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| Islamabad, Pakistan |  Review on January 5, 2016: |
El_killer47
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
For my wife's interview.
We both got to the DSS at 5:20 am on a very cold december morning in Islamabad. Stayed in car until about 5:50 am. Got in line at the gate on foot which was pointless as once the gate opened everyone rushed in at the same time.. like they always do in Pakistan. Inside, more lines formed to purchase tickets. Stood in US embassy ticket purchase line for about 20 mins, when a very smart and observant fellow US Citizen and fellow NYer who was also there for his wife's moral support noticed that there was an abandoned "women's only" line. So we both decided to have our wives stand there. Smart move as pretty soon a lot of people followed suit and a huge line formed there consisting mostly of women only. I say, mostly because a few men in Islamabad apparently take the gender equality thing seriously and got in the woman's only line without shame. My friend's wife, followed my wife were the first ones to be able to purchase tickets on the shuttle. Yay!
Boarded the shuttle after a serious and through security check, although cigarettes were allowed to pass through but no lighters. After walking through some neat looking gravel and a bunch of metal fences, we got inside the embassy where we were asked to seat in accordance to our ticket number which as given to us open entering the door. My wife was called twice, one time for fingerprinting and another time for document submission. When she was called for interview, me and her went to the window together. The CO, a young blonde white gentleman who spoke amazing Urdu, identified my wife and then me. He spoke in Urdu with my wife and then addressed me in english. It felt good. A sense of comradery. He asked me to take a seat for now while he interviews my wife and that he will call for me when needed. I took a seat a couple of rows away from her interview window so as not to even accidentally eavesdrop javascript:emoticon(' ')
About 5 minutes later, my wife called me over to come speak with the CO. The CO asked me if I had a joint sponsor and if I had brought any papers today indicating so. I told him no but I had my bank statements with me reflecting a sum of at least $60,000 in liquid cash in my various bank accounts. He asked if all the money were in ONE account and if so, which one? I told him it was spread out in 5 different banks and handed him a 2 inch stack of bank statements covering the past 12 months. He said, the easiest thing to do was to obtain a joint sponsor. I insisted that according to the i864 instructions, I did meet the financial requirements. He smiled, God bless him, and reiterated that no, that won't work and that only getting a cosponsor will resolve this issue in the easiest way. He instructed me on how to send the embassy the required documents (new i864) and handed me a white 221(g) slip with the required steps highlighted. I asked him, if he is keeping my wife's passport and he said yes he is. I thanked him and we went out.
I am now back in the US, and looking for a joint sponsor.
Oh, btw, the CO was nice enough to ask me how long I plan to stay in Pakistan and that if I were able to have the joint sponsor papers brought here asap, he will expedite the remaining processing. But I couldn't arrange for a joint sponsor over the phone so, here I am back in NY, in the unforgiving January cold.. all alone.. still =
Questions my wife was asked-
1. Who is calling you?
2. How did you meet your husband?
3. What does your husband do in USA?
4. How many times has he been to Pakistan?
5. Do you have any children?
6. Do you have pictures? (showed wedding pictures and vacation pictures)
7. Please call your husband to the window now.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #18670