|
|
| Montreal, Canada |  Review on May 9, 2012: |
CAdreamer
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Montreal was good, overall. So much easier than I anticipated. As long as you have all the documentation on the checklist, you will be just fine. ...and if your kids are anything like mine, take change for the vending machines to keep them happy. 
1 word of warning -- Google maps lies. I booked a room at the Holiday Inn Midtown, which Google said was about a 10 minute walk from the consulate and 15 minute walk from the train station. Maybe if one was an Olympic level race walker, but not otherwise. We ended up taking cabs everywhere. Holiday Inn was on the expensive side, but had an indoor pool, which the kids loved! Spending the afternoon in the pool totally made up for me getting them up and out the door at the crack of dawn for the interview. The consulate was a $5 cab ride from Holiday Inn, and the train station was a $10 cab ride.
The reviews for Montreal are spot on. I don't have too much to add to what has already been said here. We got to the consulate at 6:50 and were first in line, first off the elevator and got number C1.
One note -- the document/interview windows are totally cramped. There is no space to put your paperwork down while trying to get the papers they ask for, and it's just as bad for the employees on the other side. The woman at the first window was complaining about how cramped it was, and that they had recently changed the work area and everyone hated it.
They asked for the custody documents first, and they will keep the originals (except I asked for my original separation agreement back and got it -- they kept the original agreement for immigration their dad signed though). They asked for originals and copies of all of our long form birth certificates and my divorce certificate. They keep the original police check too. And they kept everything I gave them for the I-134. They only needed 1 copy of the I-134, by the way. I had done 3 copies in case 1 was needed for each kid too, but they only asked for 1.
The questions are not difficult and apparently you just need to try. They asked me when my fiance got his citizenship (he is not originally a USC). I had no idea! I made a guess, and stated that it was a guess. I was off by 10 years! Oops. They also asked how old the kids are. I said my daughter is 9. She was standing beside me and was so disgusted "mom, I'm 10!"... ugh. I just laughed and said her birthday was on Saturday and it had been a rough couple of days. So, I got my kid's age wrong and my fiance's citizenship information wrong, but they still approved the visas!
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9648