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| Dominican Republic |  Review on September 25, 2011: |
BocaChicaBabe
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Our appointment was at 9:30 so we missed out on all the super early morning excitement of waiting in line and people trying to misguide/ misinform us. We opted to stay in Boca Chica and take the bus in the morning rather than spend the night at a hotel near the consulate. By the time we arrived, it was around 7:15 and there was no line. We were told by security that it was too early for us to enter, so we waited across the street. While we waited we witnessed a woman being hit by a car (she managed to get up and walk away) and one bus rear end another. Around 8:00 some random guy on the street where we were waiting told my husband we should be able to enter. My husband went to confirm that with security and came back to get me. We walked up to an employee in the yellow shirt who gave us our number 530 and we made our way to security. There were less than 10 people trying to get through security at that point. It took longer than it should have taken considering there were very few people in line. The problem was it’s a pretty small space and they had to check the purse of the woman in front of me and I couldn’t get past her or the 2 kids that kept stepping in the way of me passing through the metal detector to get my bag (contained nothing but my 3 binders of documents/evidence and snacks) which security kept waving me to come through to get. We were inside by 8:15 and everything is just as others have described in previous reviews. We were called to window 15 around 10:00 where we submitted the necessary documents and answered the few simple questions asked by the gentleman behind the window. He asked me if I had any kids and if the address I provided is my current address. He asked my husband if he’d been married before. Then he asked my husband how long we’d been married. My husband responded with the entire length of our relationship rather than just the length of our marriage. He mentioned being worried about the mistake once we sat down, but the gentleman didn’t even question it while we were at the window. At almost 11:00 our number was called to window 13 for fingerprints where there were about 4 other people waiting. I realize I didn’t need to be there, but I went along anyway. As we were walking to the window, I noticed a married couple that had been sitting in front of us before we got called to window 15 was being separated during their interview. The wife was passing us to go sit down and her husband was still at the window being questioned. After the fingerprints, we sat back down and I noticed another married couple who left the interviewing window and came to sit in front of us. That’s the point at which I really became aware of what was going on around me and I started paying more attention to who was going straight from the interviewing window to the exit without paying Domex and who was being asked to sit down and wait for further questioning. Prior to that I was more focused on paying attention to our number being called and I was pretty oblivious to anything else. While we waited I noticed another couple who was asked to sit for further questioning. Another couple leaving their interview and headed straight for the exit was asked by someone seated near us if they were approved and they shook their heads and proceeded to leave. The couple seated to the left of us was called to their interview and pretty much right after being called up to the window they were walking right back out to the exit; their denial happened that fast. The married couple directly in front of us looked rather worried as they waited to be called again, and all of the denials and further questioning started to scare my husband. Also, just before our number was called we noticed a couple being called to window 11.
Our consul was a young, pleasant, American male who thankfully spoke Spanish well enough for my husband to understand. I was worried because I’d read reviews where the beneficiary couldn’t understand the consul’s bad Spanish and had a hard time getting through the interview. He asked me my name and I forgot and said my maiden name, but quickly corrected myself and gave my married name (I’m still getting used to it). He never even acknowledged that error. He asked my husband his name. Then he swore us in.
He asked me:
When/where we met
What/where is his job
Where he lives and with whom
If my husband has kids
If the city I currently live in is where I was born
To see my passport and asked if I had family there or if all my trips were to see my husband
He asked my husband:
Who I live with
Where I work
How we communicate if I don’t speak fluent Spanish and he doesn’t speak English
Why he never learned English since he works around a lot of people that speak English
If he’d ever been to the US
If he has family in the US
The consul looked through the photos I submitted with the petition, and then started typing something into the computer. During that time, I was listening to the couple nearby and the consul asked the man what was the last thing his woman sent him. He said underwear. The consul reacted like that wasn’t an acceptable response. The woman began to explain in more detail the situation. I turned my attention back to my own window and the consul congratulated my husband and told him his visa was approved. He told him to go pay Domex and expect it to be delivered within two weeks. We were never separated and he never asked for any additional evidence. As we were walking away we could see all eyes on us watching to see if we were headed to pay Domex or headed out the door. Everything went smoothly and we were out of there by 12:30. Domex delivered his packet a week later.
During the NVC stage, I sent in additional evidence with the IV packet. The gentleman at window 15 returned most of the evidence except the copies of my passport stamps for the trips I made after I submitted my petition and the additional photos I sent of us together and me with his family.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8385