Consulate Review: Montreal, Canada
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
July 4, 2012 |
| Embassy Review : |
My fiance D. and I drove up to Montreal, from Connecticut, the night before the interview. We had booked a hotel on hotwire.com and ended up getting, for 100$ + tax, a room at the Holiday Inn Midtown at 420 Sherbrooke West (right next door to Medisys, in case any of you need to pick up your medical results in the morning, or something). The location was perfect; it was literally a 5 minute walk from the Consulate.
After researching this website through and through for months, I knew that I wanted to get there early in the morning. My appointment was at 8am. We left the hotel around 6:40, crossed the street quickly to buy coffee and a banana, and off we were. At the Consulate, around 6:45am, there was already about 8 people standing in line (on the wrong side, it took everything in me not to stand first on the left side, hah!), some of which were the sponsors. We started talking to the couple in front of us, who were also there for a K1 - ends up he, the American, was a VJ too. We chatted until the doors opened at 7:30am.
The security guards were kind and to my surprise, extremely soft spoken. It’s nothing like airport security, honestly. We went through, they wished us a lovely day, and off we went to wait by the elevators. Having done my research, I knew where to sit and then stand, and without pushing (haha) I arrived to the 19th floor and was handed the number C5. I honestly can say that the only person I met in that building that I thought a was a bit more on the rude/cold side was the lady at that desk, handing out the tickets. Everyone else I encountered was kind, patient, polite and non-intimidating.
My number was called not too long after (how they work is window one will serve: C1, C5, C9, etc. window two: C2, C6, C10, etc. window three: C3, C7, C11, etc. and window four: C4, C8, C12... So if a window falls behind, which happened to the couple we had met, other numbers can get called before yours..) - the lady was kind and efficient, I had everything organized in my folder so I was able to hand everything to her quickly. I was there for about 3 minutes. She asked for my passport and went to get my folder. She then asked for my birth certificate + copy, my police record check, the affidavit of support + supporting documents, and my medical (without the Xrays). She took my finger prints and told me to sit back down, that my number would be called to one of the 7-9 windows for my interview. We sat back down and waited about 40 minutes. By then the place was getting packed.
My number was finally called to window number 8, where a charming man with a purple shirt and a colourful bow tie greeted D. and I. D. made a comment about his tie, which made both of them laugh. He made sure D. was my fiance, looked through my folder and said that all my papers were in order. I laughed and told him I sure hoped they were since I had gone over them about 15 times before the interview. He swore us both in and made me sign a document.
He asked D a few questions: where he lived, what he did for work, where he was from originally. They chatted a bit about his small hometown, since the man had family living there too (what a small world!). He then turned to me and asked me where I was from, what I did for a living, what type of law interested me most (I’m a law student). He asked how and when we had met (oh, you speak German! - he spoke to me in German a little). Chatted about that for a little bit. Finally he asked me if I had ever had any trouble with the law. I replied that no, I hadn’t.
Everything was like a normal conversation; very informal, very laid back. D. was more stressed than I was! I kept laughing, the man kept making funny comments.
He then said: well, I don’t see any reason not to give you your visa.. I’m granting it, congratulations and welcome to the United States!
I had to control my emotions in order not to cry, I was so relieved. The whole thing lasted about 8 minutes.
Had my interview June 28th, which was a Thursday.
Monday was a national holiday, and this morning (Wednesday) I got an email notifying me that my package (passport with visa + sealed envelop) was available at my DHL branch in New-Brunswick.
Everything went smoothly.
Two words of advice: if you’re reading this, it’s obviously because you’ve found VJ (lucky you!) - research, feel comfortable with the process, get everything organized and you will be fine as long as you’re not hiding anything/missing anything. Go over everything numerous times. YOU WILL BE FINE.
I had brought some evidence (which was never asked for)
telephone records
airplane tickets
pictures (about 10)
engagement ring receipt
letter from D.’s employer
his last few pay stubs
copy of his house mortgage
and obviously the REQUIRED federal tax return (for the last 3 years).
Montreal was great and we were out of the Consulate at 9:20am. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0