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United Kingdom US Consulate Reviews
Average Rating: 4.4
/ 5
1800 Review(s)
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| London, United Kingdom |  Review #33182 on May 15, 2024: |
Mil123
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
Medical appointment:
The medical appointment was pretty straightforward, but felt like a rip off in terms of how much they do for that £385. The only speed bump I hit was not having a recent Covid jab, which was a nightmare to get privately but by some miracle I got one within a few day.
US Embassy:
Again, pretty straightforward. There seemed to be two queues into the building. I got directed to one and handed over my passport and DS260 form which they signed and then said I would need to wait until half an hour before my appointment.
Once it got to that time I waited a few minutes in the other queue and then had to show my phone and open the clock app. Don’t bring a laptop, but iPads and kindles are fine you just need to have them turned on. I then got directed to the security queue and had to go through a toned down version of airport security. I would avoid bringing liquids, a family before me got stopped due to having several bottles of perfume. They asked me to have a drink from my water bottle, and didn’t seem to watch me do it and then let me leave the security building.
I did notice that anyone with young children was able to skip the previous queue and be taken into security.
I walked into the entrance and there wasn’t a queue inside and someone took my paperwork, gave me a number and pointed me towards the lift. She told me to go left and take another left. It’s pretty straightforward to find the area for the immigrant visas and there seemed to be a lot of people to point you in the right direction.
The first window you go to you hand over your documents, make sure you have the shipping confirmation if you’re going to have your passport posted back to you as they need that. They took fingerprints and then gave me some light reading about my rights when I get to the USA. The focus seemed to be on domestic abuse. I was a little worried as I have been in waiting for my marriage certificate to get to the UK from the USA and I only had a scan, but I did have the original marriage license so I gave both with my police certificate and birth certificate.
I waited around an hour/hour and a half for the “visa interview”. I got asked to swear I was telling the truth, a few questions about my husband and when we last saw each other, and that was it. He told me I was approved after this incredibly brief conversation. Relieved is an understatement. He gave me back my documents and didn’t need them I see any of my husband’s financial documents. This has been the easiest part of the whole process.
| | | London, United Kingdom | Review #33180 on May 14, 2024: |
Lee Thacket
Rating:
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: Medical Appointment
My medical was very underwhelming. In fact, I would scarcely call it a medical. There was no request for blood or urine samples. Neither did they ask to weigh or measure me. (They did ask for my weight and height, but I insisted THEY did the measurements!) I had a quick chest x-ray to check for tuberculosis. Afterwards, I had an interview with one of the doctors. He quizzed me on my GP medical record as well as the questionnaire I had filled out. He picked me up on an incident of work related stress I had at work twenty years ago. He seemed happy enough when I told him the problem had been resolved by leaving the job.
The medical ended with a discussion about vaccinations. Unfortunately, my GP records did not the ones I had as a child. Visa Medicals offered to provide the missing vaccines for an extra £250. I declined as I felt I had given them enough money already. It important to note K-1 visas can be granted without all vaccinations, but you will need proof of being up to date before you apply to adjust your status to be a permanent. Visa Medicals will give you a leaflet explaining the rules and what vaccines you require.
| | | London, United Kingdom | Review #33165 on May 8, 2024: |
nbar
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
All round quick & positive experience, though with a small moment of stress after my first interview. This is perhaps too detailed, but I benefited from the very long reviews of this consulate when I was preparing.
I was lucky to have received at 08.00 appointment, so there were very few people waiting & I was seen fairly quickly. The embassy is a 10-15 minute walk from Vauxhall tube station (Victoria line & National Rail). I followed Google Maps, which had me walk to the 'Official Entrance' and past that to Consular Services. I recommend bringing some water and maybe a book - there is free WiFi. I completed my medical 16 days prior.
- Security
At 07.30 I first went to the US Citizen queue (just after the visa queue) after getting confused from reports on this forum about which line to take. They directed me to the Visa queue, but told me to go directly to the security desk & push in line. It felt uncomfortable to do that, but you need to - there were easily 30 people in line waiting to enter the security queue, which was already 30 people deep too. I told the gentlemen at the desk I was there for an immigrant visa interview, he asked for my DS-260, passport, to confirm my full name and appointment time. He told me that I was too early & to get a coffee from the cafe down the road, and to come back at 07.50 and to skip the queue again.
I had a flat white at Sendero Speciality Coffee, which is within viewing distance of the queue. Excellent coffee, and they have lockers for storing bags if you need it.
At 07.47 I made my way to the security queue desk again, and they took my passport & took me to the front of the queue. Phone & passport in the jacket pocket, through security, if you bring water they ask you to take a sip of it. After that is your check-in for your interview.
- Check-in
I believe this is where the red & blue tents/lines are that are mentioned in other reports. There were two queues - one for US citizens (no one in it), one for non-immigrant visas. The queue was very short so I just waited a few minutes in the non-immigrant visa queue. I was checked in at 07.53, so that's how short it was. If the queue was longer, I would have gone in the blue line (citizens). They checked my DS-260 & passport again, and then assigned me a ticket number with directions where to walk.
- Interview #1
Being first thing in the morning & early, there were only a few people in the waiting room. It's well lit, very clean, and the seats were comfortable. At 08.18 my number was called up for the document checking part of the interview. It was completed shortly after at 08.25. I was asked:
- What's your wife's full name?
- How long have you been married for?
I was then asked to provide originals for:
- Passport (NZ)
- Birth certificate (NZ)
- Marriage certificate (NZ)
- ACRO police report (UK)
- NZ police report
- Courier confirmation email (this caught me by surprise, but I had it)
- Passport photo (I provided some from the photobooths in UK post offices, and he cut out the photo from the set of 4)
- Phone number (UK)
My fingerprints were scanned. I was not asked to provide photocopies, but I had them ready.
The NZ police report is not provided to the individual - it's sent electronically to the US Embassy in Auckland, and the gentleman taking my documents said that it was not in their system. I asked him to double check, given there are reports that the embassy uploads it in the wrong place or with the wrong name sometimes. He went out of sight to look, and then returned a few minutes later saying that they did not receive it from the embassy in Auckland. He was aware that they send it electronically, directly to the embassy. This was bad news to me, and I was drafting up an email to send to the embassy in Auckland and NVC for when I leave. I was then given a document about spousal rights in the US.
- Interview #2
At 08.57 I was called up for my second interview. I was very stressed about this one, now knowing that there was no police report for NZ & I was expecting to be denied & sent to administrative processing. I was about to ask the lady if she could again please double check, but she said she'd talk about that later (in a polite way). I was asked:
- Agree to the oath of truth
- What's your wife's full name?
- Where does she live?
- When did she move to the US?
- Did you both live in NZ & the UK together?
- When did you meet?
- How did you meet?
- Was she on a college abroad program when you met?
- How often do you visit her?
- Have you read the document about your rights?
It was a very casual, very comfortable interview. She was polite but professional. The lady then informed me that the questions were over, and we would now talk about the police report from New Zealand. She managed to find it uploaded in their system - I'm not sure if it was in the wrong place, but after my very stressed 30 minutes of waiting I couldn't have been happier. She told me that we're all done, that I was very prepared with documents, and that she has approved my CR-1. I might have been a little bit too loud celebrating, because everyone in the waiting room looked at me when I was finished. Sorry if you witnessed that - there's not as much privacy in the booths as I had first thought!
I received my original documents back after this interview, but they retained my passport to put the visa in.
I'm now awaiting the confirmation email, and when I can pick up my passport from DX on Chancery Lane. This forum was really helpful to me when I was in my journey, so I wanted to give back! Thank you.
| | | London, United Kingdom | Review #33132 on April 21, 2024: |
Davibob07
Rating: 
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: EB-1 Visa
Apologies. Post not relevant.
(updated on April 21, 2024)
| | | London, United Kingdom | Review #33092 on April 4, 2024: |
__mxyy__
Rating:
· 1 person found this review helpful
Click here if you found this review helpful | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Had my interview today at 10 am and wanted to give a review
I had been reading all the ones on here and honestly they were so helpful in preparation for this
The walk from Vauxhall station to the embassy is really easy and quick and the building is hard to miss
We arrived early so we went to the cafe opposite the embassy and waited there. This one allows you to give a £6 donation to a charity in exchange for holding personal items but won’t hold your whole bag so if you just need to drop off a laptop or something since you can’t take them in then that’s a quick place to go. There are other cafes near by that will hold your bag for you rather than just items.
I went to line up at 9:20 since the line was really long. There is the blue side on the left and the red side on the right. I have seen people say on here that K1 can go to the left side and I tried that but they told me I had to go to the right side. When you approach have your passport and DS-160 page ready. They let me in 40 minutes early but they were turning away people trying to get in an hour or more early. Signing in was quick but the security line was quite long but moved pretty quickly. Definitely go 30 minutes or earlier though just incase they make you go to the right side and it’s a busy day. If it’s really bad still try the left side because if it’s backed up K1 should be able to skip.
Once through security you head over to reception which is in the north building as you walk out of security. Again there is a blue side on the left and the red on the right. I stuck to the red side since that’s where I was told I needed to be. At the time I went in it was really empty but just as I got to the front desk they stopped everyone and said they had a call that they couldn’t let anymore people through because it was too busy up there. I ended up waiting there for like 15 minutes and at this point it had gone past my appointment time and there was no sign of anything moving. The line was really backed up behind me all the way down to security. I was getting worried so I decided to try again and told the receptionist I was K1 and she was like “oh poop” and quickly game me my number and told me to go up so little tip to anyone if this happens to you and there is a massive line just skip it and go straight to the desk and tell them you are K1. I realise a lot of people have said this but when I was in the situation I doubted it especially since I was told I was wrong at the entrance lol.
The lifts are to the right of reception K1 is first floor and when you get up there it is really busy but ignore it and take a left towards the crowd but keep walking and go left again round the corner and there is a quiet area with some booths where they have screens that will display the number that reception sticks to your DS-160.
I got called up straight away to a nice man who asked for my passport and DS-160. He then went through a list of questions which were very simple such as have I been married before, has my fiancé been married before, have I lived outside the UK and a few more. He then collected my documents you need: passport, DS-160 confirmation, birth certificate, police certificate, I-134, and a tax return to support this. He then took my fingerprints and I was then told to sit back down and my number would come up on the screen again when they are ready to interview me.
I sat back down and met a really nice lady who was also there for K1. We had a nice chat and she got called up before me but I was only sat there for like 10 minutes before I got called up. The lady interviewing me was so nice and the questions were really easy. I was asked to swear an oath, to confirm my finances name, ask where he lived, how we met, how many times we have met in person, has he come here to visit, how did the relationship progress, how he proposed, and what our wedding plans were. After that I was told I was approved and I would get my visa in 1 to 2 weeks. They keep your passport but gave me my birth certificate back and police certificate.
Overall it was probably the easiest part of this whole process and the interview is ridiculously simple. The paperwork’s and interview itself took 15 minutes all together the longest part was getting in and reception. The only thing I dislike is the lack of signage and communication from staff at the embassy. They are all really friendly but when they stopped the line not once did they specify if any certain visas could go through and there were no signs to say what visas needed to go where. If I hadn’t read the reviews on here and tried my luck at telling them I’m K1 I don’t even want to know how long I would have been stood there waiting.
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