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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on January 2, 2018: |
Lance & Valérie
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Our interview appointment was scheduled for 7:30am. As others had suggested, we arrived 30 minutes early and there was one couple waiting before us. We were a little disappointed to realize that the doors weren’t going to open until 8am (particularly since it was quite cold that morning), but at least we were second in line. By the time the doors were opened a small line had formed of about 4-5 couples all waiting for their interviews. The officer who opened the doors allowed two couples in at a time. There was a woman that requested each person's passport. She spoke French and English. She then placed a sticker on the back of the beneficiary's passport and held on to both passports until we left the consulate. We were then given a laminated page that told us what order to arrange our documents. At the top of the page was a number by which we would be called (we were #2).
Next, we were instructed to walk through the security check point. This was exactly like airport security. We were asked to place our belongings into a bin to pass through an x-ray machine and then walked through a metal detector. The officers kept our cellphones and gave a yellow ticket to use to pick them up once we exited. I was allowed to keep my little clutch with me. The signs said no backpacks or big purses allowed.
We were then told to go downstairs and wait. Once there we took the time to arrange our documents. We waited no more than 10 minutes when another officer instructed everyone to go in the elevator and go up to the floor where the interview would be conducted. Once there, we waited for another 20 minutes or so before I was called to the first window. Here the lady was calm and friendly and asked for each of the documents. We had brought financial documents for our co-sponsor since from what we had read we would did not make enough on our own since my fiancé is a full-time student and only makes $10,000 a year. The lady only asked for my fiancé's financial documents and I had to tell her that I also had the documents for the co-sponsor. She said that what I had would probably be enough without the co-sponsor information, but I could still provide it if I wanted (which I did). For the financial documents we brought 6 months of paystubs, three years of tax transcripts, three years of W2s and a letter from the employer (for the petitioner and the co-sponsor). She only took the most recent year of each of the tax documents. She never asked for any specific financial documents (besides last year's tax return) she only asked what else we had so I gave her everything. After the documents had been presented she took fingerprints and said that everything looked good and sit and wait to be called.
We waited again for at most 15 minutes when the number was called for the interview. There was a woman behind a window who almost seemed indifferent to what was happening but not unfriendly or intimidating. She didn’t make much eye contact as she was typing. The questions she asked were:
-Why have you traveled to the United States so much?
-Where did you and your fiancé meet? The answer ''in high school'' was sufficient.
-Where does your fiancé live? She didn’t need the specific address just the region.
-Have you committed any crimes?
-Have you ever been married before? The answer ''Yes, once'' was sufficient.
-Has your fiancé ever been married before?
After this she asked if we had registered for the courier service and presented the pink paper that says welcome to the U.S.A. The tone of the interview was very relaxed. It never felt as if the decision was in doubt, only that information was being confirmed. The interviewer didn’t allow time for the answers to be detailed or ask anything very personal. All of my answers were less than 5 words long. The interview itself lasted maybe 5 minutes. The whole process lasted under an hour and a half. Afterward it only took 9 days for the visa to arrive. As long as you come prepared with the documents and follow the instructions there shouldn’t be any reason to be anxious about it. The whole interview process never feels as if you are being evaluated it seemed more that the were just confirming everything before granting the visa.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #23047