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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on July 20, 2013: |
RoseJames
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I left my house around 5:15am and headed to Richmond to park for the day. Anybody who is traveling East to London may want to look into driving to the same place. Parking is £12 a day (Old Deer Car Park) and you're a very short walk from Richmond station where you can purchase an all day travel card for £11. I arrived in Richmond at 6:30 and jumped onto the train to Waterloo.
We decided to walk from Waterloo as the weather was good and we were fairly early. We arrived at the embassy just before 8:00 am and needless to say the queue was already fairly long. I hopped in the line which was moving slowly, and managed to get through security by 8:30. As you walk into the embassy you will be asked to check in at the reception desk and be assigned a number. K-1 visas are classed as "I" visas, meaning they're for immigration purposes, in comparison to the majority of people who are there for non-immigrant visa types and assigned a number starting with "N".
I continued upstairs to the waiting room which was actually not that busy in comparison to other times I had been there. I took a seat and started watching the big screen for my number to come up. Fortunately, these days, the embassy displays BBC news in the corner of the screen which helps take some of the boredom from waiting.
I wasn't called to the first window until 10:45, which felt like an excruciating amount of time in that waiting room. I proceeded to the booth and was met by a rather grumpy looking British woman who took my paperwork. After taking my I-134 she then requested my birth certificate and tried claiming it wasn't an original. After about 2 minutes of arguing she conceded and placed it into my file, now even more miserable than ever. She took my passport photographs and grumbled about the quality even though they were accepted for several other visas too!
Lastly she took my police certificate. This was where I had problems. I must not have read the instructions properly (as you'll all know they're fairly ambiguous at best, lucky we have VJ) as I used an in date police check I already possessed from work. I didn't realise it needed to be an ACRO certificate, and thus my paperwork was incomplete. She didn't really explain too well what the outcome would be of the visa due to this, but I was told to take a seat and wait for my number to be called again.
Back to the waiting room I went, garnished with the paperwork that explained the details for applying to obtain an ACRO police certificate. I had only been sat down 20 minutes or so before my number was called to the second window.
I was met by the friendliest American guy, who first welcomed me, and asked me if I had ever been in trouble with the police before, to which I answered no. He took my incorrect police certificate and politely explained to me why ACRO certificates are used for immigration purposes, which made complete sense and all I could think was, "why couldn't that miserable cow at the first window with a stick up her arse explained it like that."
The consulate officer then began the interview process with perhaps the best line I've heard, "So Mathew, we meet again." My immigration story is fairly complex, but in simple terms I have possessed three J-1 visas, one F-1, and have been denied two F-1's in the past. I couldn't help but laugh at his opening line, which really took the edge off.
He asked me a few simple questions:
Why have you had so many visas? Do you like America or something?
Where did you and Kersti meet?
Where was she born?
Did she attend university?
What university did she attend?
Where does she live now?
What does she do?
After all that, he said, "Okay, lets get this out the way first of all, your visa has been approved, you just need to get that police certificate into us ASAP okay? Other than that the paperwork looks good."
He took none of the paperwork I had in the LARGEST file in front of him, filled with photos, deeds to our house, life insurance plans, a contract for our wedding venue with deposits, co-sponsor, copy of I-129. NOTHING.
Although he asked for nothing, take as much as you possibly can to the interview, be organised, be thorough, and be prepared. It's a hugely positive thing for the officer to see you have taken this whole thing seriously and that you're prepared. It also helps to settle your own nerves when you have all the paperwork to back up your case possible.
As the officer was writing out the notice that requested my police certificate he said, "just out of interest, why did you chose the USA instead of Kersti moving here?" My answer was simple and made him laugh, "Kersti would love to live here, but come on, you live here, you know how expensive this place is!"
So in summary, get there early, be as prepared as you can be, and just take it in stride. They are NOT there to catch you out, despite what your brain is telling you (mine was too). They are there to make sure you are a legitimate couple who will be a benefit to the country when you immigrate. It's as simple as that!
I was out the doors by 11:20 with the biggest smile on my face.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12376