Montreal consulate interview review - APPROVED :)

[tkelt 11]

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!

It’s a good day for my K1 VISA TO BE APPROVED

I showed up there around 7:00 AM, and I was the second person in line. The girl in front of me was super nice and we chatted for a bit. Lots of people started showing up and they lined up on the opposite side of where they were supposed to (for reference: you are supposed to line up on the left side of the doors, along the wall with the yellow posts), and I was worried that there would be confusion when the guards came to let us in but everything was fine. They came out around 7:30 AM and had everyone line up and prepare their documents (DS-160 confirmation and your passport was all I needed). You go into the lobby and present these docs to the people waiting for them. I had two really nice women with iPads who checked something off and sent me through security. They also gave me a card with “application #2” on it. Like everyone says, it’s exactly like airport security. I feel like I should also mention DO NOT BRING ANY BAGS WITH YOU. You will not be allowed to bring them in! They asked the girl in front of me to bring her backpack back to her hotel and so she ended up losing her spot in first place.

Once I was through security they brought me down the long staircase to the waiting area to wait for the elevator. It took about 20 minutes and we all piled in and went up the 19th floor. Great view! Really wish I could have had my phone with me to takes pics lol. Non-immigrant/K visa’s all sat in the middle section. I was called up to window #2 to give her the documents which were:

1. passport + copy of bio page

2. long form birth certificate + copy

3. 2 pictures

4. fiancee’s financial i.e. tax information (i had 4 yrs worth but she only took 2015), affidavit of support, letter from employer. I also tried to give her pay stubs but she gave them back.

5. fiancee’s letter of intent

6. appointment letter

she asked me my fiancee’s address, took fingerprints, passed me a document on domestic violence to read and sent me to sit down again.

I was called up to window #8 for the actual interview and the guy was SO NICE. I apologized for being anxious and he asked me why and told me that he has done over 30,000 interviews and hundreds of thousands of people successfully immigrate and not to worry! He also said that the people who are the most anxious are the people who hang out on immigration forums AHAHAHAH I was like oh man …. that’s absolutely me.

He asked me a few questions:

1. what does my fiancee do

2. when’s the last time i saw her

3. how did we meet

+ if we had ever been marrried before, or in trouble with customs/police etc., asked if i had traveled or lived in the states for more than 6 months, etc.

and then he just nonchalantly handed me a piece of paper and told me that my visa was approved and I’d get it back in 8 days!!!! I WAS SO STUNNED. I had to ask him 3 times if he was serious and I was like “so I’m just … allowed to leave?” and he was like yeah you’re approved!

My god! All that stress and it really was nothing.

I will say though that it’s so important to make sure you are organized and have everything immediately available. They are super busy and quick and get impatient when you’re fumbling through a giant binder full of documents that they may or may not need (which is exactly what I did lol). The guards were a little harsh and scary, but I get that it’s their job to ensure the safety of everyone there.

I was in at 7:30, and back at my hostel at 8:45

As well, if you’re looking for a cheap place to stay I highly recommend M Montreal, the hostel on St-Andre. It’s very clean, and has a free breakfast/wifi/etc. Way nicer than some hotels I’ve stayed at. I changed to a private room for the first night I was there because I had just traveled for 18 hours and wanted to sleep, but for my second night I slept in a 6 bed dorm with one other person. If you are worried about your valuables/important documents, they also rent out lockers for you to store everything in for a deposit of $10 which you get back. In total it cost me $122 for the private room, and $36 for the dorm. Both rooms had a private bathroom.

I AM SO RELIEVED! It doesn’t feel real yet!!!!

Congrats and good luck to everyone else who had their interviews today or have them in the next few weeks

I'm so sorry this is so long!!

Edited June 29, 2016 by tkelt

[JC&BB 33]

_{Congratulations!!!!!!!!! Happy for you}

[Nin&Way 69]

Congrats!!!

[tkelt 11]

They also asked me for my original police certificate! Sorry I forgot to put that in the original post. Luckily the courier was able to get the original corrected copy to me yesterday

[PandaSong 15]

Congrats! That's awesome to hear! I'm pretty sure you had the same guy who interviewed me too, because when I mentioned I was nervous he said the exact same thing.

[tkelt 11]

Congrats! That's awesome to hear! I'm pretty sure you had the same guy who interviewed me too, because when I mentioned I was nervous he said the exact same thing.

Thank you!!! He was so nice I was hoping I would get the nice guy that everyone talks about LOL

[NikLR 13,227]

Congrats!

[mikeandkristina 6]

Congratulations! Can't wait to get to that point.

[sanil1986 26]

did they mention anything on how will you be getting the visa ? canada post or purolator

[tkelt 11]

did they mention anything on how will you be getting the visa ? canada post or purolator

they actually didn't i was too frazzled to remember to ask.

did you get the e-mail that went out?

[NikLR 13,227]

You silly peoples! Always worried about the 2nd easiest part! (IMHO POE was easiest for us, but it can be a pain for some people.)

[samack 79]

Congratulations!