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| Naples, Italy |  Review on September 8, 2011: |
ABandIG
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Had my interview just yesterday and thought to share my experience with you all hoping it can help somehow.
Day 1: Medicals
It was said on Packet 3 to be at the Istituto Varelli at 8.15 in the morning, I took a taxi at 6.30 and I was there just before 7o'clock and I was the first person in line.
Taxi are usually not that expensive, you can call RadioTaxi and they would charge you around 1 euro per minute, so if it's early in the morning and there's not so many people around, you should be ok with 10, 15 euro.
Just after a couple of minutes we were already four people and the institute opened at 7.00.
They told us to give them our passport and to take a sit on the famous yellow chairs (lol) so we did, waiting for the other people to arrive and for 8.30.
Then they started to call for the blood test....starting from the very last person arrived... O_o I thought something was wrong and they seemed to keep going backwards from the last one so after a couple of people, one of us decided to go ask and they said that someone messed up the passports and that they would have tried to call us asap... >_>
Aaaanyway, I had my blood test in the end, and after that, they called me inside an office to register my name, the guy told me I had to pay 160euro for the visit, they wanted ONE passport pic, and said that I was ok with my vaccines (most of the people had to take tetanus vaccine which was around 25 euro, btw they check just tetanus and trivalente, I'm guessing the other vaccines are required for AOS).
Then waiting again for the doctor to call me, and I finally got inside an office and they took my height, weight, blood pressure, they checked my eyes, heartbeat and checked for lymph nodes.
The doctor filed out the paper and told me to wait outside for the doctor to call me to take my Xray. After Xray they said that the next day, before the interview, they would have given me the results of the medical and that I would have had to bring those with me in the USA.
Then they let us know we had to be at the consulate at 2.00 pm exactly to take the fingerprints.
At 2.00 we were all in line and they let us in one by one, giving us a number and they took our names, ONE passport picture, and they took our digits. It's just a matter of a few minutes, so consider to be out of there by 3 o' clock.
Day 2: Interview
We were told to be at the consulate around 7.30, and I was there at 6.30 and I was the forth in line. At exactly 7.30 they started to let us in one by one, checked our passports, and told us to go to the first floor and wait for our turns.
They started to call us like right away, there was a very kind blonde lady who was supposed to check we had every document and form required. When it was my turn they asked for ONE passport picture (this make it three), all the forms on packet 3, my birth certificate, the CERTIFICATO DEL CASELLARIO GIUDIZIALE, the CARICHI PENDENTI (yes, it's required indeed), my fiancee's divorce decree, and proof for the I-134 (if you are over the poverty line, just the last tax return is sufficient). Remember NOT TO SIGN THE I-156 and the I-156K cause you'll have to sign those in front of them.
Then she took my digits again cause apparently the ones from the preview day weren't ok (O_o), she gave me a paper explaining that in case the visa was granted I would have had to pick it up after 5 in the afternoon at Mail Boxes etc., and she told me to sit and wait for the Consul to call my name.
Then the consul arrived, and started to call the first person in line.
Be VERY PREPARED; if you have ONE DOCUMENT MISSING, ANY KIND OF PROBLEM WITH TAX RETURNS, or IF YOUR CERTIFICATO DI POLIZIA was given to you more than 6 MONTHS AGO (it expired and in that case you would have to request it again) the Consul will more likely send you home and tell you to come back. That is what happened to the first three persons in front of me.
That morning it was just me and another girl being interviewd for a K1, the others were mostly for renewal of green cards, Spouse visa, or other kinds of visa.
Finally the Consul called me by name, I rushed to the desk with my load of documents and proofs and he asked me to raise my right hand and swear all that was in the forms was the truth. I sweared and he started to talk to me in english (don't worry if you don't speak the language, just say BUONGIORNO and not GOOD MORNING when you get there and he will most likely ask you what you prefer).
I wrote down on the I-129 the fact that me and fiancè met through Twitter and so he told me it was the first time he saw someone meet on there, and he asked me how did I come out with my twitter name (lol! It had absolutely nothing to do with the whole thing but he looked amused by it XD), then he asked what's my fiance's job and if he has children and what their names were.
Then he smiled and said I could have had my visa after 5 o clock.
And that's it! I stayed at the consulate waiting for the other K1 girl, who was approved as well, and she had already all the wedding figured out, invitations and everything.
Out of 19, just 3 of us were approved, but DON'T WORRY: make sure you have EVERYTHING they want, make sure to request your certificates as close to the interview as you can, make sure you have proofs for the I-134 and make sure you are super-organized cause they don't like to waste time.
At 5.00pm I was outside the Mail Boxes etc (these at the MB's are NOT very patient and kind people btw <_<) and they gave me my passport with the visa in it and the holy yellow envelope with A GIANT WRITING "DO NOT OPEN!!" lol.
I was so excited I wanna cry!
I'm gonna rate this experience 5 cause in the end everything went good, and I can say the people at the consulate are very efficient people, but the stress I had was enormous. I can assure you in the end it's all worth it!
Good luck to all of you and if anyone needs anything, just contact me!
Blessings!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8272