhausting weekend because my police record got messed up (my fiancee wrote about that) and I was not sure if it would be there. At window 18 I saw it as soon as the lady opened the folder. I talked to her about that and she told me that it wouldn't be a problem to get one in a very short time. But I recommend everyone to take care of the police record early enough and to make sure that it gets send to your home address. Even they tell you that many consulates .... no, deliver it to the home address.
Give them a note, do what you want, but state clearly that you want it to your home address. You will have less worries when you have it at home and it is also stated that way in the papers the consulate is sending you.
Coming to an end all I can say that it was not a hassle. Every person there was very nice and polite, the whole process was going smooth and professional.
After this exciting weekend i was sitting there and I was completely calm. Top grades for Frankfurt. They make a very good job.
Guys, go on like that.
Now all I do is to wait for my visa and I hope it will arrive within a few days. I will keep you all updated on that.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #591