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| Warsaw, Poland |  Review on September 7, 2011: |
BYtoFLUSA
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
The staff at the consulate in Warsaw were very helpful. I did not wait to receive the packet 3. Alesya and I would still be waiting for an interview if that was the case. Postal mail in Belarus is not so reliable. Once you receive your new case number from NVC (begins with WRW), you can email Warsaw your packet 3. There are directions on the Warsaw embassy website for how to do this.
I visited Alesya for 10 days in August. Her interview was 4 days after I lleft. I did my best to get the interview while I was in Eastern Europe. However, there is a minimum of 30 days between packet 3 receipt and the interview date. I had to call the consulate before I left Belarus in order to get a copy of her appointment letter emailed to me. While the staff suggested that she did not need the appointment for the interview, I was glad that I asked for it because the first thing they asked Alesya for at the security gate was her appointment letter. Of course, she had to give her cell phone to security, but they promptly gave it back to her upon her exit.
Alesya gave them her required documents. Included was here medical report from s clinic in Minsk. She then paid the fee in cash. The biggest complaint is that she had to wait 3 hours before her meeting with the consular officer. Her meeting with him was relatively short, maybe 5 -10 minutes. Alesya and I are close in age, she is fluent in English, and she has been to the US 3 times before. I think all of these factors, plus thorough preparation on our part made for an easy approval. He knew stuff about her that was not in the packet. Primarily from her past visa applications. She
showed him more pictures and the receipt for her engagement ring. He told her to come back the next day from 8 am - 10 am to drop off her passport. She then had to come back at 3 pm to pick up her passport and the sealed visa packet. This put Alesya in a time crunch since her flight to Minsk would leave at 4:45. However, she had a cab waiting for her, so got to the airport quickly.
Alesya stayed at the Hotel Gromada Centrum. It is newly renovated and has reasonable rates (75 USD/ night). It was also only 1.4 km from the embassy. It is also near some type of shopping center. She flew on Belavia out of Minsk and on LOT on her return flight for 245 USD. I could not go with her, so I wanted her to have a convenient trip. Overall, a good experience. I will see my beloved Alesya in January.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8254