Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
December 2, 2016 |
| Embassy Review : |
Robert, a UK citizen, is my fiance, and his interview was on November 17, 2016. Our plans were for me to arrive in London on the morning of the interview and I would attend with him. About 6 weeks prior to the interview, we had sent a request to the US Embassy through their online form to have me added to the guest list for the day of his interview appointment. After receiving no confirmation from them, we submitted another form with the same request, but this time specifically requesting confirmation that I had been added. Still nothing. We didn't wish to harass them, so we just decided to take the risk that I may not be admitted into the embassy on the day.
I arrived at Heathrow, went through the border (told the border officer why I was there), and was outside with Robert at about 8:30am. We then began our mad dash to the embassy, stopping at Charing Cross station to drop off my large suitcase in their secure storage (and it really is secure and only £12.50 for 3 to 24 hours use) because I knew it wouldn't be allowed in the embassy, though my backpack was.
We got to the embassy at about 10:00 or 10:30am for his 12:00pm interview. We went up to the tent, the lady asked for his invitation letter/email confirmation, his passport, my passport. She found my name on the guest list, wrote both our names on his letter and sent us to security.
When we made it into the embassy, we went to the desk that's directly in front of you when you walk in. They ask for your name, they put a sticker on your letter, and this has your "I" number on it. She instructed us to go up the steps to the waiting room and to sit near the front. I'm not entirely sure why they ask you to sit in a specific section because the seats were mostly full and was nearly standing room only.
We sat down for about 2 minutes before he was called to the first window. There, the guy asked for Robert's police certificates, invitation letter, birth certificate, proof of registration with the courier, proof of visa payment, and then he asked for the Affidavit of Support from me, along with whatever supporting information I wanted to give. I passed over my tax transcripts, but... because I am recently divorced, all tax transcripts still showed my ex husband. The man asked if I had anything else to show because they need something with just my name... which made complete sense. Luckily I had all kinds of info with me, so I passed him my pay stubs from the past 6 months and took back my tax transcripts. THEN... we nearly had a heart attack. He asked BOTH of us for updated letters of intent to marry. I had one because they really only want an updated one from the petitioner. He asked if we had one for Robert, and we were suddenly in panic mode. Robert said he'd write one right there if he needed to, but the man said, "we'll leave it up to the consular officer. If they need it, then they'll tell you what to do." While he sorted some things out on his end, I told Robert that it makes no sense that they'd need to see one from him as just his being there is obviously proof of his on-going intent to marry me. Then there was a problem with the fingerprint machine, so the man had to restart his entire computer system. We were at the first window for about 30 minutes. Finally Robert was able to have his fingerprints taken, and we were instructed to sit down and wait to be called for the interview.
About 10 minutes later his number was called. Thanks to so many previous reviews, I knew exactly where we needed to go... around the corner, past the line that has nothing to do with us, and go straight to the window we were called to. There we were met by a young American lady. She was all smiles and seemed amused by Robert's nerves and our interactions. Because a previous reviewer had said that their fiance was asked to step back while the interviewer questioned the fiance, I just remained silent until I was spoken to. She allowed me to stand there the whole time, and I was asked just as many questions as he was.
She asked him how we met, how our relationship grew from that point (which seemed like a very... strange way to word it... I think she was really wanting to know how we stayed in touch, etc) she asked him how many times I'd been to visit him, if he'd met my family, and if he'd been to the US to visit me there. In between some of those questions, she asked me when did I get divorced from my ex-husband, where do I live, where do I work and what do I do for work. She then mentioned something about Robert's police certificate from the UK, what the incident was that was listed as "No Live Trace". A few months before that point, Robert had called ACRO to find out what was on record because it was an incident that happened when he was 15, he wasn't arrested, and didn't even go to court. So Robert had typed up a statement with the information from ACRO listed in bullet points, he ended it with the "I swear under penalty of perjury under US Law, etc etc", signed and dated it. He handed that to the lady and she was impressed saying "you are the most prepared applicant I've ever seen!"
She then said that she'd have to call ACRO to confirm all the information regarding his statement against their records, but she said that as long as there are no issues, he'd be approved. He asked her if there is an issue, how would he be notified. She said they'd call or email him. Then I asked "if there are no issues, even with the call you need to make to ACRO, when can we expect to receive the visa?" She said even with Thanksgiving coming up, that we could expect the visa within a week or two.
She never asked him for his letter of intent... just as I knew she wouldn't. Not sure why that first guy said it. Maybe he was new?
Even with our nerves and excitement, she was very patient, seemed genuinely happy for us, and we were on our way! We left the embassy, and 13 days later, he received his visa... which was a good thing because we were flying out on day 14! |
| Rating : |
Good |
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ver 5.0