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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on February 26, 2014: |
PalmTrees
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I will try to make this as detailed as possible because I found reading the more detailed reviews more helpful. My interview was for 9am.
My train got into Paddington at 8am (2 hour journey), and the tube line was Bakerloo to Oxford Circus, change there and get off one stop later at Bond Street on the Central line. That tube journey can take about 10-15 minutes but because it was so busy during rush hour it took a litte longer.
I was on the lookout for North Audley street for Gould's Pharmacy as I had an overnight bag to check in, but ended up going down the next street instead so had to slightly double-back on myself.
There was one member of staff checking bags in and the girl in front of me took an awful long time deciding whether to bring her lipgloss and mascara with her into the building (yes, really!) so that when I joined the queue for the Embassy it was 8:45am.
It was very busy outside, and even though the line was long when I joined it (after lining up in a smaller queue to have my name crossed off the interview list) the queue just grew and grew as time went by.
It took me an hour to get to the security booth, and when I eventually did, the guard said kindles weren't allowed in because of buttons on them (even though the man at Gould's had said they would be fine javascript:emoticon(' ')) so I had to pop back to store it with my bag (alongside the girl in front of me who had one too).
Luckily they let us go straight back into the security booth (avoiding the line again) and I was inside the Embassy for 10am. Had my DS-160 checked by the receptionist who gave me my number (I902) and had time to use the toilets before I was called to Window 1 at 10:10.
The man was nice. He did ask for two photos but I had just one with me because I had read on here that only one is needed. He was fine about taking just one (though there is a photo booth inside). He asked for my original and a copy of my birth certificate which I found odd, but again he was fine accepting the certified copy I had ordered from the registry office. He took my I-134 and the employer letter and W2s, but only glanced at the paystubs I brought with me before handing them back. He was polite and congratulated me on the engagement but that was about it. He did not ask for my notarized letter of intent from my fiance (our petition expired 3 days before).
I sat back down and had to wait for about an hour. The room was full and 95% of people called had N numbers. There were a couple of families but mainly a lot of student or work visa applications (had a cheeky look at some DS-160s in the queue).
I was called to Window 15 and the man there was nice and pretty casual. He seemed a bit bored too. Questions asked were:
- When did you meet? - How long did you date when you lived there on your internship? - How many times did you visit? - How do you stay in touch when you are apart - What does your fiance do for work?
And that was it. He said something along the lines of 'the application was approved and you'll receive the passport back with the visa inside in about 2 weeks'. I was literally at the window for 5-10 mins as he didn't seem to want long answers to the questions (he would cut off the end of my answer to start another question). I was out by 11:20am.
So it was very relaxed and nothing to worry about. The waiting was the worst. I dressed smartly (blazer, trousers, nice top etc) but the majority of people were quite casually dressed. It was a quick experience inside but a long wait outside.
All in all, a very good experience and a great big relief to have that approval!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #13948