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| Dominican Republic |  Review on November 5, 2011: |
GuzzyK
Rating:  | Review Topic: F-1 Visa
We arrived in Santo Domingo the day before the interview. We checked into the Jardines Del Teatro hotel (you can see the corner of the consulate from there), picked up the medical exam results, had lunch, and enjoyed the cultural and historic attributes of the city. About 4:00 PM, we walked to the consulate to preview our path for the next day. We spoke to one of the consulate staff in the yellow shirts and learned we would be in line number 2. That night we rehearsed for the big event, the interview. We arrived the next day at the consulate at 5:45AM. Lines one, two, and three were full. It did not matter because we were calm and taking in the view, at least I(the petitioner) was calm. Embassy personnel will give applicant's with consular appointment letters a number that will be used during the day to summon applicants to various windows for processing. After getting our number, we finally got inside the building,passing through the metal detectors at 6:45AM. The line moves quickly after the consulate door open.
The consulate is a big box with over-head monitors to display the numbers applicants are given in line. We were called to window 19 at 7:00AM to present our DS forms. About 7:58AM we paid our $210 and a while later my beautiful visa applicant got finger printed. We were called for our interview at 8:43AM and emerged shortly after. Apparently, our evidence was strong because by 9:00AM we were finished and paying the Domex fee for having the visa sent to her residence. The questions posed to us by the male Consular Officer were about how and when met, whether we'd been married before and if we'd had police problems in the past. We had plenty of evidence of our relationship(telephone, email, skype, affidavits,etc.) in a large binder, but were not asked for it. Everything went really smoothly and we are happy. The visa arrived 8 days later. My suggestion would be to hope for the best interview scenario and prepare for the worst. Hope this helps.
(updated on November 8, 2011)
(updated on November 17, 2011)
(updated on November 17, 2011)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8649