|
|
| London, United Kingdom |  Review on April 17, 2015: |
EmilyRosePF
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My fiancée lives in London, so we got a train to Liverpool Street station, and then a Central Line tube to Bond Street, which was about a 5 minute walk from the embassy. When we got there around 7.20, the queue was probably 60-80 people long, but staff were already letting people through security and the queue was moving steadily. A woman came down the queue with plastic bags for phones, belts, and watches, and asked if everyone in the queue was there for 8.00 appointments. The woman in front of us had a 9.00 appointment and was told to queue up later, as she wouldn’t be let in so early. Another woman was coming down the queue checking passports and DS-160s, and it took her about 15 minutes to get to us. We asked if we could go straight to the desk since we were there for a K1, and she said yes, so we moved to a shorter queue which I assume was all immigrant visa interviews. The man we talked to at the desk was super nice and he directed us to security. Outside security, we gave our passports to the member of staff there. When I gave him mine and said I was attending the interview with my fiancée, he took my passport and went inside for about a minute. I’m not sure what he was checking, but he brought it back and said that’s fine and sent us through security (I should note that my fiancée had used the contact form on the embassy website to say she wanted me to attend with her and had been told that I was on the access list). When we got to the front desk inside the embassy, my fiancée was given number I911. Then we sat down and waited. It was about an hour before we were called up to hand over paperwork. We got the quiet Chinese lady, who is indeed very quiet! She took Laura’s required documents and fingerprints and gave her the CD with her chest X-rays. This process actually took a lot longer than I thought it would – we probably stood at the window for at least 10 minutes. Then she told us to find a seat again and wait for our number to be called. We waited for about an hour and had to stand for 5-10 minutes because the waiting room was so full by this point. Numbers for interviews aren’t called in order so make sure to watch the screen at the front! I think K1s were getting called up faster. As everyone says, the interview itself was very easy and relaxed and more like an informal chat. Our officer was a nice lady from Wisconsin, and we talked a bit about the day that same-sex marriage became legal in Minnesota. She asked: when did we get engaged? How did we meet? When was my divorce finalised? What do we both do for a living? Who is (the financial co-sponsor)? One thing that surprised me was that she directed a few questions to me. Then she gave us a big smile and said she was happy to approve the visa! And that was it! We were done right around 10.30. Another couple things I wanted to note: there are toilets (I couldn’t remember reading this in any other reviews, lol), as well as food, bottled drinks, and coffee available to purchase, and a photo booth for passport photos if you don’t have them. We dressed smartly and the other people there for immigrant visas that I saw had as well, but most people were dressed like slobs, so I wouldn’t say dressing nicely is a must. The whole thing went smoothly and everyone is very nice – K1 interviewees, don’t worry!
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #16613