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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on May 8, 2024: |
nbar
Rating:  | 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.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #33165