As my fiance was in the UK at the time of my interview on 18 June, I requested permission for him to attend with me. That was granted and he was allowed with me at each stage of the process.
We got to the Embassy at about 7:25 (my interview was at 8am) and there was a queue of about 10 people. However, it became apparent that these were all N visas and we were the first I visa applicants. We had left all our electronics at home, so we only had to remove belts and watches for the scanners.
We were seen quite quickly for all my paperwork. I had brought too much but I needed to feel confident. As my fiance owns the business, we were unable to orovide an employer's letter (it would be him signing it!). But they were happy with last year's tax transcript and the last 6 payslips.
Slightly sticky question about my name - I have been married before and reverted to my maiden name on my divorce. He asked whther I had done that by deed poll. I said 'no - just in divorce.' That seemed okay.
It then took about 30 minutes until we were called to the interview window. I was only asked 2 questions but I spoke for a while on them:
When did you meet? When did you re-meet? (we first met 20 years ago but broke up and then reconnected by FB 18 months ago)
Did he propose or was it always looking as you were going to get married? I had brought our scrapbooks so i could show how he proposed but he first spoke of marriage with 6 days of us reconnecting.
There were 2 more questions - one asking if I had ever been convicted and one other that I can't remember now.
Then she said 'I'm happy to tell you that your visa has been approved'. And she added 'I hope the process has not been too stressful for you.' I didn't say 'No, apart from waiting for CSC for 9 months!'
The visa was issued on Thursday and I'm hoping that the DX site start tracking it tomorrow for delivering on Tuesday. If so, I will be flying to the US on Thursday and we get married on 12 July (my fiance's 65th birthday). I don't know if it helped having him at the interview i.e. it showed the US Embassy his commitment but it made me feel more confident.
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12190
Review on June 23, 2013:
