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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on May 22, 2019: |
sweethrtt
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
This is going to be long and detailed review, but since my situation was slightly unique, I figured this might help someone in the future.
The hotel was Le Square Phillips Hotel & Suites. I can’t rave enough about this Hotel. The rooms are HUGE (literally the size of a giant Condo, two bathrooms and the concierge was a sweetheart and upgraded us to two Queen sized beds, also the US is me and my mom she came to keep me company in Montreal and to offer moral support) super clean and very quiet. They offer continental breakfast during the week from 6:30am-9:30am, they have valet ($25.00 a day), an indoor pool and a gym. The location is amazing lots of restaurants and touristy things to do. The best part of the hotel is how close it is to the Consulate, it is literally a two-minute walk!
My day started by getting to the consulate at around 6:40am for my 7:30am appointment time. There was one other person already there (from Visa Journey) so I was 2nd in line and we chit chatted until more people started to show up (this is where more of the awesome fam from visa journey showed up and it was so amazing to get to meet the people you’ve been chatting with over the past few months.. they are all top notch in my books!). The line grew significantly and then by 7:30 am they opened the door and let us in one at a time. **Note that no petitioners can accompany you inside the building**. You go through the doors and present your passport and payment confirmation to the young lady at the desk and she will place a sticker on your passport and give you a laminated sheet with a number on it (#2) along with directions on how to place your documents in order. From there you are asked to place your belonging in a bin to be scanned and step through the machine. Once you are in the clear you go to the left, down the stairs into a waiting room where you can organize your documents (as mentioned in other posts, this part is kind of redundant because the lady who takes the documents will ask for them out of order, but nonetheless, it’s best to make sure that you have everything you need). After that your asked to line up and get into the elevator which brings you up to the 19th floor. You take a seat and wait for your number to be called with the number of the desk you are to go to.
Once I heard “Number 2 please go to desk 2†I got up and went over. The lady behind the glass asked me for:
1. Laminated sheet with number
2. Passport
3. Copy of Passport
4. Payment Confirmation page
5. Birth Certificate (Long Form)
6. Copy of Birth Certificate
7. Letter of Intent to Marry (from petitioner only)
8. I-134 and all contributing documents (I provided 2018 Tax Return with all W-2’s, Copies of Bonds with current value, Job Letter, and Banking Info)
9. 2 Passport Sized photos
10. Medical report (she returned the CD with the X-Ray to me)
As she is asking for the documents she is recording your conversation (I noticed her click on this machine on the wall, which I’m assuming is to record the conversation). She asked me three questions: 1) who is the petitioner? 2) What is your relationship with the petitioner? 3) What is your current home address and phone number? 3) Where will your residence be in the United States?. She took my fingerprints of both my left and right hand and then asked me to be seated and wait.
After a very short time I heard the following “Number 2 please go to desk 9â€. This was the part that I was super worried about THE INTERVIEW. I was greeted by the most pleasant lady. She was so courteous, and kind and I was completely relieved and my nerves settled. She made the whole interview feel like more of a conversation that an actual interview. She flipped the switch on the machine (to record, I presume) asked me to raise my right hand and read out the oath to which I replied "I Do", she then grabbed my immigration file and began with her questions:
1. When did you meet your fiancé?
2. How often do you guys see each other?
3. Have I ever visited the united states and what was the longest I stayed?
4. Have you ever been arrested/convicted of any crime in any country?
5. What does my fiancé do for a living?
6. What places have you traveled to within the last 5 years?
7. Have you lived in any county, other than Canada, for more then 6 months?
Now we get to the part that was causing me much stress, my dreaded I-275 from 8 years ago. She noted that I was stopped at the border due to admitting to marijuana use, and that I was given the option to withdraw my application for admission. I agreed and also apologized for the entire situation and noted that I was young and naïve and have since grown up and never made another mistake like that. She went on to reassure me that this type of issue was not a hard inadmissibility and that at that time (2011) I was inadmissible however as of today that is no longer the case. She never asked about any current drug use (which is obviously NO WAY). As she was talking my eyes started to water that’s when she reached over and grabbed the infamous PINK SLIP and said “Welcome to the United States†that’s when the water works started I was so genuinely happy while also apologizing a million times for crying like a bumbling baby. She laughed and said not to worry, congratulated me one more time and to enjoy the move and my new life in America and also to enjoy the beautiful weather in Montreal, and then I was on my way.
Leading up to this over the course of 10 months I was stressing about this issue to the point where I would lose sleep and my appetite. I thought for sure I was going to get denied or need a waiver. She treated me like a human who had made a mistake in the past and was able to see that I had changed for the better. She gave me a chance and it made me feel so much better. It was honestly the most pivotal point in this whole process, and she seemed to really care less about this minor issue. I am indebted to her for being so kind to me.
So for any of you out there possibly worrying about the same situation this is my advice “BE 10000000% HONEST, NEVER EVER EVER LIE… being truthful will get you so much farther, at the end of the day it is up to the IO, but I will tell you the more open you are about the situation the more likely you are to cross over the hurdle with flying colors. You will stress about it, no doubt about that, but everything will fall into place†(if only I was good at taking my own advice lol).
All in all, it took 1 hour and 15 minutes. I was out the door going back to my hotel to enjoy a much-needed celebratory breakfast! Now just to wait to get the Visa in the mail!
(updated on May 24, 2019)
(updated on May 27, 2019)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #26263