abeatty44

I had my interview yesterday for my IR1 visa and was approved!

I have used this forum a lot in the build up to my interview so thought that I should return the favour (soon to be favor) and provide details of my interview experience.

My interview was at 8am. I arrived at the embassy at about 7:30am and there was already a queue of about 15-20 people standing outside. Thankfully it was dry and quite a pleasant morning, although I did see that they have bins full of umbrellas just in case it is raining.

The staff appeared at about 7:35am and set up a tent structure outside - presumably to keep themselves dry if it started to rain. Shortly afterwards a member of staff walked up the line asking us to divide into two lines depending on whether you had a 8am or 8:30am interview time. I had read in previous posts that there was a separate line for people attending immigrant visa interviews however this did not seem to be the case on this particular morning.

I got to the front of the queue where they checked my appointment letter, DS-260 confirmation page and passport, I was then directed toward the small security building - think airport security. I put my coat and small bag through the security machine. I had a credit card type multi-tool thing inside my wallet which I received as a small gift for Christmas which the scanner picked up on. I had completely forgot about it. Security told me that I could either leave and store it somewhere or go outside and throw it in the bin. I took the bin option, proceeded back inside and was let straight through security.

Once in the main building I had all of my documents checked again at the main reception. It was here were I was given my number - I902. There seem to be different number combinations depending on the type of visa that you are attending interview for. Mine was a IR-1 interview so I assume that it why I had an 'I' prefix.

I got into the waiting room which had about 30 to 40 rows of seats and with 9 seats in each row. There was a huge black screen at the front of the room. There were window all along the right hand side of the room - I think that these were window numbers 1 - 11, a sign on the wall directed people along a small corridor to the other windows numbered 12-25. The time was about 7:55am and the room was getting quite busy already.

At 8:00am on the dot the big screen kicked into life and all of the action started. Various numbers accompanied with an annoying bing noise flashed up on the big screen directing each number to a particular window.

My number flashed up at 8:05am and I was directed to window 13, along the corridor. There I was greeted by friendly man who started asking me for all of my relevant documentation. That only took about 5 minutes and I was asked to go back and take a seat again.

Having read many other interview reviews I was aware that some people have at this point had to wait for an hour or two until they were called again, due to this I was slightly alarmed when my number flashed up again about 5-10 mins later. I thought the worst and that something must be wrong with my documentation. I went back up to window 13 and was greeted by the same man. I had no need to worry, he just handed me a piece of paper and asked me to go to the cashier window and pay the $325 fee that is associated with the IR-1 visa. I handed the receipt back to the man at the window and was told to take a seat - I would be called once my case officer had reviewed my documents. I assumed that this must now be the big wait. The time was about 8:25am.

At 8:40am my number flashed up again - this time I was directed to window 16. I was greeted by a different man, again quite friendly. This was my case officer and interviewer. He shuffled through my papers a little and then started asking me some questions which was more like just having a friendly conversation.

So, you are from Northern Ireland? Yes
And your wife was born in Canada, but subsequently became a US citizen? Yes
How did that come about? I informed them that she and her family moved to the US after she left high school and was sponsored by her aunt.
Do you have any children? Yes, 2 boys - they are already US citizens
Where did you get married? Northern Ireland
How did you meet? Long story, which I started to go into but could see that he was losing interest and seemed satisfied with the first part of the story so I stopped halfway through.
Where does your wife work? Told him details of her employment.

"Congratulations, you are Approved, your passport should be ready for collection in about 10 working days"

And that was it, it had all went so quickly. I walked out of the building resisting the urge to tear up, checked my watch and headed back to work. It was 8:45am.

All in all it was quite a painless experience and there was not much to worry about. In and out in about 50 minutes. Happy Days!

maumaulondon

Once again, congratulations and thanks for share your experience at the embassy.

ian-mstm

Congratulations! Well done.

Ian

RainyDays

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for sharing.

tom169

Congratulations. Thanks for sharing on the day experience.

carlrush

Congratulations and thank you for sharing. Really good to hear first hand and in detail :-)

mikechristina

Congratulations! These play by plays are invaluable! Thank you for taking the time to share them with the BE community

abeatty44

All very welcome!

As a side note, my passport was collected yesterday with my shiny new visa in it. 6 days from Interview to Passport collection.

Madhouse1964

Did you have to go back to the Embassy to collect it or did they send it to you?

Noorah101

You wouldn't go back to the embassy. You can either have it delivered, or you can pick it up from a courier facility.

Rene

abeatty44

I live in South London so I had a courier facility quite close to me in SE1. It is free to collect from a courier facility or you can pay a fee when you register with the courier to have it delivered.