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| Dominican Republic |  Review on November 1, 2015: |
rms171
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Our appointment was this past Friday, 10/30, at 8:00 am. We arrived at the embassy, around 6:40 to see a very long line outside the embassy. Fortunately for us, there is a separate queue for beneficiaries with children. Ten minute later we were in the embassy with the fifth number of the day.
We were called to the counter around 7:20, at which time, we were asked to provide our documents (DS-160, birth certificates, police certificate and visa receipt from Banco Popular). We were never asked for our I-134, even though the website indicated that it was an item we were told to prepare and bring (I asked at the end of the Q&A interview if we needed to submit it and were told that K-1 applicants do not-uber strange to me, but confirmed by others).
We sat down for the next step of the interview. My poor fiancee was so nervous. When she figured out this was a play in two acts (paperwork and then the interview), she was shaking like a leaf. I smiled from ear to ear as I knew that she needed to feed off of positive energy
At 8:30 we were called to window number 4 for the interview. A very pleasant woman on the other side of the glass conducted the Q&A. For whatever reason she just assumed that I (the petitioner) did not speak Spanish so she insisted on conducting the interview with me in English only. I was not going to challenge her, but I could have done the interview in Spanish. She split the interview into two pieces, she started with me and then interviewed my fiancee. For the most part she asked the same questions, again thinking that I did not understand Spanish so she could use the language barrier to verify my answers against my fiancees.
The questions she asked:
*How did you meet.
*When did the relationship change (i.e. when did you consider yourself a couple).
*How often have you visited?
*What are the wedding plans
*What does he do for a living (asked of my fiancee).
*How many children does he have and have you met them (again of my fiancee)?
When asked how often I visit, I informed the window agent, twenty times in two years. She was quite surprised, commented "that's a lot". I responded by saying "yes", and added that my love and financial support started long before the interview and the visa. She asked what I meant, and I clarified. From the look on her face if she could have stamped "approved" without speaking to my fiancee she would have. Same questions were asked of my fiancee (along with a couple of others). She parroted the same answers, but in Spanish. Interview was over in less than ten minutes.
TIP: the US government provides an informational pamphlet to beneficiaries on immigrant rights with respect to domestic violence. Make sure your beneficiary reads it. You will be asked at the beginning of the interview if this information was shared with your beneficiary. Start off the interview on the right foot and be able to answer "yes".
From arrival to exit we were done in about two hours.
TIPS:
--If you are hungry there is a woman who has a food cart, but she only wanted pesos. I only had dollars and asked her how she could operate a food cart in the US embassy and not accept dollars. She relented and took my dollars.
--You can't bring a phone to the embassy so bring a couple of small pesos notes so you can pay someone outside the embassy to borrow a cell phone to call a taxi (there are a number of people that stand there and do this as a business). Alternatively, you can wait by the roadside as taxis drive by looking for passengers.
--Dress to impress. While the range of attire was all over the place when we were there, we viewed the interview the same way one would interview with an employer. I wore a shirt and tie, and my fiancee was dressed a pleasant blue elbow length shirt.
--Courteous, kind and respectful at all times. The person on the other side of the glass, holds your future in his/her hand.
Good luck to all in your visa journey.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #18244