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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 13, 2014: |
AustinCanada
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Interview - Nov 10 (Mon) at 9:30am (APPROVED!)
I live in Vancouver so had to fly coast to coast for my interview. However, I used my mileage and paid only $180 for a round-trip airfare ($940 on Expedia!). AND I stayed at my friend's house in Montreal so I paid $0 for staying there!
The night before the interview, I couldn't fall asleep until 2am because I go to bed around 12:30am (PST) so 2am (EST) was 11pm (PST) for me! I got up at 6am (EST) so slept for only 4 hours!
I arrived at the US Consulate in Montreal at 7:40am. The door was still closed and there were only four people waiting in front of the building. Since my interview was on Monday in Montreal (party city), I figured out that all COs (Consular Officers) went to bed around 3am after a party so nobody was at work at 7:40am. I went to McDonald's for breakfast (not Tim Hortons since I wanted to eat American breakfast before my US Green Card interview).
I went back to the Consulate at 8:30am. I was glad to see that someone finally came to work and opened the door. Since there was no line, I was able to go through the security and went downstairs and take the elevator to the 19th floor by myself. I had no problem at the security since I only brought my application package and mobile phone. They were able to store my mobile phone there. Once the elevator door opened, I was greeted by a visa receptionist. She was a beautiful black woman kind of looked like Tyra Banks from "America's Next Top Model"! I thought I was on the wrong floor since I didn't expect to see a "model" at the US Consulate. She gave me a card with #8.
According to many interview reviews I've read, most people finished their interviews within one hour so I thought I was going to be done before 9:30am. Well, I kept waiting and waiting! LOL! I was super bored so I was doing yoga (not a headstand pose, of course) in the waiting room.
Someone finally called my number to Window 2 at 10:30am. There was a black woman (not the "Tyra Banks" visa receptionist) at Window 2. She was fine (but not too friendly). I tried to have a small talk with her, but she seemed to be busy going over my paper work and typing at the same time so I let her do her work. I didn't want to disturb her because that could end up her making mistakes and delaying my visa process. She asked for my my passport and medical exam results. She asked me my US social security number since I lived in the US. She didn't bother with my petitioner's birth certificate (I received an email from the Montreal Consulate asking me to bring it) or my two passport-sized photos. She was going to use the photos that I sent to NVC (which I didn't like because my face was too oily) so I showed her my updated passport-sized photos. She liked my new photos better so she used them and gave me back my old passport-sized photos back (which went into a trash bin). She took my fingerprints and gave me a domestic violence info sheet (she probably did't know that I took a karate class). That was it! Back to waiting (translation: back to yoga)!
While I was doing a yoga warrior's pose to get ready for my interview, I had a chat with a woman who was also there for an interview. She didn't know what Visa Journey was. She sent her I-130 application three years ago! Her number was 15 (I was #8) so I told her that she might have to come back tomorrow for her interview since we were waiting forever!
At 12:10pm (Yes, 12:10pm, not a typo of 11:10am), I was finally called to Window 6 for my interview! It was a small room without a door so I could hear people talking in the waiting room. My CO was a white woman. She asked me to take an oath to tell the truth. I said "Yes and of course!" She asked me the following questions:
- When did you get married? - Sept 27, 2013
- How long have you known your spouse? - 17 years
- How long have you been living together? - For the last 17 years
- What does your spouse do for a living? - Documentation Manager / Technical Writer
- Why are you moving back to the US? - Because the US Supreme Court killed DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), we can now go back to the US.
- Where in the US are you moving back to? - Seattle! Since we sold our house in Vancouver, we have hired a real estate agent in Seattle to buy a house in there.
She said, "Oh, you're buying a house in Seattle! I love going to open houses and seeing other people's houses!" She smiled. I smiled back at her and said, "Oh, yes! Me too!"
She said, "I really like the way you put your application package together. It's super organized and you definitely made my job easier so thank you very much". I said, "I just love making your job easier!" I made her laugh!
Then, she said, "I'm approving your visa." Since I wanted to hear it again so I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. (Of course, I heard her!) Did you just say I'm approved?" She said, "Yes, you are approved!" I screamed "YES!!!!" I said it so loudly and I'm willing to bet that everyone in the waiting room heard my voice! She laughed again!
I told her, "I brought tons of US domicile documents! Do you want to see them?" She said (while still smiling), "Someone did his homework since you knew the US domicile was going to be an issue, right?" "No, I don't need to see them because you're going back to the US because DOMA is dead. It makes perfect sense!"
I said, "You really made my day, actually my year! I'm so happy right now!" She said, "My pleasure! You'll receive your passport back in a week with the visa!"
She said, "You can get ready for your move now!" I said, "I'm more than ready for the move since we sold everything. In fact, we only have a couple of boxes to move!" She laughed again (maybe she thought I was joking? We only have few boxes to move) Then, she said, "That's excellent! It's nice to have a fresh start!"
As I left the interview room, I waived at her and said "Thank you very much! Have a great day!" She smiled and waived back at me and said, "Have a great day too!"
I went back to the waiting room and told the woman who had #15, "Hahaha! Approved!" She said, "I know! I heard you! Actually, everyone heard you!"
I left the Consulate at 12:30pm so I was in the building for 4 hours! I have definitely improved my yoga skills since I was doing yoga while waiting!
Status Update: my status changed to "Issued" on Nov 12 (two days later, but Nov 11 was a holiday).
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #15597