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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on April 10, 2009: |
BBJohnnyT
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
This review is for a K-1 visa interview in Montreal on April 7, 2009.
My Canadian fiance and I arrived at the embassy at 6:40am. Next person arrived at about 6:55am. By 7:15am, there were about a dozen others in line. The doors opened promptly at 7:30am. Be prepared to present interview letter and your passport. The guard will appreciate it. My fiance was given a card with the letter A on it. Letters indicate the order in line, since it is first-come, first-served.
Once through the metal detector, you will go down one flight of steps to a waiting room. The guard clipped the letter card to her passport, along with a couple of other documents we had to bring (listed in the interview letter instructions). When a few others were also ready, the guard ushered us into the elevator to the 19th floor waiting area. There, he submitted everyone's paperwork to the clerk.
In about 5 minutes, my fiance's name was called to a window, where the clerk (who was very organized, but patient and kind), asked for each piece of documentation one at a time. Then she instructed my fiance to go to the cashiers window to pay the $131 fee (must be in US currency) and bring the receipt back to her window. When that was complete, she was instructed to take a seat back in the waiting area and wait until she was called into an interview room. About an hour later, her name was called to interview room 8. I went with her into room 8, a small sterile room with the agent sitting behind a hardened glass window. The agent welcomed us and had us both raise our right hands to take an oath to tell the truth. After only two minor questions (how we met and what attracted us to the other), she smiled and said "approved". The actual interview took less than 2 minutes and we left the embassy at about 9:20am with the rest of the day to enjoy Montreal.
Other thoughts... Overall, the entire experience was great. The entire embassy staff was professional while still being very pleasant. I'm sure it helped that all of our documentation was in order (thanks VisaJourney) and we were the first in line. Those with higher letters probably were there well into the rest of the morning (so get there early, by 6:50am at the latest). By 9am, there were already dozens of other people in the waiting room. While most of these people were there for other purposes (not K-1, K-3, IR-1, CR-1 visas) and didn't hold up the visa applicants, it did make for a long line at the cashiers window which everyone shared. This made for a wait for those with the letters B, C, and so on, to pay their visa fee. Just another reason to get there early to get the letter A!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4213