Review of the US Embassy (Santo Domingo)

[Emely 0]

Arrived at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo at 5:45 in the morning - expecting to wait all day until 5 PM for an answer on approval/denial. The new US Embassy is very fancy and expensive looking. We waited in a massive crowd of people wearing too much perfume and cologne; it formed a giant stink cloud in front of the embassy itself. Yes, we Dominicans wear too much of that stuff. It took about 45 min to an hour to get through the security in the front. People that had cell phones and other devices on them were sent to the back of the line because they don't allow anyone to bring those items in. My fiancé and I were separated in different lines in security for awhile but we found each other afterwards. After passing through security there's a big courtyard with an outdoor waiting area with seats and TV screens displaying ticket numbers. We went to this main indoor building which had around 60 plus ticket windows and lots of seats to wait for our ticket number to be called. We waited about 25 or so minutes and our ticket number was called to a window, where the officer went over some paperwork with us and gave us the instructions on where to pay the visa fee. We were sent to the cashier to pay 80 dollars for the visa and then we went back to the same window. After that we had to wait for my name to be called to get the finger prints in window 1. After the finger prints we waited another 45 minutes for our number to be called again, and that's when we went to a different interview with an American woman at the window giving the interview. She was polite and friendly, asked some basic questions about us. That whole thing took 5-10 minutes and we were approved! I didn't even have to show the I-134 document/supporting documents which was weird. Actually, all we had to show was the appointment letter, photographs of us mainly. The interviewer seemed to look more at the photographs of us to determine the legitimacy of our relationship, rather than complicated questions. Overall, the experience in Santo Domingo was pretty smooth, the hard part was waiting and waiting. We were approved around 9:20 in the morning. After that we were sent to the front of the building outside to pay the courier for the visa delivery and then we were out of there quite quickly. Getting your visa is about a 3-4 hour process here, though I could tell for some people it could last 4-5 hours.

[Zach<3Katiuska 58]

Congratulationss!!

[jjpgyitr4evr 6]

Congratulations on ur visa approval....

I have a question since u are a recent k1 that was approved....when u went to pay ur visa fee at banco popular. ...did u get 2 receipts 1 for the $160 and another for the bank fee of $15....or did u just get 1 receipt for the $160???? did the bank stop charing that service fee??? I have interview for the 14th of July aand my fiancé was looking at his reciept from the bank and saw he only got 1 for the $ 160.....can u please help me w this. ....thanks

and again congrats. ...it's very exciting

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K1 Process to K1 Progress Forum~

[abby12 13]

Congrats! I'm glad you were done so early! I was inside at 7am and my interview was at 12.20pm...but that was nothing compared with the domex window.....grrr!

Congrats again!!!

[abby12 13]

Congratulations on ur visa approval....

I have a question since u are a recent k1 that was approved....when u went to pay ur visa fee at banco popular. ...did u get 2 receipts 1 for the $160 and another for the bank fee of $15....or did u just get 1 receipt for the $160???? did the bank stop charing that service fee??? I have interview for the 14th of July aand my fiancé was looking at his reciept from the bank and saw he only got 1 for the $ 160.....can u please help me w this. ....thanks

and again congrats. ...it's very exciting

It is supposed to be 2 receipts. Tell your fiance to check well the papers if it is stapled there somewhere, if not, return to the bank for the other receipt..the one that is for 15 dollars I believe. It will be printed the same way but different amounts.

[SraAcero 6]

Congrats

[J&N071213 57]

Hello, I just started my visa journey and have a question for my fellow dominicans. When i filed my i-130 last month, I didn't include any pictures. Did any of you did this at the USCIS stage, NVC stage or just waited for the interview?

I have read others who have done it but I was under the assumption you don't need to but since DR is high on fraud, I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks

[Emely 0]

Congratulations on ur visa approval....

I have a question since u are a recent k1 that was approved....when u went to pay ur visa fee at banco popular. ...did u get 2 receipts 1 for the $160 and another for the bank fee of $15....or did u just get 1 receipt for the $160???? did the bank stop charing that service fee??? I have interview for the 14th of July aand my fiancé was looking at his reciept from the bank and saw he only got 1 for the $ 160.....can u please help me w this. ....thanks

and again congrats. ...it's very exciting

I only got one receipt, the cashier told me they are not longer charging the 15 USD fee , I did not have any issues at all at the embassy

[NoeliayRonny 9]

Hello, I just started my visa journey and have a question for my fellow dominicans. When i filed my i-130 last month, I didn't include any pictures. Did any of you did this at the USCIS stage, NVC stage or just waited for the interview?

I have read others who have done it but I was under the assumption you don't need to but since DR is high on fraud, I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks

Hey no pics needed until the interview stage!!! You will be done welcome to the journey

[J&N071213 57]

Thank you, I was beginning to freak out a little.

[MrTee12 64]

I only got one receipt, the cashier told me they are not longer charging the 15 USD fee , I did not have any issues at all at the embassy

Thx for this information. I will update the NOA2 page.

[abby12 13]

I only got one receipt, the cashier told me they are not longer charging the 15 USD fee , I did not have any issues at all at the embassy

argh I was charged! hahaha

And I asked at the banco popular why 2 fees, and I didn't understand at all their answer, they said something about the system did not allow this or that, etc, and this is the fee for this, and the other fee for that, etc.. I told them It didn't make any sense to me (the two fees) and the instructions from the US IV package only said the $160 fee.. But when I went the lady who got our documents did see the two receipts, she even said "dos recibos, correcto".

[butterflies0124 8]

Arrived at the US Embassy in Santo Domingo at 5:45 in the morning - expecting to wait all day until 5 PM for an answer on approval/denial. The new US Embassy is very fancy and expensive looking. We waited in a massive crowd of people wearing too much perfume and cologne; it formed a giant stink cloud in front of the embassy itself. Yes, we Dominicans wear too much of that stuff. It took about 45 min to an hour to get through the security in the front. People that had cell phones and other devices on them were sent to the back of the line because they don't allow anyone to bring those items in. My fiancé and I were separated in different lines in security for awhile but we found each other afterwards. After passing through security there's a big courtyard with an outdoor waiting area with seats and TV screens displaying ticket numbers. We went to this main indoor building which had around 60 plus ticket windows and lots of seats to wait for our ticket number to be called. We waited about 25 or so minutes and our ticket number was called to a window, where the officer went over some paperwork with us and gave us the instructions on where to pay the visa fee. We were sent to the cashier to pay 80 dollars for the visa and then we went back to the same window. After that we had to wait for my name to be called to get the finger prints in window 1. After the finger prints we waited another 45 minutes for our number to be called again, and that's when we went to a different interview with an American woman at the window giving the interview. She was polite and friendly, asked some basic questions about us. That whole thing took 5-10 minutes and we were approved! I didn't even have to show the I-134 document/supporting documents which was weird. Actually, all we had to show was the appointment letter, photographs of us mainly. The interviewer seemed to look more at the photographs of us to determine the legitimacy of our relationship, rather than complicated questions. Overall, the experience in Santo Domingo was pretty smooth, the hard part was waiting and waiting. We were approved around 9:20 in the morning. After that we were sent to the front of the building outside to pay the courier for the visa delivery and then we were out of there quite quickly. Getting your visa is about a 3-4 hour process here, though I could tell for some people it could last 4-5 hours.

Can you tell us what questions they asked you and what they asked your fiance?

[kike732 6]

congrats!!!!