Our petition got approved in almost four months, an email for appointment instruction from Abu Dhabi US Embassy was received after more than a month and at last, we are in our final phase of our K1 visa process. I must admit that since we rescheduled our slot a month earlier than the initial schedule we’ve booked, I became so nervous and anxious mostly all the time. I always overthink and have a lot of “what ifs” in my mind.
Initially, it was planned that I would book a hotel room in Abu Dhabi the night before my interview so that I would arrive in the US embassy early since I live in Dubai. It is just more than 2 hours away, but we don’t want to take the risk of being late or I might miss my interview since the time stated is at 7:45AM on July 18, 2024. I have booked a hotel already but luckily; I have a co-worker living in Abu Dhabi so I asked her if I could stay at her place for a night. She was kind enough to accommodate me. I was worried sick that night as I really overthought what would happen to the interview. Of course, me and my fiancé were hoping to have a good result – an APPROVED visa status. If there could be any tip that I would recommend for those who will attend their interview is that – DO NOT OVERTHINK.
As part of the preparation, my fiancé and I used to have a mock interview a few weeks before the day. He could also give me advice and tips that he sees helpful for me. He used to watch YouTube videos of several people that had their visa interview. I had also watched videos of the K1 visa interview, but it made me more nervous, so I stopped watching them. We also analyze what could go wrong, whether our supporting documents are complete or from simply helping me to be confident in answering the possible questions that could be thrown at me by the consular officer. He used to tell me that our relationship is legit so there’s nothing to worry about, that the interview is just a formality of our petition that has been previously approved.
That night prior to my interview day, I was extremely nervous. I wanted to talk to my fiancé to feel better, to have his advice and have another round of our mock review or just seeing him would surely make me relaxed. Unfortunately, the VPN did not work at that time and so we’re not able to talk properly. Using VPN is the only way we can have videocall or voice call here in UAE since most of the chatting apps are blocked. I was quite sad about it, thankfully my colleague was fun to be with. As part of my review, I narrate our cute love story and, in a way, become a form of my review for the next day’s interview.
I did not sleep well that night. My mind was occupied on what could happen in my interview. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself because I know our future depends on the result. We also planned everything, and I really wanted to be with him. I woke up at 5:00 AM although I had searched that the embassy location is just less than 10-15 minutes ride away from her place. I did not sleep well, and I really wanted to have a video call or voice call with my fiancé, but the VPN is not working at all. I then continued to prepare breakfast because having an empty stomach is not good during the interview or exam. I heard a saying once when I was younger that a full stomach makes the brain work. I sent my fiancé selfies and asked if I looked good and presentable. I also sent him a video of all the documents that I’ll be bringing that day. Luckily, he always checked everything and asked where my passport was. And yes, I almost forgot to bring my passport thanks to mi amor.
I wore smart casual attire – pink inner, pants, sneakers and a coat. I think the embassy doesn’t have a dress code policy though it is common knowledge that when we or someone is attending the interview we just need to make ourselves presentable in front of the consular officer. We should be neat and clean. Some of the interviewees wore shorts but not too short and flat sandals too while some were very professional in their attire. I am not sure if other embassies or counties are stricter, but I think Abu Dhabi Embassy is more relaxed in this term. I left my friend’s place at 6:30 AM and walked to the nearby bus station where I can hop on a taxi to go to the US Embassy. I arrived at the embassy at 7:01 AM. I entered the facility and saw people waiting outside for the office to be opened. There were more than 10 people already queued at the bench seating and more applicants kept coming. It was July and the weather in UAE was scorching hot and humid even early in the morning. Just a few minutes outside makes me sweaty. They opened the gate at around 7:45 AM. The security calls “Immigration Visa” applicant first. We’ve fall in line near the window beside the entrance of the building where the officer seating inside the office cabin called each applicant one by one, verified our appointment and checked the original passport then gave us a go signal to go inside. Only the applicant is allowed to enter. Just right after the entrance, there were security guards checking everything and keeping all the electronic devices including mobile phones in their possession until the interview if finished. They will then give a token/number for your things to be claimed when exiting the embassy or once the interview is finished. Once they gave clearance, I entered the room that leads to the main building where they do the interview.
Before heading to the interview area, the security guards will again ask for the appointment letter, DS160 copy and original passport. I think they double checked the document to see if it matched in their system’s record. Once verification is completed, the guard will give you a token number and lead you to the interview waiting area. There are only windows where the interview is conducted. I was so nervous even before entering the main building and I really hate the feeling. I am fighting with myself to keep calm, but looking at the interview windows and knowing other people will hear the entire interview aggravates my anxiousness. I tried not to talk to people so I could concentrate and get ready for the interview. However, there’s one Filipina who initiated a small talk asking when our petition got approved. I told her that ours was approved within four months, and she told me that we were lucky. Theirs was approved after eight months and like us; they kept checking the website to see if there would be an open slot earlier than they originally scheduled and we are both fortunate to have our interview earlier than we’ve expected.
People around me are chatting about the flow of the interview based on someone they knew, sharing their own stories, others are just chatters, others are quite like me. I am not mingling with their conversation but occasionally some people will ask about my application, how many times me and my fiancé met, how long we’ve waited to get approval etc. I was nervous the entire time. When the consular officer started calling number by number, the room kept quiet for a moment. All of us are waiting, listening and observing the process. The first token was called, and the applicant was directed to one of the windows where the officer only asked for documents such as passport, police clearance, certificate of no marriage etc and did the fingerprinting/biometrics, give a piece of paper either white or blue or just inform the applicant to be called for the actual interview by another officer.
The first applicant was called and led to the consular officer. The interview was done only through the window or counters as to call it. There are more than ten windows but only a few consular officers were doing the interview. Other windows are empty. Interview counters for immigration visas were separated from the rest of other US visas such as tourist, visit or business related. That day, only one officer was conducting the interview. All the questions and answers from the interview and the interviewee were heard by us who were just waiting there. The questions were just simple and straightforward but if I heard them, I became so nervous and uneasy.
Below are the basic questions asked:
- What is your name?
- Where did you live?
- What is your work or are you working?
- What is the name of the company you are working for?
- What are the countries have you reside in?
- Do you have police clearance available for all the countries you’ve previously resided in?
- Are you married or previously married?
- Are you divorced? How long have you been single until this relationship?
- Do you have kids?
- How many kids do you have? Are they living with you?
- Are you going to bring your kid/s to the US? Why and why not?
- Have you been to United States? For what purpose?
- What is the date/s you’ve been in the US?
- If the trip is for business, can you show proof that you own a company or part of the company?
- How long has your business is in operation?
- What products or services do you offer?
- Who sponsors your trip to the US? Where did you stay?
- What is the name of your fiancé?
- When did you meet?
- How did you meet?
- What is his/her work?
- What company is he/she working for?
- What is his occupation?
- Is he/she single or previously married?
- Does he/she have children? Are the children living with her/him?
- How many times has he/she got divorced?
- Do you have all the copies of his/her divorce papers?
- When did you meet in person?
- What are the places you’ve been to with your fiancé or fiancée?
In the initial rounds of interviews, the consular officer took more than 10 minutes per applicants. He is approachable and jolly. He also scrutinized every document and attentively listened to interviewee’s answers. He also let Arabic speaking applicant to speak in their language if they had a hard time speaking in English. He accommodates queries from applicants who were refused for visa that would go back to his counter to clarify what are the things they need to do to comply with what has been asked to submit documents or evidence that will suffice visa to be granted.
Every case is different. One interview will not be the same as the other because each of us has a different set of documents to present, different stories to tell etc except on the basic personal questions I listed above. There are at least less than five applicants who got their visa approved by 10AM in the morning. The rest were refused. My nervousness grew more whenever I saw that the consular officer was returning the passport to the applicant. The applicants would know right after the interview if their visa was approved, refused or denied.
My Actual Biometrics and Interview
Biometrics
There are two open counters who did the applicants’ biometrics. When my token number was called, I went to the counter. I saw the officer carrying a bunch of documents in a white folder. He then asked for my documents one by one – original and copy of passport, original and copies of all police clearance/records for countries I resided in – Philippines and United Arab Emirates in my case, original and copy of my birth certificate, two passport size pictures and original divorce decree of my fiancé. After he took all the documents he asked for, he put notes on one of the papers inside the white folder. He then took my fingerprints. I saw that the documents he held was a black and white copy of our submitted petition documents because I saw my fiancé’ passport copy and photos of our relationship evidence. Then he again took a white sheet of paper wherein he wrote my case number. He told me to go back to the waiting area and wait for my number to be called for the interview.
I thought the white paper that I got was okay. I looked at it but I did not read every detail in that paper because I saw that he gave white paper to the other applicants as well.
My Interview Proper and 221G
The interview process was quite slow because there’s only one consular officer conducting it although there are available counters but empty. While I was patiently waiting for the number to be called, I was nervous. Whenever numbers were called by automated machine, I get surprised, and my heartbeat fasts. I still held the white paper because my token was attached to it then I started reading it. The first words that I read were “YOUR VISA IS REFUSED UNDER 221G” and then I questioned myself how my visa got refused status immediately when in fact I didn’t have my interview yet. While waiting for my turn to be interviewed. I continue reading and it says that the refusal may be overcome once the missing documents are submitted, and/ or admin processing is completed. I really had no idea what this 221G was all about.
I had this one Filipina with the same paper as mine and we’ve talked about what would be the meaning of this white paper because we don’t have any idea. I told her that maybe it is just a formality that they gave during biometrics, and she told me that our visa is already refused. She looked so sad and worried because she mentioned that she had already resigned from her work expecting to get her visa approved that day and now she has this paper stating the refusal. I told her to think positive (although I have hesitations as well) that maybe the officer will only ask for one of the additional documents as listed the that white paper. She had her interview, and she got approval and that gave me strength and confidence, too.
I was called and faced the interview. The officer had all the documents I had given during my biometrics as well as the copy of our petition that the first officer had. He scanned the documents, and I noticed that he set aside my fiancé divorce decree immediately.He proceeded to the interview proper. I took an oath that I am telling only the truth in that interview. He asked my name, my work, name of the company I worked for, my fiancé’s name, his work and nature of his work and if he has kids. I answered all the questions – my voice was a bit shaky because of nervousness. He knew that my fiancé was divorced because of the divorce decree I had presented that day. He flipped every page of that divorce decree and set it aside once again telling me that we will discuss more of it in later part because he has clarifications.
He continued asking how I met my fiancé and asked me to narrate our story. He asked me if we’ve met in person, where and how many times or does he meet my family. I answered all his questions then he asked if we had proof of our relationship. I showed him two binders full of our photos – when he travelled to the Philippines for our first meet up and Dubai for his birthday, our prenup photos, whatsapp messages and call logs. He scanned the papers and even made a comment about one of our beach photos. He asked where it was taken, and I said that’s in Bohol Philippines. He was amazed and said that Philippines was really a nice place. My nervousness cools down a bit. He then continued questioning and now that was about my fiancé’s divorce decree. He scanned the documents again and the date he’d seen initially was the document’s certified stamped date which is February 5, 2024. He made a pause, and he told me that our petition’s filing date overlaps with the divorce decree as one of the requirements prior filings is that both legally and able to marry.
I was confused about what was that February 5, 2024 he is mentioning and then continued to scan the decree. There he found a filing date of November 15, 2023, and another filing dated January 11, 2024 stamped on paper. He asked what those dates are and because I was nervous and at the same time confused, I’m not able to justify what those dates mean. I think at that time, I gave him an implication that I am not sure with what I am talking about, or I don’t know what it was. Then he told me that I have provided all the evidence he needs and that he cannot decide at that moment if he’ll going to approve my visa because he needs to double check if the divorce decree does not overlap with our K1 visa application. I immediately left the counter almost like I felt numb. I was extremely sad and shocked at that moment. I took my belongings from security and grabbed a taxi. I am expecting to give the good news to my fiancé, but it is the other way around. I was so down. I thought that our waiting would be over that day. I wanted to cry too while going back to my colleague’s place, but I held it. There’s a lot of whys and what ifs. It is a terrible feeling, and I blamed myself for it.
What could I have done differently in my Visa Interview?
Whenever we are experiencing failures in any aspect of our lives whether it is a minor or an impactful one, we used to ask ourselves what went wrong, what we did wrong and that we wish we could do better to achieve those goals. Well, I did not technically fail in my visa interview because I only got refusal status which I am still 101% thankful for but it goes all over my senses since then. It really consumed me. Sometimes I cried and think that I failed my fiancé. I failed us in a sense of not being able to be together as early as we could because believe me, being in a long-distance relationship is heart-breaking.
I have listed below some takeaways from my very own experience that I hope will also help visa applicant like me.
- Be positive but do not set expectation/s
We’ve started our K1 Visa process last January 2024 and we got our approval in May 2024. We were so happy because we got it only within four months. The process was quite a bit faster than other visa cases we saw on the web. Then we’re also able to re-schedule my interview one month ahead of our original date. We were so thrilled by the progress of our application and so not realizing that we’ve already expected to get my visa by July 2024 after the interview. We’ve made our plans already and we are excited about our future because what else could go wrong? Our relationship is legit, we have nothing to hide. I know all about my fiancé and I can answer whatever questions the consular officer throws at me.
Suddenly, here’s the interview and I got visa refusal status. I am expecting to have my visa approved but due to some consequences, it did not happen the way we expected it. In return, we were so disappointed, and it is quite difficult to cope up. It took me probably weeks to recover from my interview outcome, that is why it is better not to set your expectations while going to the interview. I guess less or no expectation, less distress. 😀
- Get enough sleep and rest
A few good benefits of enough sleep are it reduces stress and improves positive mood and has a clear thinking. When I went for my interview, I did not have a good sleep the night before because I was anxious and nervous. And so, I was kind of wasted when I woke up the morning of my interview.
- Do not overthink because every K1 Visa application / interview is unique
When I got my interview rescheduled for an earlier date, I became so nervous since then. I used to read blogs or watch YouTube videos about other applicant’s K1 visa process and interview experiences. After a few videos I stopped watching them because it gives me anxiety that causes me to overthink. Although they’ve always mentioned that the interview was super easy it did not help to relax my nerves. I kept thinking what would happen and all the what ifs. I am comparing our case to others, too. I attended the interview and found out that everyone has their own struggles whether in questioning or documents presented or documents asked by the consular officer.
- Be confident and do not be afraid to answer
Answer the questions with confidence because once the consular officer feels or sees that you are also confused with your answer, you are giving him/her the reason to doubt even if that is not the case. As much as possible compose your answer in a concise and clear manner.
- Acceptance
I was totally devastated when I heard from the consular officer that he cannot decide that day if he’s approving my visa. I felt like I failed my fiancé ten folds. It is difficult for me to accept what just happened. We made everything ready, documents ready; we did our mocked-up interviews, but I still got the refusal. I was so down for a few weeks.
Looking back at that moment, I know that it affects me physically, mentally and emotionally. However, I learned to accept that what we’ve got that time is only refusal and once they’re finished with our 221G administrative process, we still have big chance to get approval.
