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| Montreal, Canada |  Review on November 25, 2011: |
Minu Luvs Pinu
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
The interview was on Wednesday Nov. 23rd at 8 AM. (Yesterday)
I had my medical on Nov. 18th (Friday) at;
Dr. Howard Seiden & Associates
Sanagex Medicine du Travail
5345 Blvd L’Assomption # 115
Montreal, QC H1T 4B3
Total Cost $260 CDN
I went back to pick up my results the following Tuesday around 2:30 PM (which I was instructed to do.)
My Fiance (Petitioner) and I stayed at Le Square Phillipe Hotel, which was recommended on this site. It was the best place to stay over night. The rate was reasonable, they provided a complementary breakfast, and it included parking for an extra 22 bucks. The best thing about this hotel was that it is literally one block away from the US Embassy.
The morning of the interview it started snowing ( ) but it was not such big deal since we had such a short walk to the Embassy. We had a breakfast and headed out at 7:35 AM. The funny thing is we had passed the Embassy when we were walking. We had walked two blocks down and realized we probably went too far. One thing I want to note is that the entrance to the US Embassy is almost discrete and not noticeable. I didn't see any signs or American flags. So be careful when you're trying to find the place. Also, there is no parking near by, the only parking lot I saw that was the closest was the one next to the hotel that we stayed at (in Phillips Square) . I didn't catch the prices since our car was in the underground parking of the hotel, we didn't need to use that parking lot. However, it's worth paying whatever price than to have parked miles away.
When we got to the doors there was a security guard, he asked us for the appointment letter and our passports. (Do not bring any book bags or suitcases with you, and ladies I wouldn't recommend you bring your purses. Tote bags or plastic bags are fine. If you can, don't even bring anything with you but your papers and passport). All we had brought with us was a folder with all our necessary documents. Like at an Airport, we pass through security. They scanned our coats, and other items that we had on us. We pass through the metal detectors and were instructed to go down through the stairs to a room with a bunch of chairs and one elevator. We had to go up to floor 19. I'm not going to go into full depth of how the process went because it pretty much the same as all the other interview reviews that have been posted on here. Just know that it's alot of sitting and waiting to the be called and sit back down again and get your fingerprints scanned, hand in papers, pay fees (if you haven't already) and sit and wait.
Once we were finally called up for our interview, prior to, while we were waiting, my fiance and I were trying to guess whether we would be brought into a room for the interview. Well, we soon found out that that was not the case. We went to window 7, there, was the officer standing at his desk. The room was separated with plastered walls on both sides, which gave it a bit of privacy but you could tell that the entrance door was taken off. It kind of seemed like a walk-in closet with a window at the end. Between us and the officer was a big bullet proof glass. He spoke through the speakers and began the interview. He asked me to place my index finger on the digital fingerprint scanner to basically verify that I wasn't a criminal (lol). Then he advised us that he was going to swear us in and asked us nicely to raise our right hands and asked if everything that has been documented in these papers is true. We said yes and he continued...
He asked us; how and when we met, what I plan to do when I get there, what we plan to do for our wedding, what I do now in Canada (job wise) and what my fiance does for a living and he talked about how he recently moved another state to be closer to his job. They joked and talked about his job (which was great took the attention off me a bit lol). He also talked about me being from Colombia and that if my family was in Canada. He kind of said it like "So your family is here in Canada too" Which obviously he already knew cause my whole life story is right on his computer. I confirmed that most of my family including cousins and aunts live here Canada. He continued looking at the affidavits of support, we had a co-sponsor and he had glimpse through that a bit but what he really looked at was my Fiance's boss' letter, which stated that he had worked there for over a year and is valued employee etc... (The Reason why we had a co-sponsor was because my fiance did not make enough last year and his tax info reflected that. He makes more than enough now but since he doesn't have this years tax return we had to insure ourselves with a co-sponsor.)
The officer continued to joked around with us a bit and said to give him a moment while he inputs some info onto his computer. And then he said "Your Visa is approved and should be arriving in the mail within 5 days." Then he handed me a paper (which I've yet to completely look at) and said "Welcome to the United States of America, congratulations". My Fiance and I looked at each other and smiled. We thanked the officer and headed out to the elevator. Once we got into the elevator we hugged each other and with our hands raised we shouted "We Won!!"
It is such a relief and not to sound cliche but all this time and effort that has been invested is all worth it in the end! The officer was really nice, we weren't expecting him to be nice at all. We got really lucky to have him interview us, he was very pleasant. I hope that you all have the same experience that we had, it couldn't have gone any more perfect!
I want to thank Visa Journey and all the other applicants who have gone before us and shared their experiences. I swear, without this site we probably would have been so lost, we would have given up and hired an expensive lawyer. This site has saved us so much money and time. Thank you!
I wish the rest of you who are still in the process, the best of luck with everything. Don't give up and always remember that many have gone through this and have been successful!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #8765