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| Vancouver, Canada |  Review on March 10, 2015: |
theanswerisdance
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I’m writing this at the airport in Vancouver while waiting for my flight home while everything is still fresh in my mind! Like many other Vancouver applicants, I noticed a lack of Vancouver reviews in comparison to the Montreal reviews. A HUGE thank you to all who took the time to share their experiences and paint a picture ahead of time of what the experience was like. I’ll try to be as detailed as possible in hopes that it helps someone else.
As the time of this writing (March 2015) the consulate is only scheduling K-1 interviews on Tuesday mornings. Unfortunately, that means that if you’re coming from out of town, you have to stay over the weekend because your medical results aren’t ready for pick-up until after 4 PM on the day FOLLOWING your medical exam & blood-work (so the shortest amount of time you could do it in is 5 days — medical on Friday morning, pick up medical results on Monday afternoon, interview Tuesday morning). I flew in on Thursday evening as my appointment with Dr. Cheema in Surrey was at 9 AM on Friday. I am fortunate to have family in the area and so I had a car to drive from Surrey to Vancouver and back, so I can’t speak to taking public transit, but I’ve heard it’s a pretty good system. I stayed at the Best Western King George Inn & Suites in Surrey on the Thursday night before my medical; it was about a 10 minute drive to Dr. Cheema’s from there and it included a full continental breakfast with bacon, eggs, waffles, cereal, toast, pastries, etc. so I found it was good value. Eat a good breakfast! I also recommend checking out the locations/addresses for things the day before if you have a car as it eased my mind a lot to actually SEE the places I would be going ahead of time and plan my driving routes. Dr. Cheema’s office is on the corner of 72nd Ave & 120 St. in Surrey in a strip mall; there is free parking.
I left the hotel at 8:15 AM for my 9 AM medical appointment as I wasn’t sure how traffic would be, but I wound up getting to the office at 8:30 AM. I went in expecting to have a 30 minute wait, but the receptionist started taking my paperwork right away and was very friendly and helpful. At the medical you need your passport, appointment letter from the consulate with the date of your interview, and the letter they send you with packet 4 that has your name and case number on it. They also need 4 passport photos. I was unsure as to how many photos I’d need IN TOTAL for both the medical and interview, so I’ll tell you up front that I needed a total of 6 — they took 4 at the medical and they required the other 2 at the interview (make sure you have the 2 at the interview as people ahead of me at the consulate were turned away outside right away to go get photos printed down the street). From there, they measured my height and weight.
Dr. Cheema was running late so the receptionist actually gave me my blood-work and chest x-ray requisitions to go do ahead of time, then told me to come back after those were done to see Dr. Cheema and she would fit me in as soon as I returned. At this point it was only about 8:35 so I headed 12 blocks north on 120 St. to B.C. BioLabs, which is on the corner of 84th Ave. & 120 St. (also known as Scott Road). The x-ray is done on the first floor and blood-work on the second; I went to x-ray first and was only there about 15-20 minutes with very little wait (still before 9 AM at this point; I’d recommend scheduling as early a medical appointment with Dr. Cheema as possible to avoid some of the crowds). Then I headed upstairs for blood-work. As soon as you open the door, there’s a ticket machine to your right; take a number and wait for it to be called. This was the longest part of my day; they seemed really inefficient there, and there were a lot of patients there for fasting blood tests who had ignored their instructions, eaten food when they weren’t supposed to, then argued with the staff about having to re-schedule, etc. I sat waiting for over an hour for the single blood test they require which took under a minute in total.
After I was done in that building, I headed back to Dr. Cheema’s office. When I got there, there were a few other patients in the waiting room, but as soon as the receptionist saw me come in she waved me through and took me back to an exam room immediately. Dr. Cheema came within about 5 minutes; he doesn’t waste any time, basically just checks off a bunch of boxes asking about prior drug use, alcohol abuse, drinking & driving, history of various medical concerns, etc. He then does a basic eye test (cover one eye and read the letters, then the other eye) and blood pressure. He calls the female receptionist in for female patients while he listens to your heart and presses on your stomach to check for lumps. I’ve read from other VJ reviews that he asks you to pull down pants and underwear and do a quick visual check of genitalia, but I didn’t have to even unbutton my pants or lift my shirt; he did it all through my tank top, which was a huge relief for me. I don’t know how he determines what’s different from person to person. After that he wished me luck and was gone. I spent less than 5 minutes with him and then I was good to go with instructions to return on Monday after 4 PM to pick up my results.
I spent the weekend with family and friends. I’d recommend going out and doing things even if you’re there by yourself, i.e. exploring downtown, walking/reading/relaxing in Stanley Park if weather permits, basically anything to take your mind off things and not be worrying about your interview. Monday arrived and I went back out to Surrey to pick up my results; they said after 4, but when I got there at 3:30, mine were ready.
I had stayed with family through the weekend but I booked myself at a hotel downtown for Monday night which was a 4 minute walk from the consulate (maybe 7-8 if you walk slow  ). The hotel was Hotel Le Soleil, on Hornby St. which is one block sorth and two blocks east of the consulate on West Pender St. It wasn’t cheap - $159 CDN plus taxes - but for a downtown hotel that was the most reasonable in the area. Tip: I used the hotel's website directly instead of booking.com, and on their website is a link for specials & deals. I used the “last minute deal” (which wasn’t that last minute, I booked the hotel 2-3 weeks before my interview, as soon as I had my appointment date), and that deal included parking ($29/day otherwise without the deal). They’ll also ask you when booking to subscribe to them on social media (I think it was Twitter?) and if you do that, you get a voucher for a full American breakfast the following morning which is valued at $21. Not bad for $159 and a great location. After I checked in, I timed my walk to the consulate. I’m glad I went ahead of time as the entrance is under an awning on the east side of the building (right-hand side of the building when you’re facing the front doors) and not through the main building doors. If you’re looking for a GREAT place to eat dinner the night before, check out Moose’s Down Under, just a couple blocks east on Pender. It’s a basement pub with great prices, GREAT food, big portions, and an overall awesome atmosphere. There was only one other table of people in there with us on a Monday evening and although they have various sports playing on TVs and music playing in the background, it wasn’t at all loud. If I’d stayed longer than one night, I’d have been back for a second meal! There’s also a 24-hour Tim Horton’s kitty corner to the hotel on the corner of Pender & Hornby which is a good option for something light before the consulate in the morning.
My appointment was for 8 AM on Tuesday, and I had read the reviews of other VJers advising not to arrive more than 15-20 minutes before your appointment as they will turn you away until closer to the time. I arrived at 7:40 AM; you get in one line where they check your DS-160 confirmation page, your passport, and your Loomis paper, and they also ask if you brought passport photos (if you didn’t, you’ll be sent to go get some done before you can check in, so again I say, bring at least 6! 4 for medical and 2 for consulate. Once through that line, you get sent to a second line for outdoor security where they rifle through your papers and other belongings. There, you’re given a blue laminated card that says “20TH FLOOR - WICKET B" on it; keep that card visible and you will get ushered through separate lines than the majority of people waiting in line. Like others have attested to here, DON’T BRING MORE THAN YOU NEED. I left everything at the hotel, including my hotel room key, which they held for me at the front desk, and brought only my paperwork, a $10 bill in case I needed to get new passport photos taken, and a paperback novel to read while I was waiting. If you’re staying in the area, don’t even bother bringing a wallet, a purse, etc. as it will only hold up the line. SO MANY PEOPLE were turned away because they didn’t read the instructions on what to bring and not to bring.
Following that, you’ll be sent to wait in another line to enter the building (5 people at a time) where you walk up a flight of stairs, then receive a bin to put your belongings in to go through security (metal detector and bag scanner). They’ll repeatedly ask you what visa you’re there for and with that blue card you were given downstairs you’ll again be separated from the majority of the line-up to wait for the elevator to the 20th floor. Once off the elevator, a guard will escort you through another door and if you have a blue card, you’ll be instructed to take an immediate left and then another immediate left around the corner to go to Wicket B. There, you’ll flip the light switch on the wall (once, not up and down repeatedly) and someone will be with you shortly. There, they’ll take your DS-160 confirmation page and your passport as well as the blue card, and they’ll ask you to have a seat while they retrieve your file. Shortly after, they’ll call you back up and ask for the following paperwork (this was the order they asked for it in from me if it helps):
-Another copy of the DS-160 confirmation page
-Long-form birth certificate and photocopy
-Original police certificate
-Original, signed letters of intent from your fiancé AND ALSO YOU, dated no more than 30 days prior to your interview date
-Affidavit of support (I-864) from your fiancé
Make a photocopy of each document as they appreciate you having the copies ready.
From there, you’ll be given a number and sent to sit and wait again; those who were NOT coming for K visas were already given a number downstairs but don’t worry that you don’t receive one, you get yours upstairs. There’s a sign on the wall that shows what number they’re currently processing. As they will explain to you, the first time your number shows up on the board, it will say to go to counter #1; ignore this, as counter #1 is downstairs in a separate area. The next time it comes up on screen, it will also be said over a loudspeaker (i.e. “now serving A019 at counter 4”) and that will be the correct time to approach the wickets. This was the longest part of the process for me; I received #A043 and when I arrived they were only at #A010, so I had about 30 people ahead of me, only one other of which as a K visa applicant. This is where that book you brought to read comes in handy. Eventually it was my turn. To start the “interview”, they take your fingerprints, you swear an oath to tell the truth, and then they ask some pretty basic questions, such as whether you’ve ever lived in another country besides Canada, how you and your fiancé met, how many times you’ve visited each other, what your wedding plans are, what kind of work you both do, and so on. Treat it like a conversation with someone who’s interested in learning about you and your fiancé, and it will feel a lot less stressful than thinking of it as an “interview” or an “interrogation”. In less than 5 minutes, he informed me that my application was approved. From there, I was sent back to Wicket B. You are given your original birth certificate back and they keep the photocopy; for the rest of the documents, they keep all the originals. They instruct you about what to do with the packet when you collect it from Loomis in a few days, and they also tell you that you *CAN* travel to the U.S. as a visitor if you do not want to enter on the visa right away; she instructed me to leave the packet at home and just tell border officials when they see your passport that you have an unused K-1 visa and that you will be returning to Canada following your visit if you don’t want to use the visa right away. The visa is good for 6 months.
From there, you’re (hopefully) hopping and skipping to the exit, down the elevator, and into the downtown streets to celebrate the culmination of so many months of paperwork and waiting and stress! Honestly, though, if you just pay close attention to instructions both ahead of time and on the day of, and make sure all your documents are in order and organized, it really isn't that stressful. Good luck everyone, and thanks again to all past and present VJers for your immense help and sharing of knowledge along the way — I couldn’t have done it without you!
UPDATE TO INCLUDE LOOMIS EXPERIENCE:
Following my interview on March 10th, my status on CEAC changed to "Administrative Processing" on March 11th, and "Issued" on March 12th. On March 13th, I received e-mails from Loomis with my waybill number stating that they had picked up my passport from the Vancouver consulate, and a few hours after that, I tracked it to my home city in Alberta. As with many other people, the status did change from "ARRIVED" to "COULD NOT BE DELIVERED" -- don't panic if you get this message, it simply means it's ready for pick-up. Bring your waybill number and photo ID to the Loomis location. They will open your parcel there in front of you once you've signed for it; apparently this is standard procedure. Inside will be the "DO NOT OPEN" package to take with you to the border, and on the outside of that sealed envelope will be your passport with the visa inside.
(updated on March 13, 2015)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #16373