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| Naples, Italy |  Review on September 14, 2011: |
Susan+Masoud
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We stayed at Caracciolo 10 Bed & Breakfast which is a good place and 10 minutes walk from the embassy. Our taxi driver from the airport took us somewhere 30 minutes away from here and told us it's just a short walk around the corner. Don't trust any taxi driver as most will try to take advantage of you and charge almost twice as much as they should. The food is another issue, if you don't speak Italian you will have a tough time figuring out what to eat and most everything has some form of cheese and it is very expensive!!!
We had the medical exam the day before (Monday) and they said they will send the results directly to the embassy before our interview. The exam consisted of taking her height/weight, blood pressure, blood test and a long wait for the x-ray. The exam was done by a male doctor with a female assistant. They were considerate of personal privacy and space. It didn't require taking your clothes off and the female assistant would help lift her shirt for the doctor to listen to her lungs and breathing. However, taking the chest x-ray was rather done without any regard to personal privacy and the male radiologist would just ask everyone to take everything off from waste up ( including bra) and didn't give any robe to cover up. This was the most uncomfortable part of the exam, which I hope they will change by at least giving the person a hospital gown to cover-up and not be treated like that. Anyway the results were at the embassy on the interview day as we were kind of nervous, because everything we had read, said to bring the exam result with us to the interview. After the medical exam we were told to go to the embassy for fingerprinting at 2:00 PM.
Today (next day), we arrived just before 7 AM at the embassy and there were already couple others waiting in line. Just before 7:30 one of the guards collected the passports, then after a few minutes called people by name. By this time others had arrived and were worried their passports weren't collected, but the guards said they will get them later. The guard gave the passport and a number and told us to proceed to 2nd floor. For those wondering, yes the companion (in this case husband) were allowed inside as long as you should your US passport.
(tip: when you arrive early you get to go in first for your document checks but after that it's whatever order they decide)
We went to the same room we were the day before (after our medical) for fingerprinting. First they called by numbers and they checked to make sure all docs were in file and asked for originals. We were lucky to have copies of everything originally sent to NVC, because continuation page to our form DS-230 was missing, She said it was probably lost at NVC, so I gave her our extra copy. 
(tip: for Iranians it is very helpful to send a copy and translation of birth certificate for both husband and wife as it also serves as another proof of you marriage since the name of your wife and husband is recorded there. take the original to interview)
After this point we were told to sit and wait to be called for the interview. People were called in a different order for the interview and many of them had issues with their forms. One lady had lost her luggage and her original documents in it, so she was having a hard time explaining. Overall, they were very helpful with people and tried anything to help. Three others who were called ahead of us were also approved. Each interview took less than 5 minutes with very simple questions (how did you meet? When did you meet? What is your job? Etc). From the 8 of us 4 didn't get their visas for various issues with their documents.
( tip: we got there at 6:40 waited about 50 min to get in and we were done with everything by 9:40)
We went to the Mail Box etc. at 5 and got what we've been waiting for almost a year (which seemed like eternity).
(tip: arrive sooner than 5 PM and go in to get a number, because after 5 they will call each person by number. The paper embassy gives you says to pay 4.5 euros but the mail box etc charges 6.40 euros)
Like others have noted in this forum it is VERY IMPORTANT to have copies of everything sent and all original documents. For example I (the US citizen petitionor) was asked for my original Iranian birth certificate and it wasn't one of the documents listed as required! So, better to be prepared than be caught surprised!!!
We had tons of pictures, airline tickets, 300+ pages of phone records, etc, but weren't asked for any of them, but you never know.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8311