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| Croatia |  Review on April 23, 2009: |
Badgerella
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
We arrived about a half hour early (the interview was scheduled for 10:30, April 8th 2009) and didn't wait more than a few minutes before the guards called us in. They knew us both (four failed B2 visa attempts on my end, and one visit to the Embassy for my fiance, to accompany me to one of those B2 interviews) and were very friendly. All of the guards laughed at the contents of our enormous suitcase, full of photos, boarding passes, postcards, random trinkets and various documents. It weighed a few kilos for sure.
The moment we walked into the Consular Offices section of the Embassy, I was told to approach Window 7, where I had to turn in my documents and where the first set of fingerprints was taken. A very kind Croatian employee looked through the file (one containing only required visa forms) and told me to wait - he was supposed to either call me again, if something was missing, or we would wait to be called to one of the other windows.
We waited and waited and waited - the Embassy was crowded with people applying for visitor visas and, apparently, they take precedence. It must have taken an hour and a half, or so, before we were called to approach one of the interview windows (I can't remember anymore whether it was 1 or 2). The interviewer actually knew who we were - he was the CO who denied my second B2 application in, I think, November 2007. They took one more fingerprint, to verify my identity and then we stood there for a few minutes (I don't think it took longer than, maybe, five) casually talking about more or less random things. The conversation started in Croatian, but I promptly shifted it to English so that my fiance could participate as well (he was allowed to approach the windor with me, which wasn't the case during my last year's B2 interview, when he was told to stay a few meters behind me). The CO wanted to know when we met, but we were pretty much unable to remember the exact dates. He also asked about our wedding plans, but we had none at that point. We wanted the visa first and were honest about that. The officer asked my fiance about his job, chatted a bit with us about the weather in Minnesota and how I will freeze there regardless of the time of year I decide to come and that was about it. He said that K1 was the right visa for us to apply for and that we should have done it the first time around (I disagree, since all I wanted at those points was some vacation time spent with my fiance, but that's another story anyway!). At some point, I was given one of the forms to sign and he then told us to go back to the waiting part of the room and that he'd do all he can to get us out of the place as soon as possible. There was a tiny bit of confusion with some copies and originals of my birth certificate and some other documents - the CO wasn't sure which side is keeping which version. I ended up with the originals and he said the copies were more than good enough for them. During our conversation, I kept reaching for our enormous suitcase, but the officer kept saying that none of our additional documents or items were necessary.
We went back to the waiting section and, at that point, we had no idea what was supposed to happen next. While I was pretty convinced we had just gotten our visa, my fiance kept saying that they would call us to the actual interview any minute. After a while, the same Croatian person wanted to see me at Window 7. He asked for my phone number and said that they'd call me as soon as they had my visa printed - most likely the next day, but there was a tiny bit of possibility that they would do it pretty much right away. I said I was in no hurry.
They called on April 9th, the next day. I went to pick up the visa and was given some more instructions (about the visa itself, AOS and the like). They gave me the sealed envelope, as well as my chest x-ray and copies of my medical results.
Long story short - apart from the really long wait (we might have just had some bad luck with many other applicants waiting for their B2 interviews that day, though), everything went smoothly and was actually a rather pleasant experience. The only downside to the whole process at the Embassy in Zagreb are very unclear instructions that come in mail (Packet 3&4) and the outdated forms (I pretty much had to download and print them on my own). The staff (at least when it comes to K visas, as my experience with B2 was the exact opposite) is more than helpful and friendly - we talked to them on the phone and via email many times before the interview. A few days after my visa was printed I even received a phonecall from one of the employees, who wanted to answer some of the questions we had asked in an email.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4278