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| Mumbai, India |  Review on February 22, 2012: |
sman
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-5 Visa
Interview Experience of my mother in law for IR5 parent:
Original Interview:
We had our original interview on the Feb 8th but our interview got rescheduled to Feb 15th. Our case was supposed to be handled by Chennai consulate but because of the closing we were transferred to Mumbai. We went to VFS Hyderabad and did our medicals at Hyderabad. Medical experience was great but the VFS experience was bad. Please note VFS Hyderabad was NOT trained with the procedures of Mumbai consulate. Basically when we went there they asked for the courier fee and said we can submit all the documents during interview since, we submitted all the originals to NVC. NOTE EVEN THOUGH NVC HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY HAVE GOTTEN ALL OUR DOCS, MUMBAI CONSULATE CARES LITTLE ABOUT THAT. They want their own set of documents resubmitted, even though we submitted all of them to NVC. I cannot emphasize this more.
When we went to consulate for the interview, after the security screening was done my mother in law was asked to be seated. She was called to the counter after some time and the indian screening staff looked if they had the documents from VFS. They promptly typed a letter and rescheduled the interview for Feb 15th and asked us to submit all docs at VFS Mumbai. Soon we started our taxi ride to VFS and after reaching there they asked us to wait for an hour, which became two. At the counter:
Lady: Please give the interview letter and photos.
Me:Here it is.
Lady: Please give the photo copy of the passport, birth certificate(bc) and marriage certificate(bc) of applicant.
Me: Handed the copy of passport but told her I did not have the copies for bc and mc. I told her that I had submitted the originals and copies to NVC and was stupid not to bring copies of them for interview. She talked with her supervisor and said that is fine.
Lady: She asked for DS-230 part1 and 2 along with medical report. Handed them to her.
Lady: Police clearance. Said that was handed to NVC. She said fine.
Me: Why the heck was all this not communicated to us?
Lady: Sir, due to the transfer of consulate there was a lack of communication and we are trying our best to fix this. Most of the Chennai based cases are suffering from this.All done she gave me the receipt.
I noticed while waiting at VFS that there were about 5 other people that day, all from the south, who were rescheduled and were victims of this.
Rescheduled Interview:
We reached the consulate at 7.15 a.m and there was a 7.30 a.m line and 7.45 a.m line. All immigrant visa folks need to stand in the 7.30 a.m line. We were almost last in the line and the line started moving into the consulate at around 7.30 a.m. After the security detail she is seated for document verification. This time we had the VFS package  but the indian screener asked for marriage certificate copy. Luckily I got them so she gave it. She was then asked to be seated and the long wait starts. She asked for a telugu translator and they noted that down on the sheet.
At around 12.15 p.m she was called for the interview with an American CO. She said the CO was a very nice woman and was very pleasant with my mother in law. Following is the debriefing I got from my mil.
CO: Who is sponsoring you?
ML: My daughter.
CO: Why are you planning to move to US?
ML: All my 4 children are in the US and we want to be there.
CO: How did they all go there?
ML: Through marriage and/or study visa.
CO: Where do they live?
ML: GA, CA, NJ and TN
CO: Wow you have lot of states to cover. So the daughter that is sponsoring you, what is she doing?
ML: She is a doctor at XYZ hospital.
CO: When did she go to the US?
ML: 2002 after marriage.
CO: How many children does she have and is her husband working?
ML: 2 children and mentioned their ages. Her husband is working at ABC company.
CO: Do you have any pictures?
ML: Yes, Showed the 3 photos and she was jovial about the pictures.
CO: How many times did you visit the USA in the past?
ML: About 5 times I think. I am not sure.
CO: Have you stayed more than 6 months?
ML: Nope.
CO: Why did your daughter only sponsor for you and not your husband?
ML: My husband runs bunch of businesses here and he cannot stay there for 6 months in a year at this point in time. He has a visitor visa and will be visiting us till he wraps up his businesses.
CO: Very good. You have been approved.
The interview was about 5 minutes max but the wait was about 5 hours.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9196