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| Bucharest, Romania |  Review on July 2, 2012: |
agrabs
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Got to the embassy around 12:30. If you are driving it can be confusing as to where to park. We had to park around back in a gravel area, not really a designated parking lot. Waited with 5 other people under a covered area until 1 pm. When my fiance scheduled the interview, he told them I would be attending with him, and he was told my name would be put on the list. The guard said my name was not on the list and was not going to let me go in. Ok, I'm an American citizen, at the American embassy and I am not going to be allowed to go in? After a discussion between my fiance and the guard, I was allowed to go in.
We were called to the first window where we were asked for a copy of my divorce decree, the affidavit of support, tax document, copies of Andrei birth certificate and proof of ongoing relationship. I had a separate folder just for this. Andrei then got his finger prints taken. We were not asked for any other documents. They never asked for an updated letter of intent, no other supporting documents for affidavit of support (like paycheck stubs or letter from employer, bank etc.) Andrei signed two forms. We then went to a different window and paid for the visa and then we sat and waited for about 2 hours.
It appeared that we were the only K1 visa that day. Didn't see anyone else with the medical x-ray envelope. We were the last to be called up to the window for our interview. They did the Oath in Romanian and the rest of the interview was in English.
The interview was nothing like we expected. I'm sure the interview went a lot different since I was there with him. The CO was very nice, but also very direct. He opened up the interview by saying, "you understand that it is your job to convince me today that your relationship is real".
He asked a lot of questions about how we met, not exactly questions about us, but he was asking details about the medical mission trip itself. He asked me more questions about it than Andrei. He wanted to know why I chose Romania to do a medical mission, how i signed up for it, details about the orphanage and clinic that i did exams in. He then asked me where i went to school. It turns out he went to the same university that I got my undergraduate degree from, so we talked college football for a bit. He asked me how Andrei's parents felt about us and about him moving to the states. He asked if Andrei had met my parents and we told him no, he had not because he had been denied a visitor visa twice. The CO acted unaware of that , he typed something into the computer and then said well, you know, they did the right thing in denying the visitor visa. We did tell him that he has meet my family through skyping. He asked about our wedding plans, in particular, if we were planning a civil ceremony versus a religious one. He then said to Andrei aren't your parents Orthodox? What do they think of this? And did you have an engagement party because this is tradition in Romania. Andrei told him we did not have one and that we are not very traditional in many ways.
He asked Andrei what kind of work he planned to do in the US. He opened my binder with the proof of evidence and flipped through the pages quickly, then handed the binder back to us along with all the pictures from my original petition.
The CO said Great, you guys are good to go! Congratulations. WE chatted with the CO a few more minutes about college and his hometown which is about 2 hours away from where I live. We talked about how he ended up in Romania, was very interesting, he was a very nice guy and very professional.
We gave the information to the Currier service and we received the visa and brown sealed envelope 2 days later.
All the things i had been worried about never came up in the interview. Our age difference was never mentioned. We met while I was separated and it took a long time for my divorce to be final, so I filed the K1 paper work less than a month after my divorce was final. I thought for sure we would be asked about that.
I really feel like the CO asked appropriate questions to gain insight on our relationship and wasn't trying to judge us on what he thinks is right or wrong.
Overall it was a very positive experience!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9923