It was quite an experience at the US Consulate General in Vancouver. The security check took me 2 hours while the actual interview took me only one minute!
My appointment was supposed to be at 8:30AM, but when I got there shortly after 8AM, there were already three long lines waiting outside of the door, with two security guards, one Chinese-looking and one East Indian looking, calling one by one to get into the small entrance for security check. The security guards were of course not friendly, especially the Indian guy, who was even a bit nasty to some people who appeared to be slow or had difficulty understanding his English. But I wouldn't mind, as you should never expect any security guard to treat you like a high end client.
So they searched each and everyone of us inside out. Everyone had to take off their coats, jackets, belts, watches and every piece of paper and envelope we carried with us, and every card or bill in our wallets, and every pocket in our clothes and pants had to be checked. Needless to say no one should bring a cell phone, an MP3 player, or food and beverage to the Consulate.
Then everyone must go through a door frame like in an airport, and if there was a beep, you should get back to the security guards and have yourself checked again.
After the first level of security check, we came up to the second floor and lined up again. All the officers there were Asian or white females, very friendly and patient. A pretty Chinese woman guided everyone what documents to hand in and where to line up. We waited in a long line for quite a while just to turn in our interview confirmation letter with the bar code on it, and our application fee receipt from the Scotia Bank, and of course our passport. Then we got a number, waiting to be called to do the finger print.
Again we waited in our seats for quite a while, with black, white and Chinese kids crawling and screaming here and there on the floor. It was quite a scene.
Finally it was my turn to get to counter one to do my finger print, from left hand to right hand and then two thumbs, which had been a mandatory routine to get into the US since 911. Meanwhile I also got my passport back and had to go to the 20th floor for the interview.
On the 20th floor, the inside out security check repeated all over again. This time it was a butch young white woman in uniform and the Indian guy. She even tested my key chain with her fingers from top to bottom to see if could turn out to be a weapon. After that we were let in the interview room, with some 6 counters separated by dividers. The interviewers were all sitting inside while the interviewees stood outside.
The screens on the ceiling and walls showed the number of the next interviewee and which counter to go to. Before too long I saw my number on it and the number of the counter I should go to.
My interviewer was a very friendly Chinese man who smiled the whole time. He was very casual, and even had some sense of humor. He was particularly interested in my film studies and asked me if I was working on any project and whom I was going to work with. It just seemed to be a casual chat that had nothing to do with my visa application. Then after a minute, he told me to come back to pick up my passport and visa in three days.
A friend here who also went to the visa interview told me that the visa officer for the interview asked her cautiously why she went to Russia before and what she did in Russia. Another friend told me that the visa officer questioned him a lot about his previous trip to Iran.
Unfortunately, after my B2 (visitor for pleasure) visa interview, I was told by my employer in California that I had to apply for my working visa in the US, so the same procedure will have to repeat all over again.
