My Interview Experience

[belamcanda 0]

APPROVED!!

Finally.

Preface because we were so messed up along the way…

So we had some hiccups along the way. My fiancé had made arrangements for all the paperwork he needed long before I got there but none of it was then picked up when I arrived on the 15th. So first thing in the morning on the 16th we went to the medical appointment - I was originally most concerned about this because the other two were just to be picked up and the medical supposedly needs 10-14 days for processing or some such - but they assured us it would be fine and indeed there were zero problems with the medical. We then went over to Duke street to pick up his police record (which he'd tried to pick up many times and had been told since a week earlier that thee was a snag and to come back . But they never mentioned what the snag was or anything. So we go. They redo the fingerprinting electronically, then in ink. They tell up there is a case coming up and to go to Half-Way Tree court to get a print out of the results of that 11-year-old case that he didn't even know about - YIKES! So we go over to the court and they tell us that it will take until the 30th to locate the file. We ask them to hurry and come back Monday to see what progress has been made. None. So I tell them that I desperately need them to locate the file THAT DAY as our interview is the next day. We're assuming they'll find it, it will say what we want it to say, and we'll be getting the police record that day. Well, they find the file but it says that the case is still open and that we have to go to court on Wednesday to get it closed. That means no police record for Tuesday. Meanwhile our No Impediment to Marry Certificate is lost in the world of Jamaican beurocracy and even though we paid to have it express in FEBRUARY they are telling us another 6-9 more weeks to locate that. So we won't have that for the interview either. Needless to say I'm freaking out! Tuesday morning we are both complete wrecks. I emailed the consulate and told them the situation and they encouraged us to come in with out the stuff that was missing and that they would do the interview and then schedule a time to drop off the missing paperwork. OK.

The actual interview... we show up early, park, and sit and talk for a while. I have my war-and-peace book of documentation. We walk up and go through security. Once inside a guard instructs us to remove all the most relevant paperwork from the folder and place it and the passport photos inside the passport. We get a pink slip to write his passport number on and get our number (48) then we are told to wait in section A and listen for our number to be called. When that happens we jump up like a shot and go over to the first window. The woman there takes what documentation we have, gives us the US-Government Style lecture about not having everything. She also tells us - and this is news to us - that the birth certificate we have for him will not work as it is an old-style one and he must have a new-style one which I guess have security features and may or may not be blue? So we don't have that either.

An extra copy of my Affidavit of support accidentally got pulled out of the folder with his papers but it wasn't signed. I tried to offer her the signed and notarized one and she was too busy yelling at us to listen so they ended up with an unsigned affidavit. She asked me for tax info but didn't seem to want any other financial information. Nor did anyone ever ask for the No Impediment to Marry Certificate. The woman lectured us again because we didn't pay for the visa before coming to her window. We tried to explain that we'd never been told to do that, that we'd still never received a complete packet 3 (which is where she was saying we should have known things like paying before hand and having the new birth certificate) that we were very sorry we were unprepared but she didn't want to hear a thing. So we paid at the cashier’s window and then she sent us to wait in Section B for fingerprints - Easy.

Then over to section C to wait for the interview. People who were there with the person who was petitioning for them got through generally very fast and easy. Rejections were like an old old man trying to marry a much younger woman with children, a man who'd tested positive for ganja, that sort of thing. Kind of a lot of people were in our situation because they were missing some documentation. Most commonly missing the new-style birth certificate and one woman who'd forgotten to bring her old passport for them to look over her previous visas. Those people were given a blue form explaining what they were missing and given an appointment to return in the first week of June and drop things off.

They finally call our number. We go up to the window and they thank me for coming in. We swear to tell the truth and then they separate us. They interview him at the window (he's a boy sop I don't really know to this day what specifically they asked him) and they send me to a little private room to be interviewed by a different consular officer. She asked me questions about how we met, what attracted me to him, my visits to Jamaica, meeting his family, where I'd stayed, what we'd done on this trip, and his activism in our religion. I was nervous because I hadn't expected to be separated and I was nervous for him dealing with not having the paperwork on his own. But I just answered honestly. Then I sat back in the chairs near where his window was until he turned around with a big grin and motioned me to follow him outside. Turned out not only did they approve the legitimacy of our relationship they gave our follow up appointment for THURSDAY instead of June.

So Wed. we went to court and had that whole debacle resolved in the morning before I had to get on my plane to the states. Then he went back to the court in the late afternoon, picked up the letter saying everything was taken care of. Then on Thursday morning he went back to Duke Street for the clean police record and then with it finally in hand on Thursday at 12:30 he went back to the embassy, turned it and his passport over to them. And then we were approved. They sent him on over to Airpac and told him not to make travel arraignments until he'd received the visa.

Woot!

[Shemmy 4]

APPROVED!!

Finally.

Preface because we were so messed up along the way…

So we had some hiccups along the way. My fiancé had made arrangements for all the paperwork he needed long before I got there but none of it was then picked up when I arrived on the 15th. So first thing in the morning on the 16th we went to the medical appointment - I was originally most concerned about this because the other two were just to be picked up and the medical supposedly needs 10-14 days for processing or some such - but they assured us it would be fine and indeed there were zero problems with the medical. We then went over to Duke street to pick up his police record (which he'd tried to pick up many times and had been told since a week earlier that thee was a snag and to come back . But they never mentioned what the snag was or anything. So we go. They redo the fingerprinting electronically, then in ink. They tell up there is a case coming up and to go to Half-Way Tree court to get a print out of the results of that 11-year-old case that he didn't even know about - YIKES! So we go over to the court and they tell us that it will take until the 30th to locate the file. We ask them to hurry and come back Monday to see what progress has been made. None. So I tell them that I desperately need them to locate the file THAT DAY as our interview is the next day. We're assuming they'll find it, it will say what we want it to say, and we'll be getting the police record that day. Well, they find the file but it says that the case is still open and that we have to go to court on Wednesday to get it closed. That means no police record for Tuesday. Meanwhile our No Impediment to Marry Certificate is lost in the world of Jamaican beurocracy and even though we paid to have it express in FEBRUARY they are telling us another 6-9 more weeks to locate that. So we won't have that for the interview either. Needless to say I'm freaking out! Tuesday morning we are both complete wrecks. I emailed the consulate and told them the situation and they encouraged us to come in with out the stuff that was missing and that they would do the interview and then schedule a time to drop off the missing paperwork. OK.

The actual interview... we show up early, park, and sit and talk for a while. I have my war-and-peace book of documentation. We walk up and go through security. Once inside a guard instructs us to remove all the most relevant paperwork from the folder and place it and the passport photos inside the passport. We get a pink slip to write his passport number on and get our number (48) then we are told to wait in section A and listen for our number to be called. When that happens we jump up like a shot and go over to the first window. The woman there takes what documentation we have, gives us the US-Government Style lecture about not having everything. She also tells us - and this is news to us - that the birth certificate we have for him will not work as it is an old-style one and he must have a new-style one which I guess have security features and may or may not be blue? So we don't have that either.

An extra copy of my Affidavit of support accidentally got pulled out of the folder with his papers but it wasn't signed. I tried to offer her the signed and notarized one and she was too busy yelling at us to listen so they ended up with an unsigned affidavit. She asked me for tax info but didn't seem to want any other financial information. Nor did anyone ever ask for the No Impediment to Marry Certificate. The woman lectured us again because we didn't pay for the visa before coming to her window. We tried to explain that we'd never been told to do that, that we'd still never received a complete packet 3 (which is where she was saying we should have known things like paying before hand and having the new birth certificate) that we were very sorry we were unprepared but she didn't want to hear a thing. So we paid at the cashier’s window and then she sent us to wait in Section B for fingerprints - Easy.

Then over to section C to wait for the interview. People who were there with the person who was petitioning for them got through generally very fast and easy. Rejections were like an old old man trying to marry a much younger woman with children, a man who'd tested positive for ganja, that sort of thing. Kind of a lot of people were in our situation because they were missing some documentation. Most commonly missing the new-style birth certificate and one woman who'd forgotten to bring her old passport for them to look over her previous visas. Those people were given a blue form explaining what they were missing and given an appointment to return in the first week of June and drop things off.

They finally call our number. We go up to the window and they thank me for coming in. We swear to tell the truth and then they separate us. They interview him at the window (he's a boy sop I don't really know to this day what specifically they asked him) and they send me to a little private room to be interviewed by a different consular officer. She asked me questions about how we met, what attracted me to him, my visits to Jamaica, meeting his family, where I'd stayed, what we'd done on this trip, and his activism in our religion. I was nervous because I hadn't expected to be separated and I was nervous for him dealing with not having the paperwork on his own. But I just answered honestly. Then I sat back in the chairs near where his window was until he turned around with a big grin and motioned me to follow him outside. Turned out not only did they approve the legitimacy of our relationship they gave our follow up appointment for THURSDAY instead of June.

So Wed. we went to court and had that whole debacle resolved in the morning before I had to get on my plane to the states. Then he went back to the court in the late afternoon, picked up the letter saying everything was taken care of. Then on Thursday morning he went back to Duke Street for the clean police record and then with it finally in hand on Thursday at 12:30 he went back to the embassy, turned it and his passport over to them. And then we were approved. They sent him on over to Airpac and told him not to make travel arraignments until he'd received the visa.

Woot!

Congrats

[TRELAWNY PARISH 10]

Bel,

I was wondering if we would hear from you soon. I'm so glad things worked out in the end. I had read you posting about how they passed you up for a more recent interview date and that you asked for your interview day. I asked, but I honestly didn't think they would accept it. I also asked for an afternoon apointment and they gave it to me. Thanks for the suggestions. CONGRATS! Again.

Novelette

[*JG* 2]

Congrats.

[sus 70]

Congrats, Bellam - glad to hear everything went well.

[sara..... 371]

congratulations wow what a emotional ride they took u on but at least its done and visa will be given many many congratulations :dance: :dance:

[Amaya's Mommy 0]

congrats

[jason&Marla 0]

I feel ya....I my wife had the worst experience with the embassy. I am so glad I WILL NEVER have to deal with the US Embassy in Jamaica again.

[Ms. Hellwig 0]

Congrats!

And thanks for posting your experience because, once again, I got a helpful tip - the new fangled birth certificate.

[clairern 0]

APPROVED!!

Finally.

Preface because we were so messed up along the way…

So we had some hiccups along the way. My fiancé had made arrangements for all the paperwork he needed long before I got there but none of it was then picked up when I arrived on the 15th. So first thing in the morning on the 16th we went to the medical appointment - I was originally most concerned about this because the other two were just to be picked up and the medical supposedly needs 10-14 days for processing or some such - but they assured us it would be fine and indeed there were zero problems with the medical. We then went over to Duke street to pick up his police record (which he'd tried to pick up many times and had been told since a week earlier that thee was a snag and to come back . But they never mentioned what the snag was or anything. So we go. They redo the fingerprinting electronically, then in ink. They tell up there is a case coming up and to go to Half-Way Tree court to get a print out of the results of that 11-year-old case that he didn't even know about - YIKES! So we go over to the court and they tell us that it will take until the 30th to locate the file. We ask them to hurry and come back Monday to see what progress has been made. None. So I tell them that I desperately need them to locate the file THAT DAY as our interview is the next day. We're assuming they'll find it, it will say what we want it to say, and we'll be getting the police record that day. Well, they find the file but it says that the case is still open and that we have to go to court on Wednesday to get it closed. That means no police record for Tuesday. Meanwhile our No Impediment to Marry Certificate is lost in the world of Jamaican beurocracy and even though we paid to have it express in FEBRUARY they are telling us another 6-9 more weeks to locate that. So we won't have that for the interview either. Needless to say I'm freaking out! Tuesday morning we are both complete wrecks. I emailed the consulate and told them the situation and they encouraged us to come in with out the stuff that was missing and that they would do the interview and then schedule a time to drop off the missing paperwork. OK.

The actual interview... we show up early, park, and sit and talk for a while. I have my war-and-peace book of documentation. We walk up and go through security. Once inside a guard instructs us to remove all the most relevant paperwork from the folder and place it and the passport photos inside the passport. We get a pink slip to write his passport number on and get our number (48) then we are told to wait in section A and listen for our number to be called. When that happens we jump up like a shot and go over to the first window. The woman there takes what documentation we have, gives us the US-Government Style lecture about not having everything. She also tells us - and this is news to us - that the birth certificate we have for him will not work as it is an old-style one and he must have a new-style one which I guess have security features and may or may not be blue? So we don't have that either.

An extra copy of my Affidavit of support accidentally got pulled out of the folder with his papers but it wasn't signed. I tried to offer her the signed and notarized one and she was too busy yelling at us to listen so they ended up with an unsigned affidavit. She asked me for tax info but didn't seem to want any other financial information. Nor did anyone ever ask for the No Impediment to Marry Certificate. The woman lectured us again because we didn't pay for the visa before coming to her window. We tried to explain that we'd never been told to do that, that we'd still never received a complete packet 3 (which is where she was saying we should have known things like paying before hand and having the new birth certificate) that we were very sorry we were unprepared but she didn't want to hear a thing. So we paid at the cashier's window and then she sent us to wait in Section B for fingerprints - Easy.

Then over to section C to wait for the interview. People who were there with the person who was petitioning for them got through generally very fast and easy. Rejections were like an old old man trying to marry a much younger woman with children, a man who'd tested positive for ganja, that sort of thing. Kind of a lot of people were in our situation because they were missing some documentation. Most commonly missing the new-style birth certificate and one woman who'd forgotten to bring her old passport for them to look over her previous visas. Those people were given a blue form explaining what they were missing and given an appointment to return in the first week of June and drop things off.

They finally call our number. We go up to the window and they thank me for coming in. We swear to tell the truth and then they separate us. They interview him at the window (he's a boy sop I don't really know to this day what specifically they asked him) and they send me to a little private room to be interviewed by a different consular officer. She asked me questions about how we met, what attracted me to him, my visits to Jamaica, meeting his family, where I'd stayed, what we'd done on this trip, and his activism in our religion. I was nervous because I hadn't expected to be separated and I was nervous for him dealing with not having the paperwork on his own. But I just answered honestly. Then I sat back in the chairs near where his window was until he turned around with a big grin and motioned me to follow him outside. Turned out not only did they approve the legitimacy of our relationship they gave our follow up appointment for THURSDAY instead of June.

So Wed. we went to court and had that whole debacle resolved in the morning before I had to get on my plane to the states. Then he went back to the court in the late afternoon, picked up the letter saying everything was taken care of. Then on Thursday morning he went back to Duke Street for the clean police record and then with it finally in hand on Thursday at 12:30 he went back to the embassy, turned it and his passport over to them. And then we were approved. They sent him on over to Airpac and told him not to make travel arraignments until he'd received the visa.

Woot!

Wow girl, what a debackle. (sp) Well I am very happy that it all ended positively. Sometimes we have to fight for what we want. Congratulations to you both and hope that the rest of your journey be smoother.

[Marlita 0]

Congrats!! Thanks for the story...it gives me some help and ideas for my own case.

[Islandwoman 0]

Congrats!! What a roller coaster, but thank god it is finished (almost)!!

[Mina76 0]

Great, Congratulations to you both!!!

[Forever Young 1]

CONGRATS BELAMCANDA!!!!!

SOUNDS LIKE THEY PUT YOU BOTH THROUGH IT...BUT THANK G-D...IT ALL WORKED OUT!!!!

Many blessings to you both,

Gill

Edited April 26, 2008 by Deyoungting

[I luv my chappara 0]

congratulations