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| Ghana |  Review on June 24, 2017: |
Efquake
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I was scheduled for my interview on the 18th April, 2017 at 08:30 am. I got to the embassy at around 7:00 am, we were called to form a queue at 7:10 am and entered the embassy interviewing hall by 7:20 am. The security and embassy staff, mostly Ghanaians were professional, some were actually nice, which was a surprise to me since I read lots of bad reviews about them.
I waited for about 3 hours before being called to window 1 to present my original documents, copies and proof of relationship. The lady who attended to me was very nice and returned some documents from NVC which they no longer needed to me. My bio-metrics (finger prints) were taken and I was asked to wait to be called for the interview. Be prepared to do a lot of waiting, since they do not call according to how early you entered the hall.
After about 40 minutes, I was called to window 7, where this african american lady (probably in her early or late 40s) attended to me. She led me to take my oath and verify my finger prints once again before she began the interview.
Questions she asked are:
How did you meet your spouse? follow up question after a vague explanation (be prepared for follow up question(s) based on your answer).
When did your spouse immigrate to the US?
Do you have any kids? (She saw from my presentation that we just had a new baby in March 2017)
Is your child a boy or girl? (She smiled when I confidently told her he's a boy)
Does your spouse have an income? (She reviewed the Affidavit of Support and immediately acknowledged that she did even before I could answer)
What work does your spouse do?
Then she began returning most of my documents to me, mostly the proof of relationship and told me that she will be holding on to my passport and original certificates for now. Then she said, "Oh, by the way, your case is APPROVED!" I said "Thank you" and she gave me a blue slip to pick up my visa, original certificates and sealed envelope at the DHL office in 2 weeks (be prepared to wait longer, mine took exactly a month to be ready for pick up at DHL).
My advice to you is be confident, invest time in preparing your proof of relationship and be friendly.
I made a presentation of "Our Love Story in pictures" in PowerPoint, using 3-6 pictures per page (about 50 pages in all), showing the progression of our relationship, traditional marriage, court marriage, wedding, honeymoon, friends and family. Then i included snapshots of our video chats, whatsapp chats, call logs, e-mails, facebook wall posts (be careful to set your profiles and mutual posts to "public" so the officer can look it up if they want to verify), and a few other letters and cards we sent to each other. Be creative, anything that shows a bonafide relationship will be helpful. I hear some people even take affidavits from friends and family, you may want to explore that, I didn't.
Also, we didn't frontload during the USCIS and NVC stage, others have done that and improved their chances as well. Overall, I believe if you have a real and authentic relationship with your spouse, you should not be worried about getting denied. Just be confident and prove your relationship is legit and you should be fine.
I would like to thank everyone here on VJ for the wonderful contribution and guidance you offered me personally, and just by sharing your story. It made a great impact to me and I feel I need to give back by sharing my experience here as well.
Anyone in need of clarification or assistance, please reach out to me and I'd be happy to help.
NB: I am currently in Michigan with my wife and 3 month-old son. javascript:emoticon(' ')
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #22021