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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 10, 2018: |
Arctic Fox
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had my interview November 7th, 2018 with an interview time of 8:00.
I arrived (alone) at roughly 7:15 where a lineup had already started to form. A few minutes later, the guard came out to tell us a few simple rules (no food or drink, no backpacks, etc.) and told us we would be entering by interview time. He let in those with a 7:30 appointment first then the 8:00. Have your appointment time handy! After being let inside the building, I met with a kind lady who took my passport and put a sticker on the back of it. She gave me a plastic paper with a number and instructions of which order to put my documents in (for reference, I was number 9). Afterwards, I was led through security where I had to put all my belongings and coat through the x-ray (I only brought my files, coat, and umbrella). After security, you are told to go down a set of stairs and you wait in a waiting room down there for a few minutes. A guard comes to let you up the elevator, which goes to floor 19 - where your interview will be held. You will have a lot of time to get your documents in order, so don't worry!
The waiting room on the 19th floor was large enough, plenty of seating which filled up fast, a couple bathrooms, vending machines, and even some magazines to read while you are waiting. There are several windows, half of which you hand in your documents, and the other half where the interview is held. They start by calling you up to the first window to hand in your documents (they will say "applicant one, window two" for example). Afterwards you are asked to sit back down and wait to be called for your interview. At the window, the lady was very kind and asked for my documents one by one. There is a small window where you slip your documents through. She then takes your fingerprints. I will review the documents you need at the end of this!
After all of that, I think it was around 8:20. I waited about an hour (9:25) to be called up to my interview which lasted probably less than five minutes. I was greeted by another lady and she asked me a few questions:
- How did you meet your fiance? (I answered how we met online and in person the first time)
- What were the circumstances of meeting the first time? (Did he visit you? Did you visit him?)
- How often do you see each other?
- Have you met each other's families?
- What does he do for work?
- Have either of you been married?
- Do you have a police record?
- What was your longest stay in the US? (She inquired a bit more about this since I have many less than 24 hour stays since I live on the border!)
- Have you eve been denied entry to the US?
- Do you have any wedding plans other than a courthouse wedding?
And that was it! Answer them all as honestly as you can and don't talk too much! Answer only what was asked. She handed me my pink slip and said I was approved. She explained to me that it might take a while for my passport to return because of the Canada Post strike.
And that was it! It was a very simple, straight forward process, and everyone was friendly along the way. I was out of there at roughly 9:30 and back in my hotel room at 9:40!
I received an e-mail yesterday saying that I could pick up my passport at the consulate this morning, however I did have to leave Montreal before that. They are not sending out the passports right now due to the Canada Post strike, so if you are able to save a couple days for yourself after the interview in Montreal, do it! If not, it seems like there are options to get it couriered to you (they state in the e-mail that someone else may pick up the document for you, otherwise they will wait to send it once the strike is done essentially). They have also sent me a new e-mail this afternoon saying that I can pick up my passport Nov 13th so I will likely set up the courier thing for then.
For the documents you need, it is slightly different than what was posted in Packet 4 online. I had a ton of documents on hand that I did not need!
You will need as follows:
a) the ticket with the number they give you when you enter the building
b) proof of payment for your visa application (DS-160). This wasn't mentioned in packet 4, so be sure to bring this!
c) your passport and a photocopy of the biographic page
d) two in-color US size passport pictures (I noticed that there was a booth downstairs for you to get this done and I believe it was 10$, though I am not sure)
e) your sealed medical exam (if there is an x-ray inside, they will return it to you so you can bring it for your AOS medical)
f) confirmation page of DS-160
g) your LONG-FORM birth certificate (the one with parental information, doctor info, etc. about your birth) and a photocopy (they will return the original to you at the time of your interview)
h) police certificate (I had three of them; basic one, one under the privacy act, and visa/border crossing with fingerprints - she took all three though I believe you only need the privacy act one)
i) affidavit of support I-134 with most recent income tax (I had 3 years worth) - I had pay stubs, letter from his employer, w-2s, bank statement, etc. but they only asked for the income tax!
I believe they also want divorce/marriage certificates if it is applicable (it was not to me). They did not ask me for the documents in the order which they said to list them, so I thought that was interesting!
Something to know as well - you cannot bring your family members with you into the consulate! They will be denied entry. I think the only exceptions are U.S. citizens (fiance/spouse) and maybe an interpreter, but family and friends who are not U.S. citizens will be denied. Since the whole process takes a couple hours, it is not advised to bring them along - if they do go, there are places nearby where they can wait (plenty of local cafes, Second Cup, Burger King, etc.) and plenty of shopping down the street if they prefer that!
I would definitely recommend getting an early appointment if possible since the waiting time will be overall shorter!
Sorry for the rant, but yes, overall good experience. If you are wondering how to dress, there was a good variety of people dressed in different clothing. I was dressed in black pants with a nice black floral blouse and black shoes and others were dressed similarly or even nicer (formal suits, business-looking), but I also saw several people sporting hoodies and jeans! Dress appropriately for the weather since you might have to wait outside for a while!
That's all from me! Good luck with your interviews! javascript:emoticon(' ')
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #25017