Hey Fellow VJ'ers,

I've been reading the forums quite a bit, as far as i know, the Consulate only schedules an interview once they have received the IV-15 Checklist, is this correct? If it is, then i haven't seen much on it but by some VJ'ers timelines/comments and tracking their progress, i've gathered that some have sent in their IV-15 Checklist, even though they have only applied for their Police Clearance a few weeks before therefore don't have it physically, but gauging on the time that it takes to receive the Clearance and the timing that the Consulate usually schedules an interview once receiving the Checklist [VJ statistics... generally 1 month], they 'should' have the Police Clearance before the interview.

Anyone care to share their perspective/experience. [of course, this is non-binding, because none of you are immigration lawyers, and certainly not my immigration lawyer :P:P]

Thank you

Keep strong in the struggle against The Man!

I sent in my checklist even though I hadn't got some of the items.
I would make SURE I had applied for the police cert AT LEAST two weeks prior in case it hadn't come by the time of the interview....
But of course you might have to answer some sticky questions if you ended up interviewing without it...

We sent our checklist off, even though our marriage certificate had gone walkies, because I knew the town clerk in the small Vermont town we were married in had promised a replacement would be with us within days. The police certificate...in theory, I'd say you could get away with not having it if you want to risk it. The police undertake to get it to you in 40 days, and if you haven't applied for it well before your Packet 3 arrives, don't bother to send off your checklist. What if you get an interview date that is 4 weeks after you sent off your checklist? (Even shorter turnarounds are not unheard of...check out a few timelines!) You stand a very good chance of not having the certificate at your interview, and then doing some major explaining at the interview, or having to postpone the interview and waiting perhaps months for a new date.

I see from your timeline you haven't arrived at the Embassy yet -- have you applied for the certificate? If so, how long ago? If you're about halfway through the wait, I personally would wing it and send the checklist in when it arrives; if not, hold on for a few days until you get in the "comfort zone". Then of course, I'm the sort of girl who operates on a wing and a prayer so you might not want to listen to me!

Good luck in the process, I have got our police certificates because I like to have all my little ducks in a row.

elmcitymaven:
My Fiancee` applied on May 8, so that would put us at about June 17 to expect the Clearance letter. So if we recieve and return Packet 3 this week, that could probably put us in the mid/late July interview time frame, so we should have a 1 month buffer in case we don't receive the Clearance letter on time.

how does that sound?

Correction.... miscalculation, i forgot to add the 3, carry the 2, divide by 9.5 and multiply by PI

'....[early/mid] July interview time frame, so we should have [at least] a 2 week buffer....'

Did your fiancee get a receipt for the payment? It should be dated, and that is from when the 40 days should be counted. Just to get even more mathy here, if you reckon that the receipt should be dated around 1-2 weeks after sending the payment (so 12 or 19 May...) if you add 4 weeks on to that, you're looking at the latest around late June for the letter.

So, if it were me, I'd risk it if I absolutely needed to get an interview date ASAP. However, if you don't want to risk showing up emptyhanded, maybe sit on the P3 for a week or two, just to move yourself closer to getting the certificate.

Let us know how it goes!

My fiance just got the receipt in the mail last thursday or so, and supposedly the Embassy mailed packet 3 on 5/20 (a Saturday, so who knows if that date is real or not). But he'll be sending all that stuff back immediately! Checklist and all! And then he'll do whatever it takes to get the police cert. I should, by most accounts, be received in time, so I'm not worried.

Correction: I'm choosing to not be worried about that part because I spent 111 days worrying about the NOA2 and now it's HIS turn to worry about stuff

The UK Police Clearance system, is kinda quirky, my Fiancee` did it several months ago because she needed to get fingerprints done and send those to South Africa to get her Police Clearance there, they required her to do Pol. Clear. before fingerprinting her, anyway, she never got a Receipt Notice and never got the Pol. Clear. It wasn't an issue because she ended up going to South Africa for a friends wedding, she did the Clearance there and 6weeks later, received it.
Now she applied on 8 May and still hasn't received a receipt, but i think i remember reading that some people didn't receive a receipt but received the Clearance anyway.....maybe i read wrong because i did miscalculate as you can see on my previous posts.

Lee

I had the opposite situation -- he was all worried about the medical and I was totally relaxed about everything (NOA2, P3, even the RFE!). Once he passed the medical (like, DUH! He is the cleanest-livin' man I know) I started obsessing about P4 and he relaxed. It's like there was some unwritten rule that only one partner could be a freakshow at a time...

I'm in exactly the same position - just need my police clearance before I send in the checklist.

If I'm feeling brave I'm going to send it in after four weeks of waiting for the police clearance. I got my reciept on May 1st so I figure sending it in about half way through next week should be about right... Surely they won't schedule me for interview within the two weeks!?!?

I need to judge it carefully as I need to be all ready to go by the end of August (otherwise no job any more, no apartment... well, you get the picture).

Of course I wouldn't have to juggle this if the turnaround wasn't so long. I mean, six weeks? If it took me six weeks to turn a piece of paper round in my job, I'd have been fired a long time ago.

I won't feel as angry when it arrives!

Hi, i sent my subject access to glasgow about 3 weeks ago... still not even had confirmation reciept I called pitt st this morning and the guy i spoke to couldnt even help me as he didnt work in that dept. ... and its a bank holiday weekend so i have to wait till tues. Am thinking of calling scotland yard to see if they have it My birth certificate was in the envelope and i need that for interview as well

The 40 day count down starts from the time you got the receipt from the police force. This can be up to two weeks after you sent off your application. I'd allow at least 6-8 weeks for the police certificate to actually come through your door.

People do get them within ten days, this isn't unusual...but it also isn't the norm.

Edit: I've moved this because it isn't London Embassy specific. This thread contains information that someone dealing with ANY consulate could use and learn from.

Thank you.

First of all I called the data protection office at West Midlands police, just on the off chance that I could convince them to expediate it (after all I'm clearly more special then everyone else). The guy I spoke to was very polite but said no. He also couldn't give me a contact number for the NIS at Scotland Yard.

So I then called the number given on the embassy info page where it says to "call this number to see where your certificate is". The guy I spoke to said that the office that I needed was no longer there and to call this number: 0207-161-3559. I called it but just got someone's voicemail. Don't know if it was in fact the correct contact.

I was a little confused at this point, however, as to whether I had actually just called the National Identification Service itself, or London Metropolitan Police's data protection people (given that WM police couldn't/wouldn't give me a contact number for the NIS itself). Also, given that the London Embassy website* seems to suggest that everyone applies through the Met for their clearance (which is not the case), you can understand the reason for my confusion.

Lastly, it seems from reading other posts that the speed at which you receive your receipt from you local police force varies, if indeed you receive one at all. My one from WM police arrived within about a week so it seems they are on the ball.

Hope this helps.


*Go to http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/visa/iv/ukpc.html

Ruby -

It would help other UKer sif you could please fill in your timeline. Thanks!