Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic:
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
September 26, 2011 |
| Embassy Review : |
The following is translated to/from English English and American English (lol)
My interview for a K-1 Visa was at 9:00 am, and arrived at Gould’s Pharmacy around 8:00 am. Immigrant photos were £7.50 for 4, only 2 are needed for the process at the Embassy. You can get them at a photo booth inside the Embassy, but to me, it was not worth taking a chance that the booth would not be working, so I got them ahead of time. I recommend wearing something darkly colored, as I had to put my coat on as the background was white and my shirt was light. I paid £3.00 to store my I-Pod and phone in a sealed envelope, but found out I could take my rucksack (backpack) into the Embassy.
When I queued up (lined up), because I had an interview date and time I was directed on to the security guard, he checked my letter and passport. Then I was directed to a short queue outside the security booth. The security guard called people to be admitted into the Embassy four at a time and at the time I was there, there were only about 10 of us in line. You then continue on to walk through the metal detector and have your items scanned as if you were at an airport. It is this point that I was told I had an illegal item. I recommend you check your bag, as I took the one I use for work, and I apparently had a small torch (flashlight), and was told by security that I had to dispose of it and just had to leave. It was not as simple as just giving it up, I had to leave the queue (line) and threw it away across the street in a bin (garbage can). I did not have to queue up again, but the guard admitted me back in line upon my return. Not a big deal, but it could have been.
Note: People in there really have no sense of humor! Not rude, just matter of fact.
Once inside, you go to reception, and your interview letter is checked. The lady put four stickers with my number across my letter. Then you go upstairs, there was a big waiting area with a 100+ seats and numbers were being called over the intercom. Looking around, it looked like a bank with about 25 teller booths/windows, and security cameras. I waited about one hour and then was called to have my paperwork checked. The originals of my documents were taken from me, birth certificate, change of name, past marriage and divorce paperwork, and police certificate, and copies would have been asked for, but I had sent them in, so she did not need them. This was done by a very whiney Chinese woman whose idea of small talk was to complain endlessly about how difficult her job was and how her feet were aching her. I smiled. She seemed very disorganized, and went away two or three times looking for things. My DS forms were missing, so make sure you have plenty of copies, as well as the originals. She did fingerprint scans and I was given a pink slip for the courier and told that if my visa was granted, that I would need this to pay for delivery of my visa.
I sat back down and waited about another 20 minutes to be called to interview. My left hand was scanned (I guess they need to make sure I am still me), and a very nice American woman asked if I minded that she was being supervised as she was still in training. I said, “no problem.” I was asked to sign the DS-156K, and told to write my fiancé’s name. As a trainee, this woman was very clever in the way I was subtly probed for information. I felt like we were two friends meeting for coffee…She asked how I liked Santa Fe, and I told her, and she agreed with my impressions. Thinking back later, I am not sure if she had ever been there, but if I hadn’t, I am sure it would have been obvious. She gave me all of my originals back and said that my visa had been granted. I was so excited that I just took the pile of originals as they were handed to me and put them away. I would, however, recommend that you make sure you get all of your originals back, as it would not be an easy venture to replace that info.
From there, I got into another line for the courier and waited five minutes tops. I paid £36.30. There were three tariffs (charges), £13 something, to be received within 10 days of the courier receiving it from the Embassy, £23 to be received by 10 am and within 5 days of when the courier receives it from the Embassy, and £36 to be received by 8 am within 3 days of the courier receiving it. I was told that I would receive a text the day before, but they give no guarantees on you receiving the text. I expect to receive mine on Tues, 7 days total following the interview.
Note to Ex-squatty (Army)…Check your red service booklet that is issued when you leave the army. On the last page, make sure your discharge is filled out, as it is likely you were transferred to the Reserves. If not filled out, contact 0845-600-9663, Army Personnel Center. There you will get one of two guys. They ask you to email them with your military number, full name, full address with postcode, mobile and land contact numbers, and a scanned copy of your passport picture page. My recommendation is to just email and forget about calling them. Email them explaining your situation and request for formal discharge paperwork. Their convoluted email is APC-MSSP-PARLDISCL-DIS1-MAILBOX@MOD.UK …copy it, cause if you mess up one character as I first did, you don’t get any notification that it did not go through. So, I would call and make sure they got the email the next day. I was told that my request would be expedited because of my situation, but the email I got back as a confirmation said to allow a minimum of 20 working days and that they would return it to me by second class post (mail). So, because this was overlooked, I was worried, and went to the Royal Army website and found that all males enlisted prior to 1997 are required to be part of the Reserves up to their 45th birthday, at which time, their service ends. This was the one thing that I might have been delayed in getting a visa over, but I was never asked for my military discharge paperwork.
Last thoughts: If you are genuine, and you respond promptly and accurately, you will be fine. The whole interview procedure seems to be a bit of a formality then anything. I would say I was in and out within 2.5 hours max and that included my illegal torch incident. I was impressed at how efficiently so many people were handled relatively quickly. Everyone was very professional, except for the whiney lady. Overall, my experience was a good one.
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| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0