Sooo, as promised, here is my interview experience!
Some general details: I'm a plaintiff on CM's first lawsuit, CN is 2020AS29xxx, embassy is Jerusalem, Israel. I was in group 5, sent my docs to KCC about 3 times starting last year but never got the congratulations email… I got it a few days after the judge's injunction.
As Israel was facing a lockdown starting Sept. 18th, I sent an urgent email (so did the lawyers) to the embassy and asked them to schedule me before that day. They replied instantly that they scheduled me for the 16th at 8:15am and requested KCC to upload my file on their system ASAP.
That same day I received the official 2NL from KCC, but the appointment from them was set to the 29th… The embassy told me to ignore it.
I took the medical a day before the interview, on the 15th. I was able to book it even before I had an interview appointment, they understood the rush and there were no problems. The envelope wasn't ready until after the interview though.
Docs I took with me to the interview: DS-260 confirmation page, passport photos, birth certificate, military record, my passports (I'm a dual citizen), bank statement plus 12 month history, payslips, DS-5540, HS diploma, B.Sc. and Doctorate degrees, a spreadsheet detailing my professional plans (accreditation exams, application for residencies etc.), another spreadsheet with job ads I found online showing the average salary for my profession in the US and finally some health insurance quotes I printed (with the help of Simon's video). The police certificate was sent directly to the embassy at the end of last year (the normal procedure in Israel). I had no one to fill an I-134 for me.
I arrived around 8am, the area was deserted and I was the only one there (later Andarke joined )
First stop, the window outside. A lady came to the window and after a few seconds ran to the back screaming, apparently there was a dead spider in the drawer so she brought a security guy to take it out lol! She handed me a paper explaining about the oath we had to take and some info regarding how to register for the courier to get my passport back. Then I went inside, passed security, and entered the main building. It was so surreal, I was alone there and it seemed like everyone was there just for me (it's usually a VERY busy embassy with so many people).
After a few minutes I was called to the first window to hand over the documents. It was an Hebrew speaking guy who was SO nice, we had a chat about how he had a dream to be a vet and we talked about how one does that in Israel. He took only the BARE MINIMUM of docs, which include the ones you send to KCC plus my doctorate degree, and that was pretty much it. He didn't even ask for the bank statement but I mentioned I had it so he said "oh, ok, I'll add it as well".
He was SO impressed by the folder I had with all the docs, divided into categories etc. He said it was probably the most organized folder he has ever seen lol.
Second window, paying the 330$ fee. The lady there spilled her coffee so she giggled and said "oh my, I'm excited to see a real person" lol
Then I handed the receipt and waited a few more minutes for the CO to call me. After about 3 minutes he called me to the third and last window.
He was pretty young and extremely nice! We started with me raising my hand and taking the oath. Then he basically started the interview with "your case is pretty easy actually but we have to do some sort of an interview so tell me a bit about yourself, how are you, how is life?" lol
We had a few laughs about some things I told him and that was pretty much it. He too was impressed by the folder I had and said "I wish everyone was that organized"…. Then he said "you're obviously approved, but we have to wait for the medical envelope to issue the visa". And that's it. I heard him saying to his assistant to call the civil surgeon and expedite it. Was nice of him! I brought the envelope on the 20th (during lockdown, was HECTIC) and my visa was issued on the 23rd.
The whole experience was so anticlimactic, it was like catching up with a buddy instead of a formal, serious setting. I was also way WAY overprepared with docs, but I figured it's better to be safe than sorry! My folder definitely came up during my visit there hehe. Sorry it came out a bit long, but I wanted you to hear the whole story