Izu&Abbey

Had my interview yesterday after almost a year of application submission....

My summary: got the potential waiver letter back in Aug,went on to call the service center and was told to call back in a month if I hadn't heard anything. Moved to another state in Sept & called in October, got a real nasty lady that barely let me talk,but recited to me that I got the potential waiver therefore to wait up to 6 months from the letter date before calling! then she went on to drop the phone on me!! after i'd stayed on queue for like forever!!! . Anywho, I traveled and came back at Christmas, immediately after new year I called again, and got a real helpful man, even said that I should've raised a service request before then, & also informed that my case should've been transferred to my local office after I moved & said my local office was processing June currently... He raised a service request & 2 days later I get an email saying that an interview date was being assigned, & 2 weeks later I get a letter for an interview yesterday

And yes I was approved!!! . Hardly felt like an interview, nice young CO,asked hubby a few questions about work & the relocation, asked how we met, if I worked, any kids, took hubby's work letter & our last tax return,just asked me to confirm the details on my application - full name, address, DOB etc, & we were done! He even went further to stamp my passport with another Advanced Parole & Employment Authorization valid for a year, to use if I needed to travel again/for longer before I received GC in mail

Good luck to those yet to get theirs, keep the faith! and by all means keep calling and raising/following up on service requests... you'll get there soon!!

O yeah! right here too. Getting mighty frustrated & I'm in the NBC and the 'cannot find case...' group . Called USCIS last week & the lady said it takes 2-6 months and sometimes up to a year, but that if I don't hear anything in a month's time, to call back and they'll follow it up. Oh well

Just to say a big thank you! for this thread Vanessa, it was a life saver while putting my forms together for the AOS ( I relied more on it than the USCIS site,lol), but seriously you are amazing and such a selfless lady to put this together to help so many others, thanks!

thanks for the help! Much appreciated.

Quick question please, we are in the process of filing for AOS, I came in on the K-1 visa. I am confused about what last name to use in the forms, do I use the same last name (my maiden name) in my Passport & K-1 visa, or should I use my now married (husband's) last name? worried if there'll be any clash/confusion on the USCIS side. My Social Security Card has my husband's last name. Thanks for any help I can get.

Yeah I agree it depends on the Doctor's surgery, different ones have different policies though they shouldn't outright refuse, they just might charge you at the most. Mine were not very helpful initially & kept telling me I didn't need all those vaccinations for the US no matter my explanation, till I practically went in there with the USCIS sheet, they ended up charging me £38 for all three! still cheaper than the £70 or so at Knightsbridge Doctors...

My only issue is my fiance lives at the top of Florida near his Air Force base so our nearest airport is Pensacola...which isn't a hub and is tiny! I have to have connecting flights and I don't know how many airlines actually fly there since I've only ever flown with BA and American Airlines. I might have to look into which airlines give me the best allowance and hope when i transfer flights it will all go through smoothly!

You might want to check the airlines that fly to any of the airports around your fiance's in Florida & be open to driving a few more miles if need be.

Once when I flew to Pittsburgh with Delta, which is a smaller airport, I checked in at Heathrow & though I had to pick my luggage & recheck it in for Immigration & Customs at JFK as well as use a partner connecting airline, the connection & cost were already all covered from Heathrow.

My fiancee and I started moving my stuff (books & less used stuff) during visits while waiting for the NOA2 to come through, and sometimes would pay for an extra luggage, most airlines don't charge so much for 1st extra luggage (check the airline website the pricing is all there), you can sell stuff especially furniture on a site 'www.preloved.co.uk', it's amazing how quickly things sell off there especially when you don't peg prices too high. Virgin Atlantic are real nice & will not charge you if your suitcase is up to 26kg,and charge £32 (if you pay online) for 1st extra suitcase... I had an extra carry on after my hand luggage, just of books & CDs, which they let me take on for free though I needed a massage on arrival,lol.

It's wise to start on the papers on time, you have no idea how tasking it is to go through years worth of documents to be sure you're not shredding important stuff. Overall it's always better to start on time so that at that last stretch you're not swamped with stuff you thought you had already sorted out

Had my medical at Knightsbridge Bentinck Street yesterday and it went much better than I could have anticipated,heres how it went.

We got the tube from Kingscross (Victoria line to Oxford Circus then Central line to Bond Street) The map Knightsbridge provide on their website helped alot,print if off and make sure you take it with you.

Arrived around 10 minutes early for my 1:30pm appointment, lovely friendly receptionist took my passport etc off me and gave me a questionaire to fill out,similar to the one you complete and take with you. A few extra questions such as have you ever actively tried to take your life which I had to leave blank as 4 years ago when I drank I took too many tablets I ended up in hospital.This freaked me out and at that point I thought I was doomed!!!!

Was then sent to waiting room after about 10 minutes a lady around 6 months pregnant called my name and introduced herself to me as one of the doctors there,she was really friendly,quite gentle and immediately put me at ease. She explained what we would be doing,I had a few forms to sign,one to say I consented to blood test and the other to say I'd attended(I think)

We then began to go through the questionaire,spoke about my hospital stays, I had treatment for an abnormal smear when I was younger so had taken a list of the since negative results,she seemed pleased I'd brought that. Discussed my back surgery,asked if I was ok with my back now....yes that was enough for her. Talked about the pneumonia I had,no problems since other than the odd chest infection. Talked about the fact I have high blood pressure that was usually managed with the medication I was on.

We then moved onto the questions about my mental health which was the part I was dreading, we discussed a little about what had been going on in my life around the time I had self harmed,drank too much and had ended up with an accidental overdose I told her my doctor had sent a letter of which I had no idea what had been written,handed her this she read it and said....perfect....your doctor has said just what I needed to hear,all I know is my doctor was happy to write she had seen me get better and better over the years and saw no reason to think I would harm myself nor anyone else in the future I guess she came through big time and said all the right things.

We discussed the fact I hadnt drank for almost 4 years,the fact I had CBT and talking therapy and that was it really.

Then was the physical side, height,weight(I closed my eyes,she said nothing!!!!) Eyes tested(Dont forget glasses if you wear them!)

She asked me to strip down to my underwear and lay on the examination table,did a breast exam pushed around on my tummy,under ribs. Checked my hip and shoulder joints then took the blood test. It seems they only check for Syphillis.

I was asked to sit up whilst she did my blood pressure which read at 160/98!!!!!! I freaked out,she calmly told me to lay down again and start taking slow deep breaths while she went to try a different cuff as it had been a little tight. She retried it,this time 130/83......thats better!!!!!!

I asked her is she saw many patients,she said she only worked one day a week,thank goodness I was lucky enough to have been there the day she was!!!

That was basically it....I said "Have I passed?" and was told providing the blood test and xray came back fine my results would be on their way to the embassy next week. YAY!!!!!

I had to wait for around 10 mins for the xray,painless and easy enough done by another friendly lady.Then went and discussed the fact I was up to date with my vaccinations and nothing further was required.......just £227!!!!

Visa,Police certificate was returned along with reciept and copy of vaccination record that you MUST keep safe,as it would be needed once in the USA for health insurance and the AOS stage.

The whole process was done by 3pm, I thanked the receptionist and said youve all made a difficult process much easier!!!

Mum and I then went and shopped around Oxford St,had a lovely tea then got back to Kingscross to find our train had been cancelled but thats another story

And today......husband called to say case completed and on way to London embassy so fingers crossed for a March interview!!!!!

I wish I didnt worry so much,again huge thanks for everyones support

So happy for you that all went well at your medicals,and also the progress in your case! Good luck to you in everything, the end to this all is in sight

Thanks for the Aldi scoop! We took a drive to the nearest one here on Monday & found lots of stuff, but not my Maltesers . Hopefully I'll find it before I run out (I'm addicted)

I flew into Newark - Liberty Intl (EWR) Saturday evening, my whole POE experience was smooth and straightforward, submitted my brown envelope and got handed over to another Officer who took me to a back office (and commented that it'd been a while he got one of my case type)... a lady opened the envelope & typed in information on her computer, then called me up and just asked when we would be getting married, after which she handed my passport back & said I was good to go, took less than 20 minutes; picked my luggage & though I'd ticked 'yes' to carrying food, the Customs Officer simply asked what I was carrying and after I told him, he just stamped the form and waved me through, I was already gearing up to be searched (guess he got scared of my pile of suitcases that may have taken him the rest of the night to search through ). Overall, I think it took me just under an hour from coming down the plane to feeling the warmth of my fiance's embrace once again

Mine was straightforward as well, I guess it depends who you meet. I came into US on Saturday and though i knew to wait about 2 weeks before applying, we took a ride to the SSA office just out of curiosity. was attended to by a nice older gentle man, who explained (again) that I'll need to wait at least 10 days from date of entry, but offered to save me the stress of coming back, and took all the required information and copies of documents etc, and assured that on the 10th day (22nd Jan) he will go ahead & process it, to just look out in the post for the letter from them...

Congrats on your approval! Everything has already been covered by the previous posters but just want to add my own experience in case you will have food etc. I didnt have anything other than clothes and my (very old!) laptop so nothing to declare. I did have quite a few snacks etc which i had for my daughter. I asked them whether i needed to declare it or not and i never really got a clear answer so when i was going past the "anything to declare" section, i double checked with them and they said it is fine, i dont need to declare it. So anything like that, its best to ask twice than get caught!

Thanks for the pointer Holly, I do have my chocolates that'll last me till find somewhere locally in my new area, I'll definitely ask them about that

I'm off to the airport!

I can't add anything other then Im really pleased for you!!!! Must be awesome to know you're about to get your life back and have a clue on dates!!!!

Good luck and be happy :dance:

Awww thanks a lot Lynndy38 . Yes it's the most amazing feeling, Saturday can't come fast enough! All the best to you too & I hope yours comes through in no time as well.

thanks all for the help and clarification, It's really a relief!was already having nightmares about where to start with the declaring stuff, but nice to know I'm all good. I don't know what I'll do without you guys,thanks!

And Nich-Nick thanks for the hand luggage tip too,I had already put stuff in my check in luggage, thanks for the early warning

So my interview date finally arrived on the 2nd of January after like forever , I got approved! . Encountered the Window 1 lady & she was no different from described until she got into a coughing fit & I offered her some lozenges as I had cough/sore throat too, after that she was suddenly chatty. Got interviewed by the nice Asian guy as well... (I'll write a full review in the reviews section)

I'm off to the US this Saturday (got a text my passport will be delivered tomorrow morning,yay!!!). It's packing time, & I know I've seen it somewhere before but can't seem to locate it, so I'm looking for help/advice on what I should or should not declare at the POE? And also what I can check in or carry in my hand luggage? Outside of 3 personal use smartphones & a tablet which I don't think I need to declare, do I need to declare other personal valuables like watches, sunglasses, bags, jewelry etc? I have quite a few of them designer items (no I'm not vain, they're mostly gifts & work-related perks, really! ). They don't have tags though still in their casings. Also can I carry all in my hand luggage or should I spread them out?

Thanks for any advice i can get.

I'm going for 4 weeks, leaving 14th Dec! By then it'll be 6 months since I last saw my fiance and I just can't wait to get off that plane and run to him at the airport Thanks for the link, I'm hoping being away isn't going to delay things too much :/

Hi, just to share a little tip to help things move quicker for you now you got your NOA2, I know what it feels like being away from our loved ones for sooo long! A week or two after your NOA2, you/your fiance can call NVC & get your case no., once you have that, call the medicals people immediately and book an appointment, they sometimes have immediate/quick appointments. Fill the forms from http://london.usembassy.gov/iv_15.html and send out to the embassy in London. Get all that sorted then go have yourself a wonderful holiday (I do envy you -(in a lighthearted way), I have my interview 2nd January so I'm stuck here,unless they take pity & give me an earlier date as I've requested ). It takes about 3-4 weeks to log your forms after they receive it especially with the multiple hols in Nov & Dec, so you should be back just in time to be getting an interview date or won't wait much longer, and you can bring back all the supporting documents you need with you... You may get a letter from the embassy - the Packet 3 - with your case no. & further instructions etc or you may not, I never got any and after weeks of waiting I called them only to find out they were never planning to send me anything, and the guy I spoke to gave me same instructions as above on where to find and fill the forms, medicals etc. My fiance got my case number from NVC a week & half after we got our NOA2... So it may well be in your best interest to get the ball rolling & not religiously follow the flowchart. If you do get a letter from the embassy later, just keep it for records purposes,as it likely will not contain anything different from sending you to the link above to get the forms bla bla.

For your questions on the medicals, what Nich Nick wrote is correct,I believe you don't need all those others. Below is the link for UK-centric medicals information. Good luck with everything & have a wonderful holiday!

http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/cons-visa/iv018a_medical.pdf

I take it that the Embassy will not schedule the Visa interview until they have received the details os the medical interview (there appears to be some confusion on that, from what I have read - e.g. I have read that you need to allow at least five days for the results to get to the Embassy - why would you 'need to allow' if you can't get an interview until they have the results?). If I have the case number, can I schedule the medical? Or is there other information or paperwork that I need to wait to receive and take to the medical, other than the Police certificate and completed medical questionnaire? Slightly silly question, probably, but is there anyway I can have a medical in the US with one of their approved doctors or can it only be done with Knightsbridge doctors?

Hi Anna Grant, if going by my timeline which is a bit similar to others here, you may not have much to worry about regarding your time away and medicals, even if you get your NOA2 while away. The 'need to allow' simply means it takes about 5 days for your medical report to be compiled by Knightsbridge Doctors, sent to, received and logged by the embassy. This is still faster than the time it takes them to log the rest of the forms (3 to 4 weeks)

For e.g, I got my NOA2 sept.end; called NVC and got my case number 2nd week October, sent out my forms (Recorded next day delivery)3 days later, my medicals (they sometimes have quick appointment slots) on 19th October. My forms had been delivered to the embassy before I attended my medicals but my medicals got logged the very next week, and the forms just last week (over 3 weeks after they received them!)... And an interview date for 2nd January! (at least you get to spend Christmas & New Year with your fiance, some of us will miserably have to make do with Skype )

In all,even if you get your NOA2 before you leave or while in the US & fill and send off the forms, I don't think you'll have much gap between them logging your stuff & your medicals once you come back (you can book that once you get your case number). Hope this helps! Good luck!

I thought I should share this info below, (though I'll encourage anyone to seek a second opinion on it, this is not fully verified, but just my fiance's understanding)

Fiance says he's been informed by his insurance people that the Obamacare medical bill will be passed in a month or so (but before the end of the year), and that with it, vaccinations will now be free in the US, won't that be great?!

Also, if your partner has medical insurance and depending on what it covers, once you get married, he/she can get you listed on it, and you can use that cover to get your vaccinations in the US if you haven't already here in U.K, the bills covered by the insurance (he checked this with his insurance company and a listed civil surgeon too).

Like I said, this may not apply to every case and may also need further verification, but just said to share, might save some people a few bucks!

So I had my medicals yesterday, took a last minute look at this forum the night before, and found myself not knowing what to really expect. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

First,despite the number of people that said they called back to complain about the misleading vaccination information/advice, they are still giving such advice! I was given that, and the vaccination nurse was even kind enough to give me a letter to take back to my G.P regarding the needed vaccinations and why I needed them (I thought that was kind of her); but yeah, I was told I could get them later and attach it to the copy I was given for the AOS stage ( I know that's misleading but I already have that covered )

Secondly, I got the Eastern European Doctor too, but contrary to reports, she was quite nice! We chatted all through the process (even compared weather and seasons between her country, U.K and Pittsburgh where my fiance lives), and she explained all she was going to do and why they needed to be done & asked if I was okay with it (not like I had much choice).

Overall, it was not a bad experience at all, took a little over an hour altogether, but there were a few other people there too so...

P.S: an embarrassing moment I almost got myself into: while the doctor was leaning over fiddling around my chest (boobs) for lumps n' all, I got a whiff of her perfume which smelled really nice, & without thinking I almost complimented her on it right there, caught myself just in time! Talk about appropriate timing! . My fiance is still cracking up about it

The photos were to be brought with you to the interview and not attached to any of the DS forms. Definitely take extra photos just in case.

ok thanks! you're so helpful

Sorry forgot to ask as well before sending out my forms, are the passport pictures meant to be attached to the form DS-156? I attached mine, wondering now whether I should have . Oh well,guess I can take extra copies on the interview day itself

Lucky that i called, although how expensive it is it would not surprise me if they do not send it out on purpose so they know you will call them.

, talk about revenue generation!

we never received a packet 3 or an embassy letter either.... Had to use VJ forums to find out about the webpage with all of the instructions... I completely relate to the comment about the studying for visa more than school... I guess we do it out of love and longing to be with our Fiancee's..... I wish I would have had a passion like this when I was younger to push me through school... Rarely have I been this focused on something!

Good Luck

that's true, never under-estimate what we do for love! Makes me feel a bit better about not receiving any packet/instructions from the embassy here, was getting a bit concerned.

Thanks and good luck too!

From what you wrote, it sounds as if the person you spoke with may have thought you were filing a spousal visa rather than the K-1.

Do you mean on VJ? You can use the timeline feature and enter in dates as things are sent off or received. Additionally, you can just put the info in your signature file as you go through the various stages. If you mean personally, a spreadsheet or a Word doc is easy enough to list the information along with a physical file folder for storing all the various paperwork.

Yeah I guess so about the confusion, I just left it as I didn't want to seem to be dragging it with him.

About the logging of dates, sorry I meant how do you find out these dates? from a US website or through phone calls? We called NVC and learnt they had received and sent out my case file to London already, but they didn't specify when they received it, same with US embassy London, they just informed I had been logged on their system. should I have been more specific in asking for dates they received, logged and sent out my file from these different places? Everyone seems to have a grip on specific dates and stages their cases pass through from NOA2 through to the Interview, except me

Hi everyone! thanks for this wealth of information here, I never studied at school as much as I've studied this forum! (I'm sure I would've got a 1st class if I put in quarter the effort )

Is my case unique/strange?? We got approved 24th Sept., my fiance called NVC 2 weeks later and learnt my information had been forwarded to London a week earlier, they gave my Case number but basically said I was now London's responsibility (which was also stated in the letter they later sent, that London will contact me with further instructions...). My fiance advised to call the embassy in London just to be sure they had received my file.

There the confusion starts! The person I spoke with said I was logged on their system, but they were waiting to get my forms & medicals results etc, and said NVC was supposed to send me the instructions, not them;I read out the NVC letter to him and he said they were wrong to say that! I asked about the popular packet 3, at least to let me know they were in possession of my application bla bla, and he said there was nothing on my case to say they were supposed to/going to send me anything, that NVC should've done that, and went on to advise me to go ahead and fill and send the forms from their website and book my medicals too

Thanks to this great forum, i wasn't totally lost/confused, so I've sent out my forms, have my medicals this Friday 19th Oct.

I just found it strange that if my restless and impatient fiance hadn't convinced me to call (the premium number!), we would've wasted a lot of time waiting for a letter/packet that would not come

Also please how do you guys keep track of when your application/documents went through the different stages - received at xyz, sent out to xyz, logged at xyz?? I seem to be out of touch on that one, pls help!

and sorry I wrote an essay here