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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on December 10, 2014: |
TheAff
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I got to Grosvenor Square around 7am; I was staying in a hotel in Victoria so I took the tube from Victoria to Oxford St, and was lazy so I changed to Central Line to Bond St. I used to attend culinary school in this area of London so I knew where I was heading from here.
By the time I reached the embassy, there were already about 25 people in a queue. I'd had a terrible night's sleep so I was yawning for most of the wait. Eventually got split into the line for 9am appointment times (mine) and 8am. They let the 8am's through first and then the 9am's after. I think it was around 7:50 by the time I was seated in the waiting area. My ticket was 11th in line for the K visas I believe - I'm not 100% sure on this, but I911 was the ticket number. Most people are there for work-based visas I think.
After a 40-45 min wait, I went up to window 13. A nice English guy asked for my docs. I had them all prepped and ready. He gave me back my X-rays and also asked when my travel dates were. I told him it was dependent on the visa issuance and he wrote May 12th on my file for entry expiration. Some fingerprint scanning was next up and then I went back to my seat and read for another 20-30 minutes.
I was called back up to window 15 this time. I was greeted by a friendly younger American lady. I took the oath and then fingerprinting again to verify identity. She started by looking at the screen and saying, "oh so you're a writer!" I said that I was. She took her time reading through some things on the computer before asking me how I met my fiancee. I explained the backstory (met in a bar in my hometown in Hampshire when she was visiting a mutual friend). She then asked me what she did for a living and where she worked. She asked about what kind of writing I did and we had a brief conversation about that. I think the last question she asked me was whether I had living abroad anywhere for more than one year. I living in Bahrain as a 2-year old and so I mentioned it, although she said it wasn't important. She took out the original photos we sent in with our application and remarked at how pretty my fiancee was - I was not expecting her to say anything like that so I was a bit taken aback, although obviously I think the same as her! I told her I brought some more pics if she wanted to see them and she sort of dismissed the suggestion saying that we were shoo-ins for approval. She started explaining about the courier service and what to expect before catching herself to say, "oh yeah you guys are totally approved" It was so casual, almost an anticlimax, if anything, but the most wonderful feeling of relief and happiness. I managed to keep it together and walked out, thanking her as I did.
So all in all, a really pleasant experience. Not what I had it built up to be in my head. It's really just a case of staying focused and being honest. I'd go through it all again if I had to!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #15770