The Final Process: The Visa Appointment and Post-AppointmentThe below is an account of every step and detail provided by a parent. It describes what it was like to finally get her son's Visa and what followed. Did you know that a “Visa” is actually nothing more than a STICKER the size of a passport page that is placed within the child’s passport?!?!?!?! All this waiting and it’s a STICKER!!!!! I had NO CLUE! I thought it was another booklet like a passport or a certificate or something. Not a STICKER! ANYWHO! This is how Jean got his sticker. FYI: At this point you will not yet have seen your child(ren)’s passport(s) – even though you’ve been told they are done and printed. Relax. It’s OK. Once the US Embassy (Visa Office) has received ALL of the I-600 approval papers from the Consulate’s office and your Visa application is submitted, the papers are reviewed, more papers are filled out, and eventually whoever took over Jeff Duffy’s position signs and issues the Visa. A couple of problems that could arise from this simple sounding process are as follows:
Our facilitator took us down to the Visa office prior to actually having a Visa appointment so that we could drop off our application (and proof of seeing the child(ren) for those of us getting an IR-3 Visa). That way, once all of our I-600 paperwork was delivered to the Embassy, all we would have to do is pick-up the Visa. Although I didn’t see it, I’m sure she handed the Medical form from our Visa Medical’s at this time, as well. After calling the Embassy a few hundred times to see if they had received the I-600 papers from the Consulate, I/we were told to come in on [Day] at 7am in the morning. To my disappointment, it was 2-3 days later! Any ways…. Someone from the Guesthouse took us down that morning of the appointment. We waited until the lady came out, looked at us, made sure my papers were in order, gave me a slip of paper and told me to go pay my Visa fee. Out the door, towards the gate, make a left and two doors down is the cashier’s office. When you walk in, you’ll probably see about 50-100 people waiting. Don’t worry! You’re not there for the same reason they are. You go straight past the waiting people to the cashier’s window. The window may be closed. Simply wait there until it opens. At that point, you hand the attendant your slip of paper. He/She will then ask you for the $340. You can pay via cash, MasterCard or Visa. Once paid, you will receive two receipts. Take the receipts back to the woman in the Visa office. Once I returned to the visa office, she collected the receipts from me and told me to come back at 3pm that same afternoon to pick-up the visa. I think it was about 10 or 20 minutes TOTAL. I returned to the Embassy with Marie at 3pm, and 10 minutes later, the same lady came out holding Jean’s passport and the collection of papers that was now know as my final dossier and another envelope. I was SO confused! Where was this Visa thing??? THAT’S when she showed me the sticker in his passport. I gave her the BIGGEST hug!!! The brown envelope MUST REMAIN UNOPENED. I must admit I’m still curious as to what was in that envelope. However, only the Immigration people at the airport know what is in it. The collection of papers of what is now my dossier contains nothing that WAS my dossier. It is everything that is Jean’s dossier. His two birth certificates, the adoption decree, and a WHOLE bunch of other papers signed and stamped a WHOLE BUNCH of times. Some of the papers look like they could easily be 100+ years old. VERY thin, yellowed paper. What I didn’t realize is that the Visa office had made copies of some of the papers. When you get back to the Guesthouse, make sure you go through the packet and separate the copies. When I was at the airport, once I walked into the passport check area, I was approached by an IBESR agent that wanted the copies. I told her I didn’t have any. She looked through the papers, wrote something in a log book, and let me pass. Once at the passport check, I was AGAIN asked by the security official for his copies. I told him I had none. He looked through the papers and also let me pass. I was lucky – and scared out of my mind. So! I’m saving you the fear and the embarrassment. Have your copies ready. Once you land in the US, instead of going into the lines for US Citizens, you will wait in the lines for Aliens/Immigrants. Once it is finally your turn, the envelope will handed to the attendant. In addition, the papers from the dossier and the passports will be reviewed. You will then be escorted to the official Immigration station. I was unlucky enough to be there for nearly 3 hours with a screaming child. Others, I have heard, were only there was like 10-20 minutes. It’s a fairly small room where people hang out until their immigration papers are reviewed. I was called to walk up to the desk that approximately 5 or 6 people manned. They handed me his passport and told me we were good to go. Very strange. I still have no idea what they did, what the purpose of that was, or why it took so long…. You’ll NEVER guess what happens next! YOU GO HOME!!! ALL of you! It’s FINALLY over! AND It has FINALLY begun! Things to Bring to the Embassy:
Additional Notes about the Embassy:
Airplane Tips:
These are stolen from one of my books: Dealing with a Screaming Child on an Airplane
Be Aware
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