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Since this is posted in the UK forum--do you think there is widespread rudeness to spouses at the embassy in London? Do you know anyone who was denied in London and not given a reason why? I don't.

Hi Nick-

I posted this as I logged in, I did not specify it for london alone. I guess it defaulted that way for the way my acct is set up. Would you or anyone else be able to post/move it to a better centralized location, please that would be appreciated.

In regards to whether the london office has been rude to family members, yes they have, and have denied about three families I know of, and none of whom has been given any sensible explanation as to why they decided thus. Two families, one of whose sponsor I was once deployed with, has gotten no response to why his wife and stepchild were scorned at their interview and why they were lied to many times only to end up getting a denial letter. The other family was told that the office was unable to issue their visas, and worsemore, that they are NOT eligible to file for an appeal or something on those lines. My case, on the other hand, has not been denied yet (knock on hard wood), but you can definitely get a picture of how they've treated me from the time of my interview, and still not willing to tell me whether they are reviewing my case administratively yet or not. They keep taking my $16 each time I call and then tell me they have nothing to report and that I should call back. You can find out more if you look @ my posted topics on vj.

a lot of the few people that have signed this petition were not disrespected in london alone, and that shows that this rudeness (as you call it) is something that sprinkles throughout this system.

Greetings to all VJers,

Here is an opportunity to make our mark.

Please, do NOT be deterred by the need to register the website before you can sign. I am sure it is something we all would like to have.

Please, do your part to allow the leader to do theirs (or to refuse to).

"Reform the family based immigration processes at the embassy level to make the process open , equal and fair"

'There is a need to restructure the Visa application/Petition process for family members of US Citizens. There is currently a lack of openness and large disparities in the application of rules. Beneficiaries are treated without respect over the years. Many consulates would issues rejections for vague reason and are not accountable to document or disclose the reason they issued those decisions. Once a petition is approved by the USCIS, there needs to be an expectation of equality and respect towards the various US Citizens waiting for reunification with family. We feel that the embassy should treat our valued family members with respect, and that having paid fees for the filing of the petition, we as petitioners have a right to full disclosure of the interview findings when the visa is not issued'

Please SIGN HERE: http://wh.gov/2Xj

Open for comments by all.

The interviews are subjective. If you give off a bad vibe they may ask for more information or question you more deeply. It's not a machine that grades you but a human.

From your explanation I feel that SOMETHING happened, acquitted or not. If you say "I got arrested, it was a big mistake, it's all clear" I'd tend to believe that. But you ramble on and on and on, just like a person trying for a quick adjudication and hoping that I agree with you before I have time to think about your compete story.

Maybe it is a language barrier. Maybe you are hiding something. Maybe you have a different way of communicating when you are nervous.

But you cannot lie to the interviewers. They hear hundreds of stories a day and can pick out the one liar who stands out from all the rest. Your attitude and explanation, from my point of view, warrant further investigation. If it is all truly an egregious error, be quiet and let the paperwork do the talking.

THANK YOU, Aorobert!

This is the kind of substantial feedback I have been hoping for (not that none other posts here are invalid). You truly understand how this things work. I have a very strong feeling there was a huge gap in style of communication/language barrier issue during the interview because when he asked after the story behind the arrest/acquittal, I clearly explained to him (the way I could) that it was some sort of a set up to my understanding, and I also tried to tell him how there were more than two story lines fabricated by the prosecuting team during the trial that did not mesh at all, plus how they had wanted me to sign a document that told a completely unfamiliar story on how I packed illegal items into my luggage and how their anger for my refusal to sign on their false statement (after arresting me) came to light in the court room. I had to get into this much details with him because he kept asking for more detailed information. I was not into rambling on and on but he kept asking for more and more details, so I kept ganswering his question and finally realized that I ended up giving him the whole shpill as he wanted. he led the conversation all the way, I disciplined myself not to ramble at that interview. I even had to tell him how I missed my graduation ceremony (Masters Degree program) because I was detained almost a year pending trial. I know am not the best communicator, and I know very well that he may have gotten the wrong vibe from me somehow; but I know that, if he is a ny good at his job as you say, he would know I was not lying.

Like I said before, I like your input here, it is solid; I would like more posts like yours, so please feel free to add as much more comments as you can and that goes to everyone else.

Thanks again.

The MAP could do nothing when it came to the embassies/consulates; it's as good as we never contacted them. All we could get from them was information, information, and then some more of the same of pretty much everything we already knew and were doing. The y would have been of great help during the USCIS phase of the process, but we were able to get through that fairly quickly. They couldn't control the embassies/consulates nor how they operated.

As for who to sue, it would be the embassy/consulate who actually decided they were going to take a rather tax-dollar-wasting route. The use of the USCIS acronym was used in generalization, not in precision. USCIS did what they were assigned to do and did so promptly, but the embassy has chosen to rephrase their job description(s) to include laughing rather mockingly to the face(s) of human beings that present to them because of heir life circumstances.

Thank you all for your posts here; still open for more of your enlightening thoughts.

HAHAHAHAHA!!! Sounds like a movie huh...

RE: jojo92122

It will formally be determined by the prosecuting team--if we get there. I cannot sit here and nickle & dime on one petty reason or another. it will need work and, if we get there, I will let you know. One thing is for sure, she was robbed of the chance to see me before she shipped out given that anything could really happen there; she even had to be allowed to ship out with the last batch of troops from her base for this reason as they lead her to believe that our case was expedited due to her deployment, and that did not sit well with her nor anyone of us in the family. You made your point that I had no rounds to take legal action, which I already knew, I appreciate that and all your responses as well.

Well while you wouldn't be paying lawyer fees, there would be other costs/disbursements that you would HAVE to pay unless your MIL was willing to shoulder those expenses.

All costs would be taken care of and not a problem at all. She mentioned that as well but added that it should not be a concern at all.

To correct a mistype above, I meant to say my wife would be represented as the plaintiff not the defendant; and the MIL has NOT tried an immigration case in almost 3 yrs now.

thanks again.

Since your MIL used to be an immigration lawyer, she should be able to tell you if you can sue the US government. What did she say when you asked her about suing the US government?

The MIL said if she would it would have to be through her daughter, not through me, as in the wife as a defendant and that would have to be after she returns--if something has not happened by then. She did however state that it could be a hand full but not impossible at all, and she may have to work double time as she has tried a case under immigration for almost 3 year now.

In response to the question of a foreign body suing the uscis, this would actually be a us citizen suing her own government...if that makes any sense. I am looking for outside ideas out of curiosity, and to see if there were other avenues I could follow.

thanks for ur responses.

Sounds to me like you needed a subject access report from the police where you were arrested. These cost around £10 and take a few days to obtain.

As for suing USCIS, I wish you luck with that!

Hi Richie81,

in the following quote, I was referring to the subject access report but i did not specifically name it on the post:

quote:

[The funny thing is that the police record I just go from them only states the arrest, remand, release to court system to try, and acquittal, which still would not feed them the kind of food they want. The other funny thing is the transcript will show how they prosecution kept manufacturing and fabricating evidence so obviously that the jury even began to practically request for actual evidence found on my person and my home which they had nothing positive to show for. It just seems so funny that the police shows no record of all that on their database. It makes me even want to have the court transcript more than they wan it. There was no such thing as reasonable doubt in the case, it was just a set up so evident to the jury that they felt their time was wasted and 8 months of my life was wasted in jail while they looked for evidence. So in other words, the police has got nothing to show for the mistakes they made by wrongfully accusing me. I thought they would at least have more in their system as they initiated the whole process and saw it to the end, and most of all,they were the instrument used by the prosecution to fabricate laughable evidence. the really sad part here is that we actually expedited so I could see the wife before her deployment which we still ended up missing, but she'd be back in December, but not sure where I would be at that time.

As for the cost of possibly suing them, the mother in-law used to be an immigration lawyer but now an international trades lawyer, so it will not be costing us any thing other than time.

Thanks for your inputs, and please, keep them coming; w appreciate them.]

Where is the mockery of your marriage mentioned? The laughing at being apart? That's not exactly mocking your marriage... Why doesn't she visit you? That could be why he's laughing, you making it seem like USCIS's fault that you're not together when you have other options.

.

She is deployed very often and also juggling her college education the few times she is home. it is usually easier for me to visit her which has been happening for about a couple of times a year for the past 3 years. Not just that he laughed once, but he kept saying something like, ' so u wan me to believe that u only see each other once or twice a year?....hahaha, and he changes the topic to something else, and then comes back to make the same scoffing comment again for about SEVEN times during a 2-hours-long entervew. That is totally uncalled for, maybe that's one of the reasons they do not allow ppl to show up with electronic gadgets that could be used to record their actions and words beside just security reasons. Funny thing is there was another guy he chatted a bit with on the same day for the same IV interview with 2 juvenile convictions on record and time served, and was approved in less than 15 minutes. THAT IS biased NOT discretion.

Right now she is deployed again and will be back in December, and hopefully for good for a very long time. She is typically deployed every other six months for half a year and would jump right back to school the moment she gets back so she can meet her graduation date as her academic goal is for medical school and she cannot take any more online classed at her current level. everything is required t be taken in class for the rest of her academics until she graduates. That is why 'she cannot realistically plan to visit as much as I can, reason why it has always been best for me to make it there and stay with her for some time while she is home.

The funny thing is that the police record I just go from them only states the arrest, remand, release to court system to try, and acquittal, which still would not feed them the kind of food they want. The funny thing is the transcript will show how they prosecution kept manufacturing and fabricating evidence so obviously that the jury even began to practically request for actual evidence found on my person and my home which they had nothing positive to show for. It just seems so funny that the police shoes not record of all that on their database. It makes me even want to have the court transcript more than they wan it. There was no such thing as reasonable doubt in the case, it was just a set up so evident to the jury that they felt their time was wasted and 8 months of my life was wasted in jail while they looked for evidence. So in other words, the police has got nothing to show for the mistakes they made by wrongfully accusing me. I thought they would at least have more in their system as they initiated the whole process and saw it to the end, nd most of all,they were the instrument used by the prosecution to fabricate laughable evidence. the really sad part here is that we actually expedited so I could see the wife before her deployment which we still ended up missing, but she'd be back in December, but not sure where I would be at that time.

As for the cost of possibly suing them, the mother in-law used to be an immigration lawyer but now an international trades lawyer, so it will not be costing us any thing other than time.

Thanks for your inputs, and please, keep them coming; w appreciate them.

I hope all is well with everyone.

The interview took place on the 2nd of June, and in a nut shell, it has not yet ended, I suppose bcos of the link to being a Nigerian. in addition, there was an arrest in England for controlled substances that was just basically a set-up, and it ended with an acquittal as in found not guilty by jury. immediately after which the UK residence permit was renewed cos it expired while remanded in custody for 8 months exactly. Basically, the interviewer either feels i should have been convicted, or that it was impossible to have been able to renew my residency immediately after that whole incident. he requested the court transcript of the 2 weeks long trial (which is not necessarily made available to individuals, and by the way, if they had to get me a copy, i would have to pay about 6000.00GBP which comes out to about $10,000.00 as in USD). I find it very questionable that they/he would request such document without truly knowing the reality of the one's ability to obtain it, since he seemed to know better than the police and the legal system as he continued to question why my police certificate states NO TRACES (Not even NO LIVE TRACES)as n no criminal records ever! He could not have been doing this for the first time in his career, since it seemed I was the last IV applicant to be called when I was the first in the door and the first scheduled appointment of the day, I saw him as probably the most experienced of them all with his age and complacent attitude. After I wrote him with copies of written correspondence between the crown court and myself, he switched over to wanting a record from the police dept that handled my case from arrest to acquittal--the same police that issued a certificate (that should technically be the only thing they should go by). At some point they seemed to be questioning our very existence.

Where do I begin and where do I end. he even laughed a few times as he noted that the permit is nearing another expiration, and he also found it funny that i and my spouse have been this far apart from each other for so long as though it was impossible.

With this pace, what happens if their delay extends to the expiration of the resident permit at the end of the year?

I have been wondering whether to sue them for attempting to question the authority that closed my case; he pretty much seems like he would like to reopen the case; what do you think?

I hope all is well with everyone.

he interview took place on the 2nd of June, and in a nut shell, it has not yet ended, I suppose bcos of the link to being a Nigerian. in addition, there was an arrest in England for controlled substances that was just basically a set-up, and it ended with an acquittal as in found not guilty by jury. immediately after which the UK residence permit was renewed cos it expired while remanded in custody for 8 months exactly. Basically, the interviewer either feels i should have been convicted, or that it was impossible to have been able to renew my residency immediately after that whole incident. he requested the court transcript of the 2 weeks long trial (which is not necessarily made available to individuals, and by the way, if they had to get me a copy, i would have to pay about 6000.00GBP which comes out to about $10,000.00 as in USD). After I wrote him with copies of written correspondence between the crown court and myself, he switched over to wanting a record from the police dept that handled my case from arrest to acquittal--the same police that issued a certificate (that should technically be the only thing they should go by).

Where do I begin and where do I end. he even laughed a few times as he noted that the permit is nearing another expiration, and he also found it funny that i and my spouse have been this far apart from each other for so long as though it was impossible.

I have been wondering whether to sue them for attempting to question the authority that closed my case; he pretty much seems like he would like to reopen the case; what do you think?

Thanks all, we got bumped up the list for her medical so now we have medical and police certificate completed...sending in readiness form and now waiting for interview date.....hopefully in 2 weeks

also most there!!!!

Hi Yoms,

Have you guys had your interview yet; if so, how did it go? best of luck!

I emailed the Embassy in London, and all they replies was that they would schedule appointment shortly; what do they mean by 'shortly'? How is "shortly" defined in their vocabulary/dictionary?

Thanks a lot; I am still concerned/worried about this whole delay in clearance part.

The link above has so much information, I lost my track of thought and understanding a few times while going through it. I think it has more to do with business immigration.

Called again and no go. What else can I do?

Sorry forgot the link http://www2.gtlaw.com/practices/immigration/newsletter/archives/017/item07.htm

Thanks Nick.

Isn't it so convenient that Osama just happened to choose this as the most suitable time to die... Not that Nigerian born UK residents have never been suspected of being potential tools in the hands of t***sts or anything. How convenient is that really.

Thank you all for all you support so far, it's been helpful! My fiance now has an appointment date set! So now we will go over the documents she is taking in and make sure everything is ok. We know each other very well but we will still do practice interviews. I hear the london embassy is very nice so i am not worried much.

i have some quick questions:

Can i ask to have the interview date bumped up so she can have it sooner? will that be a problem?

Do you think it will help if i was in London with her for the interview since she has a Nigerian pasport? we don't have any problems or criminal or immigration problems either, clean records.

Do they take her passport from her or they mail her the visa?

and if she does her interview on a thursday, how long does it take for her to get her visa in the mail?

thanks guys!

Hi Yoms, I did you ever get the pm I sent you yesterday about the timeline; When is your interview date set for? I'd be updating my timeline sometime later in the day. I hope that your interview goes well as much as I hope our will.

London tends to grill non-UK citizens at their interviews.

Hi amykathleen,

so do u know of other ppl here on VJ that have gone through London as non-UK-citizens that I may look up to see what their interview experiences were like. We are kind of in a similar situation where my hubby lives in UK but has a Nigerian passport. We are currently awaiting an interview date. thanks.

try looking up vj member firstlove2

Thanks for the info, i believe I may have come across that name sometime ago. I can't help but wonder how come most Nigerians interviewed in London are placed on Administrative Review. Could they do this even with a case that is expedited due to deployment? Even Firstlove2 was placed on AR and I'm not sure what makes these ppl do this. This seems to happen more frequently with Nigerians than most others, it really makes me uneasy. I mean, could there be some things these applicants do that makes the CO decide to place them on these reviews or do they just automatically default to administrative review as soon as it's a Nigerian citizen...any ideas?

I thought medical reports are forwarded to embassy within a week...call Knightsbridge & find out if they did in fact send it and if so, call the NVC and tell them that its urgent they set up your interview for the next available appt because of deployment (they can get you one within 3-4 days according to the posted London timeline) ...ask for a supervisor if you have to. If you are successful & get an appt for next week, ask if they will email the appt letter since you will need it for interview & can't wait for it to come in the post. If you didn't send US sized passport photos to NVC, bring those & enough money on a debit/credit card for courier service (ask to expedite that as well). I've never tried it but that's what I would do in your situation...maybe someone with experience can suggest something more. Good Luck to you!

PS: if he's a legal resident of the UK, where his passport was issued shouldn't matter. Did you forward police certificates from all countries lived in since age 16? and court records if he had any convictions? that would probably matter.

Thanks trojam for the suggestions, and interview prep. I have tried and tried and then tried some more to have someone at the NVC make this right, but they continue to wash their hands clean of the case, claiming they no longer have the case file in their hands. knightsbridge has infact sent the report to the embassy and I think they should have this by now but they say they don't, and they had the guts to charge me for yet another empty phone call. As for the police certificates and passport photos, they been had those all the way from the NVC.

Hi all,

I would love to hear from as many Nigerian voices as possible that have some good knowledge of interview experiences at the London office. What should we expect at interview when scheduled?

Thanks for ur help.

Hi guys,

I hope all is going well with you all.

I just had a question for you all, concerning London interviews. I appologise if this comes across as an interruption. My hubby is a UK resident with naija passport and has an expedited case for london and still waiting on an interview date (ironic for an expedite I think). Would anyone happen to know any Nigerians that have interviewed in London recently or within the past year? I would appreciate any and all inputs you all may have for us.

Thanks and good luck in all your cases and processing.

Blessings.