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| Switzerland |  Review on June 22, 2012: |
Sarah&Michel
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
We had our interview on June 21. We arrived to the park near the Interests Section around 6:30, just as two representatives were explaining the process. They assigned numbers to all those who had interviews that day. First they began with those the visas temporales and then they assigned the numbers for the visas definitivas (such as the K-1). We were assigned number 134.
We then lined up (in the rain) to enter the building. The line was slow moving- we entered the building around 10:30.
Once you enter the building, you pass through security, and then to a room where they check your documents. The man there told us we should be prepared to hand in the application forms/affidavit as well as a selection of our evidence. He also assigned us a red card with the number 10 printed on it. Other people (not fiance visa applicants) were assigned blue cards.
From there, we passed to another room, where we handed in our documents, took fingerprints (his not mine) and paid $240 CUC (must be in CUC) visa fee. All in all, the process until now took about an hour.
Then we waited on another line, after which we passed through security again, and then entered the waiting room, which was flanked by 8 windows where they do the interviews.
We waited for about an 1.5 hours to be called for the interview. The woman who interviewes us was young and very serious. It seemed that she was training a colleague as there was another woman present who did not speak. First she interviewed my fiance and then she interviewed me. Then she interviewed him again separately. She was very hard on us bc we each had submitted prior applications with other people. She grilled us about our previous relationships and then asked about the following to compare our answers:
- Names and occupations of family members
- Names of friends (names of his friends living outside of Cuba)
- Where and when we met
- When we decided to get married
- Our wedding plans
- Our studies and occupations
- How often we communicated
- where we stay when I travel to Cuba
She didn't bother looking through the majority of evidence we had brought (emails, chat logs, etc.) but wanted to see more pictures (I only had a few.) i think they like evidence that they can quickly look at to verify the relationship rather than things they need to read. She even quizzed him on the photos I sent with my K-1 application.
The interview lasted about 15-20 minutes, after which we were finally approved. They requested he come back with his CV in English. Once they received that, they told us the visa should be ready within a week.
The interview was much more stressful than I had anticipated. I thought it would be easy because we have been together for 2.5 years and have a very solid relationship, but we lacked pictures (I travel often to Cuba and when I am here, our life is so mundane that it doesn't even occur to me to take pictures) and we obviously were subject to greater scrutiny due to our previous applications (mine was nearly 10 years ago and his relationship ended before they completed the process so it didn't occur to him that they had it registered in the system.) We are still in shock and will feel better once we have the visa in hand. But we are relieved and excited to begin planning for his arrival and of course, our wedding.
Thanks to all on this forum for the information, advice and support!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9881