Vancouver Interview last week

[BradnKim 0]

Just thought I'd give a quick update/review of our experience in Vancouver last week for our K-3 visa. I read tons of reviews on VJ before we went and was all confident about the interview and to my disbelief we had a the devil interviw of apparently!

Everything else was as expected with the security etc. and the man who took our packet when we first got there (Leo) was nice. When we were called up to the window we were asked a few questions about where we met and when, and where we both worked. After that our interviewer (Hong) started in on my husband about a DUI from 11 years ago (he was 19!!). She wanted exact dates of the occurance, court & fine payments. Needless to say it being 11 years ago my husband had not memorized all this information, and she was the one sitting there with the original court records in front of her! She was just plain RUDE to us! She would make a rude comment then start typing and we would try to give her some more details and she held her hand up to the window as in be quiet I'm busy. Then my hubby had an overstay of 45 days from last year before we started this process and it created a "hit" on ISIS, so she insisted he was detained by the US Border agents in October, but he was actually entering Canada after the overstay and was not even detained, but they noted it in the computers I guess. He tried explaining this to her and she rudely said "SIR, You're splitting hairs with me". Which he wasn't, he was trying to make her understand what actually happened, but she had her own version I guess. We left the consulate without his passport and had the medical done the following morning. Laura at Woking Medical was awesome! We told her about the troubles at the consulate about the 11 year old DUI and she was in shock that they were hassling him so much about that. She assured us that the Doctor would make elaborate notes in the medical review to assure this was not a problem. We picked up the medical at 2 and took them back to the Consulate. They would only allow my husband upstairs to drop it off and had me go wait on the street for him. We left the Xpresspost envelope with the consulate along with the passport and were told that they needed to do Administrative Processing. I think that was her way of saying she didn't like us and we were going to have to wait as long as she wanted to without knowing what was going on.

So, here we both are back in Winnipeg and California with no visa, no passport and not knowing when or if we will receive either or when. I emailed the consulate yesterday and received a response today that it is in Administrative Processing and we should hear from them by the end of the week hopefully.

The same day we were returning from Vancouver we got an RFE from Montreal for more financial evidence! GREAT! Everything I sent them already shows that I am 15k over their line!!!

[carslo 0]

Oh my goodness, what a nightmare in Vancouver! I know when I was a NVC they told me that I needed to supply some different documents when I was positive I had sent the correct one. Trailmix suggested that I talk to an agent and have them get a supervisor pull and look at my file. The file was pulled and I did indeed have the correct forms! This caused a delay of about a week. If you are confident that you send in the proper documentation then it can't hurt to ask if someone higher up the chain can look at your file.

Good luck with the rest of your journey and I am so sorry that your visit to Vancouver was marred by your unfortunate experience at the consulate.

Janet

[OBX 51]

What a nightmare you went through! I hope it gets straightened out for you quickly and you can move on with things. Good luck for a speedy resolution.

Edited May 26, 2009 by OBX

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Geez - who pee'd in the interviewer's Corn Flakes that day????????????

I'm so sorry that things didn't go smoothly. Isn't it odd that they hone in on something seemingly insignificant (the ancient DUI charge) and then don't want correct details about his overstay? Just plain dumb.

I hope it's a positive sign that they've taken the passport and envelope and that you will see everything go smoothly now........this is probably justa little bump in the road.

[Tankgurl38 0]

Sorry to hear about your experience at the Vancouver Consulate.

Off topic.....I am confused by your time line.....are you able to apply for two visa's at one time?

[BradnKim 0]

Our I-129 was sent to Vancouver for the K-3 Visa and our I-130 will be going to Montreal when they are done at NVC. We can get the K-3 Visa for him to come stay with me in the US and then attend the Montreal CR-1 Interview when that happens. I guess it's just a little quicker than filing an AOS from the US on the K-3, since NVC already has our files.

Sorry to hear about your experience at the Vancouver Consulate.

Off topic.....I am confused by your time line.....are you able to apply for two visa's at one time?

[Tankgurl38 0]

Here's hoping your montreal interview will be way easier!

Crazy the hoops they make us all jump through.

[BradnKim 0]

Thanks Tankgurl

Here's hoping your montreal interview will be way easier!

Crazy the hoops they make us all jump through.

[Autumnchik 6]

I am so sorry for your experience in Vancouver. They really do hone in on DUIs. When we applied for our K-1 visa, my now husband had brought court records from a DUI he had over 20 something years ago when he was about 19 or 20. I was at the interview too and the interviewer asked me several times if I was aware of my husband's record. Our interviewer though was pretty decent about it though. I hope everything gets sorted out quickly for you.

[movingsoon1 0]

Brad&Kim, thanks for sharing that. I had a terrible experience at the vancouver consulate. I was missing the i34 supporting evidence and was treated like a criminal. The lady was ruthless. I thought that I will never see my fiance again after the interview with her. Now the good part - because they kept your passport that means you are for sure getting the visa!!! Admin processing in the Vancouver consulate is very quick you will be on your way. I was put through the admin processing too, it just means that you are getting your visa a week later, that's all. I crossed the border yesterday and had a wonderful experience, the crossing guard even complimented me for being familiar with this whole process, and I barely said anything.

[BradnKim 0]

Movingsoon,

Thank you SO much for the reply... that is what I am hoping is that the visa will come in the mail. Was thinking it would be pretty crappy to pay $22 for the xpresspost envelope for them to mail us a denial !!! We are tracking the envelope several times a day and nothing yet.

Brad&Kim, thanks for sharing that. I had a terrible experience at the vancouver consulate. I was missing the i34 supporting evidence and was treated like a criminal. The lady was ruthless. I thought that I will never see my fiance again after the interview with her. Now the good part - because they kept your passport that means you are for sure getting the visa!!! Admin processing in the Vancouver consulate is very quick you will be on your way. I was put through the admin processing too, it just means that you are getting your visa a week later, that's all. I crossed the border yesterday and had a wonderful experience, the crossing guard even complimented me for being familiar with this whole process, and I barely said anything.

[Moosker 7]

Wow, you guys really did get a witch for your interview! Sorry to hear that. At least you were calm and did your best. I hope you get that CR1 in Montreal, they are way better over there. Keep us updated and good luck! It'll all work out...you just got sidetracked along the way right?

[TimandJoyce 1]

Sorry that you went through that!! It's not enough that interviews and medicals are stressful enough, but you'd think they could still be nice, and not treat people like criminals!! Ugh!! I hope all goes much more smoothly for you in Montreal. And that the rest of this mess gets straightened out soon! Hang in there!

[minnew 4]

BradnKim I hope you hear something soon!

It sounds like I had the same lady, she was older and Asian. I hope she does not give me any more trouble tomorrow when I drop off my medical results.

[trailmix 77]

I'm sorry you guys had to go through that. It's all very strange - the whole treating you like a criminal thing - if you have ever been questioned about something when entering the U.S., it's the same thing sometimes. I suppose it is their training, but honestly there is no excuse for that.

I hope that you receive your visa very soon, good luck

I also hope that people who are treated badly at the consulate write a letter of complaint to the consulate or to the Office of the Inspector General (after receiving your visa of course!)

COMPLAINTS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT TREATMENT BY U.S. CONSULATES AND EMBASSIES ABROAD

Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of State

Complaints can be made via telephone call, e-mail or standard mail regarding visa and passport malfeasance, employee misconduct, misuse of public position and related misconduct. Confidentiality over the Internet cannot be assured. Helpful information would be: What is the problem? Who is involved? When, where and why did it happen? Is there any documentation? Passport and visa issuance problems report first to Telephone Number: 202-663-1225.

Contact:

Office of Inspector General (HOTLINE)

U.S. Department of State

P.O. Box 9778

Arlington, VA 22219 USA

Tel: 1-800-409-9926

E-Mail: oighotline@state.gov

or

Office of Inspector General

U.S. Department of State

Room 6817

Washington, DC 20520-6817 USA

Tel: 202-647-9450 Fax: 202-647-7660

Cables should be captioned: "OIG Channel-State" to ensure confidentiality

Edited May 27, 2009 by trailmix