We've been worrying that he'd be denied and have to file a 601 waiver due to a past conviction. Details about that are in a waiver forum thread I've just updated.
The thing that ended up giving him the most trouble was his name change. He's been using the name Gary since he was two weeks old, though his birth certificate says Mark. In packet 3, they state that you must show proof of early adoption of a name, such as a baptismal certificate, which is what he brought with him to the interview along with his birth certificate. The woman at the first window tried to tell him this wasn't acceptable, and he argued with her for a few minutes until she called someone to ask about it. It turned out alright in the end, but he's going to get a Deed Poll before he leaves the UK in case we need it for AOS.
If your name's ever been changed, it's extremely important that you have a subject access report listing every name you've used, even if the name change was done when you were an infant or child. They told Gary a number of interviewees with early name changes didn't realize this and had to reapply for subject access, which delayed their approvals by a month or more.
His interview was for 8:30, so he arrived at 7:20, and there was already quite a queue. People who didn't have appointments until 10:00 and 11:00 were already lining up. It took him 50 minutes to get through the queue and security. He was called to the first window at 8:25, where he handed in all his documents. He wasn't called to the second window for the interview until 9:45. The interview itself took less than five minutes. He was asked almost nothing beyond why his name had changed and what the circumstances behind his offense and caution were.
Gary said he gave very short answers because he didn't realize that this was the actual interview until she told him he'd been approved.
Now, if they can only get his passport back to him in time for his flight to Phoenix, we'll both be over the moon.
Probably depends on the day.
