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| Athens, Greece |  Review on March 4, 2013: |
Bailey
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Interview was at 8:15 am on February 19, arrived at 8 and then waited outside for almost an hour. The embassy was very busy so there was a lot of waiting inside. The first time my number was called I was interviewed by a Greek women in a room, and she asked which language I would prefer, and I chose English. She asked a few questions like: How did you meet your wife? Why did you live in Russia? Where have you worked?
After some more waiting I was then called in again and this time the American officer was there with the Greek woman from before, he again asked what language I preferred and again I chose English. He asked about my father-in-law being my sponsor and he asked to see the tax transcripts from 2010, which I had. He also asked how I met my wife. I asked if he wanted to see any of the evidence I had brought (my wife had composed a very large accordion folder full of papers) and he took our photo album and glanced at some of the pictures and then put it with the other papers he was reviewing. After he was done asking questions I was about to leave when the Greek women said that I needed to get another paper before they could make a decision. I did not have this paper, it was a paper from the Greek courts essentially saying that I have no record, and it is different from the Greek Police Certificate I had brought. I am not sure if this is normal procedure in the Athens embassy, but regardless I did not have it so I had to wait until Friday of that week to bring it in. Before I left the room though, I asked the American officer, "What should I tell my wife the outcome of my interview is, as she is very worried" he said everything looked fine and as long as the court paper was fine then there should be no problems.
So, on Friday, 3 days after my interview I turned the paper in, and asked the women if she could give me any information on whether I was approved or not and she said, No. On Monday then my wife called DOS and we were told we were put into Administrative Processing, but on Friday February 28th I received a call from the Embassy to come pick up my visa.
Overall, my experience with the embassy was not bad, I do not understand why I was asked to provide the court document when I could not find anything that asked for it, but again, the staff at the embassy was pleasant.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #11560