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Kenya US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 3.4
/ 5
110 Review(s)
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|  Review #30089 on September 7, 2021: |
OurJourney2020
Rating: 
· 7 people found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
So this was our experience with the US embassy in Nairobi , Kenya . I am from Uganda , Kampala , but K1 visas for Ugandans are processed in Nairobi .
I will start with a brief overview of the medical since that is technically what begins proceedings . Get to IOM Nairobi early, because the lines are quite long and you will spend a bit of time at the clinic. Make sure you eat beforehand or be ready to hold off hunger for sometime(i arrived at 6:30 am and was there till 2:40 pm). If you don't have MPESA, don't worry, you will be given a bank slip for a bank nearby at Village Market . Come with at least 43000 Ksh , but you may not need to spend all that. If possible do as many vaccinations beforehand as possible(COVID , Hep a and b , Influenza, Varicella, etc.). So if possible, start getting your shots a month or more prior. They will take your blood, urine, do chest scans, you will have a doctor examine you , and you may have to get some vaccine shots .
The actual interview date for me was 02/09/2021. I arrived 6am , an hour before my interview time. If you're coming from out of Kenya, try and get a hotel in Gigiri, it will save you a lot of time and stress travelling to and from IOM/ US embassy. At the embassy we stood outside (it is cold and even drizzled on us, if you can bring an umbrella , and dress warm) . The guards at the gate started letting us all in about 6;45 regardless of your interview time , they asked for my appointment letter and passport. Once you're in you'll go through another security check where they keep your phone .
We were then lined up and each received a ticket with a number, and were told to wait for the number to be called, the waiting area is outside the building itself , so again, dress warm because Nairobi is chilly. Waiting times for your ticket to be called can be a bit long, i waited 30 minutes. Once inside i was let to window 08, and the lady there took my fingerprints, asked for my ds 160, police certificates (i had from more than one country), birth certificate , I-134 and tax information for 2020, two passport photos, and took my passport. She asked me some basic questions ("Is this going to be your first marriage? Is this her first marriage? Do you have children?" while ticking on a form. She also asked someone inside the office to bring my medical form. She then told me to wait outside for the second stage
After about 45 minutes of waiting , my number was called and I was sent to a window with a middle-aged mzungu gentleman . He seemed a bit tired, I guess because of the number of people at the embassy that day. He asked me to wait as he typed something and looked at his screen . Finally he looked up at me and asked to raise my right hand to swear I was giving truth . He then asked me these questions :
-Which year did you guys meet ?
-Which year did you meet in person for the first time ?
-How many times have you met since ?
-How long were you in …..(country I lived before for some years) ?
-What were you doing in …..(country I lived before for some years) ?
-What do you do for a living ?
-What does she do for a living ?
-Have you ever been arrested while living in that country? No trouble with the law? What about in Uganda ?
-Are you sure you have had no trouble with the law ?
-No trouble at all ?
He then said "Your visa has been approved , please read this form and wait for your passport, good day" and handed me the green approval form.
All in all the interview took about 7 or so minutes , if you don't add in the time waiting while he was on his computer , He did not check the very large file we had with evidence and proof of ongoing relationship. I still advise you to bring it because other people i was with that day told me they were asked to show proof, so it is ultimately up to the discretion of the CO, better to be overprepared than under .
Interview was 2/09/2021 and I checked the CEAC portal today on 7/09/2021 and it went from "Administrative Processing" to "Issued" . Waiting for DHL to reach out . I'd like to thank the Heavenly Protector.
A bit of advice for anyone applying from Uganda in Nairobi beforehand :
-When applying for a police certificate , what they actually want is the "Certificate of good conduct" from Interpol (its the yellow form). The white one from the Uganda Police is of no value for them, and if you come with it they will say they don't want it. Get the Interpol letter !! Someone i was with at the embassy was given a 221g because of this . Going back to Kla and again to Nairobi is a headache .
-Get your Birth Certificate from NIRA . The old style Birth Certificates that came pre-2015 (before NIRA was created) are no longer valid ,to avoid any hiccups get your NIRA birth certificate as early as possible before your interview. Instead of trying to certify the old one , I advise you to just process a whole new card as its honestly more safe and NIRA doesn't have old records at all, you will most likely waste your time trying to certify the old one . Go to your place of birth(hospital or town clerk) and obtain a short form, pay the fee , print and fill out the form on the NIRA website and get the new one processed. This being Uganda, you may have to "talk to someone" on each level to get them to process it faster , if you know what I mean.
-Get a single status letter from URSB . They don't ask for it on the requirements , but its good to have
-Take originals of all your documents , and one or two photocopies of each (unless asked for more)
| | | Review #30062 on September 2, 2021: |
RKandAK
Rating:
· 5 people found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: General Review
Questions asked at Interview were as follows:
1.How did you meet your husband (She wanted in depth story)
2.Tell me about your husband
3.When last did you see your husband
4.Can i see photo's of you both
5.Did you read the Domestic violence pamphlet? What did you understand from it?
"I will issue your visa! All the best in your journey ahead." Those were the consular's words.
| | | Review #29767 on June 25, 2021: |
Edddie&Beatrice
Rating:
· 2 people found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: General Review
June 23rd 2021
My appointment was at 7:00 am
I got there at 6:22am
No earphones allowed through the first gate
By 6:44am I was at the last security check where you switch off your phone
Proceed inside to get a ticket number
1st time ticket my number called I went to a window where I was asked questions
When did you marry
Where is your spouse
Have you been married before
Did you do your medical
Was your spouse married before
Was your spouse married in USA or did he go there
Ever committed a crime
Asked for original birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate of previous spouse, passport,
Biometrics taken
Then I was given a paper about fgm to go and read
Then told We will call you shortly for the interview
This took less than 10 minutes
After waiting I was called in for the interview I was told to affirm that the information I will give and I have given his true to my best of then questions
when did you marry
how long did you date before you got married how many times have you met
When was the last time you met
How many times did you meet before you got married
Have you been married before
Have you ever been involved in crime
What are you doing for a living
Where did you meet your husband
have you lived in any other country or just Kenya
Then I was told that my visa has been approved
This took less than ten minutes,
No one checked the evidence I had, I had a big folderðŸ˜ðŸ˜
I was there up to around 9:45am
| | | United Arab Emirates | Review #29764 on June 24, 2021: |
FKEdwards
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I am the petitioner, but I will relay my fiancée’s, the beneficiary, experience as she told it to me.
Her appointment was at 10:30 am but she had read online that it was best to arrive early, so she went at 8:30. She said that they immediately started processing her despite appointment being later.
At the time of her interview with the officer, he asked her did she want a private room because we are a same-sex couple. She said yes. She said that the officer went through all of her paperwork including the I-129, three times. He asked her for the I 134 and the supporting documents for that. However he did not ask for any evidence of our relationship. She said she was asked when we met, how we met we met, which was online so she was asked when did we meet in person. He also asked when was the last time we saw each other. After that he asked her whether I was still in Texas, to which she said no I was in Maryland, and he replied “oh yes because she works at (my place of work which is a large organization in the DC area).
He then said that she was 99% approved, however she would have to fill out another form which ended up being the DS- 5535. He said this is required of all K1s from Abu Dhabi. He told her he would email it now (which he took out his phone and did) and to fill out the form and return it with the case number written on top so that it would be sent to him directly. He said that he would have to send it to DC for processing, and that he would ask that they expedite the request. He said it should take about a week, and that they would contact her when the visa is approved with further instructions, but that she would not have to come back to the embassy. He did return her passport , which worried me, but we researched further and saw that they’ll ask her to mail it once approved.
My fiancée was of course very devastated by all of this (as was I) but he reassured her that it wouldn’t take too much longer and that she would be able to join me in the States in August as we had planned (he’d asked her when she planned to travel).
Overall she didn’t have anything bad to say about the experience and said the officer was very nice, but of course the day was tainted by us being put on administrative processing to complete this form that is a complete anomaly. Add to that, the form pretty much just included information that we already provided except rather than 10 years of employment and address history, they wanted 15, and the names and birthdays of all of her siblings.
We completed the form and submitted it the next day. The instructions on how to resubmit it were not clear, so we had to wait for a response to our email to the embassy to see whether we were to email the form or have it delivered. In the end, we learned that we were to email it.
Now we are just waiting for update and praying it’ll happen as quickly as the officer said. We had no idea this form even existed so we were blindsided and the very heartbroken. But we are regaining our spirits and know that things are working out.
7/30 - Updating to add that we are still in AP, so that one week timeline was definitely not the truth.
(updated on July 30, 2021)
| | | Review #29716 on June 8, 2021: |
Kevohw
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My experience after my succesful K1 interview in Nairobi, June 2021.
1st you need to be on time. Very few applicants so steps being rushed through if you have everything they need.
Don't carry any electronics or chargers apart from your phone, security will send you back.
At 1st screening, lady takes your fingerprints, asks for your passport, Passport photos, birth Cert n copy, ds-160 , affidavit of support n IRS scripts, police clearance(I didn't have so they've given me a yellow sheet n my passport back to send later) also my medical hadn't been sent so they had to request IoM.
Asked whether I've ever been married, arrested or convicted while checking boxes in a form.
Told to wait for next phase as I read through some FGM n domestic violence pamphlets.
I get called in via security phone.
I meet a Caucasian guy who was very polite. Swears me in.
Questions:
When n How we met?
When was the last time we saw each other?
How long she stayed during the visits.
How many times we've met?
If either of us has kids?
If either of us has been married?
Tell me about your Fiancé life in US, where does she work n live?
(Typing n looking on a screen...)
Ever been married? arrested or convicted?
Ever lived in another country?
Advised on the numerous tourist n transit visa's I've applied for n been denied saying whether transit or otherwise, burden of proof, on home ties, is the same.
Said the ball is now in my court to provide the Police cert n he gives the visa.
Have had alot of help from this group n wishing everyone else a smooth sailing n the journey continues.
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