Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
April 2, 2013 |
| Embassy Review : |
My visa interview was scheduled for 8:00am on Thursday 14 March. My wife and I arrived at the Consulate at 6:40am. And at that early hour, we were the first ones in the queue. We lined up in front of the door marked "Visas" and waited. It was quite cold, so my advice is to wear an extra pair of socks. A few people joined us in the queue over the next 45 minutes and then a Consulate staffer pulled out a desk in front of the Embassy and had us all line up behind it. The staffer asked whether anyone had mobile phones, fobs, car keys, or cameras with them and instructed people who did to Gould Pharmacy to stow them (Gould charge a GBP 3.00 fee for this). I had deposited my phone at Gould's previously while my wife waited in the queue. Note: Gould will only allow the person who deposits the item(s) to retrieve them. Also, to be clear, the Consulate allows brief cases or a bag that holds the necessary documents to be brought in.
In the queue, the Consulate staffer checked my appointment letter and asked my wife if she was accompanying me. My wife said that she would like to and that we had emailed the Consulate with this request. The staffer asked whether we'd received a response. We had not, so my wife said she would go have a coffee nearby instead. The staffer said that was a wise decision because "it's boring as hell in there." Ha!
At 7:45am we were allowed into the Consulate. First, a guard outside checked my passport and interview letter. Then I was instructed to go through the security scanners right at the gate of the building. Belts needed to be taken off, but not shoes. After walking through the scanners, I started putting my belt back on, but was told to do so once I was in the general waiting area, where “you will have plenty of time.”
Once through the security gates, I followed the path around the right side of the building (‘visa’ sign posts, indicating the direction, are abundant), and after climbing the stairs to the entrance, I saw that there was a reception area. Here, I presented my passport again with my appointment letter. The receptionist printed out stickers, which indicates your unique waiting number – usually a letter I, E, N etc which indicates the nature of the visa application, followed by a three digit number. She attached this number to the appointment letter, and told me to go into the waiting area to her left.
The entrance to the waiting area is on the right end of a room that is probably a size of a small gymnasium. There are rows and rows of simple chairs, each row consisting of around 20 chairs. The rows of chairs are separated in the middle by a row of displays, which during my visit, remained off. At the end of the room (where I entered), there were DX Secure Delivery counters to arrange for all of the important documents after your interview, and on the front end of the room, there was a small kiosk area, which sold tea, filtered coffee, hot water, soda, crisps, etc. Above the kiosk was a 3 screen by 3 screen digital signage area, which consisted of: the lower left hand corner allocated to calling out numbers and assigning a window 1 to 25 or so, and a list of numbers called; The upper left hand allocated to touristic videos on a particular aspect of the US, as well as promo videos for universities (I remember seeing one for USC and Howard); The right hand side dedicated to a UK news channel.
Back to the description of the waiting area. The left side of the room was all windows from floor to ceiling. From there, I was able to see Grosvenor Square Garden. The right side of the room had windows 1 to 13, I think (no privacy at all!), and the remaining windows were tucked away ahead of the corridor. That area was less noisy and was used for my actual interview with the consulate officer.
The ‘interview process’ consists of two parts. The first part is the more administrative one, when staff make sure that you have brought all of the necessary documents. The second part is when you are interviewed by a consular officer.
When people started getting called (people with N waiting tickets), I was not the first one called, despite being the first one to enter the building that day. I would say that I waited a good 10 to 15 minutes before my I ticket number was called. I reasoned that this was because I was a CR-1, which required more close scrutiny. I was called to window 1, where I was asked to present many documents at machine-gun speed. It did not help that the intercom kept on calling more numbers, pretty much non-stop. Staff did not refer to the documents using the technical names (eg. I-130, DS-230, etc) but the generic name (e.g. Affidavit of Support). Some highlights:
When asked to present my wife’s US tax returns for 2012, I was only able to present her 1099 income form, as the IRS filing deadline had still not come. I was instead asked to present the tax returns for 2011.
I did not have to present my wife’s bank statements; just a letter from the bank branch manager in the US stating the current balance.
Although my wife, who is a US citizen had prepared a translation of her non-US birth certificate, I was not asked to present it. I wasn’t even asked to present her US passport.
Although my wife had changed her name previously, I was not required to present legal evidence.
I am a Japanese citizen, and the Japanese Embassy only issues a report in a secured envelope. This meant that I could not take a required copy of the certificate. This posed no issues, as the staff knew that I could not open the report, and did not require me to present a copy or to pay the photocopying fee.
I was only asked to present Part 2 of the application, though I brought copies of Part 1 just in case.
After the staff had collected all of the necessary documents, I was handed a CD-ROM containing my chest X-ray. I was then asked to go to window 14 (?) immediately to pay the CR-1 visa fee (they accept credit cards, including Amex), and bring back the receipt to the original window 1. When I returned with my receipt 4 minutes later, the staff member was dealing with another applicant, so I just waited until she was free.
When I got to window 1 again, I was asked to give a contactable number in case of emergency. I was given a pink piece of paper which gave instructions on what to do next. The same paper served as a form to apply for the secure courier delivery service after the interview. At this point I enquired about the USCIS fee that had been introduced, and how I could pay for it. The staff member told me that all of the details for this would be in the packet that I receive back along with my visa/passport (this was true, and it turns out that I pay online, before entry).
After about 15 minutes in the waiting area, I was called to window 15 (?). I was greeted by an African American female consular officer in her late 20s/early 30s. Unlike most of the staff for the first administrative part, who had British English accents, she had an American one. As private questions are asked, the area was more secluded. The officer even requested that another applicant, who was queuing for another window, to wait further away from the window.
I had noticed during my wait that I had given the admin staff the wrong emergency contact number, and I was quite worried. I was able to correct the number at this point. The officer thanked me for this – a bit of a surprise!
The interview itself lasted for a little over 5 minutes. Throughout, there was a relaxed, informal atmosphere. There was no air of an interrogation. I even managed to make her laugh a couple of times.
There were not many questions that were asked but perhaps this is because I made sure to cover every detail. The three that I remember.
How did you two meet?
When did you two start thinking of marriage?
When did she come over to the UK?
After I gave the responses to the question, the consular officer took one breath, and told me “congratulations, your application has been approved”, in a very casual, matter-of-fact way – so much so that I could only respond “Oh…, um…, that is great!”
At this point, the consular officer handed back my UK Residency Card, marriage certificate, and UK police certificate. I was told to just go directly join the DX Secure Delivery counter queue, at the entrance of the waiting area.
There were about 5 people waiting in the queue to the DX Secure Delivery counter, which was manned by 3 people. There was the standard delivery option (can come all day), the Pre-10am, and the Pre-8am. I went for the pre-10am, which cost GBP 26.00. As the pink slip that I had received earlier said that it had to be either me or a designated recipient, I inquired how one designates a recipient. The answer was that it was unnecessary, as long as the recipient had my ID that she could show. (The delivery service will send your primary number a text message 1 day before delivery, so it was easy to coordinate the ID.) They said that I would be receiving back my passport with the visa in 7 to 10 working days, but it only took 1 week for me to receive the package.
I was finished and out of the Embassy around 9:45am, so it was about 2 hours from entering to leaving. Security was not at all fussy this time, as I had to just walk through, and the security guards did not even look at me. Went to Gould's to retrieve my phone and called my wife with the good news  ))) |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0