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| Madrid, Spain |  Review on August 22, 2019: |
Vic Hek
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I had my interview appointment scheduled for the 25th of July at 3pm. My fiancee urged me to get an extra early train so i would have plenty of time to pick up the medical exam results from the clinic before the appointment. At about 12:15pm, after picking up the results, i was standing outside the clinic double-checking the estimated walking time to the Embassy, when i noticed that Google Maps stated that the Embassy would be closing at 1pm that day(two hours before my scheduled appointment!) I tried to call the Embassy right away, but there was no possible way to get someone on the line through the automated system so i gave up on that and decided to walk there to ask them what the deal was.
I arrived at the Embassy at about 12:45, where i explained the situation to the security guards and they told me that it would close at 2:45pm and to be back at the entrance at 2pm instead. I went to grab a coffee and some food across the street and returned at 1:45pm to find a queue of people waiting to enter, with more and more people joining every few minutes. They asked everyone with a 2pm appointment to line up in single file, and when i asked if i could join the line they told me to wait and said that i would be fine for my 3pm appointment, that there would still be people there. So i ended up waiting outside the Embassy for about an hour in total until most people had already gone in, when they called the last few people including myself over to form a line for the 2:45-3pm appointments.
The security guards where quite helpful and patient when going through the security check, which went without problems.
I entered the building where i received a number from the woman in the entrance hall and was sent through to the waiting room.
After all the waiting and stress i was happy to find that my number was called almost immediately(it seemed that the windows were assigned to specific visa types, and there weren't many people with a K-1 visa at that time.) I went up to the window where the Spanish woman behind the glass asked me for my chest x-ray CD and the visa payment receipt. She then asked me a few simple questions(had i ever lived in the States before, which other countries had i lived in, did we have a wedding date) and told me to take a seat again to wait to be called for the interview.
After about 5 minutes i was called to a different window for the interview, which was done by an American man. He was a bit cold(i assume that's a requirement while doing these interviews) but not intimidating. He asked me to take an oath before scanning my fingerprints and then followed up with some questions:
-When did we meet?
-Why was my fiancee in Spain at that time?
-Where is she now?
-Have we seen each other since she left Spain? (i made sure to recall all the different trips that we had taken to visit each other since she moved away.)
-Do i have any criminal record in any of the countries that i've lived in?
-What kind of work does she do in the States?
-What kind of work do i do in Spain?
-Why had i lived in Germany before? (for work)
-When did we meet? (again, i guess to check for consistency)
He said that everything looked good and asked if there was anything else i would like to add. I offered to show him the photos that i'd printed off for this interview, but he said that it wasn't necessary since he already had some photos on file that we supplied with our petition and the RFE.
He then told me that everything was in order and my visa was approved! He congratulated me and said that my passport, with the visa inside, and accompanying documents should arrive within 6 work days.
I walked back from the window and was already outside of the waiting room, in the entrance hall, when i remembered that i forgot to ask about extending my petition approval which had expired two weeks before(i read a post on VJ about someone being denied access at the Port of Entry due to the immigration officer mistaking the (already expired) petition expiration date on the visa for the visa expiration date, and i wanted to make 100% sure that this could not happen to me!) I asked the woman in the entrance hall if it was possible to go back to ask another question, so she looked to see if the window was still free, and then told me that i could try and ask him nicely. I went back and explained to him that i forgot to ask about the extension, so he told me to move to the next window where i offered him the scanned notarized letter of my fiancee reaffirming her intention to marry me. He took the letter, checked some things on the computer and told me that it was done and not to worry.
Aside from the initial stress of not knowing whether my appointment was still going to happen or not and the waiting that came with it, it was a pleasant experience and all the staff inside the Embassy were helpful and patient.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #26912