Interview at the Paris Consulate, France

[SabrinaFrance 8]

Here is how the interview at the Paris consulate went (December 2009)

The interview was scheduled for 1pm. I arrived around 12:40pm. I showed my passport and convocation letter at the guy standing outside under his little tent.

Then, into the security check-point, like at airports they check your bags, pockets, you go under the metal detector. If you have a cell phone or Ipod, they keep it and give you a number to pick it up later. I walked in with a briefcase, however they do not accept big bagpacks or suitecase, so keep it light (purse, brief case).

After the security check I entered into the consulate, there is a dispatching agent, I showed him my passport and convocation letter, he asked me what I was here for, told him “K1” and I was given a ticket with a number.

Everywhere in the consulate there are posters of what to do before you are called to a booth. It says that you need to sign DS156, write your address on the Chronopost. Then that you need to put in the Chronospost: your passport, DS156, DS157, mandate compte, and your ID pictures if they are not already stapled to DS156.

You should prep all the docs they are asking for, but I would advise not to put everything in the Chronopost, especially your passport, cuz anyway you have to take everything out later. And they ask you document per document.

I must have waited for about 10 minutes when I was called for the first time. A nice Hispanic guy asked me for my passport and convocation letter (again!), he also took my ticket, cut it in half, handed me one piece and kept the other one. He gave me back the passport and letter.

Then about 15 minutes of wait.

I was called to another booth to present my documents. Nice French lady.

She explained to me right away how the K1 works: need to get married within 90 days of arrival to the States, cant leave the country before you get GC or advance parole… all those things that us people from VJ already know. I told her I knew about that.

I had to give her, my passport, convocation letter, mandat compte, Chronopost envelop.

Then she also took the following forms: DS156, DS156k and DS157. She asked me for my ID pics and stapled them on DS156. She asked for my birth certificate and police record.

All along she checked my documents she asked me questions about where I was going, if I was planning on working, and if I had already found a job there… It seemed like a very casual conversation, but I think she was verifying if I looked legit or not. She also asked me to answer a couple questions I had left blank in the forms, or to verify that the info I gave were still correct.

Then came the turn for the affidavit of support. I had both my fiancé and my father-in-law documentation. She took my fiancé’s, looked at the I-134, the employment letter, the bank letter, the paystubs, the tax returns… in fact everything I presented her. But she only kept the employment letter, the bank letter and the I-134. She didn’t want the tax returns because “they were too weak”, I explained it is because my fiancé was a student last year, and that’s why I had a co-sponsor. She said that given my fiancé’s annual salary now we do not need a co-sponsor for the visa, but we may or may not need one for the GC once in the States.

She took all of my fingerprints.

She then told me to go take a seat and that I will be called by the consul.

At the very end she asked me how I knew about advance parole because it is something that is not advertised apparently. Oops, lol, I said I read it on the internet.

The whole thing lasted for maybe 15 minutes, I didn’t have my cell phone so I am not sure.

I went back to my seat, waited for maybe 10 minutes. I could see the consul reviewing all of my paperwork. Then she called me.

I had to read the sworn statement that I am going to marry my fiancé within 90 days of my arrival, then I had to sign the piece of paper.

She also made me sign the DS156k.

She asked me a couple questions: how did you meet your fiancé? Were are you going to live? What does he do for a living? When are you intending to marry?

And that was it! It didn’t last 5 minutes, I would say more 3-4 minutes. If everything goes well I should receive my passport with visa within 1 week.

I was out of the consulate by 2:05pm.

Voilà

All in all it was an easy process, and people were nice. It was a nice change from the times I went for my student and au pair visas.

[ninja636 0]

Here is how the interview at the Paris consulate went (December 2009)

The interview was scheduled for 1pm. I arrived around 12:40pm. I showed my passport and convocation letter at the guy standing outside under his little tent.

Then, into the security check-point, like at airports they check your bags, pockets, you go under the metal detector. If you have a cell phone or Ipod, they keep it and give you a number to pick it up later. I walked in with a briefcase, however they do not accept big bagpacks or suitecase, so keep it light (purse, brief case).

After the security check I entered into the consulate, there is a dispatching agent, I showed him my passport and convocation letter, he asked me what I was here for, told him “K1” and I was given a ticket with a number.

Everywhere in the consulate there are posters of what to do before you are called to a booth. It says that you need to sign DS156, write your address on the Chronopost. Then that you need to put in the Chronospost: your passport, DS156, DS157, mandate compte, and your ID pictures if they are not already stapled to DS156.

You should prep all the docs they are asking for, but I would advise not to put everything in the Chronopost, especially your passport, cuz anyway you have to take everything out later. And they ask you document per document.

I must have waited for about 10 minutes when I was called for the first time. A nice Hispanic guy asked me for my passport and convocation letter (again!), he also took my ticket, cut it in half, handed me one piece and kept the other one. He gave me back the passport and letter.

Then about 15 minutes of wait.

I was called to another booth to present my documents. Nice French lady.

She explained to me right away how the K1 works: need to get married within 90 days of arrival to the States, cant leave the country before you get GC or advance parole… all those things that us people from VJ already know. I told her I knew about that.

I had to give her, my passport, convocation letter, mandat compte, Chronopost envelop.

Then she also took the following forms: DS156, DS156k and DS157. She asked me for my ID pics and stapled them on DS156. She asked for my birth certificate and police record.

All along she checked my documents she asked me questions about where I was going, if I was planning on working, and if I had already found a job there… It seemed like a very casual conversation, but I think she was verifying if I looked legit or not. She also asked me to answer a couple questions I had left blank in the forms, or to verify that the info I gave were still correct.

Then came the turn for the affidavit of support. I had both my fiancé and my father-in-law documentation. She took my fiancé’s, looked at the I-134, the employment letter, the bank letter, the paystubs, the tax returns… in fact everything I presented her. But she only kept the employment letter, the bank letter and the I-134. She didn’t want the tax returns because “they were too weak”, I explained it is because my fiancé was a student last year, and that’s why I had a co-sponsor. She said that given my fiancé’s annual salary now we do not need a co-sponsor for the visa, but we may or may not need one for the GC once in the States.

She took all of my fingerprints.

She then told me to go take a seat and that I will be called by the consul.

At the very end she asked me how I knew about advance parole because it is something that is not advertised apparently. Oops, lol, I said I read it on the internet.

The whole thing lasted for maybe 15 minutes, I didn’t have my cell phone so I am not sure.

I went back to my seat, waited for maybe 10 minutes. I could see the consul reviewing all of my paperwork. Then she called me.

I had to read the sworn statement that I am going to marry my fiancé within 90 days of my arrival, then I had to sign the piece of paper.

She also made me sign the DS156k.

She asked me a couple questions: how did you meet your fiancé? Were are you going to live? What does he do for a living? When are you intending to marry?

And that was it! It didn’t last 5 minutes, I would say more 3-4 minutes. If everything goes well I should receive my passport with visa within 1 week.

I was out of the consulate by 2:05pm.

Voilà

All in all it was an easy process, and people were nice. It was a nice change from the times I went for my student and au pair visas.

MY fiance went to the interview today january 6 at 1pm. she told me that, they didnt ask any questions took somepapers and her passport and that she will have her passport back in 10 days... "HMMMM sounds pretty weird" but still that doesnt mean that her visa has been approved.

[SabrinaFrance 8]

MY fiance went to the interview today january 6 at 1pm. she told me that, they didnt ask any questions took somepapers and her passport and that she will have her passport back in 10 days... "HMMMM sounds pretty weird" but still that doesnt mean that her visa has been approved.

They dont actually tell you if your visa is approved or not at the embassy, or at least in Paris. If they told her that she should have her passport back in about 10 days, then dont worry too much, it should be ok.

[Celine and Ludo 0]

They dont actually tell you if your visa is approved or not at the embassy, or at least in Paris. If they told her that she should have her passport back in about 10 days, then dont worry too much, it should be ok.

Hey guys,

Thanks for posting this, I found it really helpful. Right now my fiance and I are waiting for an interview date, we're having trouble getting his birth certificate, it's been kind of a pain but we should have it next week and then we can send that paper that says we're ready. I was just wondering, what is the mandat compte? Do they tell us about that in packet 4 because it doesn't mention it in packet 3. Also, did you get your birth certificate translated cause I know for sure we will not get an international version and I hope I don't have to translate it. Did you? I figured maybe not if it's the embassy in Paris...I mean, they speak French and so on. Please let me know asap and thank you so much.

-Celine

[EasternDE 35]

Yoohoo!

Yes, they tell you about the "Mandat compte" with you interview appointment letter.

Well, it's easy, you have to go to the post office with some cash (91,70€) which you put on their postal account (2006L PARIS), the post agent gives you a receipt which you keep, because you'll have to give it at the interview. That's how you actually pay the visa fee.

To be honest, I was quite confused about this payment too, but the post agent knew all about it already, it seems that most of embassies get their visa fees this way in France, so it's very common.

You don't need the birth certificate to be translated (at least not at this stage, for the AOS you will, but you can translate it yourself, not need of a certified translator).

I used the french government site to request my BC, and well... nothing happened. So I had to send a fax to my old "mairie" so they send it asap.

Send the readiness paper right now, they usually take 2 to 3 weeks to schedule the interview which is usually 3 weeks later or so. You should have the BC by then.

Good luck!

[Celine and Ludo 0]

Yoohoo!

Yes, they tell you about the "Mandat compte" with you interview appointment letter.

Well, it's easy, you have to go to the post office with some cash (91,70€) which you put on their postal account (2006L PARIS), the post agent gives you a receipt which you keep, because you'll have to give it at the interview. That's how you actually pay the visa fee.

To be honest, I was quite confused about this payment too, but the post agent knew all about it already, it seems that most of embassies get their visa fees this way in France, so it's very common.

You don't need the birth certificate to be translated (at least not at this stage, for the AOS you will, but you can translate it yourself, not need of a certified translator).

I used the french government site to request my BC, and well... nothing happened. So I had to send a fax to my old "mairie" so they send it asap.

Send the readiness paper right now, they usually take 2 to 3 weeks to schedule the interview which is usually 3 weeks later or so. You should have the BC by then.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for your reply. I guess I have another question. If they don't tell you whether or not they are going to issue you a visa, then how does it work in terms of payment? I saw that the visa is $400 and that you have to pay it in advance, so at the interview. Does that mean that you pay no matter what and that if you don't get it then they send you your money back? That would suck so bad. But anyways, is that how it works? Talk about a stressful week after that just wondering if you got it or not .

Thanks again!!!

[EasternDE 35]

It's an application fee. So yes, you pay for the application not for the visa. No refund.

So, no they don't really tell you if got the visa or not, but you can guess.

For me she said "Ok looks like we have everything we need, you should get the enveloppe in 10 days. Good luck!"

Paris embassy is easy, they don't require any additionnal proofs of outgoing relationship by the way.

So if you have a straight case, you shouldn't worry.

I don't think there's anyone here who applied to Paris embassy for a K1 and got denied...

There's no interest, no financial reason, for a french person to emigrate to the USA.

By emigrating to the US, we loose a lot of advantages. They already know we don't use K1 just for emigration purpose.

[Celine and Ludo 0]

It's an application fee. So yes, you pay for the application not for the visa. No refund.

So, no they don't really tell you if got the visa or not, but you can guess.

For me she said "Ok looks like we have everything we need, you should get the enveloppe in 10 days. Good luck!"

Paris embassy is easy, they don't require any additionnal proofs of outgoing relationship by the way.

So if you have a straight case, you shouldn't worry.

I don't think there's anyone here who applied to Paris embassy for a K1 and got denied...

There's no interest, no financial reason, for a french person to emigrate to the USA.

By emigrating to the US, we loose a lot of advantages. They already know we don't use K1 just for emigration purpose.

Thank you for responding, I feel so much better. I'm going to bother you again and ask another question. My I-129F petition is valid until March 24th and considering we JUST (finally!) got his birth certificate, we sent the DS-2001 on Feb. 1st. I am guessing we will not have an interview by that time and I was wondering if I need to call the consulate or anything to ask for an extension or if it is automatically extended since we have sent all the necessary paperwork. I read somewhere that it is automatically extended provided you had sent everything but I read a lot of different things so I was wondering if you knew...?

Thanks again!

[EasternDE 35]

Don't worry about the NOA2 expiration date, they automatically renew it. Provide a renewed letter of intend though.

No matter what, you (or he) should get your packet 4 (Interview letter) in 2 weeks now, and the interview should be about 3 weeks later, so my guess is that your interview should happen the second week of March.

Make sure your man has all his vaccinations up to date, your next step is Medical now.

We have a American/French thread going on, feel free to post in English there. ^^

We posted a lot of information there already.

[Celine and Ludo 0]

Don't worry about the NOA2 expiration date, they automatically renew it. Provide a renewed letter of intend though.

No matter what, you (or he) should get your packet 4 (Interview letter) in 2 weeks now, and the interview should be about 3 weeks later, so my guess is that your interview should happen the second week of March.

Make sure your man has all his vaccinations up to date, your next step is Medical now.

We have a American/French thread going on, feel free to post in English there. ^^

We posted a lot of information there already.

Thank you so much for all your help. Where exactly is this thread, I can't seem to find it? I'm not that familiar with this website though I have spent countless hours on it. I wanted to let you know that my fiance got his interview letter 10 days after we sent the DS-2001 and his interview is next thursday. They gave us a week to get ready for it!! That isn't much time but we're both really happy. Thanks again for everything and please let me know where I can find this thread.