I just had my interview a few days ago in Auckland, New Zealand so thought I would share my interview experience.
The whole process took about 40 minutes, which included about 25 minutes sitting in a chair waiting.
Caught the elevator up to the third floor and immediately on exiting the elevator there is a security guard directly in front of the doors. I showed him my pink appointment letter and he asked for my passport to confirm my identity. He sent my pile of documents through an x-ray machine like they have at airports and had asked me to empty any keys or coins into a little basket before stepping through a metal detector. My belt buckle triggered the detector so he waved one of those magic wands over me to confirm that was all it was. He then directed me through the door to the consulate and told me which window to go to.
Inside the consulate it’s really just a room with a bunch of chairs and 8 windows like they have at banks, two labelled “US citizens”, two labelled “Immigrants”, three labelled “Non-immigrants” and one “Cashier”. I went up to the Immigrant window the guard told me to go to and pressed the buzzer. A minute later a very friendly woman came up with my file and explained the process to me. She returned the x-ray from my medical to me and told me to keep it in my baggage when I go to the US, but shouldn’t actually need it for anything again. She also returned one of the photos I had included on my original forms to KCC (she said they didn’t need it anymore now that they have the more recent ones). She then asked for each of the documents she wanted one at a time, which for me included my old passports (she mentioned that they just wanted to check I had never overstayed anywhere), proof of my university degrees (she didn’t ask for anything earlier, like high school), my birth certificate, and my financial evidence which for me was my bank statements (I don’t have a sponsor). I also gave her a copy of my CV, although I got the impression that the bank statements would have been fine on their own. Finally I gave her the self addressed courier pack so that she could send me my passport (with the visa in it) and the necessary documents back. She then took a finger print scan of all of my fingers. First the four fingers on right hand then the four fingers of the left hand, then the two thumbs at the same time. She went through the rules about needing to enter within 6 months, not staying away longer than a year without a re-entry permit, not to open the brown envelope they will send me but to give it to immigration at the point of entry etc. Finally, she wished me luck, gave me a little piece of paper with the fee amount printed on it and directed me to the cashier to pay my fees.
Went to the cashier window, again had to press the little buzzer so that somebody would appear. Paid the fees in US cash and was directed to take a seat until the consular officer called me.
Sat down and listened to the various people at the non-immigrant windows trying to explain why they wanted to go to the US. It looked like there may have been another diversity visa winner at the immigrant window after me, but I couldn’t hear how things were going for her.
After about 25 minutes, the consular officer called my name and the window I should go to over the loud speaker so up I went. He scanned one of my thumbs, I guess to check that I was the same person that had handed in the documents at the other window. He had me raise my right hand and swear that to the best of my knowledge all of the information on my forms and documents was the truth. He then had me sign the bottom of my DS-230. He asked me a few basic questions; “Why do you want to live in the United States?”, “Where do you plan to live?”, “Have you ever been married?”, “Have you ever had children?”. He was satisfied with my responses and said he will be issuing me the visa. He then repeated the stuff the lady who took my documents told me about needing to enter within 6 months, not being away for longer than a year without re-entry permit, not to open the brown envelope etc.
All done
I received my passport, with the visa in it and the Mysterious Brown Envelope we’re not supposed to open two days later
-----------------------------------
Finally, I just wanted to thank everybody on this forum. I found answers to all of my questions just by searching through the various threads. I especially want to thank Tazmania and Catseyes, you have both been very helpful to me without even realising it. In particular, I think Catseyes thread http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=215048 should be made compulsory reading for anybody coming to this forum. It's probably the single most useful thread I found here and it should really be a sticky. Good luck to anybody else going through the process or waiting to hear.
The whole process took about 40 minutes, which included about 25 minutes sitting in a chair waiting.
Caught the elevator up to the third floor and immediately on exiting the elevator there is a security guard directly in front of the doors. I showed him my pink appointment letter and he asked for my passport to confirm my identity. He sent my pile of documents through an x-ray machine like they have at airports and had asked me to empty any keys or coins into a little basket before stepping through a metal detector. My belt buckle triggered the detector so he waved one of those magic wands over me to confirm that was all it was. He then directed me through the door to the consulate and told me which window to go to.
Inside the consulate it’s really just a room with a bunch of chairs and 8 windows like they have at banks, two labelled “US citizens”, two labelled “Immigrants”, three labelled “Non-immigrants” and one “Cashier”. I went up to the Immigrant window the guard told me to go to and pressed the buzzer. A minute later a very friendly woman came up with my file and explained the process to me. She returned the x-ray from my medical to me and told me to keep it in my baggage when I go to the US, but shouldn’t actually need it for anything again. She also returned one of the photos I had included on my original forms to KCC (she said they didn’t need it anymore now that they have the more recent ones). She then asked for each of the documents she wanted one at a time, which for me included my old passports (she mentioned that they just wanted to check I had never overstayed anywhere), proof of my university degrees (she didn’t ask for anything earlier, like high school), my birth certificate, and my financial evidence which for me was my bank statements (I don’t have a sponsor). I also gave her a copy of my CV, although I got the impression that the bank statements would have been fine on their own. Finally I gave her the self addressed courier pack so that she could send me my passport (with the visa in it) and the necessary documents back. She then took a finger print scan of all of my fingers. First the four fingers on right hand then the four fingers of the left hand, then the two thumbs at the same time. She went through the rules about needing to enter within 6 months, not staying away longer than a year without a re-entry permit, not to open the brown envelope they will send me but to give it to immigration at the point of entry etc. Finally, she wished me luck, gave me a little piece of paper with the fee amount printed on it and directed me to the cashier to pay my fees.
Went to the cashier window, again had to press the little buzzer so that somebody would appear. Paid the fees in US cash and was directed to take a seat until the consular officer called me.
Sat down and listened to the various people at the non-immigrant windows trying to explain why they wanted to go to the US. It looked like there may have been another diversity visa winner at the immigrant window after me, but I couldn’t hear how things were going for her.
After about 25 minutes, the consular officer called my name and the window I should go to over the loud speaker so up I went. He scanned one of my thumbs, I guess to check that I was the same person that had handed in the documents at the other window. He had me raise my right hand and swear that to the best of my knowledge all of the information on my forms and documents was the truth. He then had me sign the bottom of my DS-230. He asked me a few basic questions; “Why do you want to live in the United States?”, “Where do you plan to live?”, “Have you ever been married?”, “Have you ever had children?”. He was satisfied with my responses and said he will be issuing me the visa. He then repeated the stuff the lady who took my documents told me about needing to enter within 6 months, not being away for longer than a year without re-entry permit, not to open the brown envelope etc.
All done
I received my passport, with the visa in it and the Mysterious Brown Envelope we’re not supposed to open two days later
-----------------------------------
Finally, I just wanted to thank everybody on this forum. I found answers to all of my questions just by searching through the various threads. I especially want to thank Tazmania and Catseyes, you have both been very helpful to me without even realising it. In particular, I think Catseyes thread http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?t=215048 should be made compulsory reading for anybody coming to this forum. It's probably the single most useful thread I found here and it should really be a sticky. Good luck to anybody else going through the process or waiting to hear.
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