US Visa Appointment at US Consulates
US Visa Appointment
for Fiance or Spouse Visa Interview
First, let’s talk about the chain of events so far. About four to six months ago, you submitted your I129F petition to USCIS Homeland Security. Eventually, USCIS approved your petition and sent you a noticed telling you the good news.
At the same time, your petition was passed on to the US Department of State to their offices in Vermont called the NVC or National Visa Center, NVC, about a week or two later, sent you a letter and telling you that they have received your file and are forwarding it to the US Embassy, that is situated closest to your fiancée. The letter tells you that you should stand by and wait for the embassy to contact her directly with further instructions.
The consulate will attempt to contact your fiancée directly and provide her with instructions and government forms.
The packet or packets, there may be more than one, that she receives, picks up or downloads should contain general instructions and checklists from the embassy, blank government forms, details on where and how she should pay the visa application fee, details on where to get the medical at the clinic that has been selected and approved by the consulate, and finally, details on how to contact the embassy to schedule her interview.
Once the fiancée has everything ready or can reasonably estimate when the final document will arrive, she should contact the embassy in the way the embassy requested and that could be by mail, fax or telephone or in person to tell them she is ready to have her interview. And then they will schedule an interview and send her a document, a letter confirming exactly when and where.
Once her interview is scheduled, she should attend a medical at the clinic designated by the consulate. This should be accomplished at least a week prior to the interview. When she goes to the clinic, she should bring with her a proof that she is a fiancée visa candidate, that’s usually the letter that the embassy sent her, her passport, any vaccination records she may have, some visa photos and she’ll probably need cash to pay the clinic’s fees.
When the big day arrives, she should arrive the embassy early, bringing with her all the documents and evidences that she needs. There will be security checkpoints, long lines and she should mentally prepare herself to stay calm and poised even during a potentially long and frustrating day. Some consulates recommend that the American sponsor attend the interview. If that is the case, you should do so.
The consular officer will ask about the timeline of your relationship and ask detailed questions about the courtship, proposal and about each other.
Welcome to USA
Assuming the interview went well your fiancée will be given a pink slip and advice that her visa will be ready a few days later. Sometimes, she is instructed to return to the consulate, a few business days later, to pick up her passport or passport will be sent to her via a delivery service. So she needs to fill out the delivery service forms before she leaves the embassy. Once she receives her passport and visa, she can start the trip to the USA anytime within the next six months.
By Fred Wahl
