Consulate Review: Peru
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
January 15, 2014 |
| Embassy Review : |
My appointment was at 8.45am. I arrived at the embassy at 7.40am. There was a very long line but I showed my appointment letter to one of the security guards and he told me to go stand in the shorter line (4 people before me). A “promotora” was checking appointment letters and writing down a number on each. I got number 26 on mine. We waited for about 15 minutes to get in. They made me leave my phone with them, checked my bag, and went through a metal detector. They asked me if I had an inhaler (which I did) and asked me to try it on me and they let me keep it.
I walked into the waiting area, they checked my bag again and went through another metal detector. The room wasn’t full, there was plenty of seating room and the AC was on, which was nice because it was very warm outside.
It probably took about 15 minutes before I heard my name, a lady called a group of 5 names to go to window 12. She asked me for my passport, confirmation page (of the DS-160) and 5x5 photos. She asked me if I had cash, (I did) and handed me a green paper to pay the $240 at window 14.
There were already people waiting to pay at window 14, nobody was attending them. There’s a sign that reads “Atencion de 9am a 10am”, etc., everyone else thought that it meant that someone would take our payments between 9am and 10am (it was 8.15am) but if you read the whole sign it says that it’s for other things not related to payments (like pickups, corrections…). There’s a green button right on the wall, PRESS IT, someone will come right away to take your payment, if you don’t then you might wait for a very long time.
About 15 minutes after they took my payment, they called me to window 10. A very nice lady asked me to hand her my medical exam, payment receipt, fiancée’s: affidavit of support, tax return, pay stubs, employment letter and letter of intent. She gave me back one of my 5x5 photos and said that they didn’t need a second one(I gave 2 photos to the first lady at window 12). She also asked for my phone number in Lima, both home and cellphone.
A man walked by behind me to get her attention, she told me that he was the CO and was going to make us all swear. She asked me to tell everyone in the room what was going to happen *hahaha*, so I did. After we finished repeating the words, the CO told us that the interviews would start shortly and he left. I turned around and continued my conversation with the lady at window 10. She was typing things on the computer, while going through my file. I noticed that my file was at least 3X bigger than the rest of files, which amused me because we had sent a LOT of evidence with our I-129F package and the night before my fiancée kept telling me to stop printing out more and more evidence (I swear I couldn’t stop, I just wanted to be prepared for anything).
The lady asked me, “your ‘novia’ (fiancée in Spanish for a female) is petitioning you, right?” I said “yes, -name-”. She asked: “So she’s your only relative in the US then?” to which I replied “No, my sister is –gave her some detail on that”. She kept going through my file, she stated: “So no marriage before…” I interrupted and said that actually my fiancée had been previously married and divorced for 8 years, I asked her if she needed to see the divorce decree and she said that she already had it (trick question/statement #1). She continued stating: “No children…”, I said: my fiancée has 2 kids, -told her the names, ages (trick question/statement #2), and asked if she needed to see photos-, she said she already had them and that she knew I had visited them in their home in the US, I insisted if she needed any photos at all and she replied smiling to show her some. I showed her photos from our last trip (10 days ago) that I hadn’t included in the package, she asked where it was, then I showed her photos that I had already included in the package from my fiancée’s visit to Lima and my visits to the US. She asked where it was taken, she pointed to a girl on one of our photos taken in Lima with me and my fiancée, I said it was my best friend. As she went through the rest of my photos I mentioned “those are my parents and sister with me and my fiancée” and also “I’m on that photo with my fiancée’s kids”, she nodded and wrote things on her computer. She gave them back to me and told me that I could show those to the CO if he asked. I asked her if she needed to see anything else like conversations, phone records, greeting cards, etc., she said it wasn’t necessary and to just have it ready in case the CO asks for them. She asked me to sit down and that I would be called for my interview.
Although it seems like I spent a long time at that window (because I’m giving a lot of detail), the whole conversation was about 10 minutes (that includes repeating the words after the CO). The lady was Peruvian, we talked in Spanish. She gave me back my X-ray before I left the window.
I sat down and watched how things were working and in what order. They were interviewing people at window 9 and room 15. I saw some couples getting approved and some leaving sad. I was very calmed the whole time, I just wanted to be interviewed already. I waited for about an hour before I heard my name, they asked me to go to room 15. I entered and there was a very young CO, he was smiling and greeted me in Spanish. He invited me to sit down and told me that he saw that I communicate with my fiancée in English and if we could please proceed with the interview in English, since it would be way easier for him. I smiled and agreed. He asked me where I learnt to speak English (I told him the whole private school story and British academy), he asked me if my family is British, I just laughed and said “No”, he laughed too.
He was extremely nice and smiled the whole time. He asked me how and when I met my fiancée. It seems like he enjoyed listening to our story (I hope so lol). He asked me the same that the lady at window 10 asked: about my fiancée being previously married and my relationship with her kids. He was curious about how I would interact with the kids, I explained how I feel about them and how much I love them. I offered the divorce decree and photos of me with the kids, he said he had already seen those and that he didn’t need them. He asked if I was sure that my fiancée would never ever go back to men, that made me laugh so hard, my reply was “BELIEVE ME, I AM SURE SHE WON’T”, we both laughed out loud, he said “just making sure…” and I repeated laughing “OH SHE IS GAY!”.
He told me that I seem very comfortable with being gay, and asked if I grew up out of Peru, to which I answered that I’ve lived my whole life in Peru and it wasn’t always easy and it’s still not –fully- accepted. He asked what does my family think of me marrying a woman. I answered frankly, that they were reserved at first but they’ve met my fiancée when she visited and they like her and love her and only want me to be happy, now they feel way more comfortable with the idea, but it’s a process for everyone involved. I also mentioned that my fiancée had a serious talk with them when she visited. The last question he asked is what I will do once I’m in the US. He seemed pleased with my answers. He told me “I am sure that you will be very happy, everything looks good to me so your visa is APPROVED.” I smiled so big and wanted to hug him through the glass, hahaha! After I thanked him, he asked me if I had any questions, so I asked how long it would take for me to receive the visa, he said that it usually takes 10 days, it could take up to 2 weeks. He gave me a DHL paper and told me that I should sign up online (I already had a couple of days before the interview). Then he said that he saw that I still have a valid tourist visa so he would go ahead and cancel that one in front of me, he said smiling “You won’t need that one anymore, you won’t be going as a tourist again”. I thanked him again and said our goodbyes, I left very happy to call my fiancée! He never asked to see any of the evidence I took, even though I offered (and I had a LOT). He was extremely friendly, it didn’t feel like I was talking to a CO, I felt very relaxed, we probably laughed more than we should have, haha. He took my fingerprints at the beginning of the interview. The whole interview was under 15 minutes, if not even 10. I noticed that other people’s interviews were about 25 to 30 minutes.
The whole experience was great, they were all very nice, kind and respectful. I arrived at 7.40am and was out by 10.15am.
Here is a link for the medical review I wrote: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/473834-peru-medical-exam-review-for-k-1-visa/?p=6756157
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| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0