swoosh

Thought I would post this here since there isn't all that much information available on Frankfurt consulate. Maybe someone will find it useful =).

I went to the consulate this morning to pick up packet 3 for my K1 visa. They had tried to mail it to me twice and although I only live about 5 minutes away from the consulate both packets never made it. Go figure =).

Anyway, I got there at about 9am since the lady had told me not to be there too early, whatever that meant =). The consulate is located at Siesmayerstrasse 21 but don't bother looking for 21, I never found it. You *will* know when you have reached your destination since the street is blocked off by police and there are lots of gates and fences on the sidewalk. You need to go to the little booth right where the gates start and state your business. I explained to him why I was there and because he wasn't really listening he explained to me that my fiance needs to submit the proper forms in the US blah, blah. After a little more explaining from my side he told me to go to window 21 and get my forms. I walked down the sidewalk to the actual gate. The guy there asked who I wanted to see, and after I told him he gave me a yellow sheet stating their new security proceedures. After that he let me on to the premise, but I was not in the building yet =). I walked up to a door but it was closed and you couldn't look in to see what was going on which was kind of unnerving. I just stood there for a while and more people started to line up. I found out later that they will only let 4 people in for security screening and that is why I needed to wait. Once it is your turn you will hear them open the door automatically and you can walk in along with three other adults. The security checks are very similar to what goes on at any airport but they never asked for an ID. You do have to give them your cell phone, you are not allowed to take it inside the consulate. Some other things you are not allowed to bring in are hair dryers, electric razors, laptops, calculators, hair spray or deo spray. So if you are traveling to Frankfurt and staying overnight make sure to lock your stuff in one of the train station lockers because they will not let you in when carrying any of those items and there is no place for them to store your luggage. There is a subway station very close by (westend) and it has lockers for rent.

Well after all that it was really a breeze. After all four people had gone through security screening the guard opened another door and we were finally let into the consulate. I looked for window 21 and after a bit of searching I found it. I had naturally gravitated towards the window with the longest line in front of it but that was not the correct one =). There was no one in line at window 21. I talked to the lady there and she didn't even want to see my 2. NOA. She only asked if my case had been received by the consulate and I said yes, she never checked to see if that was true. I guess for those who are really interested in speeding things up a bit and who live close to Frankfurt I would recommend going to the consulate with a copy of your 2. NOA and have them give you the forms in person. It's definitely worth a shot and it might save you a few weeks of waiting.

Everyone was really nice and pleasant to deal with. Everyone I talked to spoke both German and English (I always asked what they preferred). I am actually kind of glad I had to go there to pick up my forms today because it'll take lots of the nervousness away on the day of the interview. Things like these are never as scary second time around, and I think they also become less scary once you start dealing with real people and not just hotlines and websites. Hopefully by sharing this other people will feel more prepared and less nervous too on their interview day. Good luck to all!

Jeannine

Des

Thanks for posting - and good luck with the final part Jeannine!

-Des (another one living in Frankfurt...)