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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on April 17, 2011: |
ameribrit
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
So after a 2 hour drive, I arrived in London at 6:15. Obviously way too early to be queuing at the embassy, so I went down the road to the cafe next door to Goulds pharmacy. After a nice refreshing cuppa and relaxing sit down 7am soon came around.
I walked over to the Embassy and was fourth in line. I had a 9am appointment, but with London it is first come first served. Whilst waiting for the security people to get themselves sorted another VJ member, Nigel, turned up. We had a quick chat before security opened up at 7:30. We were called one by one over to a guy outside the security booth. He checked my appointment letter, MRV receipt and passport. Then we were let into the security booth in groups of four. This is just an enclosed area, with an airport type security scanner, where your bags are x-rayed before being let into the Embassy building itself.
From there I walked around the side of the Embassy and up the steps to the reception desk. The lady behind the desk scanned my MRV receipt and printed off a load of stickers which were attached to the appointment letter. I was # I-900, first immigrant visa of the day. I was told to go up the stairs, into the room and take a seat by window 1. Nigel was only a couple of people behind me, so he came over to continue our chat. Talking over the immigration process and our own separate experiences made the time fly by. The screens, that were supposed to show the numbers and the respective window to go too, had not been turned on at this point. So we had to keep an ear out for our numbers. My number got called after only 5 or 10 minutes, but was not told to go to window number 1 but number 13 instead. In the main hall there are windows numbered 1 – 11(I think), number 13 was around the corner in a much quieter part of the hall.
So at window 13 I was greeted by a young guy who asked my fiancées name and DOB, and he went off to get our file (quite thick by this point) I got given back a white envelope which I was told contained a disc with my chest x-ray, and to make sure I have it to hand at POE. The young guy asked me for my passport, 2 passport sized photos, birth certificate and copy, police certificate original (I had a copy, but he didn’t want it. So be sure to order more than 1 original) and I-134 affidavit of support. He asks for some supporting evidence for the I-134, to which I handed over Crystal’s letter from her employer. I was just about to hand over Crystal’s last 2 years tax transcripts, W2’s and payslips, but was told that there was no need for that. The I-134 is not contractual, so the employer’s letter was good enough at this point. I was also asked for my finger and thumb prints at this window. And I was given a courier slip to fill out whilst waiting to be called up for the second window.
Again, Nigel and I were able to sit down and compare notes about our first window experience whilst filling out our courier slips. It couldn’t have been much more than 10-15 minutes before i was called up again, this time to window 15 for the actual interview.
At window 15, I was greeted by the infamous older American gentleman. He was very nice and put me totally at ease. He took my fingerprints again, but just off of one hand to confirm it was me. I was then asked to raise my right hand to take the oath. After asking a few simple questions of how we met, when we first met in person, and when we were last together, he announced that he was glad to say that I was approved....Yay! He went on to explain how I should go out to the end of the hall and pay for the courier service. And to expect a brown envelope to be delivered, along with my passport, which should not, by any means, be opened. And that was about as exciting as it gets. I went off to pay the courier and I was out of there. I think it was about 9:15 by the time I got out of the Embassy.
A big thank you goes out to VJ member, Nigel, for having a chat with me and passing the time away. It was great to meet in person.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7469