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Last 5 Reviews
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| Israel |  Review #33152 on April 30, 2024: |
antalia
Rating: 
| Review Topic: K1 Visa
One key item that we learned about the hard way: while there is "Israel, Tel Aviv" consulate, there is "Jerusalem" embassy, which is NOT located in "Israel, Jerusalem" and, like the only other location on the list, Hong Kong, has no country listed and therefore is listed under letter J way down the list. They had no way to fetch the DS-160 from the consulate in the other city so we had to refile, luckily that was free of charge and quite fast. We got into Administrative Review, having to bring the copy of the military book (did not serve) and this took another two weeks wait on top of the local holidays. Thankfully, a month's stay was enough (not a local, not a resident) and we did not have to extend the hotel, even though it took multiple visits to the embassy overall.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #33151 on April 30, 2024: |
inbriars
Rating: 
| Review Topic: K1 Visa
Please note: our situation has no children, no prior marriages, and no criminal records involved.
My appointment was on a Tuesday (April 2024) for 0900 and we got there at 0840 (fiance came with me). I was asked to wait outside. It feels like you're walking into an RBC but the door to the consulate is to your immediate left.
I was brought into the first set of doors at 0855 - she asked for my appointment time, name, and passport. She used my passport to confirm my name on her list. She gave it back to me, told my fiance he cannot come in and should come back in a couple hours, and I headed through the US Consulate doors.
Security:
The security room is small and immediate upon entry. I was asked for my passport and told to turn off my phone. They placed a sticker on the back of my passport with my name and interview date details, along with a barcode. I took off my jacket and placed my items in the security bin, then I walked through the scanner. He told me to grab my phone and put it in a locker. Previous reviews are correct, the lockers are extremely small, large enough to fit a phone and a small wallet. He gave me a number and told me that’s what they’ll use to call me up and then told me to proceed upstairs. The US Consulate is on the first floor but it is marked by the elevator.
Waiting Room:
When you get off the elevator, to your immediate right is the TV mounted on the wall that displays the ticket numbers. The waiting room is also to your right (it is all one big room divided up, you can’t get lost). I sat down and saw on the TV where they were in queue and my number was going to be one of the next ones (it wasn’t in exact order, ie. 1510, 1512). The room is fairly quiet. The TV will ding for the next number and will tell you which window to go to. I saw there were 12 windows - 1-5 along the hallway to the left and 6-12 lining the waiting room. It appears 1-5 are for the interviews and 6-12 are for document collection, but I do not know if this is factual. My number appeared quickly after sitting down, within 5 minutes I would say.
Window 1: Documents, done at 0920
The first person was a kind lady, she asked me for my documents. She asked for:
-Payment receipt
-My passport and a copy of it
-My birth certificate and a copy of it
-Police certificate (I offered the copy as well and she took it)
-I-134
-Evidence of I-134 (I gave her these in this order: letter of employment, military orders, 2023 W2, 2023 1040, 2023 IRS Transcript. I asked if she needed more because I also brought pay stubs and bank statements but she said she had more than enough)
-2 passport photos
For the financial total, she looked at the 2023 IRS Transcript. She asked me for my fiance’s phone number and address. I don’t think this was a trick question or anything because she was actively entering it into the database. The address they had was different from where my fiance is because he is in the military, so we used a stationary address in between orders. She asked if I had anything written for the new address and I provided the letter of intent. She used it to input the address correctly and gave it back to me. She had me take my fingerprints. I highly recommend putting on some lotion beforehand so your fingerprints show up more prominently on the display. I had to rub my forehead because they were too faint. She then told me to sit down and wait a while for the interview.
Window 2: Interview, done at 0945
I was fortunate and did not wait long for the interview, around 5-10 minutes. This part is a blur, as it is for most, so I will include what I remember but it won’t be complete. We had a casual conversation where he asked me random questions.
The random questions he asked me, that I remember are:
-How did you first meet?
-When did you first meet?
-What was your first virtual date?
-What was your first in person date?
-How often would you see each other?
-What was your longest trip in the US?
He proceeded to read through my file. He looked at the I-134 and 2023 1040. He then went through the original I-129F application and read the original letter we submitted along with all the photographs/explanations to them. He smiled to himself and said there was too much love. Before he got to the actual interview questions requiring an oath, he asked me for my fingerprints on my right hand. He then had me hold up my hand and swear an oath that everything was true. He prefaced that some of these may be awkward to answer.
The interview questions he asked me, that I remember are:
-Is this your first marriage?
-Is this his first marriage?
-Do you have any children?
-Does he have any children?
-Do either of you have children outside the relationship?
-Have you ever traveled anywhere outside Canada and the US in the last 5 years?
-When was the last time you were in trouble with law enforcement? (I said a speeding ticket when I was 17 and he said oh, that doesn’t count)
-When was the last time you saw him?
He was nice overall. He said he was waiting for some documents and would hopefully be able to approve it later that day. He handed me a sheet with instructions on how to track your visa. This made me super confused and stressed because I had all the documents and then some and I knew the medical was submitted on time. I didn’t know what documents he was waiting for and I should have asked in hindsight. Perhaps this is my fault because I came in with the expectation to receive a verbal approval and also overheard one during my own interview. I asked him, “Is it approved?” and he said, “Yes, go celebrate!” to which I replied my thanks and promptly left. All is good now, I’ve come to realize perhaps he led with this because a verbal approval can be overturned after the interview. Maybe this is new guidance or something for them. I monitored my case through CEAC for the next couple days and the updates were as follows:
-Tuesday - from Ready to Application Received
-Wednesday - to Approved
-Thursday - to Issued
-Monday - Visa delivered (note: if you get it sent directly to your house you will need to sign for it)
Fun fact I wish I knew - I thought the passport photos were for documents and did assume the visa would be a stamp in my passport. It is not, it is a thick sticker-like document that looks like a passport bio page… with the passport photo you provided at the interview. Just so you know, because I definitely would have made different choices hahaha.
| | | Barbados | Review #33150 on April 30, 2024: |
MCAmyway
Rating:
| Review Topic: K1 Visa
For the consulate itself, my fiancé arrived at 8:15am for his 8:30am appointment. Only the person being interviewed (my fiancé) was allowed in and he could only bring his documentation and nothing else, no phones or backpacks. He was made to wait in a waiting room with various other visa applicants. After about an hour, he was summoned and a consular officer reviewed his financial documents (the I-134 that I filled out) to make sure they were properly filled out. They didn't take much of the evidence we had to prove our financial resources in addition to the I-134. Then my fiancé waited another hour until his actual interview, where he was asked some standard questions like "how long have you and your fiancé known each other," "when do you plan to get married," "what will you do in the United States once you arrive," "what does your fiancé do for work," etc. The consular officer reviewed my fiancé's documents and gave back whatever she found unnecessary. The consular officer was pretty cordial, had a good conversation with my fiancé, and told my fiancé his K1 visa was tentatively approved and that he'd get a DHL tracking link soon to pick up his passport at the DHL office by the airport in Barbados.
This consulate does not do same-day visas although my fiancé's visa was sent out to DHL the day after his interview. Since it had been 2.5 business days since his visa was officially approved but with no news from DHL, my fiancé contacted DHL and then the US Consulate for assistance. He received a tracking number from DHL about an hour after reaching out to the consulate, and was able to pick up his passport with the visa at the DHL office as soon as he got the tracking number. The US Consulate really doesn't answer their phone but they are very responsive by email, and usually reply within about an hour during normal business hours.
I'll also add that my fiancé had to do a medical exam in Barbados two days before his visa interview. He set up an appointment at the US-Consulate-designated clinic for 7am. He went in and did a preliminary physical exam, and was given additional vaccines for Hepatitis A, the flu, Chicken Pox/Varicella and a Tetanus booster even though he was up-to-date on all of those vaccines by French standards (my fiancé has French nationality and lives in Guadeloupe, which is why he was sent to a consulate in the Caribbean for visa processing). There was a bit of waiting involved between the general exam and the tests and vaccines. He had to drive to a separate facility to get bloodwork and x-rays done and had to drive back to the lab to collect his x-rays and bloodwork results the next day. The total cost for this appointment was about $500USD/$1000 Barbados, and had to be paid all in cash. We weren't anticipating it being quite that much since we didn't think he'd have to get more vaccines, and my fiancé didn't have that much cash on him, so he paid the remainder of the cost the next day when he collected his x-ray and bloodwork test results.
| | | Naples, Italy | Review #33149 on April 29, 2024: |
Anaar
Rating: 
| Review Topic: General Review
Us folks from Malta have to do the medical and interview in Naples Italy. I had a good experience for both the medical and interview. Everybody was very helpful and kind.
22nd of April - medical
I arrived at the clinic at around 6:20 and I was the third person in line, at around 7:30 They let us into the clinic they make you sit according to your turn in the line. A man will come give you a ticket according to the number you were in the line. Afterwards, the man will come and ask to have your passport along with the ticket. He will then go and take the passport to the office. first you go into an office and the person will ask you some basic questions like what is your address which country do you live in , and confirm some basic details like your mobile number, after that you go back to waiting until they call you to do the blood work. afterwards they will escort you to a room to have you have the x-ray of your chest, after that you go back into waiting until they call you into an office to Discuss your vaccinations and also pay your medical fee. after paying the medical fee They will send you to the first floor to have a generic medical assessment, like blood pressure, eyesight, weight, height, etc. this will be the last step for the medical. they will not give you any envelopes. They will send everything to the embassy ready for your interview. The process was very smooth and quick an in total it took around two hours.
23rd of April- the interview
I arrived at the consulate at 715 AM and I was the first person there. The guards will ask you for your passport to take your details and then they will ask you to wait under the umbrella. pretty quickly started to form It is a good idea to not take any electrics with you such as mobile phone, smart, watches tablets, or gaming devices because they will ask ask you to leave everything at the security. It’s around 8.00 they let us in. They will ask you to go on the Second floor and wait in line according to the ticket given to you. A Lady Sitting at a small desk Will call your number and she will ask you for particular documents such as your passport, your police conduct a divorce degree if you have one, your birth certificate and i-134 form. Then you wait again was to keep those documents in hand. Eventually, they will call you at the boot. They will ask you to hand those documents and they’re going to check them and ask for any additional ones if they require a copy of the documents, and they will take biometrics. afterwards you’re going to wait again until they call you at another boot and this is where the actual interview happens. they will make you swear an oath and then they will ask you questions such as how long have you been engaged? Who is the person? is the person American? Where was he or she born? What is what is your job? Have you lived in any other country?, how many times have you been to the USA to visit your fiancé ? if you have ever been married before, if you have any children. That was all, the whole process took about an hour and a half they will let you know right then if you have been approved. If you are from Malta, be aware that you cannot pay in advance to have them send you the visa to your address in Malta You can either arrange for a private Courier yourself or else travel back to Naples and collect it personally. the visa takes normally three business days to be issued.
remember to be courteous and truthful, And smile! most importantly, make sure that you have all your documents in order so the process is easy for you and also for all of the others that are waiting after you 
(updated on April 29, 2024)
| | | Belmopan, Belize | Review #33148 on April 28, 2024: |
JamKai
Rating:
| Review Topic: K1 Visa
The day my fiancé had his interview in the embassy in Belmopan, his only complaint was that it was hot outside because there was no waiting room with an AC. His interview went smoothly and they orally approved him the same day. We genuinely had little to no issues throughout our K-1 process and now we are awaiting for his instructions to retrieve his visa from the embassy.
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