South Africa K-1 interview process

[Boiler 47,719]

Can’t help but think he would be better of interviewing in his own country

[fbgmlae 1]

4 hours ago, smilingstone said:

 

Can't be a very good one if they're asking for advice on a DIY site... 

I am not!! I am just trying to help a friend who is of older age, not tech savvy, and trying to bring his soon to be wifey. And condescending responses is only worsening the stress! Jeez

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

Are you a lawyer? Petitioner can file the form themselves and avoid errors made by third party

no, should we hire one??

[fbgmlae 1]

7 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Can’t help but think he would be better of interviewing in his own country

There's no us embassy in her country. We looked into it 

[Boiler 47,719]

Her?

[smilingstone 689]

21 minutes ago, fbgmlae said:

I am just trying to help a friend who is of older age

 

no, should we hire one??

 

How old is the petitioner, and how old is the beneficiary? How long have they been in a relationship? How many in person meetings between the two? 

 

Countries neighboring SA are likely high fraud. If there is a significant age gap between the two, and other red flags, then a lawyer might be preferable in their situation. 

[OldUser 10,281]

40 minutes ago, fbgmlae said:

There's no us embassy in her country. We looked into it 

Is it she or he who's applying? 

 

47 minutes ago, fbgmlae said:

I am not!! I am just trying to help a friend who is of older age, not tech savvy, and trying to bring his soon to be wifey. And condescending responses is only worsening the stress! Jeez

 

Sometimes saying "no" is actually more help than saying yes and helping. I'll pick this route instead of playing Chinese whisperers game.

Good luck!

[fbgmlae 1]

14 hours ago, smilingstone said:

 

How old is the petitioner, and how old is the beneficiary? How long have they been in a relationship? How many in person meetings between the two? 

 

Countries neighboring SA are likely high fraud. If there is a significant age gap between the two, and other red flags, then a lawyer might be preferable in their situation. 

He's in his late 60's and I believe shes around the same age. They met in Venezuela, both their native country. But she is working in Mozambique. I think theey've been dating for 5+ year??? I am not too sure. But they've known each other all their lives. He filed everything on his own with the help of his son. Idk how it came to be that her interview is taking place in South Africa. But now my neighbor is asking me to him find these answers about 1. how to go about requesting an interpreter and 2. the document review appointment. I emailed the consulate and i'm not finding many answers. The responses are vague. Then I found this forum and thought it would be helpful to ask people who recently went though the K-1 interview in South Africa.

Edited Wednesday at 03:25 PM by fbgmlae

[MalloryCat 780]

interpreters are not provided by the embassy. the applicant would have to find someone who is fluent in both their language and in english. And that person would come to the interview with them. The interpreter would have to have a valid form of ID that would allow them to enter government buildings (most typically a passport) and just inform the officers there that they will be interpreting. that is all they would need to do.

 

she will have to figure out a way to make it to the document review appointment, there is no way getting around that. 

 

[fbgmlae 1]

15 minutes ago, MalloryCat said:

interpreters are not provided by the embassy. the applicant would have to find someone who is fluent in both their language and in english. And that person would come to the interview with them. The interpreter would have to have a valid form of ID that would allow them to enter government buildings (most typically a passport) and just inform the officers there that they will be interpreting. that is all they would need to do.

 

she will have to figure out a way to make it to the document review appointment, there is no way getting around that. 

 

Thank you so much! I will provide that information back. I sent an email to (JohannesburgIV@state.gov) who are much more informative than (southafrica.visas@gdit-gss.com). While reading about the document review appointment, it seems this is a new protocol? Based on other experience testimonials, the document review has been done the day of the interview. We're just trying to figure out to how to schedule/if this is applicable to her. It did not give the option to schedule any other appointment, but the interview on the visa interview portal. I am not sure if it is scheduled just by simply emailing the consulate.

[MalloryCat 780]

i found one thing on reddit which led me to the DOS site with this notice.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/JHN-Johannesburg.html

 

"the U.S. Consulate Johannesburg requires that one member from your applicant group present yourself for a document review on the Wednesday morning two weeks prior to your Thursday interview(i.e 2 weeks and 1 day before the interview). Not attending this document review appointment in advance of your interview may result in your interview being cancelled. If you appear for your interview without having first completed the document review and are missing required documents, you will be turned away and will need to reschedule your interview. Civil documents – to include birth, marriage, and divorce certificates, police clearances, etc. – are described as required for your country on Travel.State.Gov.

You do not need to make a separate appointment for document review, and you do not need to change your existing interview appointment unless you cannot attend the document review appointment. If you have any questions about attending the document review appointment, please email JohannesburgIV@state.gov. "

 

it sounds like, the applicant would just go to the embassy 2 weeks in advance for the document review, no appointment needed. that is my understanding from this. 

this was just updated on July 1, 2025. So this seems to be a new requirement from Johannesburg. possibly to cut down on wait times for the actual interviews.

 

**it does not state, at least from what i can see, that this only applies to certain types of visas. 

Edited Wednesday at 04:05 PM by MalloryCat

[fbgmlae 1]

4 hours ago, MalloryCat said:

i found one thing on reddit which led me to the DOS site with this notice.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/JHN-Johannesburg.html

 

"the U.S. Consulate Johannesburg requires that one member from your applicant group present yourself for a document review on the Wednesday morning two weeks prior to your Thursday interview(i.e 2 weeks and 1 day before the interview). Not attending this document review appointment in advance of your interview may result in your interview being cancelled. If you appear for your interview without having first completed the document review and are missing required documents, you will be turned away and will need to reschedule your interview. Civil documents – to include birth, marriage, and divorce certificates, police clearances, etc. – are described as required for your country on Travel.State.Gov.

You do not need to make a separate appointment for document review, and you do not need to change your existing interview appointment unless you cannot attend the document review appointment. If you have any questions about attending the document review appointment, please email JohannesburgIV@state.gov. "

 

it sounds like, the applicant would just go to the embassy 2 weeks in advance for the document review, no appointment needed. that is my understanding from this. 

this was just updated on July 1, 2025. So this seems to be a new requirement from Johannesburg. possibly to cut down on wait times for the actual interviews.

 

**it does not state, at least from what i can see, that this only applies to certain types of visas. 

yuppp!! this exactly what I'm referring to! I emailed the consulate to make sure all ducks are in order but since she is only coming to South Africa for the medical and interview, we're trying to figure out how to navigate this requirement. We're sending her to the consulate and see if she can be seen a 3 weeks before the interview.