Case parameters
Filing: EB-1A
Decision: Approval
Service Center: Warsaw
How it went
Guys hi, yesterday we had interviews in Warsaw. Ill put my experience here, maybe itll be useful to someone:
We arrived at 8:00. We joined the general queue. Our appointment was at 8:30. After about 15 minutes they came out and split us into two queues; for immigration we were third in the end. We handed documents at the window; the first warning bell rang when they asked if the child was with us, like the rules had changed and now he was required. We said that the letter stated it was not mandatory, and they didnt argue further. We went in; while everyone was sorting things out we ended up being the first to approach the document submission window. The second warning bell came when they tried to pick on the translators affidavit. Ours was standard, without stamps, etc. I argued with them; the girl tried to insist that there should be company stamps, etc., but then she dropped it and notarized and certified everything. We went to wait. I think they first called the Polish DV applicants, very nice, they communicated through an interpreter, but I couldnt tell whether they were issued visas. Our second window opened and a young American called us.
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on a good note and with a smile: the oath, fingerprints
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then he said hed ask questions, mostly about work
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youre applying under EB-1A, tell me what your extraordinary ability is?
Here I gave a short prepared answer; at some point he interrupted and continued.
- how long have you been doing this?
- what exactly do you specialize in?
- what has your salary been over the past years?
- do you have a job offer?
I answered that due to the nature of our work we dont have those; mostly everyone is an independent specialist and freelancer. (I didnt even mention letters of intent — decided not to trigger them)
- have you lived anywhere besides Russia and the UAE?
- how long ago and why did you move to the UAE?
- have you been to the US, traveled there?
- what did you do there?
- where do you plan to go?
- did you serve (in the military)?
He asked my spouse if she works. Clarified the child is not with us now; we answered hes with his grandmother in Moscow. How old is he.
That seems to be all. Super easy, positive, with jokes and banter about surfing on different coasts.
Then he reached for a piece of paper and ambiguously said — “that’s it”, started returning the original documents; we didnt fully understand and he explained that everything is okay, the visa was approved, to collect it here in 3–5 days.
Author of the story
Nikolay Ivanov (@ivanovvisuals), from the chat @talentvisahelp. Original message in the chat.
Useful resources on the topic
All information about O-1 / EB-1A / EB-2 NIW
More success and denial stories: channel @o1eb1