finally got our CR-1 visa

[jediknight]

well guys, we'll be flying back soon but after 9 months, my wife has her visa.

Laboratory
My wife got to the lab early and was the first one in line. At 7am they opened and asked for the passport, appt letter, a picture and the fee. It took about 15 minutes and it was over.

Medical Exam

The appt was in the afternoon with Dr. Roa. We got there on time and my wife was quickly attended to. They asked for the same, appt letter, photo, passport and fee. Please make sure to bring the exact amount as we had to wait for someone to make change. The doctor was kind and quick. My wife was done in 20 minutes. She waited about 10 minutes for the results and was given an x-ray, copy of the vaccination report and the medical report in a sealed envelope for the embassy.


Interview

Since we are staying with family in the north of bogota in an area called Usaquen, we decided to leave early to get to the embassy at a decent time. Our cabbie, who thought he was Montoya, got us to the embassy in 20 minutes. We got to the embassy at 6:10 and noticed that a long line of people had already formed outside along the gate. As mentioned before, this is not where the 3 different lines are formed. We got in line and waited about 5 minutes when they allowed us to go in. There wasn’t a mad rush in, everyone walked calmly along in single file. As we all were walking in we heard a woman making announcements telling everyone which line they needed to line up in. I think that since we were left in a little later than others have been left in, the announcements kicked in as we were walking in and not after everyone had lined up in line 1. Because of this, by the time we made our way over to line 3 there were about 6 people ahead of us. We waited about 10 minutes and then a woman started asking everyone on line what they were there for. Before she got to us she told everyone to have their appt letter and passports in hand. When she got to us we told her that we were there for a resident visa and showed her my passport and my wife’s passport. She immediately told my wife to take her passport out of the plastic cover it was in. She asked me if I was the sponsor and I answered yes. Then she placed a green sticker on my wife’s blouse and one with an “A” on me, we figured it meant “acompañante”. Then we were told to take out our cell phones, turn them off and to take off our jackets and belts. We went through the metal detector and were let into the compounds. After I got my belt on we walked in and on the left was the entrance to where the windows and waiting areas are. The lady that greeted us at the entrance told us to walk over to the far right side near the payphones and line up behind the sign that said 40. We waited about 15 minutes and then another lady came out and told us to gather around her and to listen to her instructions. She then said that we would be given folders and in the folders was a list laminated and taped on the left indicating what documents had to be placed into the folder. These documents had to be placed in the right order or else she said you would be given back your documents, told to reschedule and then sent home. Our folder was green while the people going for K’s were brown. Now, for the things that were listed. The order that was asked for was the passport, birth certificate, baptism certificate, marriage certificate, financial support, certficado judicial, certificado migratorio, medical exam and 2 pictures. The lady said that most likely some of the documents were already sent ahead of time but if you had copies of it you could include it. The worst that would happen is that they would be returned to you. On the back of both pictures you had to write your complete name. Make sure that you don’t open the medical report and the certificado migratorio. After about 15 minutes my wife was called to window 32. I was with her every step of the way at her side and no offcial ever instructed me to wait or sit down. At window 32, the lady asked my wife for her phone number, verified name and who was petitioning her and my name. She checked all of the documents, made sure they were in order, opened the medical envelope and then told my wife to goto window number 2 for the digital fingerprints. We waited for about an hour and 15 minutes before my wife was called to have her fingerprints taken. Then came the longest wait of all. We waited 3 hours until we were called for the interview which was about 11:45. First the CO asked my wife:
1. How did we meet
2. If I was from Colombia or the U.S.
3. If I had family in Colombia
4. When did we get married
Then the CO asked my wife a question about my taxes and then she passed the phone to me to answer the questions. The CO then asked:
1. When and how did we meet.
2. How many times had I visited my wife
3. When did we become engaged
4. If I had family in Colombia

Then I passed the phone back to my wife and the CO told her that she was approved. She then signed the DS230 part II and gave us a slip indicating to come back on Wed. to pick up the visa. We both thanked her and left.

What we did notice while we were waiting was one couple that had an obvious age difference. The interviewer grilled him at length about pics that were shown. This couple also gave other items for evidence of the relationship like cards and other things which I couldn’t make out. They spent a long time at the window but it seems that in the end they were approved, we’ll see on Wed if they are there to pick up the visa or not. By the way, we weren’t asked for any evidence, no pictures, emails, nothing.
We hope this helps those about to go through this process and wish everyone the best of luck.
JK



--------------------



USCIS (CR-1)
10/03/06 Sent Packet to Vermont Service Center
10/14/06 Received NOA1 (I-797C) in the mail
03/11/07 NOA2 I-797 Approved (I-130 approved in 5 months)
03/12/07 NOA2 Approval Notification received by email
03/15/07 NOA2 received in the mail (postmarked 03/13/07)
NVC
03/14/07 NVC received case/assigned number
03/27/07 AOS(Affidavit of Support) Fee Bill and DS-3032 generated
03/27/07 DS-3032 emailed from wifes email account
03/27/07 AOS Fee Bill mailed
03/30/07 NVC emails my wife acknowledging receipt of DS-3032
04/02/07 Immigrant Visa (IV) Bill generated
04/04/07 AOS Fee Bill entered into NVC system
04/09/07 I-864 Generated
04/12/07 (IV) Bill received/mailed to NVC
04/16/07 I-864 sent to NVC
04/19/07 (IV) Fee Bill and I-864 entered into NVC system
04/25/07 NVC mails Barcode and Instructions for DS-230
04/27/07 NVC completes review of I-864: Approved
05/02/07 Received Instructions for DS-230/Mailed DS-230 to NVC
05/04/07 NVC enters DS-230 into system
05/15/07 Case Complete
06/18/07 Interview date : July 09, 2007
06/20/07 NVC mails packet 4 to me and my wife
06/21/07 NVC mails case to bogota
06/23/07 Received packet 4
07/09/07 Interview/Visa Approved
07/11/07 Visa in hand!!

[jediknight]

some addtional info:
we weren't asked for the parents marriage certificate. we had it, just like everything else, just in case. we also noticed that the certificado migratorio wasn't even opened or looked at, just tossed to the side.
something else that i forgot to mention for those going through this. in our area of waiting there were people waiting for CR1, K's and family visas. the rest of the place was full of people asking for student, working, tourist, etc visas and there were hundreds of them. when they started calling us they first went through the family visas. in other words sons, daughters parents being petitioned for by family in the united states. then once they were done came the CR1's. there were only 3 couples as i mentioned before. once we left i assume that the K's were interviewed. i would suggest to stay close to windows 3-7 because this is where the interviews are done. each CO calls out the name of the beneficiary but not all speak in a loud voice so please be aware of the names called. our CO was an older woman, in her 50's, slim, short hair with glasses. she was smiling and we felt comfortable with her. she was however very efficient unlike the male CO's we saw. she was cranking them out while her male co workers would do one, take a long time with each and then dissppear. my wife and i joked that they would take a break to justify the long interview they gave each of their victims. the woman CO was very quick, unlike the male interviewers that seemed to asked lots of questions. now, i don't know if it was because of the cases in front of them that needed more time or if they were just more difficult, i don't know, but the woman was cranking them out at a rate of 2-3 times faster. also, before you name is called, you can see the CO reviewing the folders and can see the documents and pictures of the beneficiary. we saw our file when the CO was reviewing it and knew we would be next. oh, so the point of all of this is that our CO's voice was very loud on the loudspeaker and we heard our name called but the male CO's voice was very low and couldn't be heard if you were in the bathroom or somewhere else so stay close to the windows 3-7.
JK

[jediknight]

picking up the visa 2 days later....


first, ALL the appts are at 4pm. there were some people who thought what was written on their slips were other times. there was one lady that was convinced the CO told her 4:50 and on her slip the 0 liked like a 5, but i´m telling you all that by that time the doors are closed and they won´t let any one in. in fact, my wife and i got there at 3:30, waited 15 minutes before they let people in. they only let the beneficiary in, so there were a bunch of us waiting outside. eveyone was in before 4pm and by about 4:10 they had closed the doors. a few late comers had to request to be let in at the window but by 4:20 they weren´t letting more people in, so get there early because these late comers didn´t make it in.

my wife said that once they were inside, they were given some information about SS, the brown envelope and a service where you can get airfare for a lesser price. a guy came out with 2 boxes full of envelopes. there was a list of names read outloud, people lined up and were given their papers. my wife received a brown envelope with her passport and visa attached to one of the pages in the passport and we were given back lot of the documents that we had submitted, marriage/birth certf, etc.

everyone was told to sit down and review the information to make sure everything was correct. my wife reviewed every singe line and was one of the last ones out. in the meantime i saw women coming out in crying because their visas were not ready. at this point i was concerned because my wife was one of the first in and she still hadn´t come out. well, it turns out the delay was because she was going over the papers given to her, now this is where it gets ugly.

i saw many girls coming out in tears, some i recognized from the day of our interview, some i had never seen. after my wife came out she filled me in on the details. it turns out that not everyone is given their visa when they goto pick it up. the girls i had never seen before had returned 2, 3, 4 times before. there was one girl who has been waiting 3 weeks for it. they were told that there were problems with the system or printer, blah, blah, blah. now this is the interesting part. when my wife came out, we stayed a bit longer outside because we were keeping an eye on an older couples grandson. they were still inside and hadn´t come out and we didn´t want to leave the kid alone. we waited about 5 minutes and then the grandmother came out. she said that when their name wasn´t called for the visa, they decided to wait and try to get some answers from someone, anyone. other people whose names weren´t called were told to return the next day. these people left right away and were the ones i saw coming out in tears.

the grandmother said that her husband was still inside because someone was trying to help them and see if they could get the system to print out their visa. during that wait, another guy came out with a 3rd box of evelopes. she said that it appeared like it had just come out of the oven, meaning they were hot off the presses but by this time when they read out names, everyone had gone. so if this happens to you, DONT leave!! stick around ask to speak to someone, don´t take their bs that they don´t have it. while it is entirely possible that you may not get the visa that afternoon, their is a chance if you stick around.

one of the girls that was there the same day as our interview came out without her visa and left. about 15 minutes later we saw her and her husband coming back, luggage in tow. clearly this couple was sure of getting their visa and flying the same afternoon. the husband was understandably pissed off and was trying to get back into the compounds, no luck. it was 5pm and the doors were shut for a long time now. the couple grabbed their luggage and left to see if their was another entrance. a few minutes later the wife comes back in tears because in all of the comotion, she had lost her cedula and white appt slip...miercoles!! now she is really screwed, no id, no slip, no passport, a flight that evening and a husband that is pissed. we don´t know what happened to them.

some advice to all the gringos here, don´t think that because you are a US citizen that you can demand to be seen or heard, it may make things worse. there was one woman, a US citizen who was petitioning her husbands son. they had the interview that morning and were returning in the afternoon to hand in some documents that she didn´t have in the morning. she tried the I´m an american routine but they wouldn´t let her in because she didn´t have the white appt slip. her colombian husband, who spoke both languages, then came over and CALMLY spoke to the guards, explained the situation and then they were let in, so people stay calm.

good luck to all
JK

[Ray]

Congratulations to you and your lovely wife JK...   

[soltero]

Congratulations to you and your lovely wife JK...   

Ditto!!! Thanks also for giving such a detailed account of what to expect! That info is priceless!

One question...I am sure that there were women there without their sponsors. From what you observed, could you tell if they had a harder time with their interviews or do you think it is better to be there with her? I might not be able to make it to my fiance's interview, and that possibility has been bothering me...

[utopiacowboy]

That was a superb report and having gone through the process myself, it makes me remember what it was like. I was surprised that they asked you some questions because they didn't ask me or my wife much of anything at her K-3 interview. They did want to match her kids with their names but that was about it. Maybe they thought any gringo married to a 42 year old widow with three kids had to be legit. I am pretty sure that we had the same woman interviewer that you had.

[sean126]

Congrats JK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm very happy everything worked out good.  You and your babydoll make a very attractive couple.  Here's wishing you many years of happiness!

[jediknight]

thanks all. soltero, we weren't there for the K visa interviews so all i can tell you is what we saw the day of the interview and what my wife found out 2 days later when we went to pick up the visas. the day of the interview we noticed that ALL (about 6) of the K visa applicants went alone. 2 days later we noticed that only 3 were there to pick up the visas. my wife learned that one guy, a K3 applicant, didn't have enough evidence of his marriage. another girl, a K1 messed up her responses. we don't know why the others were denied.

now, as far as being there, clearly it is not necessary because the other 3 were approved but of course if you can it would certainly help. as long as your finacee has everything, is calm and has a response to every question she will be fine. the 2 that were denied were TOO confident. what i mean is that these two were loud, joking around, getting up, sitting down.. in other words they brought a lot of attention to themselves while the others were calm, sitting down, not attracting attention. i know that these two also had very little evidence based on the folders they carried. everyone else had binders and much more evidence to show if needed.bottom line is that they were completly un prepared so i wouldn't worry about not being there. your fiancee will be fine if you both do your homework and practice the questions they will likely ask. if you have not done so check out visajourney.com especially the colombian club thread, this thread deals with k visas and everyone there is very helpful. i'm including a link. good luck

JK

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2572&st=1440&start=1440

[soltero]

Many thanks, JK, and congrats again! I am going to check out the link right now...

[bundy_138]

Thanks for the info.  I will be going thru the same process in a few months and appreciate the attention to detail of your report.

How many days did you spend in Bogota for medical and interview?  Trying to get a good idea of how many days I need to request for vacation.

Bundy

[doombug]

Priceless info., JK!

Congrats on the wife's waiting in line; doing this the right way; keeping composed; and getting approved.

[daytrader]

Excellent report JK, thanks for all the details! 


DayTrader

[valleydude]

Congrats JK!

I saw your timeline on VJ and was waiting for you to post something like this. Thanks for taking the time to write this all out and for the good tips.

Just curious, what kind of question would they ask your wife about your taxes? The reason that catches my attention is becasue I have actually been talking to my wife about taxes.

Also, I have a question for anyone... I am heading down again next month. I'm between NOA1 and NOA2. I just got touched 4 times on the K3 last week which got me all excited. (The touches were after the transfer pending at the California Service Center, so I hope that's something good.)

Anyway, my question is: Is there any paperwork I should bring down with me to give to her or have ready for her to sign while I am down there?

Thanks and congrats again!

V-Dude

P.S.
Nice picture of you and your wife.

[Ray]

You’re going for the K-3, right VD?

Does she have all of her documents ready for the interview? Passport, birth certificate, baptismal certificate, police certificate, marriage certificate, any applicable divorce/annulment/death certificates? Also, se if she can round up any vaccination records she might have. If she has any children, they will need birth and baptismal docs too.

Note: She will eventually need more certified copies of her birth cert and marriage cert, so I would recommend that she get a few extras now.

For the interview, she should also have original certified copies of any of your personal document photocopies you submitted with your petitions (birth cert, complete divorce decrees, etc.) in case they ask for them.

She will need your notarized I-134 with latest tax return, W-2, and evidence of current employment. They don’t usually expect her to be familiar with your tax returns, but they rely on your submitted evidence. The I-134 can be up to a year old at the time of the interview, but it’s preferable that your employer letter and payroll statements be fairly recent (1-2 months?). I would also have the previous 2 years (2005/2004) tax returns & W-2’s available in case they ask.

She should also have evidence of a valid relationship, so make sure she has copies of phone bills, money transfer receipts, original letters and cards in postmarked envelopes, e-mail/chat printouts, photos, etc. Correspondence should include samples to cover the entire time of your relationship from when you first met to the present.

While you’re down there, you might want to bring a copy of Form DS-230 Part I and help her complete it to make sure it's accurate and complete. They use this IV form for biographic data documentation. She will also need Forms DS-156 & DS-157 so you can help her with those also. The forms can be filled on line and then printed too.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/forms/forms_1342.html

Ray

[jediknight]

bundy, the lab and medical can be done in one day if you go early to the lab and make the appt with dr. roa, he gives the medical results the same day. the woman doc takes a day for the results. now this is the tricky part. if all goes well you should only need about 4 days for everything but this is colombia and things always come up, holidays(puentes), not having the correct documents(one girl got turned away at the lab because she didn't have the right photos)etc. one couple i met on visajourney had their interview on thurs and had to stay the weekend because they were told to return on mon for the visa. also, the big if is if you actually get your visa 2 days later. remember, there were girls returning for the 3, 4, 5th time and still had not received their visas so i would plan at least 4 days after your interview. what i would recommend if at all possible is not to buy your tickets to the US until you have the visa in your hand.

as far as the tax questions, since i filed jointly (ITIN) my wife was asked why there was a descrepency in what i reported in 2006 and what my boss said i earned, no biggie but my wife didn't know why and luckily i was there to clear things up. the co was nice and approved it after i explained the situation.

JK

[valleydude]

Ouch! A whole lot more info to digest!

Man when I read and reread this thread it is turning out to be invaluable. I think JK gave the best report on the interview yet and it helps that he has been a pretty reliable guy on here as well.

I've got the I30 and K3 going at this time. I'm going to ride them both as far as I can. I'm glad I went for the K3 as well. I have gotten a lot of action on it and the $170 is the best I ever spent. As long as my wife can see that date changing on the USCIS website it makes things go a lot smoother. I know it's just transferring around; but at least we can see some movement, and I know it gives her some peace, where as the I30 is just sitting there doing it's thing. I'd like the CR1, but I'll take what I can get. Looking back, I think the K1 would have been a cake walk. Thanks Ray!

Time to start gathering up the docs.

VD

[Parlay Rey]

Good for you! Sincerest well wishes for you and your lovely bride.