Courtney

Ok, to follow up on my last post- I've been to England- all last week, and they let me in!! The worst part of the whole trip was sitting on the airplane in Cincinatti for 6 hours waiting to take off. Ugh. But when I finally did arrive, my whole immigration ordeal took about 20 minutes. The line was relatively short this time, and I finally got a somewhat nice lady. Went a bit like this:
HER:"Where are you coming from?"
ME: "The U.S.A."
HER: "How long are you here for?"
ME: "A week"
HER: "Why are you here?"
ME: "I'm here for vacation to see my fiance"
HER: "You're here to see... (momentary doubletake) your fiance??"
ME: "Yes, my fiance".
HER: "And what nationality is your fiance?"
ME: "He's English"
(noticeable annoyance on her part- you could see her realizing this wasn't just a quick interview)
HER: (after flipping through my passport) "And what's THIS all about?" (she was pointing at the big X from the last time i was denied entry)
ME: "I was denied entry back in February"
HER: "Why were you denied entry?"
ME: "I was denied entry because I didn't have a return ticket, and because I didn't have a job in the US"
HER: "What nationality is your fiance?" (maybe she was testing me?)
ME: "He's English. I have lots of proof to show that I'm going back to the US in a week. I have a letter from my boss, a copy of my trip itinerary, and proof that we've filed for a K1 visa in the US so that he can come to the US to marry me and live there with me"
HER: "Well let's see that"
(I bring out the packet, and let her look through it. She doesn't ask for it, so I start volunteering all of my information- car title, checking and saving account info, pay stubs, receipt from engagement ring, receipt from the lawyer, etc)
ME: "I have lots more information too, to prove that I'm going back to the US"
HER: (obviously annoyed, again) "Who told you to bring all this??"
ME: "No one told me to, but I had such a hard time last time, I thought I'd bring as much proof as I could to show you that I plan to go back to the US after my stay"
HER: "Ok, I'm going to look through all this, and check to see if your story checks out about your entry denial last time you came through. Please go sit in that area over there while I look through this"
ME: "Ok, Thank you" (and i go sit in the small fenced off waiting area that's provided for the "special" victims of immigration)
--She's gone for about ten minutes, and finally comes back and joins me in my little waiting area--
HER: "Ok, so your story checks out. One more thing- the copy of your NOA1 says in fine print that this process could take a really long time. What are you going to do if it takes longer than you're expecting?"
ME: (I look at her a bit puzzled and say questioningly:) "Wait? I mean, what else can we do? I can't afford to keep coming back here, and I have a job I've got to be at, and he's self employed, so I guess he can come visit me, but we will just have to wait".
HER: "Ok, you're all set, come back up to the podium and I'll put you through"
She stamped my passport, wrote in my date of departure, and said I had to leave by this date if I ever wanted an easy entrance back into the UK.
And that was it! And I was so worried!!! But all the information I got together was well worth it- I walked up to immigration with confidence, and didn't act nervous. I gave her all the "text-book" answers she was looking for, and it all went smoothly. I don't anticipate having any more troubles the next time I try to get in the UK, as long as I can prove I'm employed in the US and I have a return ticket.
So I lived through it, and now am only worried that my fiance will have trouble coming here to see me at Christmas. I hope that as long as he has proof that he's planning on going back to the UK, and shows knowledge that he knows we can't get married while he's here, he should be ok.
Good luck to anyone planning a trip to see your fiance- it's worth it, if you can stand the worry and stress beforehand! Seeing my fiance for a week has really reminded me how much I love him and how fiercely I want our visa application to go through so that we don't have to spend anymore of our lives away from eachother! Keeping faith in that is the only thing that's going to get us through!