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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 24, 2009: |
Danu
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Where to begin!
I arrived in Montreal Sunday night, after a bit of getting lost I finally found my hotel. I stayed at Le Square Phillips which is an absolutely beautiful hotel. A bit pricey but a great room with a kitchenette. It felt like a little apartment, was very clean and the staff were super friendly. I ate at a little Mexican place on Peel St (about 5 blocks from the Consulate.. a 10 minute walk) called Carlos and Pepes. They had really good guacamole and chicken Fajitas.
I was planning on being up at 6ish so I could be awake, grab Timmies (about a 1 minute walk from the hotel) and get to the consulate, which was only a 5 minute walk away. I woke up before my alarm (5:40 ew) so I was awake and out the door before I expected. Got to the consulate at about 6:15 and lined up on the side with the yellow posts. At around 6:30 I was joined by Tdotgirl who is really nice, and another girl came at about 6:45. Shes not on VJ but she does read it. Dalene was shortly after that. We all stood in line and had a good laugh at the people who lined up on the other side thinking they would get in ahead of us. They looked angry when the security dude told them to go to the end of the line behind all of us.
They opened the doors just shortly after 7:30. You give them your Passport and appointment letter, so have those out. The security guards seemed a little stressed, make sure you just wait for them to give you instructions or you will get a stern talk to like I did (I put the box with my coat on the belt to go through the scanner, apparently you aren’t suppose to do that on your own). They then get you to walk through a metal detector, give you a letter (underneath said letter is the window you will be called to) and get you to walk down the stairs and sit on a chair while you wait for the elevator. They give you the list of things to get ready, but quite a few things they ask for are left off the list. At 7:45 the elevator guard comes down and collects all the people with letters A through E and takes you up to the 19th floor. You go sit at the far end of the room and wait to be called. As I had letter A I was called first, to window 11.
The lady behind the window was very very nice. She has long blonde hair, and a great bubbly personality. She asked for (in order..though most of the order seemed random): My passport, the DS-160, DS-156k and 2 copies of the DS-156, my Birth Cert and copy, copy of my bio page, medical (without the xray), the letter of intent, I-134 and supporting documents, my police check, photos, and my expresspost envelope. I think that was all. Then she gave me a piece of paper to take to the cashier at window 14. This is important so make sure you remember it. You DO NOT have to line up behind everyone else waiting on the right side of the red separator. Stand on the left side of it. You will be called to the window first. Then I went back, gave it to her and sat down to wait for a little bit while she got something ready to take my fingerprints. You do left hand first, all fingers together flat on the screen, then right hand, then your thumbs. After that she sent me back to the waiting room to be called.
I really don’t remember how long it was, not long though, maybe 10-15 minutes? And I got called to room 8, which is in the little hallway (I have encluded a rough sketch of where the rooms are so you have an idea where you are going!) I walked in, and there was Paul Mayer behind the glass. He really is super friendly, really smiley. After I did the oath, he said everything looked great, told me I had to sign something and then it would be pretty much a home run. As others have said he told me he had to ask me a few questions just because. He asked me how we met, when we figured out it was the real deal, when we decided to get married and if I’m planning to work when I move and what I’d like to do. For the proof of support he kind of said something along the lines of “I see you brought a huge attaché with you, is there anything good in there you want me to see?” He said what he really loves asking is for your 1 or 2 favorite photos. I gave him my favourite photo and the birthday card Wes sent me, he gave me both back. He congratulated me on being approved and asked how I felt now. I was so relieved I almost started crying in the booth lol. He told me he had to go through some of the stuff with me on how long the visa lasted for, the time limit to get married, filing AOS. We talked about VJ during the interview too and he assured me like he assured others that they are doing everything in their power to get the backlog of CR1 and K1’s out the door, that part of the problem with the backlog as well as staffing and summer rush is that of visa’s that have number limits on it and the need to crank them out as fast as possible so that other countries don’t steal any of them. He also told me Fridays are K1 only days, so thats why so many people have gotten Friday dates
It was easy and painless like everyone said and I wish I hadn’t freaked out so much. Mr. Mayer did a great job putting me at ease and I’d like to thank everyone at the consulate for making the day nice and smooth.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5288