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|  Review on April 21, 2011: |
Adam&Noory
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My fiance had her interview on April 20, 2011. The schedualed date was the 19th but we found out that day was only to drop off the visa application and some personal info documents then thay tell you to come the next day for the interview. This embassy is currently undergoing many changes so thinngs may not be exactly the same for those of you with interviews coming up.
The embassy does interviews at 6 30 am and my fiance and i arrived at about 5:30 just to be safe. We were the second people there and waited about an hour before the security guard came to start letting people in. At the 1st security checkpoint both of us were asked for our passports and appointment letters. I had no appointment letter and just explained to them that i was the US citizen petitioner with my fiance for her interview. He let me in but told me that i would not be allowed to go in with my fiance for her interview.
At the second security checkpoint there were 2 lines. 1 on the right in front of a small podium where a woman took my fiance's name and made sure she was on the appointment list and the other line on the left in front of the second security checkpoint building. Go to the line on the right 1st before the line on the left. It is not marked as such and confused about every single person going into the embassy. A lot of people stood in the wrong line for over 20 miniutes before the guard told them they need to go to check in 1st. Thus losing their place in line and basically making them wait at least 1/2 hour longer to get in.
Even though the guard at the 1st checkpoint told me i would not be able to go in with my fiance for her interview i figured i would give it a try and see what they say. After all, I am an American citizen at a US embassy so i figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Once inside the second security building they asked for my passport and appointment letter once again and i was told i could not go any further without an appointment letter with my name on it. So i politely said ok and walked back outside. There are several benches outside the security building so i just had a seat and tried to get as comfortable as i could. I sat on that bench for over 3 hours while my fiance was inside for her interview. I seemed to be getting in the way of people going into the embassy so i think they may not even let the US citizen fiance past the 1st checkpoint in the near future.
My fiance left the second security checkpoint and went to the counsuler building only to go through a 3rd security checkpoint before entering. Once inside she went to a counter and gave the prescreener some proof of our relationship and her passport. She was then told to have a seat and wait for her name to be called. There are 10 interview windows all numbered accordingly. The 4 C.O.'s doing immigrant visa interviews were all english speaking Americans. They did not seem to like interviewing people they could not understand and my fiance even thinks they turned a few applicants away because of this and told them to come back with an interpreter. My fiance was about the 7th person to go into the interview area out of about 25 people. She ended up waiting almost 2 1/2 hours and was the very last person called for her interview. She was very worried that something was wrong and that maybe they would reschedual her or something.
Once finally called to counter number 10 she walked up and was greeted by a blonde American C.O. in maybe her late 20s. She was very nice and immediately asked my fiance if she was upset for having to wait so long. My fiance politely said "naaa, i don't mind." The C.O. told her that her file had fallen on the floor and she just noticed it when reaching for a stapler or something and that is why she got moved to the back of the line. The C.O. then asked my fiance if she knew a certain verse in the bible to which she replied "no". The C.O. then made her recite a verse in the bible from Mathew and swear to tell the truth. The C.O. started making small talk and was very friendly and talking to my fiance like they were good friends. My fiance didn't even realize she was being interviewed since the C.O. made her so comfortable and calm. The C.O. seemed very happy to finally be able to interview someone that could speak very fluent english and uderstand what the C.O. was saying. The C.O. also seemed happy and commented on the fact that her aunt lived in the same town as me (the petitioner). After my fiance described the interview to me i was able to pick out about 11 uestions that were asked:
1:Do you know Mathew X:XX (can't remember the exact verse)
2:How did you two meet?
3:What cartoons do you like (just small talk i think as i have no idea why she would ask that.)
4:Can you give me a precise date that you met?
5:Where do you currently live?
6:Do you have a British passport? (my fiance was in UK for 5.5 years on a visa)
7:Why are your parents in UK and not Mauritius?
8:Where is your fiance right now?
9:Do you have any proof that your fiance was in Mauritius with you?
10:When is your wedding date?
11:Who introduced you to your fiance?
The whole interview lasted about 10 miniutes and went very smoothly. I think that if they wouldn't have just been chatting like friends it would have only taken half the time but i am certainly not complaining. In the end the C.O. handed my fiance a green slip of paper and said her passport would be processed and ready to pick up tomorrow at 2pm. My fiance wondered why they would need to process her passport and said "don't you mean the visa?". The C.O. smiled and said "yeaaaah". Kinda like "oh you spoiled the surprize". They both said goodbye to eachother and my fiance came back out to meet me and finally give me the 1 word i have been waiting so long to hear, "APPROVED!!!".
We came back the next day to collect the visa and arrived about 2 hours early. We were instructed by security to come back at about 1:45 to go in. There is a small shopping center right next to the embassy with 2 resteraunts so we went there and sat down for a bite to eat while we waited. During our lunch one of the C.O.s actually came and ate lunch at the same place we were and sat down right next to us. It was not the person who interviewed her but it was definately a C.O. that was interviewing people at the same time as my fiance. We did not talk to the C.O. and just ate our lunch and left. We then went back to the embassy where i had my fiance go in and told her i am not even going to bother going past the 1st security checkpoint because i felt more comfortable waiting outside. She was in the embassy for about 1.5 hours and came back out with the yellow sealed envelope that says "DO NOT OPEN" on the outside and her passport with a nice big K-1 visa sticker on one of her visa pages.
The whole process at the embassy seemed a bit disorganized and took a very long time but was not too bad for my fiance and i since we are very patient people. I would suggest to anyone going there to bring extra EXTRA patients and a good attitude. It seemed like the better half of the interview was based on the attitude and the way the person being interviewd conducted themselves. As long as the applicant had all their documents, were able to communicate well with the C.O. and conducted themselves in a polite and profesional manner the
C.O. had no problem giving out a visa.
As i had said earlier, this embassy seems to constantly be changing how they do things so this is our expiriance at the time we went and may not be exactly the same for future visa applicants.
I hope this helps anyone going to Nairobi embassy and wish you all good luck on your Visa Journey!!!!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7495