sleepless in lond

For any lurkers- our timeline via DCF in London was:

IR-1/CR-1 Visa Event Date Service Center : N/A Consulate : London, United Kingdom Marriage (if applicable): I-130 Sent : 2013-12-02 I-130 NOA1 : 2013-12-09 I-130 RFE : I-130 RFE Sent : I-130 Approved : 2014-01-11 NVC Received : Received DS-3032 / I-864 Bill : Pay I-864 Bill Receive I-864 Package : Return Completed I-864 : Return Completed DS-3032 : Receive IV Bill : Pay IV Bill : Receive Instruction Package : Case Completed at NVC : NVC Left : Consulate Received : 2014-01-11 Packet 3 Received : 2014-02-21 Packet 3 Sent : 2014-02-27 Packet 4 Received : 2014-03-25 Interview Date : 2014-03-25 Submit Review Interview Result : Approved

Good luck!

So, I had my interview at the embassy in London on Tuesday.

Everything went amazingly smoothly, and there was no mention whatsoever about a need for fingerprint check. The lady we saw asked for originals + copies of my passport, birth certificate, police certificates and essentially glanced at them before just slotting the copies in to my folder. It was all very straight forward and seemed like much more of a box checking exercise than I had anticipated!

I had rushed to try and get a fingerprint check done in time, but that wasn't to be. So, I was nervous- but as I said the name check was no problem at all, and everything was accepted without so much as a moment's hesitation.

Of course you need to do what you think is right, and i probably still would have panicked and tried for the fingerprints even after reading a post like this! So- If you have the time, then maybe do it to be sure everything is in order. But, seemingly (and according to the embassy in Canberra) a name check is sufficient- so if that is all you have for the interview, then all should be well. (I had printed off the page from the embassy in Canberra saying a name check was fine as back up!)

Good luck to anyone waiting for their process to come to an end! I was so relieved and so happy that all went smoothly on Tuesday. May all of you have the same result!!

Hi B&G,

Thank you! I have printed off that page and also the page on the US Embassy website in Sydney (where it specifically says 'Applicants are required to apply for a police certificate based on a name check').

I am pretty sure the name check should be ok- and seemingly it certainly would be in Sydney. I guess I am just worried that London won't be up to date on the reqs for an Australian Police Certificate... And I have no idea whether I am way over thinking this, or whether it will be no problem at all on the day. I haven't had to send my documents to the NVC as we were able to file everything in London directly. So, we have to bring everything (ie. all original documents and copies of each of them) to the interview and just hope it all goes well.

For anyone else lurking this page- I will let you know what happens after my interview in a couple of weeks' time!

Would be great to hear any other recent interview experiences re: Australian Police Certificates...

Thanks again B & G!

I got my packet 3 a few months ago (September 2013) (and received my visa today YAYAYAY) and in the packet there it said:

"Obtaining an Australian Police certificate must be based on a fingerprint check, please refer to the following website: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/obtain_police_cert.html . "

So that is as much information as I can give. Throughout this whole process its better to go too far than not far enough even if it costs a few extra dollars.

Hi Tassie,

The link you gave: http://canberra.usembassy.gov/obtain_police_cert.html now does not make any mention fingerprints at all... All states seem to have costs around $50 (suggesting no prints?) And for those outside aus it explicitly says "Applicants are required to apply for a police certificate based on a name check, ensuring that the certificate addresses all known names and/or aliases"

Just curious... can you confirm that the info on the us embassy in aus has changed between today and your post from Jan 31?

Fingers firmly crossed!!!!!

Hey BFP,

I'm an Australian living in the UK and needed to get an Australian police check done. The check needs to be based on a name and fingerprint check. This means she will need to go to a police station and have her prints done (they have to be wet prints, not digital scans, as not every state has a database with complete digital prints).

The main thing is that the category of check is "Overseas Employment" category (Code 35). NOT the immigration/citizenship category (Code 33), as this category is for people applying to immigrate to Australia.

It only took about 5 weeks for me to get mine back, and this includes the time for me to send my prints back to Australia and then the check to be sent back.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to chat.

Hi s-c,

I am in the same boat as an Australian living in London. I got a name check as i followed the instructions on the AFP website and nowhere there or on the NVC guidelines does it note that fingerprints are required... So, i had thought all was in hand for weeks, only to stumble across something somewhere suggesting that for Aus it must be a fingerprint check.

I rushed to get fingerprints done here, couriered them to the AFP, and have been calling emailing them to explain i urgently need my fingerprint form... So far, there has been nothing from them to say it will be done quickly

So, i am wondering: have you had your interview in London already? Did they really specifically say that you must produce an Aus Police Cert with fingerprints?

Any news on recent experiences in London would be unbelievably helpful.