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Netherlands US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 4.4
/ 5
186 Review(s)
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| Amsterdam, Netherlands |  Review #7452 on April 14, 2011: |
Lve
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had a 1.30pm appointment. Security was fairly easy to get through since I had left all of my electronics in a locker at the Amsterdam train station.
There were 4 or 5 people in front of me in line for the first booth, which meant I had to wait a while, about 45mins.
My turn came up and the lady was very nice and asked me for all the paperwork and proof of payment, etc. After that I had to wait for the consular officer to call me to his booth. This also took a while, and I was becoming slightly nervous. The nervousness turned out to be unnecessary, because I was only asked two easy questions* about the relationship with my fiance. After answering these questions the consular officer let me know I will receive my passport with the visa in the mail next week. All in all a very smooth experience for me at the Amsterdam consulate!
(*Questions asked: 1. When did you get engaged. 2. Where did you two meet)
| | | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Review #7188 on February 21, 2011: |
Jen and Geert
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
We got there around 2 hours early and went to a bistro a block over to rest a bit since it was cold and raining outside, we got some soup for lunch and talked a bit about the paperwork and feeling a little nervous, but we were both pretty confident and reassuring each other that we'd do fine.
We left the restaurant about 20 min before the 1:30 interview time and waited at the gate, there were already several people there also waiting for security to let us in, they came exactly at 1:30 to open the gate. The security let those without electronic devices go first in line (me and Geert already knew about this and left everything electronic behind except our passports and paperwork.) We had an umbrella which they put aside for us to pick up later.
When we walked inside we also had to walk through a metal detector before getting into the office, but got through it quickly enough. When we finally got inside they told us to go to window number 6, we waited in line a few people were ahead of us. When we got to the window there was a nice lady who we handed Geerts passport and interview letter over to. She also gave us our original documents and medical exam stuff (it included the x-ray on CD also), she was looking at our paper work that was sent by NVC saying that it looked like everything was in order (complete) we tried to hand her 2 more passport photos, but she said they had enough =). She also had Geert sign the II part of the DS230 sworn statement and took his fingerprints on the bio-scan. After that she told us to go sit down and wait till we were called by the consular officer.
We waited awhile it was a bit too warm in the consulate so we actually sat by the door to catch a breeze with people coming in, they had a beverage machine too so we got some water. I think we waited a little over an hour when they finally called Geert's last name we got up together and walked up to the window number 7. Our consular officer swore us both in to conduct the interview, and surprisingly only asked a small amount of questions we even saw a red stamp of pre-approval on the large stack of paper work sent from NVC (I think that was the first good sign). Some of the questions asked was
Do you have any children?
Have either of you ever been arrested?
Where did you meet? (he asked a bit more in detail about this I offered to show him our game accounts that we played but he said no that was fine, we told him the name of the game Ragnarok Online and that it was a multi-player game etc, that we had been both playing the game for several years)
He asked my husbands last visit to the U.S.?
These were pretty much the main questions he asked and we saw him flipping quickly through the paperwork (probably just to reaffirm everything, I could even see copies of bonafides in the stack of papers.)
We didn't have to grab a single paper from all the stuff we brought which was fine with me it was mostly just copies of everything and some new bonafides in case something had been lost, so I guess we gave enough evidence from front loading the petition
which I feel good about, we were there around 3 hours in total I think.
As long as you come prepared and knowing what to expect it should be a positive experience.
| | | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Review #7175 on February 17, 2011: |
VeraVimes
Rating:
· 3 people found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Please beware, this is a very detailed account!
I was lucky enough to have my fiance join me at my interview on February 10th 2011. We arrived a little early and were told to wait outside the gate until the appointment time of 2.30pm. About 5 other people also had an appointment at that time, but no K1s.
First they checked our bags and were told to turn off and take the battery out of any electronic devices (I'd already heard about this and we didn't bring any - a little warning, if you have an iPhone or the like, try to leave it at home, because the woman behind us couldn't work out how to take the battery out and they made quite a fuss about it, although she was let in, no problem.) Then we were let into the embassy one by one, where another man checked our bags and had us walk through a metal detector. He then told us to queue for window number 5.
After waiting about half an hour it was our turn. A very friendly young woman asked me for some documents (passport, birth certificate plus a photocopy, two passport photos). Then she asked for the I-134 plus evidence. Of this she only wanted the original I-134 form and photocopies of the evidence.
We brought 4 months' worth of paychecks, his full tax return for the previous year, bank statements from his checking account, a letter from his employer also stating he has life insurance, and a certificate of deposit.
After stapling all that together and putting it in my file, she asked for my postage (I went to my local post office and bought a €7,- stamp for "Aangetekende brief", which she was very happy about, but the people before me just had €7 worth of regular stamps and that was also fine.) Then for proof of my payment of the visa fee (I'd paid by internet banking and printed a screenshot of my online bank account). She got it all together and asked me to wait until my name was called for the interview with the consular officer.
We waited another 45 minutes approximately. They had the heating up very high so it was a little uncomfortable, but the vibe in the waiting area was good. Finally we were called to the window next to number 5. The man told me to raise my right hand, and that my fiance should, too, if he wanted to participate, and we had to swear to tell the truth.
He asked me how we had met and how long we had been a couple (I was an intern at the music school he works at, nearly 3 years ago). Then he was straight in with the question I was nervous about: Is the age difference a problem? (I should add here, my fiance is 35 years older than me, and the age difference has never been a problem). We assured him it wasn't. He asked a little further whether my father had met him and if he approved, I told him my family had all met him and they loved him. Then he went through our original I-129f file and went through the photographs we'd sent in with it. There were only two or three, and he asked me if I had any more. Thank God I'd decided to print a few more just the day before! I gave them to him, he flicked through them very quickly and mumbled 'Awesome' and gave them back.
He shuffled some papers, looked up and said, 'You will receive your passport in a week.' I gave him this amazed look and asked him if that was it. He sort of smiled (this guy had the straightest poker face) and said that yes, that was it, it was approved. So we quickly picked up our coats and left. Approved!
All in all, it was very easy and the people were very pleasant. Even before the interview, they were extremely helpful on the phone, and their correspondence and instructions were clear and easy to understand. I had every document and copy that they asked for, and that made it smooth sailing. I would follow their instructions to the tee, have a file with you and know where everything is so you don't get flustered. Both officers we dealt with could speak both English and Dutch. Since we had a bit of a red flag with the age difference, I was worried, but there was no need to be too nervous. Be prepared and it will all go well!
Sorry for the length of this review, but I thought the detailed info on the questions and proceedings would be appreciated. It was a week ago, so I may have forgotten one or two things, but this is pretty accurate. And I received my passport and visa yesterday!
| | | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Review #7137 on February 7, 2011: |
Katja
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We had our K-1 appointment on the 22nd of March 2010. My USC fiance arrived that day from the States and we basically went straight from the airport to my dorm room to the consulate to my parents, to stay there for a week. So each one of us had a bag because we were traveling with public transport.
We got there 30 minutes before the consulate opened and we were first in line. When they opened, the guard told us that we could not enter with our bags. (Note that our bags were the size of a small carry-on.) They send us to the back of the line. We tried to explain the situation, but they would not let us in. We waited for half an hour and by then everybody in front of us was already in the building. We were still waiting. The guards were incredibly and condescending. My husband asked to talk to somebody in charge to explain the situation once again. They again told us to wait. Another 30 minutes went by and I was getting worried over missing our appointment. So I went in ahead and my husband waited outside for the supervisor to make his appearance.
Inside I simply had to wait. Approx. 20 minutes later my husband was allowed in. We then had to wait some more (I think 1.5 hours) and when we were finally up, the nice and pretty lady asked us some questions like "what are you guys doing for a living", "do you have a nice wedding planned" and that was it. There was a problem with our financial support, but we were told that we could just send in the tax forms and then all would be well.
We sent the forms in the next day and a little after that I got my K1 visa.
| | | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Review #6979 on December 16, 2010: |
Clint5047
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Left my house in The Hague quite early for Amsterdam, because of all the terrible blizzard predictions. There were absolutely no problems though. Stood outside the Consulate waiting for about 45 minutes before I could go in and most of that time I was the only one there. The fact that it was a torrential down poor might have had something to do with that though. 
A little bit before my 13:30 appointment the security guard let me in. The other people there were for non-immigrant visas and had to wait a little longer. I went through the initial security check rather quickly, only to be stuck at the metal detector, which kept going off for no apparent reason. Finally got into the Consulate and was directed towards the immigrant visa waiting area. Behind the glass window a nice young woman collected all my papers (first passport & birth certificate, then the other stuff like the financial papers and proof and finally my postage). She didn't ask for any proof of relationship, but I think that's because they already seemed to have everything they needed from the initial I-129F package we sent to USCIS. After that my fingerprints were taken and I was asked to sit down and wait to be called by the consular officer.
So far the actual process inside the consulate had taken about 7 minutes. I waited for 20-30 minutes, while two other immigrant applicants were turning in their paperwork. Then I got called to the Consular Officer, who was a young guy. First I was asked to swear to tell the truth after which he just asked me how my fiance and I met and after running off to solve some problem with something unrelated, he came back asked for my signature and told me my passport would be mailed back to me within 5 days.
The whole thing took about 45 minutes. Gotta admit I was way more nervous than I should have been!
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