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| Vancouver, Canada |  Review on October 6, 2011: |
Piefre
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had my medical appointment on Wednesday and my visa interview the next day. I stayed at the Fairmont Waterfront with a friend, my fiancé had to work so he could not come with me. The hotel is a 10 minute walk from the consulate and 20 minute walk from Woking Medical clinic. It\'s an overall great hotel.
First the medical.
Bring the following with you:
- A letter from the consulate with your name and case number. Any letter is fine so long as it has those key pieces of information. I brought my Packet 3 letter.
- Your passport.
- A photocopy of the biographic page of your passport.
- 3 color photographs in US passport size (2x2 inches).
- Vaccination records.
- Any doctor\'s letters you might have.I arrived about 20 minutes to 6:30 and there were already a lot of people there. From the conversation some people were there for Cr-1 medicals and a few for K1 but I didn\'t speak to anybody directly.
Around 6:20 a woman arrived to let us all in. We all got into two elevators and went up to the second floor. There was a large waiting room in the middle and all around us were doors. Standing at the elevator, to your right you will see the x-ray clinic. Sharing the wall with the elevator is the door leading to the blood lab. And on the opposite wall to the elevator with the number 250 above it is the medical clinic. They will go over how things work when you\'re there.
After getting off the elevator, the woman asked us to line up in order resembling that you came in. I was #14. We sat down and waited 15 minutes after we got our numbers and were then asked to line up again and given two forms.The first form is a declaration of consent. You must actually write the sentence they give you in order to give your consent. The rest of that form is pretty self-explanatory. The second form asks about diseases and medical history. Remember to only fill out what they tell you to and to make sure your checkmarks are inside the YES or NO boxes and pay attention to which box is YES or NO before you start checking. We were also warned that medical forms were sometimes rejected because people made their checkmarks too big so make them legible but not so big that it looks like you checked both boxes.
Anyway after you fill out your forms, line up again to hand them in along with your passport, three photos, and vaccination records and doctor\'s letters. I was second or third done so when I handed in my paperwork, I was instructed to go through the door opposite the clinic (next to the elevator) to get my blood drawn. Make sure you take that copy of your passport because they will need it to draw blood. When you get out that door you have to cross a hallway and enter through two doors to get into the blood lab. In there they will let you sit in one of the chairs, take your passport and draw a vial of blood. Then you\'re ready to go back to the waiting room before the x-ray lab opens.
Myself and a few people were called into the x-ray lab, they\'ll give you one of those backless hospital gowns to put on. For us ladies, we had to take off everything from the waist up including bras and necklaces. You can leave your belongings in the change room or carry them into the x-ray room. I carried my things, most people left theirs in the change rooms. The x-ray was really quick, once done I went to the change room to put my clothes back on and then went back to the waiting room.
The wait to get the medical examination done will be the longest, so bring a book or something to entertain yourself if you got a higher number like me. Electronics are fine, I saw people with their laptops, cellphones, and iPads. I waited about two hours before my name was called.
You will be asked to remove everything but your underpants in the examination room. For the ladies, that means no bra, there is a confusing sign in there that says something about how women under 30 keep their bras on but don\'t listen to it. You are to remove everything but your underwear and cover up with a paper sheet they\'ll give you. The very nice nurse showed me my vaccination sheet and told me not to worry if it was checked incomplete as that was normal.
The doctor was a very nice woman who asked me things like what I did for my job and where I was moving before the examination was done. Your ears, eyes, and mouth will be checked as well as your arms. Then she did a breast exam and checked my abdomen and asked me to walk a few steps to check my legs and feet. I was then instructed to dress and go get weighed. The weighing and eye exam room is right behind the reception desk. In there they take your weight and check your eyesight by asking you to stand a certain distance away, cover one eye, then recite the row of letters they point out.
Once that is done, hand in your payment at reception and you should be ready to go. Results would be done by 1:30pm. I came back at 1:45 and was handed my results (a sealed envelope [don\'t open it] a CD and an envelope containing my vaccination records. Also I was told I was perfectly healthy. Yay! A+ for Woking, everything went very smoothly.
Time for the consulate, my appointment was at 10:00 am. There were two women ahead of me in line when I arrived at 9:40. They were there for some other visa. A plain clothes consulate officer asked to see my passport and medical results. She took a look at them, checked my name off on a list and told me to go line up for security. After the two women ahead of me went in I was waved in. They will check everything and ask you to empty your pockets. To make things easier on them and yourself leave all your electronics at home or wherever you are staying and that, aside from your medical, you have no sealed envelopes.
Another officer was called down to take my medical up with him because it was sealed. It felt a little awkward to have that much attention on me but I understand the need for security. Your things will be given back to you and you\'ll be escorted up some stairs with your medical results where they\'ll run them through a machine. After that, you can head to the elevators where an officer will take you up to the 20th floor. Once up there go to booth B and turn on the light.
A very nice officer helped me with my paperwork, she\'ll ask you to put your stuff in a specific order and give you about 10 minutes to do so. Here is the order they want:
1. Passport.
2. US passport style photographs (color and 2x2 inches).
3. DS-156 (make sure you have two copies).
4. DS-156K.
5. Birth Certificate (attach the translation if yours needed one).
6. Marriage Certificate.
7. Termination of Previous Marriage Document(s).
8. Police Certificate.
9. Court Records (if applicable).
10. I-134 Affidavit of Support (attach the tax transcripts and letter from employer and any continuation sheets).
11. Medical Results (they took the sealed envelope and gave me back the vaccination records and the CD).
Again she will give you time to do this but having it in a similar order before you get there will save you and them a bit of time.
When she came back she checked over my forms and asked me some standard questions like asking to make sure neither I nor my fiancé had been married and that I intended to cross over and marry him as soon as possible. I also had to spell out his name, but that was to save time, it wasn\'t a test question or anything.
After that she gave me a number and told me to sit down and get comfortable because it could be a little while. It actually only took 30 minutes before I was called up. My fingerprints were taken using the machine then I was sworn in. The consular officer was really nice and checked over my files. He asked me really simple questions like how long ago my fiancé and I met, what he did for a living, what I did, and where my fiancé lives and if that was where I intended to live too. After that he told me everything was in order and congratulations my visa was approved. My birth certificate was also returned but they will keep your passport to attach the visa. I was really happy but there were people sitting right behind me so I saved the celebratory dance for when I got back to my hotel.
After talking to the consular officer I returned to the same booth as before to speak to the woman who gave me instructions on what would happen next, how my passport and visa will be delivered and how to file for AOS. After that she congratulated me and I was ready to go. You cannot leave through the same door you came in, there are signs all the place pointing to the exit so just follow those to the elevator and go back down to ground floor to leave.
A+ for the Vancouver consulate! Everything was very straightforward and pleasant, but I\'m so glad it\'s over and VERY happy I was approved.
(updated on October 6, 2011)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8466