Azsara

congrats!

Hello Everyone,

Happy to say we are on the home stretch. "Packet three" submitted, medical complete on Monday and DS-2001 in the post tomorrow. Now we sit and wait for the interview.

My question is what constitutes a status update change or general status change on CEAC? Mine has said "ready" since the date "packet three" was sent which was July 25th. I realize the medical results have not yet arrived but clearly "packet three" has arrived and I would have thought the July 25th "status update date" would have changed once the "packet three" arrived. So now I am a little worried that it never made it.

Can any one provide some light on this. Should I be worried or is this normal.

Many thanks...

My experience of the CEAC updates is that they are pretty reliable. It updated when they logged my pcket 3, when they logged my medical, when they assigned an interview date, and then when they dispatched packet 4 to tell me they had assigned me an interview date.

Dont expect a status update just because you know they have signed for your packet 3 and receieved it. They usually only update it once they "log" it and there is a difference. As your readyness form hasnt been sent yet its not surprising they may not have logged your packet 3 so i would say its not unusual for them not to have logged packet 3 on the CEAC update

Even though I have my interview date i think.of u guys that are waiting every day

Please let us know as soon as u hear anything. Jola...I feel sick at how long its been

Probably a stupid question, as I probably just missed a tid bit of information along the way, but how can you track it if they send the tracking number via email and you didn't receive an email?

I was gonna.ask the same thing...

Yes I remember talking about phone bills once and was shocked by how much he pays. I'm on the lowest possible o2 one here (I never call anyone!) with a data bolt on; never more than about £20 per month. Best recalibrate my expectations there!

We had the phone bill conversation too and Steve was like, ok im going to put you on my account we can get a really good deal, it will just be $75 a month for your phone and you get like 600mins. I was like, I pay £15 a month right now to Virgin for unlimited EVERYTHING

Thing is though, on that site, it says about having a transcript for secondary education too. I've never even heard of this and don't know if mine would do it. I've never gone to college or uni here, just the basic primary and secondary education.

Would I need a transcript for my GCSEs? Has anyone here been through that?

(I have all of my official results certificates)

There is no way u could get a transcript for every year of secondary school surely? That would make sense if you had to "pass" every year like in america but in the UK u just need to pass your GCSE's (which strictly speaking you dont *need* to pass even those), Your GCSE results will be sufficient along with certs from each of the exam bodies u sat ur exams with.

WES the company I was using did not want any of my gcse certs if i had done anything even remotely higher i.e foundation degree, diploma, a-levels etc.

There exact wording said "Only attach certificates of your highest level of education".

I did a lot of research on it at the time and it was my understanding that we have to sit a GED exam (or whatever its called that highschool students do) no matter what, and they will just use your results on that to determine your level of education so if you dont have a degree (like me) I dont see the point in getting your GCSE's converted.

As for a-levels i was going to get those converted just to see if it gave me ANY credits towards a college degree in the states but i think it worked out as something like 2 credits per a-level which is really just pointless for the stress of the whole process in the first place if u ask me

Oh P.S

Hopefully they are starting to get the kinks out of the new system and more people will start to get a smoother experience.

I really really hope so

Do you mean for entry to the US? At most airports you will continue to use the visitor line because you aren't a USC or permanent resident. Most take you from the immigration desk to a secondary room to process the papers so the general queue can keep moving. Look up your airport in the POE reviews (menu bar above) and you'll find descriptions.

Yeah I did mean for entry into the US lol sorry should have made that clearer! Okay that makes sense!

Well, I see that line, and her visa is right there on the other side of it. I'll feel better when she gets through customs/immigration

I do hope that now that summer is winding down, hopefully London is getting caught up and they can start getting a little quicker at getting the back log through the process.

BTW, best of luck to you guys. Only a matter of days now if I remember correctly

Yes next tuesday! Thank u!

I know what u mean it's not over till she's out of the way of immigration! On that note; do we queue in a different line to get through immigration or is it the same line?

Actually I was just getting to sleep not long before you posted this

The verdict is (not unexpectedly of course) APPROVED!!! She said it went amazingly smooth. She arrived around 7:15 and said there was only a few people milling around sort of queued and then went in about 20 minutes later and was done, out of the embassy and messaging me by 9:08. Of course with the news, I was to amped up to sleep. I tried, but it took me a few hours. I got about 4 hours sleep though, and funnily enough, I'm still so excited that I'm not really that tired. I am sure I'll sleep MUCH better tonight.

Now for the fun process of waiting for that visa delivery.

Congrats btw! You made it to the finish line!

Now just for our fellow vjers to get interviews! Cmon London!

Just spoke to my fiance after his interview at 4:30am my time and he got approved!! Yay!

Congrats!!

Congrats!! Make sure to have him write a review for your timeline

Eeek next week

I started trying to get copies of my alevel certs and gcse certs to convert my UK qualifications to US with a company called WES ( or something) but it REALLY was a LOT of work and hassle and money. I eventually gave up. I would recommend paying someone to do it for u. Seriously

What a helpful thread few things that I've made a list of-

• If you have a contract mobile phone and you are asking to cancel your contract before it's finished, most companies ask for you to pay the remainder of the contract up front. Call up, ask to switch to the lowest priced package. Call up again the next day or as soon as the change has gone through and then cancel. This way you won't have to pay as much.

YES! This is excellent advice. Also some network providers make u wait until your "refresh date" for the new lower tariff to take effect so make sure u are giving notice after the lower contract amount has kicked in. Doing this reduced my Early Termination Fee from £300 to £80

congrats!

Happy days the end of a long wait xx

Being 9 hours difference in time, her 8 am appointment is at 11 my time. Right about the time I'm usually about to go to sleep. If all goes well, I'm guessing she'll be there a few hours, but she should have her decision long before I normally would wake, and I know I'm not going to sleep through until I know what the answer is (although I have no doubt that she will get approved, I just need to know that it's done). Of course after the approval, i may still not be able to sleep, but after all this time, I can live with one more night of poor sleep.

9 hours goodness! Well what was the verdict?? And on a scale of 1-10 just how tired are you??

Oh wait you are probably still sleeping

Still no visa... and still in administrative processing. It was updated on Thursday and then updated again today. What the heck?! The embassy called Thursday and told him he'd have it tomorrow but it still doesn't say issued.

Still in AP since the beginning of August? The embassy called him or did he call the embassy?

No worries

I did re-print them, however, you were right - no need for them at all.

They kept my originals with the yellow bits, didn't mind or even mention anything! Interview went smoothly, will write a full report soon!

Good luck with yours next week!

Oh fantastic congrats cant wait to read it!

I have my interview date for 23 sept and just noticed I have a CEAC update on 13 Sept, no idea why, all my forms were logged in Aug along with medical. Interview letter was dated 23 Aug and CEAC did not update then.

Odd it updated 10 days before interview.

Hmm that is odd no update on my end here still 27th august. Perhaps they are having a dig around in your file

Ah, I am excited for you! I'm sure it will be a painless process! Have you bought a plane ticket yet?

Of course!! I don't blame you for being nervous. I wish I were the one going to the interview instead of Jake. We did a mock interview over Skype, and the amount of questions he got wrong is scary!! Why are men so bad at remembering dates???

Best of luck to your fiancé!!!

Im traveling on staff travel as I work for Virgin Atlantic so I have bought it but its free to change etc. I have booked it for the 5th of October to Newark, as that's where his parents live and hes going to be in NJ for work that weekend and then we will fly to Michigan together. Unless my visa hasn't arrived then I will just reroute the ticket to Chicago and hop on a domestic to Detroit.

You know what im most excited about? Actually getting to travel together hahaha..I know its sad but I just cant wait till we can actually sit on a plane together after all this time of travelling alone.

What kinda questions were u testing him on? Lol that is soo funny poor Jake I bet he is going to carve those dates into his arm! Honestly im pretty terrible at remembering dates and im the woman! Steve is always reminding me its our anniversary! oops

Can I be nervous here too..even tho I'm not the one going through the interview my fiance has his Wednesday and is leaving for London tomorrow

Eeek that's soon! Yes u are allowed to be nervous! But it will go just fine!

Yes, it has been!! It seems like forever ago, but at the same time, it doesn't. I am hoping something will happen soon! Your interview is coming up!! Are you getting nervous??

Nervous/excited! It will be a week tomorrow! Next Tuesday! Im ready now to be honest, ready for this to be over, as i bet u are!

Yes, that is your appointment letter to show to the people at the embassy like your entry ticket. Packet 4 is old talk. It used to be a packet. We got one. Now you get a page and are told to read your IV 19 "packet" online here http://photos.state.gov/libraries/unitedkingdom/164203/cons-visa/IV019_fiance_appt_letter.pdf

Lovely jubbly

Oh, mine had yellow too...but only on the DS 230 and only in the blank bits, perhaps I should fill it out again too?

Thank you CnP & AG!

This is my first time getting married.

I'll take my photo album with me then, can't hurt I spose. My office is walking distance to the Embassy so its not like I'd have to travel far with it...I might take some other items that we happen to have from the initial petition too, its just been lying around anyway!

Thanks for the info I really appreciate it!

p.s we also have a proposal pic, but I look so shocked (or surprised?) that the officer will probably laugh! We still cringe looking at it haha!

Oopps sorry only just seen this! In regards to the yellow box issue I did a search on the forums and the general advice is to reprint it in black and white (to avoid the yellowing issue) hence the copies im taking. I doubt it will be necessary though

This. When I was there, the grumpy English Embassy woman was yelling out "YOU MUST HAVE YOUR DS-160" etc, but for the purpose of the K-1 visa, you need your appointment letter in place of the DS-160. She'll ask you your appointment time, check your appointment letter, check you're on the list, then you'll have to stand in another couple of queues before going through security. DS-160 is for other types of visas.

Is the appointment letter packet 4? I.E the letter with my interview time and date in the bottom left hand corner?

geez its really been a month since ur medical? Wait over a month what the heck