Consulate Review: Bogota, Colombia
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
August 14, 2017 |
| Embassy Review : |
My fiancee, myself, and her young daughter attended her interview together. We arrived about 20 minutes early (her interview was scheduled for 9 a.m.). Upon arrival, we were shown to some tables under a tent that had on it a list of documents to prepare before entering. From memory, I believe the documents included passports, DS-160 confirmation pages, passport-style photos, birth certificates for my fiancee and her daughter, the sealed medical exam folders, financial support affidavit, and my fiancee's police report. The woman at the table helped us put everything in order, then sent us on to a small security building. After going through security, then we entered the main building/area.
After entering the main area, we were directed to another table. There, a woman checked us in and went through the prepared documents again. We then waited for a few minutes until a window was available for the pre-interview (as I saw it called on an earlier review). When we were called over to a window, the officer went through the prepared documents, opened the sealed medical envelopes, and asked my fiancee a series of yes/no questions. The officer also requested my tax returns at this point. After that, we were given a number and told to go wait at the other end of the area--where the interview windows were located.
Up until this point, it was a smooth process with everyone there possessing a friendly, helpful attitude. And, while waiting, it seemed that the demeanor of most of the interviewers was pleasant.
However, our number was called to a window of an officer who has been talked about in previous reviews. Like previous reviews, she was the only officer who did not allow the petitioner to stand at the window with the beneficiary (my fiancee's daughter was allowed to stay with her mother). Our interview ended up being a bit longer than normal--about 20 minutes--because it was basically two interviews in one (I got to join in the fun later on--something that I hadn't read about in any other previous K-1 reviews).
From the start, the interview was more of an interrogation, with the interviewer being extremely rude and disrespectful. She asked my fiancee the basic questions--how did we meet, how long have we been together, how many visits, how did I propose, etc. Then, she asked my fiancee if she had any photos of us together. My fiancee then gave her the folder with all of our photos, which the officer then through to the side without even looking at them. Then, the officer asked my fiancee some very personal, unexpected questions. Upon being asked, "When was the first time that you had sexual relations together," my fiancee asked her how that was relevant, to which the officer replied that it was a requirement to know. After that, the officer told my fiancee to sit down and to send me up to the window.
When I got to the window, the officer asked me the same questions that she had asked my fiancee. Every question was asked with a sarcastic tone and the interviewer did not show any respect to me whatsoever. She also asked me some of the personal questions, asking, "When was your first sexual experience together?" I did a double-take with that question, asking if I had heard her correctly. Then, she asked me if I spoke Spanish. I said that I had started learning when I met my fiancee, as the majority of the communication with my fiancee was done through Spanish. She repeated several times that this wasn't possible. I offered to show her transcripts of communication, but she refused. Then, she said that since I knew Spanish so well, that she would conduct the rest of the interview in Spanish. I pointed out to her that I said that I wasn't completely fluent, but she just waved her hand at me. Her first question in Spanish was where I was learning the language. I answered back to her [in Spanish] that I was learning online and through texts and phone calls with my fiancee. Her response was, "So, you don't know Spanish." When I pointed out that I had correctly answered her question, she ignored me and moved on. The rest of the interview was a mixture of English and Spanish. Upon finishing with me, she told me to go sit down and send my fiancee up again.
After my fiancee returned, a second officer came over to help our officer with something on the computer. At the conclusion, she told my fiancee that her visa was approved and that it would be ready in about two weeks.
The disrespect of the interviewer put both my fiancee and I in bad moods. We couldn't believe the level of disrespect and sarcasm shown by the officer, especially with some of the questions that she asked. But, in the end, my fiancee and her daughter were approved, so that happiness trumped the negativity of the interviewer. And, other than the actual interviewer, everyone else was very respectful, friendly, and helpful. I think we just got an unhappy interviewer who likes to feel empowered by her position. All of the other interviewers seemed to be respectful and friendly in their demeanor, like everyone else that we interacted with there. |
| Rating : |
Moderate |
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ver 5.0