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| Bogota, Colombia |  Review on September 18, 2011: |
nycherehecomes
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Our appointment was scheduled for 7am, we arrives at 6:45 am. We immediately went to line #3. No one else was standing on that line. After like 2 minutes an announcement was made that anyone who was there for a resident visa (including K1) please move to line #3. A young lady came over and asked for our appointment letter, passports, and DS-156; she asked if I was the petitioner and placed a green sticker with the #40 on our chest. The number 40 was for the line we were to be on once we entered. We went through what felt like airport security and proceeded to line 40.
At this point an L-shaped line is formed. The line next to the #40 is for when you just arrive, before you receive your folder. The line that’s giving its back to the coffee stand is for after you have organized your documents. The girl at the podium takes your interview letter and hands you a folder with the list of doc and the order they must be in. Everything except your evidence of relationship goes in there. We org the doc and stood on the line giving our back to the coffee shop. She reviewed our folder and told us to have a seat. Now we began waiting.
At about 9:30am J was called to window #32. I knew that he was supposed to go up alone but I went with so that they knew I was there. He picked up the phone and she told him they only needed to speak to him. I moved out of her sight but stayed near.
She asked how long we knew each other, ect… She asked him for my cellphone number, his nerves got the best of him and he forgot my #. Thank god I was close and gave it to him. The lady told him to relax, that everything was going to be ok, that they were not going to hurt him at the US embassy (I thought that was sweet). She gave him back his folder and asked him to have a seat.
After a while they began calling people to window #1 for fingerprints. They never called us. I started getting nervous. Neither of us wanted to us the bathroom in fear that we would miss our name. Pay very close attention to the announcements, I don’t know if it’s the mics or the people calling out the names but you cant really understand them. At about 10:45 just when J was in the bathroom they called him. He came out to find me waving my arms… We walked to window #5.
Once we got to the window I immediately picked up the phone; a really nice older man interviewed us. He began speaking to me in Spanish and then in English. He asked why I spoke Spanish to which I answered “because I was born in Colombia and my parents always spoke in Spanish to me.” We basically had a nice conversation. He was from NY so we spoke about that, obviously within the conversation were questions. He asked me if he was a criminal, I was said “not that I know of”, he laughed and asked if he had been fingerprinted, I said no. He instructed us to got to window #1, wait 10 min, and then return to the him. J was finger printed and we went back and sat down. Neither of us had a cellphone nor a watch so we kind of guessed the 10 min. We walked back to where the windows are and sat down. Another girl had been called and he asked her to wait while he spoke to us. I picked up the phone and he said everything was ok. That we could go to Domesa and pay, he said congratulations on your marriage and best of luck. J and I kissed and left.
The line at Domesa was pretty long. Being that J never received anything in the mail, we requested to pick the passport up in the Domesa office in Cali. By 11:30 am we were out of the embassy.
Reading these reviews really helped us so we hope this helps someone going through this process. It’s not as bad as you think. Just be prepared. Good Luck!
Advise
They don’t seem to go in any specific order. From what I noticed there were five people requesting a K1, three had gone with the petioner (including us) and the other two had gone alone. The three couples all were approved, the two girls that went alone one was asked to come back with other documents, the other I think was denied cause I didn’t see her in Domesa or anywhere.
In my opinion they are watching you from the moment you arrive, to see how you interact with each other.
There are food stands inside it’s a little pricey so be prepared. An empanada costs 1700, I guess they charge in dollars, so an empanada really costs $1.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8340