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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on April 9, 2012: |
xjoseyx
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
I was lucky enough to have my fiance fly over to be with me for my interview. We left Cardiff on the 4am megabus to London Victoria. We left the house at 2:45am. A long day ahead! After managing to catch a little sleep on the bus on the way to London we arrived at 8:10am. Concerned about the rush hour on the tube (I was almost late to my medical due to the rush hour crowds on the tube at Victoria) we got a taxi to the Embassy. It wasnt too far on the tube so I knew a taxi wouldnt be too expensive. It was £8. A fair price.
Upon arriving at the Embassy we walked to Goulds Chemists to check in our electrical goods. We checked in 1 phone, 2 ipods, 2 sets of earphones, a usb stick, an ipad all for £3 total. They give you a raffle ticket for when you claim it back when youre done. There is a small cafe next to Goulds where we grabbed some toast and a drink to wait until 9am before joining the queue. We'd previously arranged with the embassy via email to have my fiance put on the entry list at the embassy. We called them and had a code given to us which we then put in an email and was told everything was sorted for us. Upon checking in at the first point outside the embassy, we found that Ian, my fiance, was not on the list!!! Nightmare! The officer tried calling the immigration branch around 10 times but with no answer. He suggested I go in without Ian and ask inside if he could come in but we werent happy with that incase they said no and he was stuck outside for the day. We went back to Goulds where they have laptops and printers rigged up for the various surrounding embassies for people to print forgotten documents. We paid £6 for 15 minutes of internet to print out Ians confirmation email from the embassy with the code on it. £6 is very steep but needs must. Goulds must make a lot of money off the embassies!! The officer went inside with the printed email and we were given the all clear for Ian to come inside. Phew.
The security screening was fine. Just like at the airport. We went round the side of the building, up the stairs to see a lady at the desk where I showed her my appointment letter and she gave us our number to look out for. I was I916. We managed to find a place to sit and get comfy whilst we watched the screen and waited. There were around 300 people also waiting. Busy! Ian used the snack bar at the rear of the room and bought a water and a kitkat that were £1.80 in total. After around 30 minutes we were called to window 14 to hand in my documents. Birth cert and copy, I134 and supporting forms (1040 and Ians dads letter of employment), police cert and copy and my divorce papers and copy. He also took my passport which I'll get back with my visa. All my forms were correct and present and we were given a pink form for the courier should we be successful. We went and sat back down. It was 10am. After another hour and 15 minutes we were called to window 15 for the interview. I was soooo nervous!! We had a nice white guy, around late thirties. Friendly but not overly. He said that looking at our folder, we go to a lot of sports games. Lol. Most of our photos we submitted were of us at various games. He asked me did I like American sports? What was my favourite baseball team? I said the Yankees and he jokingly said "visa apporoved!" and close the folder. Lol. He then went on to ask how we met and the timeline of how the relationship progressed. The Officer asked Ian a few questions about the I134 and about Ians current working situation. Ians Dad is supporting me and Ian had just lost his job due to needing time off to help me move. He also asked was Ians Dad aware that I may not be able to work for upto 6 months. He already knew and is fine with it. The officer said he was satisfied enough with our relationship to issue the visa. He then congratulated us and told us where to pay for the courier. We thanked him and left on a high! Big relief! We paid the £15 and are waiting on my visa to be delivered. Bank holiday weekend has delayed it but thats fine as Im not booked on a flight out until May 16th. By the time we got back to Goulds to pick up our electricals, It was 11:30am. In and out in 2 and a half hours. Not too bad.
I would have given the Embassy a 5 star rating had it not been for them not putting Ian on the list and causing un-needed added stress and extra money.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #9455