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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

Hi there VJr's!

Well everything has been moving a lot faster since Carly and I received our NOA2. We have now received our packet 3 and I completed all forms and sent it off to London a few days ago. I was under the initial impression that I would receive an interview date first and then be able to schedule a medical before this in an attempt to make just one trip to London (I live in Northern Ireland). However, after much research on here I have discovered that I will only be given an interview date once I have completed a medical exam... argh!

So my question is as follows: Would it be possible for me to schedule a medical exam with the Dublin US Embassy approved medical doctor rather than Londons Knightbridge? This is a vain attempt to reduce further expenditure to an already depleted visa fund...!

I can't believe there isn't one approved doctor in each of the home nations ie Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England? Wouldn't this make more sense and save people so much hassle!!!!

Thanks in advance for all advice

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ireland
Timeline

An interesting question! I would imagine it is possible, as the procedures for both country's medical are similar, but I don't think I have ever seen it done. You better contact the London embassy and see if they will allow it before proceeding.

Bye: Penguin

Me: Irish/ Swiss citizen, and now naturalised US citizen. Husband: USC; twin babies born Feb 08 in Ireland and a daughter in Feb 2010 in Arkansas who are all joint Irish/ USC. Did DCF (IR1) in 6 weeks via the Dublin, Ireland embassy and now living in Arkansas.

mod penguin.jpg

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Afraid that if you have filed through London, you have to do the medical in London. :( Knightsbridge is the only place to do your medical.

Can one of the organisers/mods please move this to the UK forum? There may be up to date info about the scheduling process, i.e. if you can schedule the interview without having first scheduled the medical. It's fairly easy to get an appointment at Knightsbridge, so there's the possibility that you might be able to schedule a date for the medical, then get your interview date, then reschedule the medical to a date closer to the interview date. I know this has been possible in the past, but recent London folks should be able to let you know.

Ages ago (before 2006?) there used to be multiple medical providers in the UK, but in their infinite wisdom London decided to make it available at only one establishment. Really sucks for those in NI and Scotland in particular.

larissa-lima-says-who-is-against-the-que

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Ireland
Timeline

**** Honey Crumpet has a good point, moving to UK regional forum for country specific info *****

Bye: Penguin

Me: Irish/ Swiss citizen, and now naturalised US citizen. Husband: USC; twin babies born Feb 08 in Ireland and a daughter in Feb 2010 in Arkansas who are all joint Irish/ USC. Did DCF (IR1) in 6 weeks via the Dublin, Ireland embassy and now living in Arkansas.

mod penguin.jpg

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As Honey Crumpet said, the medical appointments seem to be pretty flexible and you can usually get one at short notice. Just be aware that the Knightsbridge clinic will tell you that it takes four days for your medical results to reach the Embassy - in reality it is probably less, mine were finally sent on a Thursday and were there by early the following Tuesday morning when I had my interview, but they had me biting my nails! It just means that if your medical appointment is too close to your interview you might not get an approval on the same day.

Edited by cathy2904

01/27/2011 - Trevor's N400 submitted
02/18/2011 - Married
04/02/2011 - NOA1 hard copy received - priority date 03/30/2011
07/08/2011 - Trevor is now a USC - called USCIS to request upgrade of the petition.
08/02/2011 - NOA2
09/08/2011 - LND case number received, medical booked
09/26/2011 - Case complete at NVC
09/30/2011 - Interview date assigned
11/08/2011 - Interview - approved!!
11/10/2011 - Visa in hand
12/04/2011 - POE in Atlanta
12/12/2011 - SSN number received in mail
12/12/2011 - Welcome notice received
01/06/2012 - Green card received
09/06/2013 - File for Removal of Conditions
10/01/2013 - Biometrics for ROC
02/03/2014 - Card production email received

02/17/2014 - 2nd card production email received

02/28/2014 - 10 year Green card received

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For a K1, they will not even assign an interview date until the medical results are received by the embassy. You might call the embassy, ask for an email code, and email somebody who has more sense than the phone people and the power to do something. Explain the cost and time involved and ask if they would make an exception and let you schedule your medical for the day before or afternoon of the interview.

Your other problem is flying to London to interview and leaving your passport with the embassy. Most of the airlines I hear, won't let you on the plane(home) without a passport.

England.gifENGLAND ---

K-1 Timeline 4 months, 19 days 03-10-08 VSC to 7-29-08 Interview London

10-05-08 Married

AOS Timeline 5 months, 14 days 10-9-08 to 3-23-09 No interview

Removing Conditions Timeline 5 months, 20 days12-27-10 to 06-10-11 No interview

Citizenship Timeline 3 months, 26 days 12-31-11 Dallas to 4-26-12 Interview Houston

05-16-12 Oath ceremony

The journey from Fiancé to US citizenship:

4 years, 2 months, 6 days

243 pages of forms/documents submitted

No RFEs

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For a K1, they will not even assign an interview date until the medical results are received by the embassy.

I hadn't realised that - apologies to the OP and thanks to Nich-Nick.

01/27/2011 - Trevor's N400 submitted
02/18/2011 - Married
04/02/2011 - NOA1 hard copy received - priority date 03/30/2011
07/08/2011 - Trevor is now a USC - called USCIS to request upgrade of the petition.
08/02/2011 - NOA2
09/08/2011 - LND case number received, medical booked
09/26/2011 - Case complete at NVC
09/30/2011 - Interview date assigned
11/08/2011 - Interview - approved!!
11/10/2011 - Visa in hand
12/04/2011 - POE in Atlanta
12/12/2011 - SSN number received in mail
12/12/2011 - Welcome notice received
01/06/2012 - Green card received
09/06/2013 - File for Removal of Conditions
10/01/2013 - Biometrics for ROC
02/03/2014 - Card production email received

02/17/2014 - 2nd card production email received

02/28/2014 - 10 year Green card received

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So my question is as follows: Would it be possible for me to schedule a medical exam with the Dublin US Embassy approved medical doctor rather than Londons Knightbridge? This is a vain attempt to reduce further expenditure to an already depleted visa fund...!

I'm from the North too. I believe when you submit your I-129F there was a section where you could ask to apply for the visa other than a country you are resident in (Question 20) but that it was at the discretion of the Embassy in that country. We decided against this in case it caused any sort of undue delay.

I can't believe there isn't one approved doctor in each of the home nations ie Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England? Wouldn't this make more sense and save people so much hassle!!!!

The British Isles are not that large a country in comparison to some others (France, Germany, Russia etc.) and they all have one approved doctor so if the Embassy has to have contracts with a doctor in each that increases the costs and logistics somewhat.

Your other problem is flying to London to interview and leaving your passport with the embassy. Most of the airlines I hear, won't let you on the plane(home) without a passport.

A lot of UK based airlines will let you fly internally with just photo ID. Some will even accept photo ID from your work, just check the airline's conditions of carriage before you book. When I came back from the medical I flew Aer Lingus and used my provisional licence with no issue.

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Here are some airlines that accept ID other than a passport

BMI

http://ask.flybmi.com/help/passenger_info/photo_id

"Q:What is an acceptable form of photographic ID?

bmi accepts the following forms of photographic ID.

Valid passport

Valid photographic driver's licence

Valid photographic EU/EEA or Swiss national identity card

Valid armed forces identity card

Valid police warrant card/badge

Valid airport employees security identity pass

Valid business photographic ID (Dublin only)"

Aer Lingushttp://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformation/planandbook/visaspassports/#d.en.7146

"Travel between Ireland and the UK or UK Domestic travel

Citizens of Ireland and the UK must carry some form of official photo identification. The following forms of photo identification are acceptable:

Valid Passport

Driver's licence with photo

International student card

National ID card / Government issued photo ID cards

Health Insurance cards with photo / Social security cards with photo

Bus pass with photo

Work ID with photo"

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I think EasyJet will take any photo ID as well.

I'd rather fly from Belfast to London than doodle around on the bus to Dublin.

Look for a cheapie flight out of Belfast to London Stansted (probably less than 50 quid). Then take a Terravision coach into the City (9 quid) the journey takes about 1.5 hours.

I think RyanAir flies out of Londonderry now to Stansted. You might get away from any of their exorbitant charges if you weren't carrying any bags.

Where's that camp in WV? :)

Edited by Rebecca Jo

Our journey together on this earth has come to an end.

I will see you one day again, my love.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

Thank you all for the fantastic advice and help, it is greatly appreciated! I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and head to London twice. I'm going to ring the embassy like Nich Nick said and see if they will make an exception first of all. You never know..! In regards flights, thanks again for the information. The closing stages are on their way...

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Thank you all for the fantastic advice and help, it is greatly appreciated! I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and head to London twice. I'm going to ring the embassy like Nich Nick said and see if they will make an exception first of all. You never know..! In regards flights, thanks again for the information. The closing stages are on their way...

Transferring your interview and medical to Dublin will cause some delays. You might be able to arrange for it, but be mindful it WILL add time to your processing.

If you decide to bite the two-trip bullet, hustle yourself over to tripadvisor.com. Go to the London forum. Someone there can give you detailed directions as to how to get to your medical and the Consulate. If you fly into Heathrow you can come into London on the Piccadilly line on the Underground (I know there are Aer Lingus flights out of Belfast that land at Heathrow). TALF'ers at Trip Advisor would be able to give you detailed directions on which interchange station off Piccadilly you would need to take, etc. I would bet you could move around London via the Underground for about 15 quid (including the journey back to Heathrow for your return flight). Journey time on the Underground into the center of London is about one hour.

If you come in on a bus from Stansted, likewise the folks at Trip Advisor could tell you the cheapest and fastest ways to get to your destinations.

If you come into Gatwick, you can get a Southern Rail train into Victoria Station - I think one way fare is 12 quid. (I think EasyJet flies into both Stansted and Gatwick).

Obviously, Victoria tube station, Victoria Rail Station and Victoria Coach Station are all near enough to each other that your journey to the Consulate or Knightsbridge for your medical would all be similar. But TALF experts can guide you completely.

Not to ratchet up your anxiety, I hope none of your visits to the Old Smoke are late July - early August!

BTW, my husband is from Londonderry. And we live in WV. :)

Edited by Rebecca Jo

Our journey together on this earth has come to an end.

I will see you one day again, my love.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: United Kingdom
Timeline

So I figured it would be best to post my answer (after much research and communication with London Embassy) to help out any future Northern Irish hopefuls...!

I rang the London Embassy and discussed the following and the London replies:

1. Prospect of attending my medical in Dublin - No. As I have filed with the London embassy I must attend the medical for London and London only.

2. Prospect of scheduling my visa appointment first and then a medical - No. I MUST have my medical before my visa interview

3. Transferring my case to the Dublin Embassy - Yes. This is actually what they suggested although it would obviously cause further delays to the process if I transferred which I wasn't very keen on for obvious reasons!!

So, in effect, I made my bed so now I lie in it. I have scheduled a medical for next week and booked my flights across. Luckily, as Rebecca Jo said, Ryanair have just recently started a route from L'Derry to Stanstead which is really cheap so it only cost me £40 rtn which is great.

Thank you all again for all of your help and advice and I hope this post will help others in future.

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If you're flying into Stansted, consider taking the Easybus. It costs as little as two quid and will take you directly to Baker Street, which is walkable (15-20mins) to Knightsbridge's offices.

larissa-lima-says-who-is-against-the-que

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Make sure you follow the Terms and Conditions of RyanAir when you fly with them, or your 40 quid fare could rise exponentially. I presume you are going over and coming back the same day? If so you won't have a checked bag. Maybe not even a carry on?

You'll be fine if you follow their rules.

Here's a TA thread from the air travel forum about RyanAir.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k5303747-Ryanair_Questions-Air_Travel.html

Our journey together on this earth has come to an end.

I will see you one day again, my love.

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