I arrived at the consulate super early (5:45 am) as I could not sleep and my hotel was super close. I scoped out the location the day before and thanks to Saylin's postings with pictures was able to know exactly where the entrance of the consulate was. The hotel that I stayed at was the Le Phillips Square..excellent hotel and extremely close to the consulate. I took my cellphone with me but then ran back to the hotel to drop it off at the front desk.
I was the first person in line and people started showing up at about 6:45 am and there were quite a few VJers there. They opened the doors at 7:30 and let us in. We went through security and then were instructed to go downstairs to the elevator to wait. As a few of us were from VJ, we sat close together by the elevator and chatted and exchanged stories with each other, how we met our significant others, etc...very relaxing experience. Security eventually came down and instructed us to get on the elevator. I sat very close to the elevator and went to the back left of the elevator when I got in. We went up to the 19th floor, got out and were given a number. I was C1. I was called up to the window and my paperwork was reviewed. I then sat back down for about 10 mins and then was called up to window 9.
The gal at window 9 was a young blond lady. She took my finger print scan. She then asked how me met and I told her we met on Eharmony and she chatted about that and said that obviously works. Then she asked where he lives and I told her what town he lives in and she asked where I lived and I told her that I lived 2.5 hrs from my fiancee and that we see each other almost every weekend. She asked how long we have been together and I said almost 5 years. I think because we saw each other so frequently and that we were together for such a long period of time this may have helped with the amount of questions that were asked (2).
She looked at the copy of my fiancee's passport and his picture and said that he was cute. We talked about his name and how Americans pronounce it vs. Canadians. She then gave me instructions on receiving my passport and visa and the Welcome to the US letter. I asked her if this meant that my visa was approved and she said yes..I let out a big hurrah and got teary eyed and she laughed. I then said.."OMG I'm going to cry...thank you so much" She smiled and said 'Aaww don't do that, your my first person today and I have alot of interviews to do"
I thanked her profusely and told her that she had made my day. She wished me luck and that was it. I was done by 9:15 am. I said goodbye to my fellow VJ'ers and left.
The CO that I had was great, super nice and very efficient. She made me feel so relaxed and I think that really helped me feel at ease. Overall, looking back the interview was the easiest part. All the other things leading up to the interview was way more stressful then the actuall interview itself.
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9574
Review on April 27, 2012:
