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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on April 9, 2014: |
telso
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
This was for an interview 26 Feb 2014.
First, thanks to everyone at VJ for all the advice along the way (and especially to Saylin; the layout of the Montreal consulate is key to a quick visit!).
Interview was at 8 a.m., so I showed up at 6:30. -15°C with wind and snow meant no one else was there till 7, with bulk of people arriving starting at 7:15. They opened the doors at 7:40 (about a dozen people in line at that point); I let an older gentleman go in front of me as he was trying to return his green card sponsored by his sister as his "company still needed" him (at 62), and as it was expiring in a week he didn't want to leave it outstanding. Okay....
A person with a clipboard and papers looked at my passport and appointment letter and asked if I had all my documents (didn't check them), then ticked me off and I went through security. Down the stairs on the left to the elevator, I sat closest to the elevator, as the diagram suggests. I don't think there were other VJers, as no one tried to sit near me. (If you arrive late you can try to find a seat close to the elevator anyway, as people were sitting all over the place.) Around 8 they uncordoned the elevator and we got in and I went to the back, far left. First out.
We queued and after checking me off on a different list, I got a sticky note with A1. Waited about 5-10 minutes, then got called to booth 1. I was asked for all the requested documents one by one in the order VJ suggests you compile them, so that was very useful. After about 10 minutes of her checking off boxes I was told to sit down and I would be called again. I was then called and asked for the confirmation page for the DS-160, which I stupidly didn't have, but said I was told to bring only what was necessary and she said she could pull it up, no problem. Near heart attack!
After 10 more minutes of waiting I was called to booth 7 for my interview. After reading a statement out loud (swearing to tell the truth, etc.), she asked me to describe the progression of my relationship, so I just talked about how we met, our visits together, trips, etc. She asked what we both did for a living and what our plans were and nearly five minutes in sort of out of the blue said "Okay, I'm going to go ahead and approve your visa." She asked what my travel plans were and I said I was hoping to leave March 10 (which means I'd need the visa one week and two days later), but could delay it if necessary, and she said that I should get it in time but she would try to make sure it was done ASAP. Out at 8:43. No word on anything until 6 days later (Tuesday night), when I got an email saying Loomis was alerted to pick it up, and by the next morning it was in their facility ready to be picked up by me.
Friendly and quick and painless, but mainly that's due to all the helpful advice in filling out forms I found on VJ; without that and clear answers to questions I could see the process being much more painful. So unless you have big issues don't get a lawyer, just follow the clear guides on VJ, ask questions when necessary and make sure everything is filled out properly, triple checked and organized and you're good to go.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #14271