|
|
| Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |  Review on February 24, 2016: |
jsdixie_uk
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
As many of the CR1/IR1 reviews on here, our experience was very similar and positive.
My husband has his physical with Dr, Juliana Cancado in Belo Horizonte. She was excellent, and asked a lot of personal questions that you would normally expect during the consular interview. She typed all of my husband's answers onto the State Department database. Apparently, they do a lot of the interviewing on their behalf to save the consular officers' time.
Our appointment was for 09:20 on 23 February. We arrived very early, at about 08:00, but we were allowed in with all of the people waiting outside. Alex confirmed everyone's identity outside from his waiting list before we went inside. We all sat down inside the room wher Alex proceeded to explain the procedures, but only in Portuguese. So for the U.S. - American spouses who don't speak Portuguese, you might be a little lost. Thank goodness I speak Italian, so I got the gist.
All of the beneficiaries had to complete two forms; the first one was three tickets which is for the mailing of the visa packet after the approval. The second is a form with both the beneficiary's and the petitioner's contact details. Alex called everyone up in the order according to their appointment time for the pre-interview document check. He will ask for all of the required documents and put them into order for you.
After that, you will be called to a window according to a seating order that Alex arranges. This is the first part of the interview. A young, very nice Brazilian lady named Flavia checked that all of our documents were in order, and she checked EVERY page! Some advice: BE SURE you organise your things BEFORE you enter the consulate. It made our lives so much easier! We saw people faffing about with stuff and they looked so stressed! She actually commented on how perfect the file was. She saw us at 08:57 and we stood there for about 10 minutes.
Then we waited about two hours for the formal interview. We were called by a very nice man, who gave a "wow" look at all of the heaps of extra evidence I was carrying (but never asked for it), put my husband under oath and asked the following two questions:
1. How did you meet?
2. How often have you seen each other since we last lived together? (Dec. 2014, two months after we got married).
He then spent about 30 seconds typing into his computer and said, "Okay, your visa was approved." I thought that me might ask me some questions too as I'm the U.S. citizen petitioner, but nothing. He told us to go and pay the SEDEX postage fees and return with the receipt. Please note that you must exit the consulate, turn right, turn right again at the next intersection, and another right where you see the white gate. It's a bit of a walk. After you pay, you return to the visa room and give the receipt to either Alex or the CO.
Overall a good experience. A big thank you to Alex and the staff who made us feel a little less nervous on the day, as I didn't sleep much the night before! Good luck to everyone who has to go through the same process! Provided your documents are in order and you have a lot of evidence, you'll be fine!
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #18997