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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on July 11, 2011: |
Susan&Daniel
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My appointment was for 8am. I arrived the Embassy for 6.45am and I am very glad I did! I was 6th in line and by the time the Embassy started processing people to enter (approx 7.35am) there were about 80 people in the queue. I handed my interview letter over to the first Embassy employee, she checked it against her list and sent me to a lady standing outside the little X-ray security hut. She checked my passport & interview letter before sending me into the security hut. They took my bag and folder, scanned it and sent me onwards - "Follow the arrows!" I was told. I went around the building and entered through a side door, went to reception, handed over my interview letter again and it had a big sticker slapped on it with a number (I-901). I was told to go sit in the waiting room up the stairs and wait for my number to be called.
Everyone else had N-# and it got to N6 before my I-901 was called. They seem to have a certain window dedicated to non-N numbers, but expect about 6-7 N-# to be called before the next I-# is called. I went to the window, handed my interview letter over with my passport. He scanned my fingers/thumbs, took my birth cert, marriage cert (plus 1 copy for each) and my police cert (he wanted the original only) and then asked for the I-864 forms for my husband and my father-in-law (the joint sponsor in my case) and the latest tax return just for my father-in-law. At this point he also wanted a copy of my father-in-law's passport, so I handed that over too. He organised all the paperwork, handed me a blue slip and told me to go around the corner to the Cashier to pay $404.00 for my visa interview. I handed over £253.00 in cash to the Cashier, she gave me a receipt to return to the original guy I was just dealing with. So I returned and he gave me a pink form which had info on one side (MAKE SURE YOU READ IT!) and info to fill out of the courier service. I was told to take a seat and wait for my number to be called out again.
I sat and waited 30 mins before I was called and my actual interview took less than 2 minutes. The lady who saw me was such a lovely woman! She scanned my fingers to make sure I was the right person, told me to raise my right hand and asked if I was telling the truth etc. She then asked where my husband and I met, when we got married, what he's doing in the US, what I plan to do and when I plan to travel. After all of that she said "I'm going to go ahead and approve all of this for you. You can go pay the courier now!" and that was it!
Paid the courier, got a receipt with a tracking # on it and that was that! I was out of there by 9.30am!
Overall it was a speedy visit, everyone was to the point, professional and not rude at all. I am very very glad I got there super early and probably would've had a worse time had I not been 6th in the queue.. I hate queues!
(P.S: HUGH LAURIE WAS THERE! He was standing right next to me as I sorted out my courier stuff. Also, trust me to meet Hugh Laurie in the one place you're not allowed to bring a camera! ARRRRRGH!)
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #7907