Going Green

Hello All,
I had my medical yesterday and thought I’d share my experience with you.
As I understand it, Knightsbridge Doctors have two premises in London. Mine took place at the Bentinck Mansions location, which is about 10 minutes walk from Marble Arch (where I got off the coach). It’s easy enough to find as long as you have a half-decent map (I've attached one and a photo of the building).
Hit the button on the intercom and they’ll buzz you into the building. You want Flat 4, on the ground floor, which is ahead and to your right as you walk into the foyer.
Go through the door and you’ll come to the reception window. There were three or four people busy in the background as I talked to the receptionist and handed over my vaccination records, passport and UK size passport photo. I hadn’t filled anything in prior to coming, so she gave me two forms: one a fairly simple checklist and the other a more formal, more detailed one, which I assumed was for the embassy. I only had to fill in the first two sections of the latter; the rest would be filled in by the doctor.
She told me to take a seat in the waiting room, which was a spacious sitting room, with leather chairs and sofas, a fireplace and classic paintings on the wall. There were four other people and 2 kids in there. I guessed I might be there some time.
I returned the completed forms, then waited. After 10 minutes, a South African lady came in and called my name. I wouldn’t say she was rude, but let’s just say she wasn’t the cheeriest individual on God’s green earth. She led me to an examination room and had me stick my chest against a machine with a metal plate on it, then took my X-ray. After that little job, it was back to the waiting room for more waiting.
A good half hour at least!
I was starting to think they’d forgotten me, then another South African lady, called Dr. Kronje, took me into another examination room. Thankfully, she was friendlier than her colleague. She sat me down and went through the forms, filling in any blanks, asking me a few questions, such as if I’d been arrested for anything physical and if I’d ever had chicken pox. Didn’t take long.
Then she measured my height, recorded my weight and checked my eyesight with one of those ABC optician’s boards on the wall (if you wear glasses, even just now and again, don’t forget to take them). After that, I had to strip down to my underwear and lie on the bed so she could take my blood pressure, check my neck glands, shine a light in my eyes, have a look in my mouth, squish my tummy for some reason, draw some blood, then, yes, have a quick look to see if I was a man. I didn’t require any vaccinations since I’d had my MMR and tetanus booster jabs at my doctor’s the day before.
And that was it really. I went back to the waiting room and was soon called to reception to pay. They gave me my documents back, along with a printout showing that I’d had all my necessary vaccinations and that was that.
So, it was about an hour in total for me. You 20 minute people were lucky!
Nick

Hey All,
Just thought I'd post a summary of my K1 interview experience in London. Had it on the 27th Oct at 9am.
Lexi, my fiancee, was over so was able to attend with me. She certainly helped to organise and calm me down. For some reason, even though we knew there was really nothing they could refuse us on, I was a total bag of nerves and terrified of the Entry Clearance Officer giving me a stern and incontestible "Denied."
As the trains were a total rip-off, we opted to catch the National Express coach from Leeds to London at midnight. At that time it takes 6 hours to get there, with 10 stops along the way. Sure, it saved us a LOT of money, but neither of us managed to get any sleep, so we were pretty groggy when it arrived at Victoria Coach Station. We then strolled up towards Hyde Park and Marble Arch. It was pretty weird to wander around a pre-dawn London. The streets were virtually deserted, even outside Buckingham Palace.
After getting some much-needed breakfast (and taking a much-needed leak) at McDonalds on Oxford Street, we made our way to Grosvenor Square. We soon came to the famous Gould Pharmacy, where we handed over our electronic gizmos for storage and got my passport photos taken. Clearly, they get tons of business from visa applicants as they really had their stuff in order and fixed us up in 5 mins. So, then it was round the corner to the embassy to join the snake line of interviewees outside the security booth. Even just before 8am there were a good 30 people in front of us.
The line moved pretty fast. The officers were pleasant enough and going through was just like going through an airport security check. I hadn't called them to say Lexi was going to be attending, but it was no problem. They checked to make sure she was on my docs as my fiancee, looked at her passport, scribbled her name on my appointment letter, then waved us on.
Inside the embassy foyer, I handed the receptionist my letter and she gave me a number. We then entered the waiting area, which was far more pleasant than I expected. I guess I thought it'd be like a hospital waiting room, but it was more like a hotel lounge, albeit with no tables, only chairs, and a dozen windows off to the side behind which the staff sat. We took a seat and stared like everyone else at the screens, waiting for our number to be called to whatever window.
We were fully prepared for a wait of up to 5 hours, but we were fortunate. Things moved fast and after about an hour our number came up.
A word of advice: make sure you have your interview letter, birth/adoption certificate, police certificate and affidavit(s) of support ready to go. You don't want to be fumbling around in your files and peeving the person behind the glass off. Thanks to my super-organised girl, I was able to give the guy just what he asked for. No questions at this stage; he was just fingerprinting, processing and checking. He was British and very officious. Not rude, just kind of abrupt. Anyway, the only other thing I had to do was pay the $300 fee at the next window, which I did in a couple of minutes by Debit Card. After I handed over the receipt, he told me to return to the waiting area til I was called again.
It took about another hour before I was called again. This time we knew it'd be the interview. Maybe it was lack of sleep or getting step one done, but I didn't feel too nervous at that point. I wandered round, files in hand, to another window where a very friendly American chap took my fingerprints again, made me swear to tell the truth and asked me some questions:
How did you two meet?
When did you first meet in person?
What do you do for a living?
What does she do?
Where are you going to live?
This all sounds like an interrogation and very cold, but this guy was so nice it was like a chat and I wasn't nervous at all so the answers just flowed out freely and accurately. Then he told me that our case was extremely straightforward and we were approved. He gave me a pink form to complete so the courier could send my passport and immigration package to me then sent me on my way with a smile.
I was beaming. I'd have skipped down that corridor had I not been loaded down with coats, drinks and my forms! I told Lexi the good news and we wasted no time in completing the form and handing it over at the DX Courier counter at the back of the hall. We opted for 3-5 working day delivery before 10am. It cost £25. It took a couple of days for my item to appear on their website, but it's there now and scheduled to be delivered on Monday (3 working days).
So yeah, it was surprisingly swift and painless. Walking out of there, I think we both felt a massive weight had been lifted.
We spent the next few hours enjoying the sights of London. Unfortunately, we had a 'mare getting home as there was a crash on Park Lane that brought the traffic everywhere to a near-standstill. The coach was delayed by an hour and took 5 hours to get us home. We arrived home absolutely shattered, but, hey, it's a small price to pay. Now we can finally be together.
Hope all you guys have as easy an experience as us, and a positive outcome.
Nick

OMG the down time sucks!! I have cleaned out the house, my bedroom I let go of a ton of shoes and cloths to make room, cleaned out an entire dresser for his stuff. Bought a bookshelf for his massive collection and put shelving in the storage room for the extra stuff he brings all before we recieve the NOA2 (which I would love for it come this week pretty, pretty please) wedding planning done, paperwork ready, now just miserable waiting waiting and more waiting...

I love reading your posts they make me giggle, and NOTHING in this process has made me giggle... let me just add that the USCIS website BITES!!! Our application has been on acceptance since the begining, had an update once and nothing changed!!! UGH!!! I even called them talked to a drone and got nothing... just want something ANYTHING at this point. It would be one thing if EVERYONE was in line and dealing with this, but when so MANY jump line and get approved ahead it is hard to 'keep the faith' in the process....

I know how you feel!!! UGH!!! It is very depressing people getting there NOA2's and thry just filed in June!!!! Good luck to everyone and soon hope we can all do the happy dance!!!