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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on August 1, 2013: |
~*Amber*~
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Arrived in London the day before interview, appointment was at 8:30am and couldn't get a train down from Leeds that day, thought a good rest the night before would help too. Stayed at the Park lane mews hotel, about 8 min's walk from the embassy, decent price and the staff let me keep my bag their free of charge when I went for the interview.
I went for a walk to make sure I knew the way to the embassy, you really can't miss it, its a massive building with the American flag flying above a golden eagle. Very different from the other embassy's in the area!
Set 5 alarms just in case! but woke up before any of them went off and got ready, just wore shoes, smart jeans and a plain white shirt with no tie. Set off around 7 and arrived more than an hour before my interview.
There were about 10 people in line before me, they started letting people through at 8:45, I was chatting to a lovely woman in the queue behind me which helped as we were both nervous.
They checked my interview letter and passport at a small desk outside and pointed me towards security, it was like an airport security desk with an xray machine for valuables and a metal detector you have to walk through, the security guard there was joking around with me and the lady behind in the queue which put us at ease.
You then have to walk around the side of the building and into a reception area to have your letter and passport checked again, the ticketing system was down so we waited a while to see if it could be fixed, in the end they did it all manually and had us sat in order of arrival time calling us up one by one. This worked in my favour because I was about 5th in queue at this point, despite having a later interview time.
I had to wait about half an hour to be seen at the first window, staff were still arriving at this point and the waiting area was still very quiet with only around 20 people, I got asked to give my fingerprints, my birth certificate and copy, police report and copy, affidavit of support along with tax returns and pay stubs to support it and finally my 2 US sized passport photo's and payment receipt. She noted at the time that I was due to fly out very soon and checked with her supervisor that I should receive my documents in time. (fingers still crossed!)She was very friendly 
After the first window I sat back down near the back at the hall where the lady I had been talking to earlier was sat, the ticket system was still down so they were calling people up by seat order still. We had to move because workers came in to change light bulbs (very high ceiling) so we were plunged into darkness for a while. They called people up to their second window by name.
The lady I was talking to got called up before me, she came back smiling because she had been approved, she said the people at the desk were really friendly and not to worry which put me at ease, I got called up about 10 min's later.
There were 2 interviewers at my second window, only one asking questions. They took my finger prints again, only one set this time. Workers were using hammers behind me so I found it quite hard to hear him at first, he turned up the volume on the intercom, They then asked when we first "connected" if I had ever visited the united states? what we did while there? if I got along with her family? if she ever visited the UK? what we did while here? he asked me to tell him about the engagement, and finally what kind of work I intended to do, he actually got my current job slightly wrong, I corrected him in my response, not sure if this was a deliberate way to see if I was being honest or not.
They told me to wait there while they went around the corner, I'm guessing they did this to confer, and came back a minute later to tell my my visa had been approved *woohoo!* They said I would get a phone call to arrange delivery and payment of my passport and visa, and instructed me not to open the visa packet, and to take my chest xray in carry on luggage when I travelled. They then said congratulations and I told them thank you and that they had made me a very happy man
I then headed out the way I came in, back around to the security gate and out of them embassy.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #12436