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Norway US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 4.6
/ 5
41 Review(s)
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| Norway |  Review #6443 on August 6, 2010: |
Zenda
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My appointment was at 9.00 but I arrived at the embassy at 7.30. This turned out to be a good thing, since I was the second in line. However it turned out that my place in line wasn't important; they will call groups of 4 or 5 people at a time, no matter or when your original appointment time is or what type of visa you are there for.
After lining along a fence, a guard came up to us on the other side of the fence and asked our reason for visiting the embassy and for certain papers depending on the reason. When I presented my appointment letter and my DS-156 paperwork, it turned out that the DS-156 form is no longer valid to enter the embassy. This was a surprise to myself and to a high number of people who were also there as we hadn't known about this; apparently it is a very recent change. (You will still need the DS-156 paperwork inside the embassy, so bring it as well!)
The form needed is the DS-160, which is filled out online. The form can be found here https://ceac.state.gov/genniv/
We were went to a store right across the street from the embassy that had internet access as the ability to scan in passport pictures and print out the final paperwork.
The information needed on the DS-160 is the same information you needed to fill out the DS-156. I advise you to have the papers next to you when filling this out, since the web browser you use to type in the information "times out" rather quickly and sometimes doesn't save your work in progress.
One thing to note - the paperwork asks for your "Passport Book" number. This frustrated me for quite some time until a nice gentleman (who where there for the same thing) informed me that Norwegian passports do not have this number.
When that paperwork was done, I Went back to the embassy. Security met me at the fence, looked at the papers and let me straight in. Throughout the entire process, the security officers were very nice and very polite.
Once through security, I went to a room that had two of the walls covered with windows that had numbers over them. You want to go to window #1, your name won't be called. When you get there they will ask for your passport and then instruct you to sit and then wait until your name is called. It will be hard to hear so be sure to pay close attention both when they call you up.
When my name was called next, they asked for the affidavit of support. It turned out we went way overboard on how much proof-of-relationship we prepared; they didn't ask for our chat logs or our skype call summary. What they did ask for, and were very interested in, were pictures. I handed them two sets of pictures (my pictures from a visit to the US and pictures one of his visits to Norway). This part took about ten minutes to sort out.
Now I was asked to sit back down and wait. They did call me once to ask when I intended to leave for the US, then sat back down. I ended up waiting about 15 minutes and then it was time for the actual interview. This part was conducted by a person I hadn't met yet (not one of the people who previously asked for papers).
These are the questions I remember :
How did you meet? (He and I met in an online game. The interviewer and I spent a few minutes talking about that, what kind of game it was. She mentioned that she was very used to people saying that they met that way.)
When did we first meet in person? When did we travel to see each other? (I'm bad with dates but the interviewer was understanding and we sorted out the dates in a few minutes.)
Did we start a relationship before he was divorced? (I made it clear that we met online and talked, but we didn't meet in person or start a relationship until long after his divorce and she understood.)
Why did his previous marriage not work out?
When I was explaining why his prior marriage didn't work, I ended up mentioning his daughter's name. She asked a few questions about that - was she his daughter and where did she live.
When did you plan to become married?
How did he propose to you? (When I told her, I got an "awwww" and a big smile. I think this was a major plus in our application.)
Where does he live (north/south/east/west) from Los Angeles? (Los Angeles is the closest major city and major airport to where he lives. I couldn't answer this one and I told her that, but I was able to tell her that his house is about an hour and fifteen minutes away from LAX and she accepted that answer.)
That's about it... she told me that my application was accepted and to go sit down. They called me right back up to explain to me that if I had a stamped padded envelope with my address on it, they would mail my paperwork to me. I hadn't thought to get one (I expected that I was going to have to go back to Oslo later to pick up the paperwork), but they gave me directions to a postal store two blocks away where I was able to buy the envelope and about 300 kroner in stamps. For size, imagine the packet that you got from the embassy... that's the size of the padded envelope you'll need.
I was able to bring the envelope back to the embassy and hand it to a security officer. They had a lot of fun with the dazed and happy expression on my face as I went to buy the envelope and return.
| | | Norway | Review #6408 on July 28, 2010: |
Tunaa
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: General Review
Before my interview the embassy has been very helpful with answering my questions online, and making the process faster by communicating through email rather than snail mail.
Only negative thing would be that you can not call them for visa information, which can be a problem when you need urgent help.
Interview:
At 8AM 28th of July 2010, I got to the American Embassy in Oslo. I was the first in line. My appointment was at 9AM. A few more people arrived as we waited outside the gate for the approval list for today's interviews.
I was the first one inside. The security went fast, I just put my cell phone and a few items in a box there, and were told to wait inside.
There I spoke to a man, paid the cash fee, spoke to a lady who took my papers, and then I was asked to wait. At this point it was about 8.30AM.
At about 9.00PM I was called forward for my interview. A very nice young man conducted the interview. It was a little hard to hear through the glass, but I understood him well.
He asked questions like how did we meet, how we had traveled to one another, about why I wanted to marry just him, about him and his family, about his job, how we communicated etc. He also made a joke about how we met on XBL, since there generally are a lot of jerks on XBL.
The interview took about 10 minutes. He then told my all the paperwork seemed to be in order, and gave me a receipt to pick up my passport in a few days. I asked him \"so, does that mean my visa is approved?\" to which he responded that, as long as there was nothing horribly wrong with my fingerprints, or all their computers melted, it should be. I\'m sure at this point I could not stop smiling. I was asked to pick it up either at the end of this week or beginning of next.
I asked if I would have it for sure by the end of next week, which he assured me as long as everything was ok with the fingerprints (which I know it will be), so I am about to book my tickets to travel, to start my life with my amazing fiance. :D
All in all a great interview experience, everyone was very helpful and nice.
(updated on July 28, 2010)
| | | Norway | Review #5296 on November 25, 2009: |
Wade+Kristin
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
K1 interview! I got in line early to make sure I had enough time, but I still had to wait 30 mins or so before they called me. They did a screening of the documents before telling me to wait some more. At no point did they ask to see any of the proof I brought with me regarding us being engaged, our relationship being genuine or latest visit. It took about ten minutes to hand over the papers, the officer receiving them was nice and polite.. then I waited, and waited, and waited.. I swear it was the longest wait. About two hours later I was called again and another officer asked me questions. I was surprised by the amount of questions I got. What made me a bit uncertain was how the officer never replied to any of my answers, she just skipped to the next round of questions.. but finally she gathered all the documents and told me everything looks good and I would recieve the package with my visa in mail sometime next week. All in all it was a good experience. Just remember not to bring any bags with you, you won't be allowed to keep them with you. Also bring an umbrella if it's raining, you might get soaked otherwise!
| | | Norway | Review #3950 on February 14, 2009: |
Leanna & Erik
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Prior to the interview, I tried to get information from the embassy about the process; they were not very helpful at this stage 
I was told to be at the embassy at 10 - 10:30. My fiancée and I were there at 9:45 and had to wait outside for a few minutes to get through the security control. It was about -12 degrees Celsius, so be well dressed during winter. The prescreener asked me to submit the ds-156, ds-156k and some proof of relationship, but did not want much since we both were there. After a short wait the CO came and told my fiancée that the interview was for me, but she could stay. It was basically a nice conversation between the 3 of us for 10 minutes. She wanted to know how we met, what my fiancée and I did for a living, and what line of work I would be in when I moved there. They hadn't received my medical yet, so I had to wait a couple of days to pick up the passport.
The whole process took about one hour, and was quite pleasant.
| | | Norway | Review #3029 on June 19, 2008: |
david&karen
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had my appointment for the K-1 visa interview at 09:30. I came to the embassy at 09:00, but it took about an hour to get through the security. Then I had to wait for a couple of hours before my interview. I was the only person left in the waiting area when I was finally called. The interview only took about ten min. The woman who conducted the interview (behind bulletproof glass) was nice, and asked questions about how I had met my fiancé, what I was planning on doing in the US, what job my fiancé has and such. All in all the whole thing took about 3 1/2 hours, which I think is ridiculously long!
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