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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on December 26, 2009: |
angel129
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My husband arrived at the US Embassy in London at around 8:15 for his appointment at 8:30. We contemplated spending the night in a hotel the night before the interview but decided that would be a lot of expense so my husband took the train into London from our home in Essex at around 6:30 am and arrived in plenty of time for his interview. I (the USC) stayed at home with our 5 month old baby.
We had been to the Embassy several times for other things such as renewing my US passport and birth abroad birth certificates for a US citizen. We were a bit confused when the website said not to bring any electrical devices because as we had been there before we knew that you could bring mobile phones, etc. but then had to leave them in the little building outside the embassy and they would give you a number to collect your things when you were finished in the embassy, but for whatever reason this is not the way it works for visas for immigrants. We think it may have something to do with the volume of people there for visas. My husband waited in the line and then was told he needed to go to the pharmacy down the road where we have had American size passport photos taken in the past and rent a locker and leave his mobile phone in there. He then had to line up again and was given entry to the Embassy.
There were several different letters that were handed out N, E, and I numbers. The visas for immigration were I numbers and there didn't seem to be too many of them. When you register at reception inside the building you get a number. You then sit and wait for your number to get called. There was a little coffee area where you could buy drinks and sandwiches. It was about an hour and a half before he first was called up and that is when they ask for your paperwork. They wanted originals and the copy of the original and according to my husband they only asked for about 5% of the copies of the originals that I had sent him with  They also took his fingerprints for the first time. They were concerned because although my husband makes well over the poverty level and we own homes in both the UK and the US, they couldn't take any of the real estate into account 'because of the current economy' and said we needed a joint sponsor. Thank God we had asked my mom to fill in an I 864 form just in case because we definitely needed it. She has loads of shares and savings and that is what they based there decision on. We also had an issue because they wanted proof of bookings of airline tickets, removal quotes, shipping quotes, etc. Since we didn't know if our visa was going to be approved, because you don't know until you go to the Embassy, we did not make any plans in terms of evicting the renter in our house in America or removal and shipping of our belongings here so my husband was real honest with them and just told them we were waiting on approval of the visa before we make any additional movements. That seemed acceptable. We had to pay around another £300 on top of the £300 we already paid at this point. It was then about another hour whilst they looked over the paperwork until he was called up again. This consular official also queried why we had no proof of airline bookings, etc. but accepted my husband's response of waiting for this visa to be approved. He then said that our visa was approved and that a courier would be delivering it the next day or the beginning of the following week. His visa and paperwork didn't actually arrive until the following Wednesday although his appointment was on the Thursday previously due to a major snow and ice storm that came through our county.
All in all it was a good experience but we can't work out why we needed a joint sponsor on our I 864 when our family income is WELL above the poverty level. We think if we didn't have a joint sponsor they might have looked a little bit harder at the paperwork that we submitted with our I 864 including a letter from my husband's employer that his work would continue after our move to the States and what his income would be. But it was 90 days start to finish and we will be moving in April.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5459