minnietheminx

Yep. Youre completely fine doing the medical the day before. As I was only able to get one day off work, I actually had my medical after my interview on the same day (interview was at 9.30, medical was at 2.30). My visa was therefore approved pending my medical results. As I was in no rush to get my visa, the extra few days I waited for my visa to arrive was worth having everything done in one day.

Hi there.

I also had my name changed via deed poll (only a few years back now), and there was no problem with it what so ever. I just submitted copies of my birth certificate and the deed poll showing my name change and that was it....I was going to write a note to explain my name change, but I didnt in the end.

Im sure everything is fine.

Good luck with the rest of your journey.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE BMI. This year I flew over with BA and I felt that, in terms of customer service, BMI was better.....I know on a whole BA is better and world class, but from my personal experience, I could not fault BMI.

I agree with the in flight entertainment.....its not the best as it does not have the on demand function, but theres still a great variety of entertainment to choose from.

OH- and another thing which I loved about BMI.....The control pad for the inflight entertainment flips over to be a........SUPER NINTENDO HANDSET.......I had so much fun......I literally played Super Mario for about 5 hours on my flight to Chicago......that took be back to my high school days

Hi there.

Ive just successfully transfered some money using XE.

Some where on the site it tells you how much the wire fee is depending on what country the money is coming from. From the UK the wire fee was something like £12. So for example, if I made a trade where I bought £1000 worth of dollars, I would go through the purchase process on XE. When that is complete, XE will email you the total amount they want you to send them as this is when they incorporate the wire fee.....so I got an email saying the amount they needed from me was £1012....they then gave me the address of their bank in the UK and the details needed to wire it there. I got in touch with my bank and ordered the wire......my bank just took the £1012 from my account, nothing more. Xe then keeps you up to date with where they are in the process such as.......recieved at UK XE bank.....sent to the US......now sent to your bank (from this point, how quickly you get the money depends on how quickly your bank processes the wire). All in all it took 3 business days for me to get the money. I was surprised at how easy the whole process was....the biggest problem I had was trying to explain to my UK bank that my money would end up in the US but I was wiring to the Bank of America in London....they just didnt get it

I was instructed by my civil surgeon not to open the envelope.

http://www.usnetcare.com/

Im with these

Your chest xray will be sent along to the embassy at the same time as your medical results. Assuming everythings ok, then the visa will approved and your visa, MBE and chest xray will be delivered to you by courier in the same package. I actually had my interview before my medical (though both on the same day) and everything that I needed was delivered to me within a week.

Oooh - yeah that sounds better although you'll prolly end up paying less back than the interest that gets put on!!! Stupid things ><

Ha ha. That is soooooo true. Ive resigned myself to the fact that Ill never pay off my student before I retire. That baby's going to be with me forever

I hope so too - I mean... oh the whole thing is stupid - why should he pay for something he had nothing to do with?! I am pretty certain it is personal income but... tbh as he isn't a UKC I don't see why they would even need to know his income or have any access to that info...

I'll call Monday too so maybe we can figure it all out!!! What a nightmare... more paperwork and BS!!

by the end of all this , if i never see another form or have to make another phone call it will be too soon. I cant belive its 12 k threshold I know on average americas cheaper than uk but most of the places i seen in cali (which ok isnt much but hey) certain aspects of living is equally expensive if not more. i.e. housing.

oh god i just worked out what 9 % of 12 k was i hope i got that wrong please tell me i got that wrong

I almost had kittens when I worked that out as reading the SLC website I assumed the same amount of repayment......though I realised that I interpreted it wrongly. On the website the actual wording is "So, you will repay 9% of your earnings over the repayment threshold." That means it works the exact same way as it does for those who are in the UK..... therefore if you earn the equvialent of £13,000 in dollars in the US, you only pay back 9% of the £1000. Currently in the UK Im a teacher and Im earning £20,000, but I only pay back 9% on £5000 (thats how much I am above the threshold of £15,000- I didnt realise the calculation until a workmate pointed it out today to me). Hope that makes sense......so you only pay back a percent of your earnings ABOVE the minimum earnings threshold, and not your total annual salary. I am now very much relieved

Yep, definitely in London.

But like Poiteen said, many people who live far from London will arrange their medical around their interview. Im also from the North of England, so as soon as I found out my interview date and time I called up the doctors and requested a medical for the same day as my interview. They were very accommodating and made sure they left plenty of time between the two appointments incase I got stuck at the embassy for longer than expected. This saved me a lot of time and money as I only had to make the one trip.

Ha ha.

I totally feel ya. I am an official Ebay addict. Most of my clothes are bought via a last minute 'bid off' on the infamous site (yep- Im one of those that will swipe in and out bid you with 20 seconds to go )

I love it. I'm also with Poiteen in that I also love selling stuff......right now I've been busy taking photos of my stuff that Im going to sell. The only downside is that when I sell my stuff and see the money in my paypal go up, I all of a sudden go 'hmmmmm, now I can afford BOTH those French Connection tops'. I should really know my limits

Last time I flew through JFK it was a nightmare. I was going through the Delta terminal (terminal 3????).

My flight touched down at JFK at 1.30pm. My connection was at 6pm. I only 'just' made it (albeit due to a lot of running in inappropriate heels-- yep, Im not one to travel in comfort .

This was because there was 4 international flights arriving at the same time as mine. This made the immigration line 2 hours long. Once I collected my baggage there was apparantly a staff shortage in the baggage re-check area. The lines to get through customs were therefore HUGE, and to re-check your baggage even longer.

I would therefore plan plenty of time going through JFK. Obviously the staff shortage was an oddity and on the date in question passengers may breeze through........you just have to be aware that there is a chance that the whole process may take a lot longer than anticipated.

K- I know when visitors with an I94/I94W fail to hand in thier small slip when they depart the US, they need to send their slip along with any documentation to prove that they left the States on a given day to an address in Kentuky.

"Failure to turn in your I-94 (or I-94W) when you leave the U.S. can create a serious problem. Without this record of your departure, you will be identified in our records as an "overstay." Being identified as an overstay means that you will be denied re-entry into the U.S. If you failed to turn in your I-94, please send it - along with any documentation that proves you left the U.S. to ACS Inc.1084 South Laurel Rd., London, Kentucky 40744."

It may be worth while to write to this address with a copy of all your documents proving you left the states (ticket stubs, flight reference number etc), along with a copy of the letter that was sent to you about your case being abandoned as well as details that you would have included on you I-94 (flight number, your name, passport number, date etc). I could be wrong, but Im just thinking out aloud.

I had my medical and interview on the same day as Im from the North of England and couldnt afford 2 trips to London (let alone 2 days off work).

Anyway, what I did was wait until I got my packet 4 from the Embassy telling me my interview date and time. I then phoned up the doctors and asked for my medical to be on the same day. They were very accommodating and made sure that there was plenty of time between my interview and medical just incase I got held up at the embassy for some reason.

The person at the embassy also told me that this seems to be a new trend as 3 people who he had seen before me had arranged the exact same thing (and my interview was at 9.30 so there were probably even more throughout the entire day).

Just make sure you have a photocopy of your passport picture page. The embassy will stamp this as this is needed for the medical (they request your passport, but as the embassy will have it for your visa then they accepted a certified embassy stamped copy instead).

Im not too sure of the process, but I know there is emergency advanced parol for this exact situation.

When I had my interview at the London embassy, the consulate officer told me "You cannot leave the US and return once you have entered the US with your K1 visa until you have your greencard or advance parol in hand. However, and heaven forbid, if something should happen to a loved one back home then you can apply for emergency advanced parol, so you are not totally stuck".

Im sure someone will be along with specific instructions on how you would go about doing this.

Sorry for your loss.

Yes!!! You can!!!

I had my interview and medical on the same day in London (interview at 9.30, medical at 2.30). All it does is delay your visa slightly (visa wont be issued until the embassy have your results).

At the embassy, before you have your actual interview with the American consulate officer you hand all your documents to an English person. When he asked me about my medical I told him I was having my medical later that day. He just shrugged and said "this must be a new trend, 3 people who Ive seen before you are doing the same thing".

As for the delay, it wasnt so great. I had my interview on a Wednesday, doctoes told me the embassy would get my results by the monday, my visa was delivered via courier the following thursday. So a week and one day. Not bad really.

Definitely check with your doctor first.

I did and I got all my vaccinations for free

I've been looking into 'one way' travel insurance companies and there are a few out there.

This company seems pretty good with reasonable rates.

http://www.duinsure.com/sites/duinsure.nsf...ravel_insurance

Im going to call them up closer to my move. I mainly wanted insurance for my baggage (for some reason I dont have the greatest confidence in the baggage handling system at terminal 5 ) but this company also covers health etc....all the stuff you would expect from regular travel insurance, so it seems perfect.

Hey everyone

We recently received the NOA2 and I am trying to figure out what police certification I will be needing. I understand the UK system of applying through ACPO, but I am confused about police certificates for time spent abroad.

According to the embassy info page at:

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/iv/ds2001.html#pc

I need police certificates where I have lived in a different country for more than 12 months. From December 2001 to November 2002 I was in Australia on a working holiday visa, and from 18 August 2004 to 17 August 2005 I was on a working holiday visa in Canada.

Am I right in assuming therefore, that I will not need police certificates for Australia and Canada as I was not there for over 12 months? Has anyone else here been in a similar situation?

Many thanks in advance.

- Martin

I did the whole working holiday in Canada also and I was 1 day short off the 'full' 12 months also. However, to be on the safe side I got my Canadian police check just incase.

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/crimrec/finger2_e.htm

I think the whole point is that the only people who are guarranteed entry to the states are US citizens. This therefore means that people with valid visas/greencards, whilst unlikely, can be denied entry. It's very rare for this to happen, but it surely isnt unheard of. I personally havent heard of a K1 being denied entry, but a POE inspector is within his/her rights to refuse entry to a K1 holder if they feel it necessary.

I dont know whether this helps, but I went to the national express east coast railway website and seeing as you said 'next week' I just randomly put in thursday next week. On there its coming up that theres a train that leaves at 11.00 from London Kings Cross for £46.75.

Not ideal I know but it maybe an alternative that you may want to consider. Just throwing it out there so you have more options available.

http://tickets.nationalexpresseastcoast.co...T=NoModifyGuest

If anything, I always assumed having a K1 in process shows excellent ties to return to the US. Having paperwork to show that you are applying to marry in the US shows that you DO intend to leave and get married outside the UK, and therefore leave the UK when you say you are going to. My fiance even had all his documents for his I-134 for my interview when he came over 2 weeks ago on him when he went through POE.......if questionned he could just have just produced the documents and said 'here is proof that my fiance has an interview at the US embassy to move over to the US with me, therefore proving that I am only visiting'.

Hope you enjoy the trip. I was up in Edinburgh last month and it was LOVELY. Half my family are from the Edinburgh area so theres always a perfect excuse to go up and visit (even though last time it was freezing

Oh you were the time slot after me!! I was so surprised to see so many relaxed people as well!!! I was cacking myself!!!!

I had my medical the day before so I didn't have that to worry about - that was worse than the interview though I was less nervous about it!! Did you have the scary Asian lady doctor?!

Yes. I had her. She was actually dead good with me since I HATE needles. Im such a baby and you wouldn't believe Im 26 so she calmed me down loads. But she was very abrupt and kind of barked orders at me a lot - lol. I just did what she said and didnt argue (too scared to). She also had a huge rant to me about 'the youth of today' when I told her I was a secondary school teacher. The guy who did the xrays was hilarious though. He had me cracking up throughout the entire process.

Oh- and I had longish straight brown hair and was all suited and booted (black skirt, grey top, black coat) incase you have a vague recollection of those sitting near you. Unfortunately I didnt get the memo about being dressed down...soooooo wish I had as I would have loved to have wore jeans cos I was uncomfortable all day, ha ha.

YES! Kinda - Blue jeans, skanky brown trainers, kinda a grey/blue zip up cardi and a cream top with turquoise and brown flowers at the bottom

Ha, thats so funny. I'm just a nosey person so whenever an immigrant visa number was called I looked to see who was going. You were the only young one that got up when a number was called so I assumed it had to be you. We were literally sat 7 seats apart. You literally looked as terrified as me

Haha - I looked as well cause I was thinking of you but I had no idea what you looked like or I would have walked over and we could have panicked together!!! What time was yours?

My queuing time was 9.30. Got into the building about 9.45. Then my number (5018) got called round about 10.30ish. I should have guessed it was you on the end cos everyone else in the embassy looked relaxed....apart from those who were called up for immigrant visas

Did you have your medical soon afterwards? I had to wait round til 2.30....though made the big error of turning up at the Knightsbridge doctors at 2.10 when the medical is blatantly not there, hence a mad dash back up to bond street ensued.