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| Nicaragua |  Review on May 3, 2010: |
purduefanmike
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
Our interview was scheduled for 8:00 am and we arrived at 7:45. We didn't know it until we got there but the Embassy opens at 7:30 and we were given number 206 (6th in line)at the second security check. The security checks are no different than going through the security at an airport, except as stated in previous reviews, no phones, water, etc. and they do have you open your medical envelope before entering. Once past the second security point, you sit in an air conditioned room (which was great since it was 95 degrees that day,lol). There are 6 windows and a separate door ( bulletproof glass, a small pass through tray and terrible microphone/speaker system). On this day 4 embassy employees working the windows. There are two restrooms and a small play area for children.
We waited about 1-1/2 hours before my fiancee's name was called and we both went up, introduced ourselves and passed along papers as the clerk asked for them. The clerk quickly learned that I don't speak a lot of spanish and that my fiancee doesn't speak very much english which led to a series of questions about how we communicated.In a nutshell, we've corresponded via email (and translated them) for the past 4 years, I've made over a dozen trips to visit and we just make it work with the little we know of each other's language. This particular line of questions was repeated by 3 different people over the course of the next 4 hours.
The first clerk took all of our papers and after another 30 minutes we were called up to a second window.As we were waiting, we noticed there were 3 other women (alone!) apparently there for their fiancee' visas also. Two of the women were given their passports back along with a green sheet of paper and left. The third woman was called to a separate room and after about 20 minutes came out crying and left. The second clerk asked us how we met, how do we communicate, asked about specific items in the papers, asked about some of the emails, about photos and trips, what we knew about each others families, etc. She asked me to sit down and then asked my fiancee' one more question, which I thought was somewhat inappropriate...when and where was the first time you made love with your fiance? She also took my fiancee's fingerprints at this time. (I thought we had it made at this point....but I was wrong!)
After another wait, my name was called and I was asked to go to the separate room. In there, I was interviewed by two women from the Fraud division. One did all the talking and I was informed that because of red flags from our file, they were investigating the possibility of fraud. The red flags were: age difference of 20 years, lack of speaking the others language and the fact that her family had gone back and forth to Costa Rico and to Spain for work.She stated that due to how bad the economy is in Nicaragua that people will do just about anything to improve their lives and did I truly believe that my fiancee loved me. She also asked the same questions regarding how we met, did I know her family, etc. I was in there for about 30 minutes answering questions and then they asked me to leave and for my fiancee' to go in. she was only there for about 5 minutes and they didn't ask anything that hadn't been asked previously.
Again, we sat for about a half an hour and were called up to the second window again where we were told that THE VISA WAS APPROVED!!! I cannot stress enough about the importance of being there with your fiancee'! and to bring lots and lots of evidence. I truly believe that the final deciding factors were:I was there and that I had brought my daughter to meet my fiancee in November and had plenty of pictures to prove it.
All in all, they staff was very professional and courteous.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #6012