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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on July 26, 2012: |
Tom & Stacy
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My Fiancé and I stayed at Le Square Phillips Hotel; VERY close to the Consulate - just around the corner - and walking distance to Old Montreal and Saint Catherine Street. We were at the consulate at about 6:30AM and we were the first ones there. Soon after we arrived, another lady lined up with us. We chatted together a good 40 mins which made the time go quickly. Soon, there was a line up of about 8-10 people behind us. I expected a big long line before 7:30 but it was a lot shorter than I read in other reviews. We had WAYYY too much backup documents with us. I was very worried we'd forget something or they'd lose our Packet 3 and that we'd need to scramble to make a new one like I've read on other reviews. Once I seen that the 'normal' people only took one single folder, I felt pretty dumb to have 4 of them...and they were stuffed! haha
At 7:30ish a guard started taking people in one at a time. My Fiance, the petitioner, had no problems accessing every aspect of the interview with me. The security officer merely asked to see my Interview Confirmation letter. Once he found my name and my fiance's name, he checked it off and we proceeded to the security check. After that, we went downstairs to a room with some chairs (a lot smaller than I expected. There was also the elevator leading to the Consulate, a vending machine, payphones and a passport picture booth in case you forgot to take extras. It costs $10 so make sure you bring some cash with you. After about 15 minutes, a guard entered and removed the red barrier in front of the elevator. As others suggested on other reviews, we walked to left hand corner in the back of the elevator. The back doors open as well and that's how you'll enter the Consulate.
Once we got off the Elevator, we were greeted and were given a ticket. Ours was C-1. The first couple! We then sat down, but it wasn't long before our # was called. (My hubby to be came up with me)
A young lady in regular casual clothes asked us for the following items:
- The ticket number we received after entering the Consulate
- Passport
- 2 US passport sized pictures
- Medical (she returned the xray and vaccination worksheet to me)
- Police Records (mine was from the RCMP with fingerprints)
- Original Birth Certificate (long form)
- I-134 + Supporting Documents (Ours were 2011 Tax Returns, 2011 W-2, letter of Employment for Tom and Pay stubs)
- Letter of Intent to Marry
I noticed that others had to show the $240 receipt for paying for the visa online but we did not need this for some reason. I had my fingerprints taken quickly and then returned to our seats.
After about 3 minutes, we were called to window number 9, where a lady greeted us and swore us in. She gave me back my original long form birth certificate. She asked us the following questions...
- How did you meet and where? (We met through work)
- When did we first meet
- When did we get engaged
- How often do you see each other? (we see each other roughly every 4-6 weeks)
Tom answered a few questions and I answered a few questions. She didn't seem to care that the applicant wasn't the only one speaking. I figured he wouldn't be allowed to speak whatsoever. It was pretty casual.
We didn't need our Evidence of Relationship or the MRV fee receipt. She handed me a 'Welcome to the United States of America letter' and said we were approved and that I would receive my Visa and Passport at the Loomis location I selected using the CSC website.
The interview process was definitley the easiest part of the whole K-1 Process. As long as you have all your documents you should be fine! I really found that my yellow sticky tabs helped to easily pull the items the officer wanted. I recommend organizing very well ahead of the interview so you aren't struggling at the window to find items. There is no where to lay your documents down to sort so having your petitioner there to help pass you items is definitley a bonus.
We were approved and out the door before 8:30AM! Very quick!
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE. If you need any more advice, let me know! 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #10081