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1651 Review(s)
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| Montreal, Canada |  Review #4887 on August 24, 2009: |
Walt and Shannon
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
The most stressful part of the trip was the airline losing my baggage. I got to the interview early, about 7 am and was the first in line. They let us in about 7:45, we went through security, given numbers and waited in a sitting room for the security guard to come get us. He did, and we went upstairs to wait again. I was called, gave the lady my documents and she took fingerprints. Then I paid the cashier. Soon they called me, I went to an interrogation-like room for the interview. The agent was very nice, and seemed convinced our relationship was legit. I supplied photos, phone bills, emails, etc. but he didn't even look at them.
It lasted about 10 minutes and he granted me my visa. Very low-stress experience, other than I made the mistake of waiting for my cab in the entrance and a rude guard told me I couldn't wait inside.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #4883 on August 23, 2009: |
SomberCat
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
For starters, we went to dinner with Holliday the evening before the interview and had an AWESOME time. She's a great person - lots of fun, very conversational and easy to get to know. I can't wait to meet her husband one day. I think there will be a road trip from Indiana to Oklahoma coming.
The next morning, we showed up at the embassy at 7:00 to find Holliday and one other man there. People started showing up shortly after that and it was quite the line by the time they opened the doors at 7:30. As stated by others, they were prompt with the 7:30 door opening and 7:45 elevator arrival. I have to admit that I loved walking in the elevator and knowing which way to face since the door opens on the other side. Later on, this became a source of entertainment for my husband and I, but I'll get to that in a minute. We received the letter C.
Letter A and Holliday (letter were called back to windows and had both returned before we were called back. I wasn't nervous at all but my husband was shaking in his boots and when Holliday came back with her b1tchy lady story, I have to admit I think my blood presure went up a bit. However, we were called back and had a wonderful lady. She basically confirmed every single piece of information on the DS-230 and unlike the woman that Holliday had, she read the info directly to us and just asked us to confirm it was still correct. She also did the fingerprinting at the same time which letter A guy and Holliday went back later to do. We were done with all of that around 8:25 and went back to await the interview. This is when the real fun started. Note the sarcasm.
There were two people doing interviews - a man and a woman. Holliday was called back first and was done before anyone else was called back. We had been talking to letter A guy and wondering why he hadn't been called back, but he finally was called around 9:30 by the woman. About that time, the man started calling more people and one after another after another after another went in and came out approved while we continued to sit. It was a shade after 10 and my husband, who was already stressing, started to freak a little. I kept talking him off the ledge and saying that we were probably scheduled to go into the woman after the letter A but since his was taking so long, I was sure we'd be up next in the same room. Little did I know that I was wrong - kind of.
After letter A guy came out, we continued to sit as more people were called into the woman for interviews. A few of these people were there first thing in the morning, but then it went on so long, people were called in before us that we watched arrive around 9:00. Needless to say, my husband's freaking level went sky high and I started to get concerned also. By 11:00 we had been waiting just short of three hours and decided we should try to find out what was going on. They had gone through 19 interviews by this time and there were only three couples still waiting. The problem - how in the world do you ask someone a question? When I would stroll back to the windows, they were always with someone and if they weren't, then they wouldn't be sitting in their windows. So until 11:30, we tried to figure out who to ask. We decided to try the security guard but I have to admit that I was nervous about raising an issue since these people were holding our future in their hands.
After multiple trips back to find someone at an empty window, my husband went to the security guard. He said he noticed how long we had been there and would check into it. Ten minutes later we were called in. The story we got was that we were originally second in the queue for an interview with the woman (just like I had thought) when her computer went down. When it came back up, somehow we dropped out of the queue and they had completely forgotten about us. WTF? How does THAT happen? And even if we did drop out of the queue on the computer, did anyone happen to notice our inch thick file sitting there? Geez! I have to admit I was totally shocked that they just admitted they forgot us, but I did appreciate the way she apologized forwards and backwards. She only asked us how we met, how he proposed and if he would have medical insurance and we were out of there. I don't think we were even there for five minutes after waiting almost four hours.
We had visions of a nice kiss after the approval, I figured I would probably get teary eyed and then we were going out for a celebration lunch but none of that happened. We were 100% mentally exhausted. We had started snapping at each other a little during the long wait (out of frustration), started hating the beautiful view of Montreal out the windows and were starving. The only thing that kept us partially sane was the Wunderbar Holliday bought me (my first one - YUM!) and continually watching the elevator doors open with people facing the wrong way. That was hilarious. So we went back to the room, called/texted our friends and family, ate some lunch and promptly fell asleep. I know it sounds a little dramatic, but we truly were exhausted. For all of those hours we were wondering what was wrong with our case and trying to keep the other one calm and we were just beat - totally brain dead.
We made up for it the next day though as once we had a lot of sleep and general down time, we felt great on Thursday and spent the whole time in Old Montreal. All in all, it's hard to b1tch about it since we were approved with no problem, but we definitely felt like they sucked the joy out of it. We never really got to enjoy the approval until the next day. I simply cannot understand how someone can be forgotten. Oh well, we got what we wanted and are ready to move as soon as the visa shows up, so all is good.
Thanks SO much to everyone on VJ. Whether we asked you a question directly or found answers in your previous posts, we appreciate each and every one of you. There's no way we could have done it without you.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #4874 on August 20, 2009: |
Holliday
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
August 19, 2009.
This may be the longest review ever. I apologize for that. I am many things, but 'concise' is not one of them.
- I arrived at the Consulate shortly before 7. I was confused, because I was the only one there... I started second guessing everything in my head... am I at the right place? What the heck? Of course I'm at the right place. I checked it out 3 times before! And it says "Consulate" right there. Duuurrrrr.. Stop thinking! Anyway, there was a man sitting on the steps near the Consulate , but I wasn't sure if he was waiting to go in too, but it turns out he was. Then SomberCat and her husband arrived (they are AWESOME people, by the way! We had a lovely dinner last night at the Keg. We were there for almost 5 hours! Haha. Seriously though, this trip would've been so much more stressful for me if they hadn't been around to hang out with. Thanks guys!) Shortly after that, the line started to get reaaaallly long. Yay for arriving early! Thanks to everyone who has posted reviews in the past for that tip! Well, and thanks for all the other tips, for that matter. Without all of you guys, I woulda been screwed!!
- They let us in around 7:30, as expected. The man who had been sitting on the steps got the letter "A". I got "B". SomberCat and her husband were "C". Some other couple had "D". I didn't really pay attention to them. Heh. We were told that someone would come down at 7:45 to bring us upstairs. The man told us that the elevator opens from the rear, but of course we already knew that. Heheh. And yes, the view was lovely.
- Eventually the "A" man was called to window #11 (as an aside, the "A" man was very nice. The poor guy has been waiting a year and a half since he filed! Yikes!). Shortly after, I was called to window #10. There was nobody there when I walked up, but I saw my open file sitting there. The I-130 submission was on the top. I could see that my numbered Post-It flags were still on the papers. I thought that was funny. Then the evil woman arrived at the window. Oh man. She asked me for my medical envelope and passport sized photos (even though the ones I had previously submitted were right in front of her, but whatever). So I gave them to her.
- Then she said she needed my original Marriage Certificate. I told her that the one that was in her hand IS my original Marriage Certificate, but I have another one exactly like it if she wants it too. (I wasn't trying to be snarky... in fact, I was trying really hard to NOT be snarky, but I just didn't know how to answer that question.) And then I gave her another original, which was the one that the Pastor had signed. The one she had was an original too, issued by the County Clerk, but this was the ORIGINAL original. So then she starts on about how it's not a Marriage Certificate, it's a Marriage License. I told her yes, I know, but it becomes the Certificate once it's filed with the County Clerk. That's just how they do it in Texas. She didn't believe me. She said it's supposed to say Marriage Certificate. I told her no, that is what they issue in Texas, and it has the County Clerk's seal and signature and document number on it, and that's what makes it official. She just said something like "well, we'll have to check on that." Okay fine. Whatever. Then she asked "well does it say when you got married?" I said "yes, right there". Then she asked if it says where I got married, and again, I said "yes. Right there."
- Then she gave me my DS-230 form, after circling my husband's address and phone number, and my parents' first names, and asked me to verify that they were correct. I said yes. Then she asked "well did you check?" I said yes. Then she said "did you check the items I circled in red? I said yes. They are correct. Uggghhhhh. Then she picked up my birth certificate and asked "is this your original birth certificate?" I said yes. She said "okay". (YAY! That one was easy!)
- Then she picked up my Police Cerificate and the application form for the certificate. She asked where is your original Police Certificate? I said "in your hand". (I mean SERIOUSLY! How the hell am I supposed to answer these questions without sounding snarky or condescending.) Then she asked about the application. I said I submitted both because the application shows that they checked my married and maiden names. She asked "where does it show your maiden name?" I replied "in the box that says 'maiden name' directly below the box that says 'surname'". "Well how do I know that these go together?" "Because the CPIC serial number on the certificate is the same as the CPIC serial number on the application, and they both have the same RCMP seal on them. She then said something about how she has to check that it was done by the RCMP. I kept my mouth shut.
- Yeah, it doesn't end there... Then she had my husband's 2008 tax return in her hand and she asked me for the most recent tax return. (F'ing SERIOUSLY!?!? Mother of god what is your problem, lady?!) I had no other answer than "well, the one in your hand is my husband's 2008 tax return. Unfortunately, he has not yet filed his taxes for 2009." I swear, I answered every question as politely as possible. Anyway, she then said something like I'd be called back in a while for fingerprinting. I thanked her and walked back to the waiting room and told Sombercat and the "A" man what had just happened. Then the "D" man (who seemed to be either grumpy or nervous) was called up. Shortly after that, Mr. and Mrs. SomberCat was called up to a window (not #10, luckily!), and after a while the "A" man was called back to his window for fingerprints etc. I hadn't been called back by the time he returned, and I figured perhaps the lady at window #10 was sitting there plotting my death. The "A" man was very nice and reassured me that I'd be fine. Yay for the "A" man. I really hope everything went well for him.
- When I was called back to window #10, the lady seemed more cheery than she previously had been, so that was neat. She explained to me that my visa - if issued - would be in my maiden name because I haven't yet changed my name on my passport. I said that was fine. I figured that might happen. She then asked me to read the instructions for the fingerprints, and I did. Then she was waiting for her computer so she asked me some questions. I was having a lot of trouble hearing her, because the guy beside me was speaking loudly, so I told her that. And she said "yeah he is loud". THEN she turned on her speaker! Not until then. My word! Anyway, she asked my husband's address, so I told her his full address, including city, state and zip code. She asked his apartment number, so I told her. She then asked "and where is it?" (I was a little confused here, because I had just told her...) so I said "Tulsa?" She said "yes... so that's in Oklahoma?" I said "yes." Then she said "well you have to SAY it!" In my head I'm thinking WTF, lady? I just did! Bah. Then she asked my parents' names. So I said my Dad's full name, then my Mom's full name. She said "uhhh that's not what we have for your Mom". "Okay, but that's her name." Then she started spelling out my Mom's maiden name. And I said yes, that's her maiden name. (YARGH! It hasn't been her name for like 35 years!!! If she wanted her maiden name, she should've said so! On all of the forms, my Mom's married name is written, and her maiden name is noted where applicable.) I just said "oh sorry. I guess I misunderstood." I think that was the end of that ordeal and then it was time for fingerprinting, which went perfectly. So yay for that. She told me to go back to the waiting room and my name would be called shortly to speak to someone else. I smiled and thanked her and walked away.
- Then I got back to the waiting room again, and well... I waited. Very shortly after, I was the first one called to the interview room. I went to room #8. And that guy was REALLY nice. He greeted me and asked me to put my belongings on the chair so my hands would be free, so I did. I swore to tell the truth, etc. and then he gave me back both of my original marriage licenses/certificates... whatever you want to call them, as well as the two passport-sized photos that I had submitted to NVC (they kept the ones I gave to the lady at window #10, I guess, even though they were exactly the same.) He also gave back my original birth certificate. He also explained that they have to use my maiden name on the visa because it has to match the name on the passport, and I said that's fine. He may have said that at the end of the interview. I really don't remember.
- Here is what I remember being asked during the interview... I started writing using the Q & A format, even when they weren't questions. Q is what the man said, and A is what I said. It was such a casual conversation. As you'll see, much of our discussion was about hockey. Haha.
Q: How do you like Montreal?
A: I love it! It's beautiful here.
Q: When did you get to Montreal?
A: Yesterday afternoon.
Q: Where is your husband?
A: In Tulsa. He has to work.
Q: Where do you live?
A: Ottawa
Q: When did you get married?
A: February 13, 2009
Q: Congratulations!
A: Thank you!
Q: How did you meet your husband?
A: We were both on the same hockey message board and my team beat his team in the '07 playoffs (*grin*), and then we started playing NHL 07 on Xbox Live a lot, and then began talking a lot.
Q: Which team does he like?
A: The Stars.
Q: Which team do you like?
A: The Canucks.
Q: It's too bad you aren't being interviewed by my colleague. He's a huge hockey fan. I'm just a casual fan.
A: Oh, well that's cool.
Q: When did you meet in person?
A: April 2008.
Q: Oh, that's not very long to know each other in person.
A: No, I guess not, but we talked A LOT in the year prior and got to know each other very well.
(He started flipping through pictures that were submitted with the I-130, and he stopped at a picture of my husband and I at a Stars game and we were both wearing Stars jerseys (ewwwww!)
Q: Hey wait a minute... you're both wearing Stars jerseys there!
A: Ugh. I know. That was from October. It was Jason's birthday, so I had to. But it still felt wrong!
Q: Hey so your team has those twins, don't they?
A: The Sedins? Yeah! They just signed contract extensions this summer. It's awesome.
Q: I have twin boys, so I have to know these things.
A: Oh cool! Are they hockey fans?
Q: No, they're 5 months old.
A: Oh wow, well congratulations!
Q: So I guess since you're a Canucks fan, you probably don't like the Habs very much?
A: Actually I do. They are my second favourite team.
Q: Ah ok. I wasn't sure about cross-country rivalries.
A: Well, the Canucks are mainly rivals with the western teams because they play each other more often.
Q: How many times have you visited your husband since you've been married?
A: Twice.
Q: How many times has he visited you?
A: Also twice.
Q: What does your husband do?
A: He works as a property manager.
Q: Where do you work?
A: At a video store.
Q: Have you ever had any trouble with the law?
A: No sir!
Q: Have you ever lived in the U.S. for more than 6 months?
A: No sir!
Q: Have you ever had any trouble at the border?
A: No sir!
Q: When do you plan to move?
A: Um... well... if all goes well here, the intention is to move the week after Labour Day.
- That's all I can remember. There may have been a few more questions. But anyway, then he said something involving the words "congratulations" and "approved". I don't know exactly what he said because in my head I was just thinking "F'ING YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" He handed me the fabled "Welcome to the United States of America" letter, and said that I should receive my passport with the visa in it on Monday or Tuesday, and there will be an envelope that says "DO NOT OPEN", so don't open it. And then he said some other stuff. I don't remember. I just said "THANK YOU!" to everything he said. Heheh. Then I went back to the waiting room and showed my letter to SomberCat and Mr. SomberCat and the "A" man, and they congratulated me, and I don't remember what we all said then. It's a blur. I was out of there before 9:00!
I walked back to my hotel and got my husband on the phone a few minutes later, and I told him I slept in. He said "you did?!?" I said "Yeah I slept in and now they won't let me go to have an interview!" He said "they won't?!?" Hehehe. I am a terrible person. I only left him hanging for a second before I told him that I was lying, and that I was already finished the interview and it went very well. That was payback for him not coming to the interview, I guess. He agrees now that it was funny, so yay.
I suppose that concludes my horribly long review! Wow. Exactly 6 months ago, my husband and I dropped off the I-130 package at the post office. We were so incredibly lucky to get through this so quickly, especially considering we had to wait 3 1/2 months for the interview. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped us along the way.
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #4865 on August 18, 2009: |
lil mama
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
| | | Montreal, Canada | Review #4838 on August 11, 2009: |
Inky
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Got there pretty - 6:45am - early, was a 5min walk from Hyatt Hotel.
Waited and a bit after 7:30 they opend the doors, I was second in line -Single B- behind a couple -Couple A-.
Went inside after showing the letter and my passport, passed through the check point with no problem at all, they were very nice. Waited to be taken up by a guard at the elevator with about 10 people, the guard only brought the first couple, myself, and one other person and left everyone else downstairs.
Waited upstairs untill after 8:30ish and I was called to wicket 12. Gave all my documents as requested (the woman was VERY friendly and very nice, she noticed I made a mistake on the zipcode before I even got to tell her and ask if it could be fixed and she said she fixed it for me and we laughed about it)was told to go pay and come back, then got my finger prints taken, then told to go sit and wait in the waiting room for my name to be called again. "Couple A" was already sitting down again and asked if I had to wait for another interview, I told them I did and everything was going well so far. They said they were waiting too.
Just after 9am my name was called and told to go to room 8. Inside room 8 I was VERY surprised as the person giving my interview was extremely upbeat, happy, cheery, comical, and pretty well joking through the whole interview! He asked me a few questions, how did you meet, when did you meet in person, how many times did you visit, whats his job and rank, who proposed and how, then he asked some funny questions and joked around while he booted up his computer. I was the very first person to be interviewed and he hadent even turned on his computer yet! He said he was just checking some files and was joking around and then asked me if I ever had been stopped and not allowed to enter america, then said the computer was going to pick a finger to scan and I scanned my finger that it picked, he said everything seemed in order and asked me when I would be moving, to which I said as soon as I get my visa of course! and he said "Well since you are -you- acording to your finger and you didnt bring any random fingers with you! I have to say.. Congradulations! and give you this letter if I can get it apart.. " the letter was stuck to a few other letters hehe. And he said welcome to America! had me sign a paper, explained about my visa and that it would be mailed and be inside my passport and I had to bring it all when I cross the border etc etc.
I never expected to have such a good interviewer! I was expecting someone a little more pinched and cold. Amazing experience, very clean and friendly.
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