Our visa interview story

[Minion Wrangler 0]

So, here's the story of our visit to the US Embassy on September 13 for the visa interview, along with what happened afterwards. It did not go as I was either expecting or hoping , at least on that day.

Visa interview

Lite version

Went to Embassy. Paid fees. Handed over documents. Had to complete new DS-230 part I because they did not have the one we sent over 2 months ago. Told that "some administrative work" (unspecified) needs to be done. Passport not retained, will be requested when said work is done. Visa approval not yet granted. More waiting.

Full-fat version

We set off early for London, got parked in Hammersmith and arrived at the Embassy around 45 minutes before the 8:30 appointment time. As my sponsor my wife was granted access without fuss. Security is airport-style (minus the full-body scanners) and was painless as the queue was very short at that time. At reception I showed my appointment letter and was given a ticket number then we took seats in the waiting room. After a while and around the actual appointment time, my number came up and we went to the relevant window.

The lady went and got a fat file, which turned out to be for someone else, so she went off to get the right one, which was much thinner. The first thing she did was send me off to the cashier to pay the fees, which total $404. I returned to give her the receipts and she had me provide fingerprint scans. I was given a DS-230 to fill in; she told us that they did not have these forms. I was surprised and irked at this; we sent the completed DS-230 parts I and II at the beginning of July a few days after receiving the I-130 approval notice. We have no idea whether they never received them, received them and lost them before processing or received them, processed them and then lost them. Either way, I had to fill out a new one. This might not be too onerous is you're 22 or so, but at the age of 44 and having lived in as many places as I have since the age of 18 it was really tedious.

While I was working on this my wife handed over the other required documents and answered a few questions. The lady asked me to go and take a seat while I finished the DS-230 part I and return to the window afterwards. I did so a few minutes later, but had to wait 20 minutes or so while she dealt with a group of three people. She then took the newly completed part I and the copy of part II we had brought with us and gave me a courier form with my ticket number and told me to wait to be called again.

After a further of 20-30 minutes my number was called and we went to a different window for part 2 of the interview. Oddly enough, this was first time we dealt with an American - everyone else thus far had been English, apart from a Polish security guy outside the building. The lady had me verify my identity by scanning my fingerprints, then asked me to hold up my right hand and swear that everything I said was the truth. However she then didn't ask us any questions other when we were planning on travelling. She had me sign the DS-230 part II (which must be done in the presence of a consular officer) and confirmed that she had possession of the documents we supplied earlier and everything looked fine. She was happy with my wife's printed emails on her proposed transfer to her company's San Jose office.

She then told us that "we need to do some administrative work" and would therefore not retain my passport at this stage, but contact me when this work was done and have courier it to them. The visa would then be entered into my passport and returned to me. She declined to comment on what was causing the delay or admin work, but we assume that it was the processing of the new DS-230 part I. She was unable to tell us how long this would take; she said she'd like to say it would be a couple of weeks but was unable to confirm this. I guess that I was visibly disappointed with this news because she went on to tell us not to worry about it and that it all looked good.

I then asked her a couple of questions that I wanted to clarify regarding whether I would be able to travel back and forth to the US on the visa whilst awaiting the arrival of my proper green card. She explained that my visa will act as a temporary green card and I will be a legal permanent resident of the United States, therefore I can travel back and forth as I please (providing of course that I don't stay outside of the US for more than one year). She also clarified that my green card and SSN will not be issued until I first enter the US on the visa, for the obvious reason that if for any reason the visa remains unused they do not want spare SSNs floating around. She was unable to say how long the proper green card would take to arrive; she said she had heard of them taking anywhere from six weeks to six months. Regarding the issuing of my social security number, she said this was best discussed with the immigration officer at my port of entry.

Her general demeanour was friendly, helpful and reassuring. She did not seem to think that the "administrative work" presented a problem, certainly she did not give any indication that there was any cause for concern, rather the opposite. So although we left the Embassy with a distinct feeling of anticlimax because we did not receive a decision as we were expecting, we still made progress and we hoped it was merely going to take a couple of weeks extra. Fingers remained crossed.

What happened afterwards

We spent a couple of weeks getting increasingly agitated and irritated at the delay, since it was the first thing that had not gone smoothly or had been outside of our control or the normal procedure. Then on September 29 I got an email from the Embassy which said: "Further administrative processing may be necessary. To help avoid further administrative processing please submit your passport as soon as possible. Please contact our courier service on phone number to collect your passport and deliver your issued visa." I called and arranged for collection the following morning. Four days later I got a text from the courier informing me that my US Embassy item was scheduled for delivery the following day, October 5.

First thing in the morning, the courier arrived. And there is the package was my passport, containing my IR1 immigrant visa.

The whole process from mailing the I-130 to receiving my visa took 9 days shy of eight months. I really cannot complain. Compared with the 11 days it took to get my wife her UK spouse visa (equivalent to a CR1) it took forever, but everyone know that the wheels of American bureaucracy turn very slowly. We had only one minor hiccup in the process with the delay caused by the missing form at the Embassy which probably only really delayed the issue by maybe 10 days. Other than that we were able to navigate a notoriously complicated, slow and bureaucratic process essentially unaided - we did not need an immigration lawyer or other professional assistance - we got there by reading the instructions on the US Embassy London website and following them and it all took less than than the "at least ten months" the Embassy cautions you to allow. And of course I am hugely thankful that I fall in the category family-based applicants. I can't imagine what it's like for people who have to wait years or even decades for their applications to inch forward.

Now all we have to do is sort out the logistics of moving to California. I am a very happy new U.S. immigrant!

[bigdog 376]

Welcome to bureaucratic paperwork and delays. You got your passport, anyway.