Hope my title isn't too dramatic haha !

ok so I arrive 10.10am for my 10.30 interview yesterday - much better system - they check your appointment letter against their list then you go straight through security as you arrive. Before, they used to line you up in the rain for an hour then let you go in as a herd.
There was a sign saying ONLY applicants are allowed in.
Got the numbered ticket and sat down - only 2 in the immigrant number sequence - after 10 mins i saw my number and went to the numbered station.
Gave him my big smile hi routine and he was a Brit and very relaxed and jolly but with a hard glint in the eye. He gave me the appointment letter back and looked at his screen - you appointment is not till November 8th he said. I felt that VJ sinking feeling. No it's today I said . He said 'How did you get in here' and he meant it. I pushed the appointment letter back at him. He said Well didn't anyone check you outside? I told him I was checked twice.
He said 'Well you dont have an appointment today '. We looked at each other and then he said - 'stay here' and he walked off.

I got that massive wave of depression that I got when we were denied at NVC for Domicile and when the petition was going UK-Nebraska-California-UK-London -Nebraska California. I thought of the train fares and the hotel and our Chicago flights and hire car and U-haul and the Apartment lease and I started to withdraw.

He came back eventually and picked up my medical results and gave me my xray and I started to believe. We did all the certificates and he said to sit down and wait for the interview. The interview was called and it was 10.50 - 20 minutes after i got there ! I started to cheer up and then saw it was a slim young woman of south east asian appearance who looked very zealous and professional - they always hate me as I am cocky and cavalier.
She produced the NVC file which had an orange sticker on it which said 'domicile' She started asking me domicile type questions and i was ready with the USCIS letter from London saying they would not take Carolyn's petition as they regarded her as U.S. domiciled and her storage charges for her furniture in Milwaukee and her active bank accounts and credit card in the US. Also her return flight tickets and UK job resignation.

I said I have some papers here about Carolyn's domicile and she snapped at me and said 'DO NOT SAY ANYTHING UNLESS I ASK YOU A QUESTION !'

I was quiet taken a back as I am not used to being told to shut up by anyone I am not married to.

anyway she asked me where I was born and she had obviously never heard of Yorkshire. She asked me when I got married.

She asked why Carolyn was not with me and I said there was a big sign saying only applicants would be allowed in.

She gave me a really hard time about whether Carolyn was working in the US before she came to the UK and on and on.

Then she closed the file and said 'This case is now complete and the visa is approved- you will receive it in 3 to 5 working days - go over to the courier desk with the form'. She looked away and got on with something else.

At no time did she smile or relax or show a flicker of warmth or humanity and the way she just turned away was robot like...

When we got home there was another packet 4 on the doorstep with a date of 8th November. It wasnt a rescheduled appointment it was a standard packet 4

It was mailed October 11 but must have got stuck in the mail strike..

If it had come October 12th, what would I have done..

I can't wait for this insanity to end but I know I am long way off - green card etc - no way it will be right. I might even get aletter saying I didnt turn up 8th November and they are cancelling the case

It really is a continuing nightmare

alan

Wow, that's pretty far removed from the nice experience we had at our K-1 interview! Poor you - you must have been having heart failure!

I don't understand why people have to act that way All I can say is its a good thing she doesn't carry a gun

Wow! They really have made the whole process traumatic for you from start to finish and it's not like your case is a complicated one for them to deal with. Hope the POE goes smooth for you.

I hope that things start getting better for you soon. It sounds as though you should have used up all your bad luck for the next 10 years. Congratulations on the approval

Glad you got the visa Alan, can only suggest you get here before the 8th Nov, wonder what they in store for you at the POE

Congratulation Alan
You got the post strike benefit hahaha

Now THAT's bizarre. Good thing is... you have your visa! I don't think they will take action against you if they were the ones who sent in 2 packets 4. Good luck!

Glad this all had a happy ending. She was probably ticked that she got the file that had an orange domicile sticker on it

As you mentioned when you were going through the domicile thing, everyone wants to cover their patooties, she was probably chosen as she forgot the donuts that day or something.

Anyway - onward and Congratulations!

Congratulations on your approval

I have spend months reassuring people about the interview saying it's a piece of cake.

When it comes to mine I get that !

The visa should be with me Wednesday and we fly 5th November but ANYTHING can happen at any stage as I have learned and NOTHING can be taken for granted..


My wife is a programmer and I said to her, 'surely, after the 8th November they wont be able to cancel a file that is completed with the visa actually issued' - she started laughing....

perhaps I should go to both interviews and get 2 visas ?

They seemed stunned that I was allowed in and my name was on the clipboard before I could even join the line outside !

He insisted that I must have phoned the embassy and asked for my interview to be delayed 3 weeks - Eh???? as if !

I wonder if there is someone out there with the same name who is going to have a nasty shock when their application is canceled for non attendance ! I was once on a training course with 2 other people of my name - the first month I was top of the class, the second month bottom and the third month top again
Still dont know if i am clever or not....


At k1, the social security issued my card with my name wrongly spelled - only 4 letters and a common english name !

lemme out of this process !

that's horrible...
ppl can be so rude sometimes for no reason.. who does she think she is, Judge Judy??!!

Congrats Alan,
most importantly,
you got through!

Rika

What you? surely not!

wow lol..well, I'm glad you were approved...but...as far as the lady goes...

perhaps she just needs a good bloke in her life..set her up with one of your mates..lol

Congrats Alan at least the interview is over an done with

Quote: I was quiet taken a back as I am not used to being told to shut up by anyone I am not married to.: Quote

ROFLMAO! Thats the funnest thing i have heard all week!

Congrats on the visa and sorry that old ###### was not so nice to you.

Sounds like they were annoyed you had a REAL appointment letter. I bet they had peeps like you all day long with TWO interview dates.

Oh well.....at least soon it will be over!

Congrats Alan!

Alan -- mega-congrats. I know EXACTLY which woman you're talking about -- she took us through the initial half of the interview (i.e. taking the docs off us) and she was as sour as 3-week-old milk. She scared the bejeebus out of me when she asked where Bruce's Russian police certificate was -- even though he hadn't lived in Russia long enough to warrant one -- and then gave me a little attitude about my domicile. Luckily we had a nicer chap for the second part, or Bruce might've had a coronary.

Anyway, very cool. I look forward to further tales of your journey, but make 'em happy ones from now on, okay?

Alan ~ With your visa will come your wonderful brown/yellow/ick coloured envelope. Inside that are all your forms to do with your petition. If they're with you the embassy can't write anything on them when the 8th November date comes and passes...so I'm sure that you're pretty safe on that front. It may be an idea that once you have your visa in hand to email the embassy and just confirm that you have had your interview date and could they ensure that the 8th November date IS cancelled.

Anyhoo, congrats on finally getting approved.

Thanks for the support folks - I have had it with immigration stuff - if Carolyn ever leaves me there is no way I will get my credit card out and order a Thai lady----

I will just get a nice cat and buy a garden hut and get some rabbits and live like a hermit until my three score and ten is up

I am now worrying about the visa; the first guy said 'are you sure you won't be going until you have been married 2 years' and I said yes 5th November, and he entered something on the screen. At first I thought - hey he is going to issue an IR1 post dated to 5 November, that will be great as it might help the green card office to issue a 10 year card.

Now I am thinking that might happen, but instead of the post dating it, they might actually issue it 5 November and send it out then.

We are booked to fly 5th November - hire car-U haul-apartment-motels....

So it will be too late

Haven't told Carolyn this as she would freak out... but looking forward to getting the text message from the couriers all the same.

My advice to those following on ? ASSUME nothing. ANYTHING can go wrong. You could not invent the stuff that actually goes wrong.

In the Embassy letter it says don't book anything until your visa is in your hand - I always thought that was bull - now I don't

POE ? I haven't heard of a VJayer with a visa turned back yet - I will look up the number for the Guinness book of records just in case


Got horrible chest infection from low resistance brought on by 'visa depression' and 2 days packed face to face with people on the London underground - might have to buy some Jack Daniels for medicinal purposes....

To those following - remember the tombstone insciption----

As I am now so ye shall be
prepare yourselves to follow me...

alan

Just got a scratching noise at the door and it was the courier with my visa pack !

I said 'I thought you sent a text the night before' and he said 'dont know anything about that'
He said 'are you going for a holiday' and I said ' nope I am going to live there..'

He said 'rather you than me mate - I cant stand yanks !' Carolyn was upstairs otherwise he would have been dead meat and I would have got blood on my visa

ANYWAY - FINALLY GOT THE VISA

and guess what, my suspicion that they might issue a IR1 was right

It's an IR1 with last Friday's date - even though we haven't been married 2 years yet !

That means there is now a chance they wont screw up and issue a conditional 2 year green card as long as we enter after november 4

I GOT IT !!!!!

The special wine we have been saving since January 9th can now be opened...

A big thanks to my VJ buddies and a big poop to the others haha ! I may go a bit quiet for 3 weeks then return to the madhouse to see what you guys are getting hit with and see if I can help

thanks again everyone

alan

Great news

Congrats, Alan! Now you can start to relax a little!

That's fantastic news!! Congratulations! About time they managed to get something right with your case.

Alan glad they showed you that they can be nice and helpful and sent you an IR-1 visa. Hope your last few days in the UK are stress free for you and Carolyn and that you have a safe and uneventful trip back to the US.

Many thanks Lansbury - you were there for me through this horror show and I appreciate it. I think it's because I am a professional administrator by trade that I found this so hard - normally the harder you work at something, it eventually gives and so it's just a question of applying time and effort and money and knowledge.

With this lot you hit barriers that NOTHING can shift and the frustration builds up to a point where you are tearing your hair out for what to do to make things happen - the answer is 'nothing' most times.

Without VJ, a lot of people would have their personal lives and their financial lives and their mental and physical health wrecked by this visa thing and it's comedy of errors. I am not exagerrating...

If I want to do something for the human race, I don't need to go to Africa, I just need to hang around in VJ and help some suffering people out.

Well I started this visa journey in December 2004 and after 2 (yes 2) K1 petitions and extra medical in the US and one Adjustment of Status and one biometrics in Milwaukee and now a 10 month saga of errors getting an IR1, you can be sure I have retired from all this stuff and visa applications are just something that happens to other people.

When we change address I will send in our 2 forms and then call the uscis 3 weeks later to make sure they have actioned them - apart from that I am free at last, free at last.


alan

Interesting reading and congratulations its fianally all over.

Congratulations on getting your visa and happy trails to you - look forward to reading your postings when you arrive!! (you always give me a laugh)

Cheers!

Glad to have helped in anyway I could.

In the years I spent in Special Branch I found my postings to Heathrow Airport working alongside the immigration service very enlightening. Having met immigration officers from other parts of the world as well they all have one thing in common. It is their aim in life to prevent people getting into a country they seem quite happy if they manage to achieve that.

My pal Bob transferred to special branch - i think it was so he could get off with the air hostesses at leeds airport....
I have no fears about POE at chicago unless I get a young lady officer - they really scare me - they never smile and are so keen to 'get' somebody. I will watch the sequencing of the booths and if necessary i will invite the people behind me in the line to go in front of me so i get a chap when it's my turn.
When I was 19, I was put in the back of a police van in leeds on my own with a drunken prostitute we had arrested for knifing a client. She started fighting me all the round the walls and roof and floor of that van and it was like being in with a deranged tiger and i will never forget it. My buddies opened the van doors when we got to the cell area and laughed themselves hoarse at the sight of me. I reckon they knew her and did it on purpose

It must have scarred me for life cos I am quite scared of 'the gentle sex'. Three years ago a lady threatened to 'glass me' in the face if I didn't buy her a drink. The year before that a woman punched me in the nose for 'walking away when i am talking to you'

anyway that's my POE plan...

ok back to planning the motorbike and speed boat !

alan

So right you are. Thank you for sharing your ups and down Alan. I'm just starting, and if I was relying on official info to plan the coming months, I would be totally at sea. Swimming blind in to months of very scant correspondence with the embassy, and that's only DCF. Thanks to VJ I know that even 6 months of waiting is speedy.

I hope you never have to go through it again, and Florida treats you nice.
Best of luck
Poit.

Very best of luck Poit, most people have a reasonably straight run so fingers crossed eh.. I will be around again once I get Carolyn off to work and the gators moved off the lawn...alan

holy crap I would have died. what arses. you should call the crap info line and try to get some answers and then get them to give you a reference number so you can email the embassy

Without VJ, a lot of people would have their personal lives and their financial lives and their mental and physical health wrecked by this visa thing and it's comedy of errors. I am not exagerrating...


AMEN!

It's bad enough when things go smoothly...can't begin imagine the strees you've been thru.

Congratulations and thank you for posting!

Best of luck!