Consulate Review: Bogota, Colombia
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 21, 2023 |
| Embassy Review : |
Our journey may be a little different than yours. We had the medical done approximately a month _BEFORE_ the interview at the Embassy (I know that several people apparently have the medical exam, biometrics, and the interview all in the same week but we were not able to get our personal schedules to allow for this).
The biometrics appointment was scheduled for 7:30am on Tuesday.
If you're looking for the location for biometrics, don't search for ACS Bogota, but search for this instead:
Centro de Atencion al Solicitante (CAS) - Address: Ac. 26 #92-32, Bogotá, Colombia.
This location is very close to El Dorado airport in Bogota. We arrived very late (after 10pm) on Monday, so we chose to stay in a hotel close to the airport the first night (Hilton Garden Inn Bogota Airport), and then relocated to another hotel the next day (Wyndham Tryp Embassy) because it is significantly closer to the embassy.
I believe it took less than 10 minutes to get from the Hilton Garden Inn to the biometrics appointment by taxi.
I (the petitioner) could NOT wait in line with my fiancée, nor could I wait inside the building. There are several benches and cafes in the area however. This line at biometrics was extremely long and the location was very busy. (The location is also shared with the Australian embassy's biometrics center as well.) I believe that the entire process after showing up was around an hour.
Her medical exam reports were not available until approximately 5pm the day BEFORE the interview, so we had to travel back to the civil surgeon's location to pick up her medical records later that day.
We stayed at the TRYP by Wyndham Bogota Embajada - it IS very close walking distance from the hotel to the Embassy. Note that there was construction going on and the sidewalks were difficult walking surfaces
On the day of the interview we were scheduled for 7:45 am, but showed up at 7:00 am. There was already a line of people waiting to enter.
I (the petitioner) WAS able to enter with my fiancée and my future step-son (K2).
It has been noted a few times that the waiting area is open air; it is chilly so be prepared for this. You will not be able to use your cell phone while you are waiting (you will get "yelled at" by embassy staff if you start to use your phone). Our interview did not happen until after 10:30 am, so you will need to have something to pass the time. There is a location to buy coffee and other beverages.
We had a huge packet of documentation to support our relationship but it was not looked at. Someone earlier had mentioned that they think that the embassy has already "pre-approved" people before the interview and we thought the same; I do think that it was helpful that I was there with my fiancée and that we both dressed professionally (business casual, no jeans - I wore khakis and a button-up shirt and she wore slacks and a blouse). I noted that there was another petitioner there with his wife who wore a suit and tie, but there were other people there that were wearing blue jeans, but all of the people there for K1/K2/K3 visas were dressed nicely.
The area is shared by petitioners of other visas (travel, student, etc), and I noted that there were a few people leaving the other line with sad faces.
We did need to bring the affidavit of support - they only asked for the most recent tax year transcript (but I had brought the past three years).
I was not asked any questions by the embassy interviewer.
The questions were very simple; basic questions were - who are you, who are these people standing next to you (my future stepson and me), how did you meet, how long have you known each other, how do you communicate with each other (she speaks little English, I speak some Spanish and we do sometimes have to use translation software). |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0