Consulate Review: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Review Topic: K1 Visa
|
| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
January 23, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
It has been some crazy weeks for me before I was able to upload my review. I will go in a lot of details, because when I was waiting for my visa to be approved I started reading every review as a maniac. So it is only fair for me to help others with this.
I'll start with the medical:
I called in, and got a friendly lady on the phone, they usually schedule u in a week before the interview date. Take ur passport with u, 4 AMERICAN sized pictures (I know it says different on some of the things, but take 4 with you). And ur vaccination record (if u don't have it u can email the RIVM and they will find it for you) if u are missing vaccinations and u have the right insurance, get them before hand, so you won't have to pay. The vaccinations u need are:
DTP
Flueshot (if in season)
BMR
Take also cash with you (no cards), 140 euros for the medical and 50 for the X-RAY. (save the receipts).
When u get in the medical facility (it looks like a normal living house) the doctors assistant will fill in a few papers with you about your medical history and ur addresses and stuff. She will also take the pictures and ur passport. In my case the son of the doctor took my blood (while chatting over Arizona) and the father (the older man, little bit grumpy) did the medical exam. After you are called in, he will start asking you questions, some questions I noticed he didn't asked but just filled in no, for example the dreaded question have u used drugs, I never heared. But questions like, have you had surgery, have you seen a psychologist before, have you had broken bones before (? still not sure why that would be important), do you smoke, do you drink. All that kind of stuff, be honest and just tell him.
If you are concerned about a medical issue u may have. Don't be, 99.9% of the time it does not matter at all. Unless u have something very serious that could cause harm to others, then yes. Else u should be totally fine.
After the questions he will examine you, and u have to undress ur top part, (women can keep their bra on). He will measure ur height (I am shorter then I thought) weigh you and listen to your lungs (he listened to mine for a long time, I almost got worried), he will let you stand on one leg and then u can put ur shirt back on. He also did an eye exam (which I failed miserably). And after that a few more questions, notes and u will pay him (140 euro, if u did not need any more vaccinations) and he will explain to you where to go next (the XRAY).
When u get to the XRAY show the ladies downstairs the big paper u got and they will tell u how to go to the XRAY, and their u press a bell and they will call u in, u have to totally undress the toppart (no bra for ladies) they will make a picture and done. With me she actually looked at the XRAY (curious as I am how my lungs look) I payed her and I was free to go. Totally ready for the interview. ( U won't hear anything if everything went allright.)
Be prepared that the next week (also the weeks after) go slow but superfast at the same time. Make sure u have everything ready in time (and not like me the night before the interview still doing stuff till 3 am). This is what I had with me:
I bought an harmonica suitcase thingy (at hema)
labeled everything:
In front where the things u need to hand in as first:
Affidavit of support (My husband did this part, I did made a cover letter for it, highly recommended)
Passport photos (2)
Passport
Birth certificate plus copy
VOG plus copy
Do not forget the copy's else u have to send it in later.
Make sure u have the appointment letter with u too.
Rest of the suitcase was:
I-129F (everything u send in with the initial package, before NOA1)
G-325A (both)
Medical (vaccination record, proof u paid for medical)
Letter of intends (U want to make a new one with the date closer to interview, both of you)
Namechange + Noa2 (Namechange was specific for my husband since he had his name changed)
Passport (copy of urs and ur fiance, and in my case my old one too)
Boarding passes from me and him from our previous visits
Some random pictures of us
Skypelogs
Our bank info (from our visits to show we paid in the other persons country)
And then every other evidence you can find.
I also put together a photoalbum of every trip we made.
So, don't get mad at me if u take this all and they don't ask for it, u really want to have it with you. I do believe that they see what u have with u and then decide that u are prepared enough. For example if they see u don't have anything with you besides some papers, they will ask u a lot more questions and request more evidence. So just bring it with you, even though it means u have to rest for 2 days because of ur back problem.
I gathered all these papers and pics and got up really early that morning to travel with the train from Groningen to Amsterdam (my dad was sick, so he couldnt drive me). In the train I drank like 4 cups of coffee and almost puked when I tried to eat (I was bloody nervous, but that is okay, everyone is). I met up with a fellow K1 visa person, who had the interview at the same day. We dropped our phone off at her mom and went to the consulate.
So if u are early, stop pressing on the damn bell. U will not, I repeat will not get in earlier. U have to stand in line, just like anyone else. And u will only piss off the guards. Do NOT bring ANY electronics. Obviously that means phones and laptobs, but it also means ur E-CIG.
My friend and I where the first in line, and chitchatted a bit, when it was about time the guards started to ask everyone who came for a immigrant visa to come forward and stand first in line. Then they start asking everyone who had electronics (like seriously people, it says it on ur invitation) to drop it somewhere (if u come for an immigrant visa, u have to drop it off somewhere and hope they let u back in line, some dude behind us, gave his phone to a stranger and hoped he was still their when he was done).
Since I was the absolute first to get in, I showed my invitation to the officer and got in some sort of security/TSA/airport checkpoint, they will check ur bags and ur pockets, u have to walk trough a metal detector and ur bag will go trough a scanner, they ask u to grab everything u need and to leave ur bags behind, u will get a luggage tag. Then u will walk trough the SUPER heavy door (that smashed me almost in pieces) and u will enter a room for non immigrant visas. If u are an immigrant visa u have to go to the right, into a tiny room with small windows behind the bar. I did not see anyone yet, so I sat down in the fireplace (lol), and waited for me to be called. I had to hand in the VOG + copy, birth certificate + copy, passport photo's, passport and affidavit. And he also took my finger prints (which always take 4 times with me). And then told me to sit down again, they call u in order, but with me it was a case that a woman with a little kid asked to go first so she would not have a crying kid, which was fine. After she was done I was the next one.
I almost tripped (ofcourse) because I was so nervous. But the officer was really nice (it was a she). She then started to look trough my file she allready had. And then asked me to swear but nothing but the truth (or something like that). She made me laugh too because she saw a picture of my fiance and then pointed to a guy who was also waiting, and they could have been twins lol. She was like, did u bring him here? Was really funny.
Edit: If you are really nervous, like I was. Don't worry, all the questions are made so that the people with genuine relationships can answer them even without thinking. They will not denie you, if u have to think about some stuff or if u humble ur words, they are used to that. All u have to do is tell them about ur relationship, and don't we all love to do that? I almost wanted her to ask me more questions. Show them how genuine I was !!
To be honest, it is kinda disappointing but I do not remember all the questions she asked, it blurred a bit out to me, since I was so nervous. But I will do my best to remember the ones I got, and maybe If I remember some more later, I will edit it.
So how did you meet? - Answer
What type of game is that? - Answer
-scrolls trough paperwork-
U have a bit of age difference is that right? (I said, nine years isnt that much)
What are you planning on doing their?
What did ur family think of him and his family of you?
What do you like about him?
Oh I see he has some savings, smart guy. And u have a CO-sponsor? That is just perfect!
After that she closed my paperwork, started to type stuff really fast and said, congratulations u are approved, ur passport will be send back to you within 5 work days.
U can only imagine how happy I was ! altough it is hard to realize it still then tho, I mean I am now in the states and still do not believe it lol.
The reason I give them only 4 stars is because the aftercare. I bought a plane ticket the same evening (not smart, I know), with enough time (I thought) to get my passport send back. Their was like 2 weeks between. But it came to a very very close call. I assumed, by reading the review here that it was actually going to be within a week, so I thought within 2 weeks should be more then enough time, well, it came with 1 week and 4 days. And almost got lost by postNL too. I literally stalked the website you can see your status like 8 times a day. And it even changed into administrative process (which caused a break down to me, because I heared and thought and googled that could take weeks.). But within that time I also emailed and phoned with a lady from the consulate and she was really really rude. Like so rude, it almost scared me. Then when I finally got the package everything was sealed EXEPT for my medical records, while it even said on the envelope it has to be sealed. Like seriously guys?.... The answer from the same lady from the consulate was: Oops, sorry. U will have to tape it urself then.
But all in all, I am here for 7 weeks now, got married and could not be happier right now. All the stress and panickmoments are finally over (I know the AOS is coming up, but ssshhht) and we can finally enjoy and relax.
If u read my whole review, u are probably the same type of person as me, want to know everything and want to do everything right. That is good ! How crazy it made my husband, it was really good for us. I did everything right, no RFE's and speeded trough the process. I wish u all luck, and if u have questions, please don't hestitate to ask me.
PS: Don't mind my grammar. It is not the best.
(updated on January 28, 2016) |
| Rating : |
Good |
|
ver 5.0