|
|
| Montreal, Canada |  Review on March 16, 2019: |
CarrollAm
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We (Myself and my 3 K2s) stayed at Le Square Phillips Hotel and Suites (I highly recommend) which was maybe a 5 minute walk away. (The hotel was very nice, the staff was great, and the kids enjoyed the pool. The continental breakfast is pretty good too, quite a selection.)
We arrived at the consulate at 7am for our 7:30 appointment time, and were second in line. It wasn't long before the line grew. The wait wasn't bad because a few of us VJers started chatting. My K2s were bored senseless.
At exactly 7:30, a guard came out and placed the board that states what's prohibited from entering the building. He let people in one by one.
Immediately upon entering, there was a lady at a booth who checked you in. She took our appointment confirmation sheet and our passports and placed a sticker on the backs and gave me the laminated sheet with your number (our's was #2) and the list of order to arrange your documents.
Next, you get guided through a door where it's much like going through airport security, before you head downstairs.
Once a few people were in the room, a guard came and ushered us into the elevator and sent us to the 19th floor.
We took a seat and waited to hear our number called along with what window to go to. It only took maybe 10 minutes for me to be called up.
The lady who was taking our documents was very nice. I was at the window for a very long time because there were 4 packages of documents from us. I was very organized which allowed me to be prompt with handing her what she asked for. She commented how nice it was.
She said I could go take a seat and wait for my number to be called again.
About 3 minutes later, she called me back up because she had forgotten to ask for the court orders showing custody of my kids. I gave them to her and sat back down.
It took a while to be called again for the interview (I assume because my file was so big, it took some time to get it sorted and for the CO to look at it). But I finally got called and we all squeezed into the little room/booth/window. She was very nice.
Asked me to swear/affirm that everything was the truth. She asked questions like how we met (on Facebook), when we met (2016), when the first time we met in person (March 2017), how long the visit was (7days), how often we see each other (every 2-3 months), who visits who more (I flew down first, then we met in Vegas, then I flew down for the summer with the kids, then every time he's come up because it's cheaper for 1 ticket than 4), how we decided to get married (told her our proposal story), if we had any wedding plans other than courthouse wedding, if either of us had been married before (I had), and if my fiance had any children (no). She asked my kids all their birthdates and if they agree to the move. Then came the harder stuff... My kids had a legal name change when I married the first time (they wanted to have the same name as I was going to have), so I had to explain that. Then I had to explain my custody orders. In 2016 BC changed the terminology in the family law act, and no longer uses the term "access and custody", instead the term "parenting time and parenting responsibilities" is used. So I came prepared for that, and printed out the legislation that states the change in terms and highlighted the parts where it states that "custody is replaced with parenting responsibilities". After explaining in great detail, she was satisfied (I also went back to court in preparation for this, and got an order that specifically states that I am allowed to relocate with the children without the consent of the other parent which I believed really helped).
Another issue was that my fiance has a criminal record which includes multiple DWIs. I told her that we were very open and I know of everything, and he was actually still on probation when we met. She asked if I thought that maybe he has a drinking problem, and I responded that he has been sober for the past 7 years.
After what seemed like 30 minutes of typing, she gave me back all my original documents, and says, "The system has been really slow the past week, but I'm usually pretty good at judging the results, so I am going to give you this and tell you Congratulations. You should receive your visas in your passports in about 2 weeks." And she handed me the bright pink WELCOME TO THE US paper.
**Now we wait**
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #25796