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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on June 10, 2014: |
froschundblumen
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I stayed at Hotel des Arts. It had horrible reviews, but our stay was perfectly fine and the walk to the consulate was a very doable 15 minutes.
I arrived at the Consulate at 7:00am, nice and early. It was raining, so I was happy to have all my documents in a protective folder. There were about three other people in front of me. When it came time to enter, the officer instructed us to have our passport, DS160 confirmation and appointment letter ready. We were called in one by one to have these documents checked*. From there, we lined up to wait to be called into security.
I brought nothing but my paperwork and hotel key with me, so security was a breeze. If you bring your cell phone, they will hold it for you at security until you leave. Security guards were very nice. I just put my stuff in a bin and walked through the metal detector. The security guard told me to go downstairs and wait.
I waited by the elevator and when it opened (at 8:00am), moved to the back left, to make sure I was first out. I was! The receptionist gave me applicant #1 and told me to sit in a specified area until my number was called over loud speaker. On my applicant number slip, it said to have the following items ready: passport, two photos, appointment letter and medical results. I got those out and was called to window one in about ten minutes.
At the first window, I was greeted by a very nice lady, who took the above mentioned documents first. She then asked for a copy of my passport, my birth certificate, police check and affidavit of support. She looked through these, stapled some things together, gave me a CD of my xray results and then took my fingerprints. She asked me to verify some information (my address and telephone and my fiance's address and telephone in the states). She told me to return to the seating area and wait until I was called to the interview window.
About fifteen minutes later, I was called again. The officer behind the window had me swear the oath with my right hand raised, took my fingerprints to verify identity and then began questions. She asked: "Where does your fiance live? Does he have an apartment? Will you live there?","How did you meet?", "When did you first meet in person?", "How do you stay in touch", "What does your fiancé do?", "Why did you decide to move to the states instead of him moving to canada?" She then began looking over my documents. Her demeanor the entire time was very professional. She simply nodded as I answered, but showed no reactions.
She asked if I had ever been arrested or if I had ever had trouble crossing the border. She then looked at our financial documents and asked how my cosponsor knew my fiancé. Then she asked whether Stephan had any family in Michigan. She did not ask to see proof of ongoing relationship, did not take my proof of domicile documents, and did not need Stephan's birth certificate (I had brought this just in case).
After this she said, "Everything looks good, I am going to approve your visa. You should get an e-mail in two weeks instructing you where to pick up your passport," and handed me the "welcome" letter. She also returned the original photos my fiance sent with the I129f petition, as well as my birth certificate original.
I thanked her profusely and skipped out the door with an enormous smile on my face. The whole process, from beginning to end took 1.5 hours. I was really impressed with the efficiency of the entire thing. I will echo what others have said and declare the interview the "easiest part of the process"!
*a note on paperwork: I know a lot of people put effort into having their paper work organized impeccably. I don't think this is necessary. I put post it note "tabs" on each page identifying them and put everything in a clear folder. The officer simply wants the documents. She removed all paper clips, staples and tabs that I had used to organize. I didn't find myself fumbling for papers or getting confused at all.
(updated on June 11, 2014)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #14599