The 2009 United Kingdom Interview Thread!

[krystiandjon 0]

Congrats on finally arriving, mrs sdp! Funnily enough, Jon and I are taking his parents out to Rapid City after the wedding....(some honeymoon, huh...). We're excited!

Sammills, congrats on the medical and your patience waiting for packet 4 astounds me! Best of luck!

[mrs_sdp 0]

Congrats on finally arriving, mrs sdp! Funnily enough, Jon and I are taking his parents out to Rapid City after the wedding....(some honeymoon, huh...). We're excited!

Sammills, congrats on the medical and your patience waiting for packet 4 astounds me! Best of luck!

Thank you for your congrats krystiandjon. I loved Rapid City - there is so much to do there!!

We never stopped for the full four days ... there was always something else to see ...

It's a great place for a honeymoon ... We have a week in Atlanta to look forward to after our wedding, which will be sometime during the second week in July hopefully!!!

Moira x

[sammills89 2]

Thank you all so much for the congrats, haven't been this happy in a long time! Packet 4 is taking forever, got Samantha to e-mail her senator the other day so hopefully they will shed some more light on the situation. Is it abnormal to be waiting this long (7 weeksish)?

[John and Camie 39]

*WHEW* So much happening here!

CONGRATS to JimandChristy and krystiandjon!!

GO Nik+Heather!! Ellie-and-David!! grapeeyes!!

HAPPY POE to Moira!!

HAPPY VISA DAY to Patricia!! CONGRATS ON THE MEDICAL to Sammills!!

It's fun going through all of this with all of you.

Edited June 3, 2009 by John and Camie

[Gemmie 142]

Congratulations all of you for your medicals, interviews, visas and POE!

It's so good to see such great news in here.. I really appreciate the level of care that people show others.

VJ is probably the best website that I have ever visited (apart from the one where I met my fiance, of course!) or will ever visit. We saved thousands of $ as VJ became our lawyer.. thanks to everyone that helped us with our journey. I know I'm not leaving for a while, but I love seeing all of these good vibes.

[Bob and Patricia 0]

Congratulations all of you for your medicals, interviews, visas and POE!

It's so good to see such great news in here.. I really appreciate the level of care that people show others.

VJ is probably the best website that I have ever visited (apart from the one where I met my fiance, of course!) or will ever visit. We saved thousands of $ as VJ became our lawyer.. thanks to everyone that helped us with our journey. I know I'm not leaving for a while, but I love seeing all of these good vibes.

It's such a wonderful thing to have so much good news here. This group really comes together as a community to celebrate our successes and comfort those that have had some setbacks in the process.

So many other success and setbacks that we never hear about. When you think about all the others out there going through this process w/o the VJ community, and even some on VJ that don't normally inhabit this thread. For example, Pat and I have some friends here on VJ that were recently interviewed/approved (stardust86 on May 19th, and James and Allie on June 2nd). But because they don't stop by this thread, the community at large does not know them or their successes.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I cant think of another group I'd rather make this trip with.

Bless you all,

Bob

[Ellie-and-David 38]

All the good vibes are sooo lovely to see. I must admit, alot of people here say that they find that the process seems to have taken forever to do. For me it seems like a blink of the eye since we filed in November.....and sometimes I have to pinch myself that it is happening. Mind you, dave and I have been lucky. We have had 4 weeks together since we filed, which is a lot more than some. I think this has helped make the wait more bearable.

Even though I have booked my tickets, given up my job and moved back in with my mum, on some level I still cant believe it is happening and I dont think I will be able to fully comprehend this until I step off the plane in Tampa, look at Dave's big goofy smile and realise I dont have to go back and forth anymore...

Woooooooooooooooooooooosh. Sorry about that...that was a loooong sentence.

How's the packing going gemmie? Do you feel at all ready? I keep looking around and realising that I am actually going to miss the west country......

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Account of interview and medical on Monday...

Monday morning woke up at 3:30am, had some cereal and cup of coffee to wake me up, just before I left the house I gave Christy a call to say I was on my way to the Embassy. She wished me luck and told me to call her as soon as I got outside the Embassy building. I left the house just after 4am and drove to Chester to catch the 4:55am train. I left the car in the station's car park, £4 fee for the whole day, however the parking meter didn't accept credit/debit cards and I didn't have any loose change. Luckily there was a taxi company open at that time in the morning, so I ran in my shoes about 100m to get change for a £10 note, ran back and then paid for the ticket and off I went to the platform.

The first leg of the journey was from Chester to Crewe, this was over in no time, never really had time to read my book or listen to some music. Got off at Crewe then took the Virgin train to London Euston to arrive at 7:30am. Once I arrived in Euston walked off the platform and into the Concourse area, lets just say I was a little overwhelmed because I've never been to London before. So I wasn't exactly sure where to go despite the signs, so I asked someone which Underground Station should I take to get to Bond Street. This person was adamant I needed to go to Euston Square, so took the short walk to Euston Square and then asking someone else along the way, I realised I should have taken the Underground station in Euston itself.

So walking back to Euston Station, I took the Underground there and got onto the Victoria line heading towards Oxford Circus, then got off at Oxford Circus and took the Central Line towards Bond Street. Have to say the tube system on the London Underground impressed me a lot, there was no way you could get lost, all walkways were clearly marked with line maps. Once I arrived in Bond Street Station, I was surrounded by what I call a mini shopping mall so this gave me one possible area to do a bit of shopping in between the Embassy and the Medical appointment.

Leaving Bond Street Station onto Davies Street I headed for Gould's Pharmacy and I dropped off my mobile and keys. Then at last here I was at the American Embassy, my first impressions was it very much reminded me of the headquarters of my local council building. So I cued up, then once I got to security, I forget I had my pen drive and a set of headphones in my bag, so I had to go back to Goulds Pharmacy and drop those off. When I returned I was readmitted straight back to Security and finally I got through, walked around the building and I entered the Embassy at 8:45am.

In the reception area I handed over my appointment letter and I was given ticket number 5014, I knew I was in for a long wait. The waiting area certainly reminds you of being at Argos, you sit down and wait for your ticket number to be called to any of the 25 available booths. Monday was a hot day and the Embassy had two massive fans inside the room. Due to the heat, tiredness was starting to creep on me, I'd only had two hours sleep the night before so I went to the back of the room and purchased a Coke for 80p to wake me up and cool off.

Then after looking at the screen for a hour and half my ticket number finally came up, I was assigned window 1 and there I had my fingerprints scanned and was asked to hand over my photos, Birth Certificate, Police Certificate, Passport and Affidavits of Support. I was then told to go to window 14 to pay the visa fee and returned to be told to sit down and wait to hear for my number again. Only another 45mins had passed and I was called up to window 15 for the interview.

I raised my right hand and swore to tell the truth, I was interviewed by an American lady who was very nice and during the whole interview procedure not once did I feel uptight or nervous. Questions I was asked were:

1. When and Where did you meet your fiance

2. When and where did you first meet in person

3. When was the last time you met in person

4. What has been your longest stay in the USA

5. Have you ever been arrested or been denied entry by an Immigration Officer

6. When are you going to the USA

7. When do you intend to get married

8. Where do you intend to live in the USA

9. What job do you intend to take up when you have been give permission to work

10. Have you made any preparations already to ensure employment

The CO said she was happy with everything and I was approved pending the medical results and Co-sponsor's US birth certificate. She gave me a blue form with those boxes ticked and was told to send back my passport, blue form and the Birth certificate when I received it, via the Courier SMS. Once received they would issue the visa and return it with the visa inside. I then left the Embassy, back through security and back to Goulds Pharmacy to pick up my phone etc. Then on the lawn of Grosvenor Square at 11:30am I called Christy to tell her the good news. Since it was approaching lunch time, I decided then to sit on the bench in the warm sunshine to eat my lunch sitting next to the statue of Franklin Roosevelt.

By the time I finished I still had 2.5hrs to go before making my way to the medical appointment. So to kill time I went back towards Bond Street Station and decided to do some shopping in the mall area and had a drink at the pub opposite called The Hog and the Pound. At 2:30pm I made my way to Bentinck Mansions for my medical to brace myself for the rude receptionist that everyone has been talking about on VJ. I arrived at 2:40pm and was asked for my Vaccination record, passport, questionnaire, photo and was told to take a seat in the waiting area. In all of this the Receptionist was surprisingly cheerful, approachable and courteous, I was thinking is this the same person.

In the waiting room, there were already a few people inside, I took my seat right by the door, so I could see right down the corridor towards the room where the x-rays were taken. About 15mins later I had to fill out another questionnaire which also had a form saying you were willing to give up a blood sample for a HIV test. Few moments later I was then called for my chest x-ray by a male doctor who wore glasses and was slightly chubby. He took my weight and asked me questions about any previous medical conditions that I may have had associated with my chest. The plate I was pushed up against wasn't cold at all, x-ray taken and I was then told to return to the waiting room to be called again.

15mins later I was then called by a female doctor with curly hair into the room opposite the reception area, there she asked me questions about the questionnaire I filled out and the burn scars and operation I had when I was baby. First of all I was given an eye test, then my height and weight was taken and she told me to strip down to my underwear behind the curtain and to lay down on the bed. There she took my blood pressure, checked my chest area with the stethoscope and pressed in the abdomen region. She had a peak down my boxers to make sure the package was there haha and then came the blood test.

Now like most people I can be a bit squeamish when it comes to needles but to my surprise this hardly hurt, she warned me about the small ####### and it was over in a matter of seconds. I then got dressed and returned to the waiting room to be called for payment. Payment was taken on my card, all £180 of it, I think that hurt more than the blood test! The whole process took under a hour, I left Bentinck Mansions and my first thought was just now getting home. I went back to Bond Street Station took the Underground back to Euston. My train home was non-stop all the way to Chester, so no changes needed, which was a welcome relief. At 5:10pm I left Euston and had a hour kip on the train and I arrived in Chester at 7:20pm. I got back into the house at 7:45pm and to celebrate I decided to have a glass of wine and some dinner. What a long day that was.

Thanks to everyone on the UK board for all your help through this process, now I can't wait to get married and start a new life in the USA.

[Gemmie 142]

All the good vibes are sooo lovely to see. I must admit, alot of people here say that they find that the process seems to have taken forever to do. For me it seems like a blink of the eye since we filed in November.....and sometimes I have to pinch myself that it is happening. Mind you, dave and I have been lucky. We have had 4 weeks together since we filed, which is a lot more than some. I think this has helped make the wait more bearable.

Even though I have booked my tickets, given up my job and moved back in with my mum, on some level I still cant believe it is happening and I dont think I will be able to fully comprehend this until I step off the plane in Tampa, look at Dave's big goofy smile and realise I dont have to go back and forth anymore...

Woooooooooooooooooooooosh. Sorry about that...that was a loooong sentence.

How's the packing going gemmie? Do you feel at all ready? I keep looking around and realising that I am actually going to miss the west country......

I know what you mean. It took us 9 months, since we filed in August, and even though it seemed like a long time, it was so much more bearable because I got to spend time with him for about 4 months..

The packing isn't coming along that well, I keep getting distracted! I have managed to do a LOT of laundry as I have to go through all of my clothes and decide what I want to give away, and it's always nice to give them away when they're clean. I've also seperated my books into piles of what I want to keep/send and give away. Other than that, my room is a mess.. too many small things that I don't *need* but I don't want to throw away. Have you started yet?

I will definitely miss the west country.. in a way, I feel ready because I can't stand the thought of going through this waiting and travelling any more, but then I also love it here so much. I'll miss the shops being everywhere (in walking distance), the chip shops, the humour, the sunshine without it being too hot, the beautiful countryside.. I know what you mean though, I can't believe it it's happening either. I'm in a bubble, like you. I think it will feel better when I land in Boston.

Well done on your interview and medical Jim and Christy, everything sounds pretty straight-forward and painless. I agree about the blood test, my heart was going so fast while waiting, I dreaded that more than the "gender check" but it was over so quickly. Afterwards, I didn't even care that I was half naked in front of her, I was just happy.

I bet you're delighted, now you can relax for a while!

Edited June 3, 2009 by Gemmie

[MonkeyJuice 3]

Hi Everyone

Just thought I'd pop in & say hi. It's been hectic since I got here, unpacking, getting settled, getting to know the neighbours, familiarising myself with the house & making it that bit more girly! It's been great so far & we are both so happy. By the way, POE Chicago was a breeze. The only downside was the long queue waiting to be processe but the CO was really smiley.

This process has been the most stressful of our lives but we are grateful for the help you guys gave on here on VJ. I couldn't have done this without the advice of others. It's so worth it though in the end & Mike & I are so happy, we're smiling all the time!

I still can't get my head around the fact that I'm here permanently & I'm not using the visa waiver programme!! It feels fab

Good luck to everyone else with the POE's & also to those still waiting for your visas.

Laura & Mike (Monkeyjuice)

[Nik+Heather 121]

Nik's gone to sleep, and all of a sudden my stomach is tying itself in knots!! I hadn't felt a thing, not even a little flutter, but now I'm feeling very nervous! I'm sure we'll do JUST FINE, but....eeeeeeeeeeek! Of course, posting to VJ about it has started to make me feel better already.

I think I WILL go to the book store tonight to get a really good book to read tonight. Yes. That's what I'll do.

*crosses fingers* Hopefully I'll be posting our good news tomorrow!

-H

[MARM 7]

Good luck Nik+Heather for tomorrow! :thumbs:

You will be just fine!

[Lisa and Ian 7]

Good Morning!!

Just wanted to say congrats to Bob and Patricia!! Congrats also to JimandChristy and krystiandjon Well done to The Sams' on their medical approval!!

I will post a review of POW Detroit once I get my breath back, but it was pretty straight forward. I made sure I had plenty of time between landing in and flying out of Detroit again, so it was pretty stress free!

I waited in a line with about 6 people in front of me - 15 minute wait maximum. I did check to see if I should be in Line 37 as per some posts I've read re POE Detroit, but was directed to Line 31 - one of the normal visitor lines.

The Officer had a quick browse through my paperwork and then I was asked two questions. Where in the USA will you be living and when are you getting married? Then he did the fingerprint and retinal scan and I was done!! The whole experience took 20 minutes - including waiting time - WONDERFUL!! I got the "Welcome to America" as well, which was nice ....

Customs was straightforward too - apart from struggling with two enormous suitcases and my carry on luggage!!

All flights were through KLM/NWA and I couldn't fault them .....

I spent a long weekend in Rapid City SD, so I'm only just unpacking this morning. I hardly got my foot in the door on Thursday night and we were on the road again! His nephew's High School Graduation, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands were amazing though - so the rush was all worthwhile .......

Have a great week everyone ....

Moira x

Welcome to the US (and the Midwest)! I'm glad to hear the POE was so painless. How exciting!

[Ellie-and-David 38]

Nik's gone to sleep, and all of a sudden my stomach is tying itself in knots!! I hadn't felt a thing, not even a little flutter, but now I'm feeling very nervous! I'm sure we'll do JUST FINE, but....eeeeeeeeeeek! Of course, posting to VJ about it has started to make me feel better already.

I think I WILL go to the book store tonight to get a really good book to read tonight. Yes. That's what I'll do.

*crosses fingers* Hopefully I'll be posting our good news tomorrow!

-H

Good luck for today! Actually as I type this it's probably nearly all over for him!

I hope it is wonderful news

E

[Gemmie 142]

Glad to hear you're getting settled, MJ and mrs sdp.

Let's hear the good news, Nik and Heather!