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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on August 21, 2019: |
alannah_rose
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Had my interview last Friday (16 August). Read a lot of the reviews on here before i went and they were all accurate.
My interview was scheduled for 8:00AM so I arrived at 7:20AM as I had seen in other reviews to get there early to save time. I was informed that the Elevator to get to Level 10 (Security) doesn't open till 7:30AM so if you are going there, you cannot get up earlier than that. I had heard there were no toilets up there, so I went downstairs to the toilets before the lifts opened.
Once it hit 7:30AM, there are these security scanners which the office workers can scan their security card at. A special button pops up for Level 10, so you click that and it tells you which lift to go to. Jump in there and head up. When we arrived, the security was still closed, so we were told to sit down and wait. There was a group of about 10 of us waiting. Now, a few reviews said there were no toilets other than downstairs in the shopping area. This isn't true. There are toilets on Level 10, just down some stairs right before the Security Entrance. So you can use the bathroom right before you go up to the Consulate on Level 59. There are no toilets on Level 59 though.
After waiting about 25 minutes, they told us to line up. I managed to score the first spot in line (winner!). After showing the security officer that my phone was turned off, I passed through the door to the security area (like airport security) and lined up again in front of a table with a girl who will review your paperwork. She took all my documents, looked through them and asked me if I brought others (which I replied they were uploaded to NVC so they will have them) and then she popped them into a plastic sleeve for me to pass over to the consular officer. One tip i have is make sure you write your name on the back of your passport photos, and write your name and address on the envelope! The instructions don't say anything about this, but she asked me to do it while I was standing there.
Next is you go through the actual security screening. I had a backpack so they asked me to take out any electronics (phone, headphones and phone charger), my purse/wallet and popped them in a separate box to my actual backpack. They also asked me to take out my "payment method" which i was confused about as we didn't have to pay anymore fees, but i just grabbed my debit card in case. You have to take off your shoes also, so wear easily removed shoes. They then packed everything back into my bag, not allowing me to touch it. I was then asked to take a seat and was given a number to collect my bag when i returned. I was only seated for less than 10 seconds before being shown to another lift to be taken to Level 59. I was the only one in the lift.
Upon getting to level 59, you are greeted and then buzzed into a security door, through to the actual interview area. Just to the right as you walk through is the ticket machine which is in an awkward spot so a lot of people didn't notice it. I grabbed my ticket and sat down, only to be called up straight away to go through my documents.
I had two extra docts that weren't uploaded to NVC so the officer said take a seat and I will upload them now. It only took around 5 minutes, before i was called up again and given back my original documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate and police certificate.) She then said take a seat again and you will be called for your interview.
Another 10 minutes went by and I was called for my interview. He asked me the following questions - why do you want to move to the USA, what does your husband do for work, what do you do for work, what are you going to do for work when you live in the USA, where are you planning on living and then asked if my husband and I got married in Australia and if he was still here. Then he was silent and typing on his computer for a couple of minutes and I think he could tell I was nervous so he said don't worry, i'm just taking some notes. Finally, he said okay, you're visa will be in the mail next week. Have a great day.
And that was it! I then headed out, back down the lift to level 10, grabbed my bag and headed off. Took around an hour from when I was let into security to walking out of there.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #26896