JessicaMQ

Hi
 
Yay congrats!!!
 
You should definitely go 10-14 days before, most likely you wil get everything you need done in 1-2 days but better to play it safe. 
 
You make the medical appointment before you get there, and register for cargo express before you get there too. Your lawyer should help you with this.
 
once you are there you’ll need to do the medical and get the police certificates... make sure he gets the 2 types of police certificates I don’t remember what they’re called but anyone getting them will know.
 
Aside from that bring all the stuff they mention on the checklist that is attached to the appointment letter, especially pictures of you with other ppl.
 

You seem so confident and it's helping me a lot just letting you know. I've been in a negative thought pattern of "what if they don't let him back in" and jumping to worst case scenario which in my mind is my life would be over, I have no plan B and I can't leave my job/life here unless I absolutely have to which would be tough, but knowing there's other ppl going through it (like you said your husband is leaving Monday) makes me feel some sense of normalcy. Most ppl know nothing about this so they act so shocked when I tell them he has to go back and that messes with my head. So glad Visa Journey exists! And you!!!

It can take up to a month, but as long as you’re calling NVC and checking don’t worry.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn. It's near both medical exam and embassy, walking distance. We paid about $80 a night plus tax but it's worth it it's really nice. 

Hey everyone , 
 
Wanted to share my experience from start to finish and was going to post in other forum (Guatemala Consulate Reviews I think it's called) but don't know how. So I'm just gonna post it here so here goes...
 
My husband and I started the process in March of 2016 with I-130 application. We applied for an I-601 waiver based on psychological hardship and submitted our case in August of 2016 and were approved  in January of 2017. I had thought that was the hard part as collecting evidence for the 601 was a full time job, but there was lots of hard work after that.
 
The hardest part of next phase of process was collecting police certificates for every place my husband lives for more than 6 months. Some of the police departments were not helpful and told us it would take weeks (even though it takes 5 mins to write). Anyways, we eventually got everything we needed and submitted to NVC March.
 
In May we got notice that my hubby needed an updated birth certificate so that delayed everything even longer. We finally got case complete in early September and an interview date on October 4th.
 
We left for Guatemala on 9/19 to give us enough time to get police reports, medical exam etc. We ended up getting everything done in 2 days so we didn't need that much time at all and I kind of regret going that early but I guess it's better to be safe.
 
Now onto the interview... my hubbys appointment was at 7:15. We stayed at a hotel near the embassy bc traffic in Guatemala is HORRIBLE and unpredictable, roads are at a standstill for sometimes 30 mins so we didn't want to take a chance. He left hotel at 6:30 and was back and approved at 10:30. He said he had a few problems getting into the embassy bc his watch had gps and bc he had the cd with him with x-rays which isn't allowed in bc it's technology so luckily a stranger outside held it for him. He said after collecting documents (be sure for Guatemala you have BOTH police certificates, there are 2) he waited for a while until he was called. They asked him when he entered US, if he ever left since then, how we met, if I had a big family and how big our wedding was. My husband did such a great job of saying "I actually have a picture of that" to support answers to questions which the interviewer really liked. He saw many ppl get denied but only for missing documents. She told him he was approved and we had the visa in less than 48 hours!
 
One piece of advice I have for any spouses  considering accompanying their spouse to Guatemala I would suggest DON'T!!! I wanted to go bc I have abandonment issues and didn't want to be away from my husband but I had a really hard time adjusting to the culture and I definitely made my husband more stressed worrying about me. It's really really dangerous here so that's an issue and other than that we tried to stay at his mothers but got no sleep bc she has 15 roosters ####### a doodle doing all night long. Most ppl have them here and even if your immediate family doesn't you will hear the neighbors. There's lots of bugs, the food creates stomach issues if you're not used to it, it's really difficult to get around bc the road system is very disorganized so if you're not from here you definitely won't be able to drive and it's just rough. I thought I spoke Spanish well but not well enough I learned which led to a lot of time in my head worrying about the outcome.
 
But thankfully it all worked out and I'm happy to pay it forward and help anyone in any way I can. This is the biggest nightmare I've ever been through but there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Hi! 
 
Sorry I didn't post yesterday I was on a high all day. HE GOT APPROVED!!!! I am beside myself with happiness and gratitude, despite the many helpful posts and success stories I have a deeply ingrained mentality that "it could happen for anyone else but not for me", and glad I was wrong. I will post details on the other thread later. Thanks for your support and positive vibes!!!

We got our CC 8/21 so will update everyone when we get our interview date to give you a better idea of when to expect yours. I'm hoping soon!