Consulate Review: Bogota, Colombia
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 21, 2007 |
| Embassy Review : |
The Embassy
Thank God the sun was shining the day of the interview, which was a departure from the overcast, cold, rainy weather that plagued us daily in Bogotá.
We arrived at 6:00 AM and were the first ones to stand in line 3. We knew from VJ to stand in line 3. Moments later, after some embassy personnel began explaining which lines to stand in, we were literally "moved out of the way" by a large, old, grandmotherly looking lady and what appeared to be 3 grandchildren (teen agers and/or early 20's). Ironically later, she was victimized by the same treatment by another "grandma type" person, and her little (apparent) granddaughter.
The entire embassy experience took place outside, open-air, with some canopy coverage that increased as we progressed thru the interview process.
One of the advantages to being one of the first people in line is that once inside the embassy, the first line we stood in had only about 8 chairs, and there were about 40 people in line. We waited in this line until a lady explained that we would be putting our paperwork in the desired order shortly. The entire group had to crowd around her, because otherwise we couldn't hear what she was saying.
Shortly after putting our paperwork in the desired order, we were called up to the 1st window where a lady, who was apparently smile-impaired, went thru our file and gave us back some things from the actual I-130 application we had submitted to USCIS. Then she told us to go wait at another bank of windows.
We waited probably for at least 2 hours at the other bank of windows.
I noticed that ALL the interviews were taking an extremely long time. In fact, I couldn't tell if other people were receiving approvals or not. Many people were being interviewed, then going back to sit down, maybe to be called up again to the window(s) again much later. I was thinking, people of VJ always talk about identifying who's getting approved/denied, but I couldn't tell anything either way.
When we were finally called up for our interview, we were interviewed extensively for a total of about 30 minutes. 1st her, then me, then both of us together.
The interviewer, who appeared a white American male, was very friendly with us. He spoke to me in English, and he spoke to my wife in Spanish.
Most questions the interviewer asked both me and my wife the same question separately, i.e. to be able to compare our answers.
1 What is your husband's address? (the only question asked at the first window, prior to the interview)
2 Does your wife have any family in the USA?
3 How many siblings do you / does your wife have?
4 What do you do for a living?
5 Have you guys discussed having kids?
6 How many kids do you / does your wife want?
7 How many times have you been here to visit her?
8 What other places (cities) have you and your wife visited together inside of Colombia?
9 What will your wife do when she gets to the USA?
10 How do you communicate?
11 Do you speak Spanish?
12 Does she speak English?
13 Do you know his parents?
14 When did you two first meet?
15 What made you come to Colombia to find a wife?
16 To my wife (weird question to a Colombian woman): Do you know how to dance Salsa and Vallenato?
17 Did his parents come to the wedding?
18 What was special about your wife that made you want to marry her?
19 How did you two meet?
20 How many Spanish classes have you taken?
21 Have you guys discussed relgion, is that important to you?
22 What religion are you?
23 What religion is she?
Evidence of Relationship
NOTE: We had a Photo Album, and a Large Notebook with 3 sections: Phone Bills, Email, Chat
Photos (100+) - Interviewer asked, "Please explain your photos"
Phone Bills (approx. 10 pgs) - Interviewer asked, "Please explain your phone bills"
- NOTE: most phone bills were MCI bills showing numbers called, a few were Yahoo Voice receipts not showing
numbers called
Emails (100+ pgs) - The interviewer saw these in our notebook, but didn't have enough time to review
Chat log (66 pgs) - The interviewer saw these in our notebook, but didn't have enough time to review
Conditional Approval
The interviewer gave my wife a pink slip that was a conditional approval, that was good for approximately 30 days. Her approval was conditional based on her medical results which would not be available until the next day after the interview. She was told to come back to the embassy at 4:00 PM whenever she had her medical results in hand.
The Nightmare Continues
The next day, Doctor Gonzalez did not release my wife’s medical results until after 5:00 PM, and of course the embassy closes at 5:00 PM. As stated previously, I do adamantly not recommend Dr. Gonazalez, based on per customer service. I recommend the other doctor listed in Packet 4, Dr. Jairo Roa, 215-1763, or 658-9366.
1st Attempt to Retrieve Visa After Approval
The following day, my wife was the first person in line to receive a visa. The visa pickup time was 4:00 PM, and she arrived at about 3:00 PM. Once inside the embassy gates, she was told that the guy distributing the visas would open up his window at 4:20 pm. He opened up at 4:30 pm (remember the advertised time is 4:00 pm).
She gave him her DS-230 and he asked her to sign it, which she did. He told her he would get back to her in 10 minutes. He proceeded to call everyone else’s name but hers, calling her up last, at about 5:00 PM.
She looked at her visa and noticed that it had her indicated as “Single”, and pointed this out to him. He said her visa would have to be corrected, but now it’s 5:00 PM, the embassy is closing, and she would have to come back tomorrow at 4:00 pm.
2nd Attempt to Retrieve Visa After Approval
My wife returned the next day for the same drill. Same guy at the visa window. Her name was never called. Obviously she approached the window and asked the guy where her corrected visa was. He flat out said he forgot about it, and it hadn’t been corrected, and she would have to come back tomorrow at 4:00 pm. My wife went ballistic and started crying and screaming. Despite the fact that the guy was behind a thick protective glass window (presumably bulletproof), he was visibly afraid of my wife’s enraged 5’1”, 105 lb. frame.
He promised to have her visa ready first thing in the morning. He told her to come back at 8:00 AM., instead of the 4:00 pm he had originally told her, and he promised that they would have it ready for her first thing in the morning.
3rd Attempt to Retrieve Visa After Approval
Apparently crying, screaming, and going ballistic is an effective (and sometimes necessary) way to communicate with the US Embassy. Thank God my wife’s visa was ready on day 3.
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| Rating : |
Very Poor |
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