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| Costa Rica |  Review on April 30, 2019: |
Cari & Andy UB
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
PARKING:
There is a parking lot beside the embassy, which you pay (not sure how much per hour since my husband took care of that).
DAY OF INTERVIEW 04/22/19:
We arrived 20 min before interview and stood in a line outside of the building. We were the second in line. A lady came out to ask if we had an interview and what my spouses' name was, since he was the applicant. They asked who I was and I said I was the petitioner. They had no issue with me walking in with him. We walked in and went through security. They took our paperwork and they opened our medical exam and then stapled it back again. We only took in the car keys. No cell, no wallet, and no watches (personal choice we wanted to play safe). They took our car keys and put them in a little bag and locked them up. They gave us a small key to keep with us, so we could get our keys after the interview. We went through a metal detector and our paperwork went through a scanner. When we were through we walked to the next station where there was a screen and we took one ticket and then walked to the next building where they asked to see the ticket and sat us in the little waiting area.
In the waiting area there were windows with the consular officers behind (sort of like when you go to the banks in Costa Rica). They called up the number on our ticket about 20 minutes after sitting down. The consular office, well she was nice, but she was stone cold and didn’t speak much to us. The officer asked for the original passport and (two) 2x2 passport photos, and the medical exam. Then she asked for the originals of our civil documents (marriage, birth, police certificate). I had copies and English translations that she didn’t care to see. She said those might be helpful for us in the U.S. though. She asked me if I still lived at my address in the U.S., and who lived in my home, and if I still worked at my jobs. They asked for our proof of relationship (which I gave phone call records, emails, joint finances/bank accounts, and receipts for our vacations together). I offered our photos, but she also didn’t care to see them. She said I could give them to the next officer if I wanted to. They asked my spouse if he had ever been to the U.S. and if he ever applied for a visa. She asked for spouse’s cell phone number. Then they took my spouse’s fingerprints and then she asked us to wait to be called up again by the consular officer who would interview us.
After about 30-45 minutes they called up my husband by his name us up to the second part and we went all the way to the right side of the windows (yes everyone in the waiting room can hear your interview…lol). The consular officer was smiley and super nice. She was training another officer, so there were two officers for our interview. She said and I quote, “I don’t have a lot of questions for you two.†Which we were surprised about. They swore us in (right hand up and all) and then they took my husband’s fingerprints again. She began the questions which were for the most part directed at both of us, but some she looked at him for answers and then at me for answers (see below questions that we remember):
1. BOTH: When and how did you meet?
2. BOTH: What do you like about each other?
3. PETITIONER: How does your family get along with your spouse?
4. BENEFICIARY: How many times has your wife visited?
5. PETITIONER: How did your job feel about you being out of work so much?
6. BOTH: Have you ever been married?
7. BOTH: Do you have any children?
8. BOTH: Do you plan on having kids?
9. BENEFICIARY: Have you ever been to the USA?
10. BENEFICIARY: Have you ever applied for a visa?
She didn’t even ask for our photos or the courier registration for Correos. I had already however emailed the Correos registration form to ivappointmentssnj@state.gov before our appt. Then she said “that’s it you’re approved you will get your passport and a sealed packet in 10 days at Correos that you should not open and you should give to the immigration officers upon U.S. entry. They will open it in front of you and give you back all of your original documents. Good luck in U.S.†Then we just left and went back to the entryway to get our car keys and we were out in no time. Right after the interview I had a moment of freak out, because I thought oh no we didn’t give her the Correos registration and so I decided to call the embassy and ask. The officer actually said that they don’t ask for that because we had already put in the DS-260 the location we chose.
04/22/19 (right after interview):
CEAC status was “Administrative Processing.â€
04/23/19:
CEAC status was “Issued.â€
04/24/19:
I (petitioner) got an email notification that the passport was ready for pick-up and it included the tracking number. My spouse (beneficiary) got a text message at the same time with the same notice.
04/25/19:
We picked up at Correos de Costa Rica. We took his cedula and the courier registration, but they only asked to see his cedula.
04/26/19:
We flew out of SJO at 11:55 pm. At the airport no issues. At check in desk, they checked his passport and visa and confirmed my address in the U.S. The immigration officer from Costa Rica checked the same thing and printed out 3 pages, which we were unsure what they were, but no issues there.
04/27/19:
We landed in IAD at 6:30 am. The officers were very stone cold, but it was smooth. We went through a special line, after asking where to go for first entry to U.S. We waiting in line for 30 minutes, hearing how they grilled other first entries. The Asian officer was rough and very rude, frankly; but we got the Hispanic officer who spoke Spanish, but he chose to speak to us in English. He was stone cold, no emotion, no smile. He opened our sealed packet and then sent us to follow down the red line on the ground and into a hallway to another security check point and waiting area. The officers took our paperwork and told us to sit in the waiting area. After 5 minutes, he called us up and said “okay you are good to go.†I clarified the renewing of the CR-1 and he said the green card would have the expiration date and that we could always call USCIS to confirm.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL FUTURE APPLICANTS, WE ARE HAPPY TO FINALLY BE TOGETHER IN THE USA. STAY STRONG. IF YOU ARE ORGANIZED AND ARE TRULY IN LOVE, HAVE FAITH IN GOD THAT ALL WILL GO WELL.. BEST WISHES FROM US!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #26077