|
|
| London, United Kingdom |  Review on March 5, 2026: |
JJJ7
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
Experience of the K1 visa process (London embassy)
Worries: past history of mental health, extended stays on ESTA (right up to the 90 days), lost old passport, change of address
I’ll try to make this as detailed as possible, sorry if its dull!
I had recently changed address so I was worried my appointment letter wouldn’t come through. A couple of weeks after I was expecting it to come by researching timelines on visajourney I emailed the embassy to say that I think the letter may be lost as I have a postal redress but have changed address, I also mentioned here that my fiancé had also changed address in the USA. They sent me a reply back after about a week saying not to worry and an email invitation, they said that my fiancés address changed is ok as that info gets updated after submitting the DS160 and Affidavit of support (the next step). I followed the instructions on the email by filling out the DS160 and the Affidavit of support. A couple of weeks later the physical letter actually came through the post anyway. I made an appointment for my interview and then rang visa medical who dictated when I would get an appointment. Here I requested a female doctor just out of preference and I asked for an extended interview as I brought more than 10 pages of medical notes (this is written in the email they send out). At this point I straight away sent off for my ACRO
My medical appointment was after the 14th Feb 2026 cut off where the process changed slightly where you go for a document review straight after your medical. I went to my medical really overly prepared. I had a GP summary page which you ask to get printed at your GP. They have to print this out for you legally I read online. In here there’s a section called major diagnosis or major issues…something along those lines. I had two instances of mental health on there, one was an attempted Suic***. I have an online GP service so I can see my entire medical notes, I printed out the entire record for these periods (this was overkill) and then specialist letters/a and e visits for that time period of bad mental health. I had not had any MH issues in 5 years so I paid for an letter from my GP to say that I had not been seen by NHS for mental health issues for 5 years and have not been on MH related medication in that period either. In the folder I brought I had a letter explaining the past history which was formatted as “between 2019 and 2020 I saw my GP for MH, what happened was….” “ I have not been on any medication or seen a professional about my mental health since … and I don’t believe these symptoms will reoccur”. So I basically laid out briefly what those main issues were. Your GP summary also has your vaccine records on there too, but for extra measure I took my red book (baby vaccine records). I got to the medical place which is pretty unassuming, and is like a doctors waiting area inside. They take your docs, I gave them the core notes, and had loads more to back up if they needed. They said start with the core notes and the doctor will ask if they need more. After maybe 20/30 mins I was called to see a nurse who asked me questions about my vaccines. I had all of them apart from hep B. This was a massive dose and was honestly quite painful, she says that is usual for this large dose hep B. I was then called in for my X ray maybe 10 mins later, where they ask you to take off everything from the top half of your body including necklaces and wear a papery gown, keeping your trousers on. You do all this behind a curtain. When you’re dressed you push your chest up against an x ray plate and its done. Then you get dressed and take your gown back to the waiting room. Then the doctor called me after another half hour, she was a lovely south African woman. I immediately said I was nervous as I have mental health history. She asked me questions about it like “was it intentional or a cry for help” “have you had these feelings recently” “ do you know what you would do if you started to feel like this again”. She asked me if I ever self harmed and I said only once and it was very superficial and left no scarring. Asked me some general health questions- do you drink/smoke. She then took my weight and height (fully clothed). Then she asked me to sit on the bed and took my blood pressure then took my blood, she was fantastic at that as usually I have bad veins. She then checked my arms and legs for self harm scars which I don’t have, and checked my stomach by proding, and asked if any parts were painful, she explained what she was doing in every part. She then asked me to take off my jumper and I had a small tank top type thing on so she asked if I wanted to tuck the gown round me too. Then she listened to my chest. She then sat me back at the side of the desk and she said it all looks good. I said I was nervous my previous mental health would affect my application and she assured me “not at all” “the only thing they are looking for is any suicidal attempts or intentions in the last year, that’s all they care about” “I don’t see you as a risk I see you had a bad time a few years ago but nothing that would prevent you from passing the medical” I was very reassured.
I then went straight to the embassy. As you cant take laptops into the embassy I stored it at Sendero coffee (£10 which you can then buy stuff with on return). You go up to the right hand side window who signs a post it on your passport after they have checked your name which grants you entrance through security. They checked: Acro, passport, Affidavit of support, DS-160 confirmation page, birth certificate (I brought the short form one but they told me at the interview I need to bring the long one with my parents names on), my partners tax transcripts (I got this wrong too, they asked me to bring his W2 to the interview), and a passport photo (2x2 inches which isn’t standard British size). They sealed the correct documents into a tamper proof clear wallet with a pink slip saying what I needed to bring to the embassy for the interview (W2 and long birth certificate).
Two weeks later I returned for my appointment for interview. My appointment was at 10.30 but I arrived early and checked my laptop into the café again so was outside the doors at 9.40 ish. There was loads of people queuing, so I asked the man walking around the queues where I should go for K1, he brought me straight to the front of the line, they signed a post it note on my passport again and I went straight through to security. I then went to the same waiting area that I had been in the previous time. Theres tonnes of other people and areas for different visa types. It was busy in there, not quiet like after the medical. I sat there for what was maybe 30 mins and I got called to the 1st window. She asked me for the docs that I didn’t have last time (W2 and birth certificate) she took these and said that’s all ok please take a seat back in the waiting area. I then got called maybe 45 ish mins later to a different window, this was my first interaction with an American member of staff, the rest had been British. I had my phone in my hand and as I put my notes down I placed it on the desk. She snapped “If you don’t remove your phone I will reschedule your interview”, I quickly put it in my pocket and sincerely apologised. My heart sunk a little as I had peed her off before we even started it seemed like. She asked me to swear I was telling the truth and scanned my fingerprints. She asked me my name, who the petitioner was, where was he born, what does he do for work, what do I do for work, where did we meet (this could have been how, I cant remember), when did we meet (here I said month and year only not specific date). Then came the bit I thought might cause an issue “I see you’ve spent a considerably long time in America, did you work there, for a US company or a UK company?” I said no, as my job was a part time job so it was flexible. For context, I was worried as Id spent almost 6 months out of the year there for the past two years on an ESTA with 2x 3 month trips, which I thought might be pushing it. I always made sure I stayed out of the country longer than Id been in before returning, but I was still worried. Then she asked me if I had ever overstayed, I said no I always kept within my ESTA limits. She then typed for what seemed like an eternity, my hands were shaking so I rammed them against the desk to stop….horrible wait. She then said “your visa is approved you can expect it to be sent in the next few days” which was surprising as I thought they would say “we intend” or something wishy washy but no, it was solid confirmation
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #33943