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| Bogota, Colombia |  Review on July 20, 2009: |
Seraya-Karl
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
TIPS:
1. Bring "sanitary wipes" to clean off the telephones you have to use at the windows you visit.
2. Their website says (as of July, 2009) that they post the appointments on the 15th of the month, but inside package 3 (THE INSTRUCTION PACKAGE FOR IMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS) they say, "our online appointment schedule... is updated on on/about the 20th and 30th of each month". The latter is the correct information, and if that falls on a weekend or Colombian/US holiday it will be later.
3. You can fill out the DS-156 form online (https://evisaforms.state.gov/ds156.asp). Do it! The online Visa K Appointment Package (package 4) in English found at the embassy website (http://bogota.usembassy.gov/appt-package.html) links to this, but the Spanish version found at embassy website (http://spanish.bogota.usembassy.gov/docentrevvres.html) doesn't. You will need this form, when you pay the visa fee at Banco de Crédito. At the branch office near the embassy they send you next door to a little shop, which copies the information you filled out by hand into the Internet site and prints the form for you (you have pay extra for this), but Banco de Crédito uses the online version when you go back to them to pay, never-the-less they stamp the two printed versions that the shop next door gave you. I let my fiancée do this by herself, but several errors were made copying the form that she filled out by hand, which she didn't catch. I went back with her the next day and Banco de Crédito would not stamp the corrected version, which we had redone at the shop next to the bank. After a long discussion with bank people, in which I was firm, but polite, they said ok, but that I couldn't change the date of entry. We went next door to redo the form once again, but I said, no, this won't work. The DS-156 had the date of entry six months in the future. So I said that I'll just pay for the visa again and made an ATM withdrawal (by-the-way, Banco de Crédito allows you to withdrawal a maximum of 780,000 peso - some others as little as 300,000 pesos. Citibank let me withdrawal 800,000 peso in November, 2008.) When I went back into the Banco de Crédito branch office, they said that I didn't have to pay anything, and they would stamp our corrected DS-156 as it was. I have no idea why they changed their mind, but, in short, fill out your DS-156 online with the two of you there if at all possible.
4. Arriving very early doesn't seem to put you any further ahead in the interview process. We got processed before others that arrived ahead of us. Never-the-less, get there early, maybe at 6:30am. They'll let you enter at about 7:00 am.
5. Bring a cell phone without a camera. They had no problem with us entering with that. They told us to turn it off, which we did, but after we were approved, we called from the embassy to tell her mother and aunt, and no one said anything. We also saw a few other people making cell calls. Just don't be too obvious, and I believe that no one will bother you.
6. Be prepared to give Domesa [the delivery service] the cedula [id] number of a second person, so that if you are not home, when they come to deliver the passport, someone else can sign for it. If you live in Bogotá, it would probably be best to pickup the passport at their office, in that way, you don't have to worry about being home.
7. Be careful when you pass through the entrance. They pass the purse and bags through an X-ray machine, and you have to pass through a metal detector. So that it doesn't sound, you have take of you belt and remove the coins and other metal objects from you pocket. I almost walked off with a belt that wasn't mine. My fiancée already had my belt.
8. Be sincere and read all you can of the other interviews (even for other embassies) - the things that they can ask you and what to expect. It's not necessary, but it will give you confidence and peace of mind.
The INTERVIEW:
We had feared the interview, because:
1. My fiancée had been turned down twice in the past for visas.
2. My fiancée's cousins had been turned down for visas.
3. I was 62 years old, and she was only 31 years old.
I had read on another website that in such situation as ours that it would be assumed that my fiancée was just looking for a way to enter the United States and really didn't want to enter into a real marriage. For that reason, we prepared evidence that we had met by telephone some 5 years ago, that I had known her aunt and uncle who lived in the US for more than 5 years, that for about 5 years I known her grandmother who had made long visits to the US, that I had met her mother and brother who were know living in the US, and that I had met other aunts and uncles both in Colombia and the US.
On other websites I had read that in such unlikely romances as ours that the embassy looked closely to see, if the US citizen is marrying, because the Colombian is paying them to. We had no worries on that account, because my financial statement showed that I was well enough off that a business deal between us would not have any appeal to me.
I had also read on other sites that the US citizen can have "unrealistic expectation" that the Colombian would overlook "obvious flaws such as age..." and on this site: "If you're 50 and look like hell and she's 20 and hot, do yourself a favor GO GET A MAKEOVER!".
That was close enough to my situation, so I got a manicure and a haircut a few days before the interview. I wore my best suit cleaned and pressed the day before the interview, my white dress shirt was laundered and pressed the day before, my best shoes were polished the day before, and I wore my best tie and watch. I was very attentive to my fiancée all the time we were in the embassy. I brought her a coffee and later water. When there was only one seat available, she sat while I squatted down on my heals in front of her holding her hand. I wanted to show that I had no "unreal expectation of her".
She wore a conservative brown pantsuit and a lot of makeup - she said, "to make me look older". (That didn't work. She just kept on looking young and beautiful.)
We both read VisaJourney's embassy reviews, and I cautioned my fiancée to listen to the questions and only answer what was asked. We practiced that, and she had some trouble not saying more than was asked, but when it came to the interview she was perfect. I, on the other hand, failed miserably, babbling on.
The day of the interview we arrived at about 6:45 am and passed through the gates at about 7:00 am. At about 7:30 am they explained to us that we would be given folders to put the forms and documents into, and that we should not put our proof of relationship in the folder. They processed first the people who had been there on previous occasions, people who were pregnant and people over 65 (maybe 67, I didn't understand the lady well. Everything was explained in Spanish.).
We waited about two hours before being called to the window to turn in the folder. The lady at the window was a Colombian. I had read on this site that the people receiving the folder can be very dry, but it started to rain hard when we were at the window and the lady joked and laughed with my fiancée. She returned my proof of divorce. (I had already sent it in with the I-129F, and apparently, they only wanted her divorce information, which her never having been married, didn't exist.) She told us to proceed to the fingerprint station and the consul would be calling her and me to the interview window afterwards.
We waited about an hour before she was called to be fingerprinted, and another two hours before she was called to the interview.
The lady consul (a gringa) asked my fiancée in Spanish:
1. her name?
2. what proof we had of an ongoing relation? We passed her a folder with the proof. The engagement ring receipt was on top, and we included more pictures, e-mails, shipping labels, and used phone cards. It didn't appear that she looked at it.
3. how we had met? My fiancée answered, "through the Internet" (my mouth fell open, we had "met" on telephone through her aunt who lived in the US), but added that her aunt had introduced us by telephone, so I could practice my Spanish.
4. when we had met in person for the first time? She answered in November (the interview was in July).
The consul then looked at me, and asked in English how I was. I responded, "fine" and ask as to her. I had been listening with my fiancée through the telephone, but had a hard time hearing the consul. I told her that I was having a hard time hearing her. She apologized and turned up the volume, and it was a little easier hearing her. I believe she first asked me how old I was, but changed her mind and asked me, if I knew that my fiancée applied for a visa before. I replied that I knew she had applied for a student visa and turned to ask my fiancée in Spanish how old she was when that happened (ignoring my own advice not to answer something that wasn't asked). My fiancée said she was 20 and little more. (She had also been turned down for a tourist visa, when she was about 16, but I had momentarily forgotten that. It would have been better just to say, "Yes", but I was nervous.)
The consul than said (I think, because I was still having a hard time hearing her), "I'm going to approve your visa. Please, pay Domesa [the private delivery service]." I said that I was still having a hard time hearing, but I understood her to say that we should go pay Domesa now, and she replied, "Yes" and excused herself giving us back our proof and photos that I had sent in with the I-129F. I kissed my fiancée, and we went to the Domesa booth a few yards away. By the way, the consul did not give us anything to show that we were approved. I worried about that for eight days until the visa final arrived at Domesa's office.
The whole interview lasted less than 5 minutes, but we were in the embassy (well, the court yard) 5 hours (7:00 am to 12:00 am).
Embassy review:
The Good:
1. They were courteous.
2. They were organized.
The Bad:
1. We had to stand in the rain and in the dirt, because there was only one sidewalk for four lines of people.
2. The speaker system inside the courtyard was underpowered and the voices very distorted.
3. The telephone system which you have to use to talk to the consul is hard to hear through.
4. They give you no proof of having been approved. (FYI, I'm told if they deign your visa, they will give you back you passport right then and a paper with the reason(s) for denial.)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4760