K-1 and IR-1/CR-1 - UK Specific Information

1. Gather Documents for Packet 3

Packet 3 is available to download from the US Embassy London website here.

   * DS230 - part 1 which is pages 1 & 2 - Sign page 2.
   * DS156 - (in duplicate) Okay to sign
   * DS157 - (in duplicate) no signature required
   * DS156K - Do not write below the line. You sign in front of the officer.

Do not send these documents until you have received your P3 letter or the DOS has confirmed that your P3 has been sent. Doing so will cause delays to your application.

The postal address is:

Immigrant Visa Branch United States Embassy 5 Upper Grosvenor Street London W1A 2JB

If you hold a British passport and it was issued in the UK, this is the way to answer the passport issuance questions on the DS-156:

Place of issuance/city: UK Passport Agency Country: Great Britain and Northern Ireland State/Province: England

2. Gather Documents for Interview

   * Birth/ Adoption certificate
   * Divorce decree
   * Passport
   * Police certificate/s (see below)
   * I-134 (see below)
   * 2 passport photos (U.S size) These are available in the UK at Snappy Snaps or Gould Pharmacy. The USEL also has a photo booth, but relying on it working is not advised!

Note: If more than 4 months has passed since the petition was approved, you will be required to furnish a notarized statement of your intent to marry within 90 days of your arrival in the U.S.

I-134

London likes Q.11 to state 'intend to support'. Suggested phrasing is: "whatever sums necessary to ensure the beneficiary does not become a public burden."

Nich-Nick has a fab summary of supporting documentation for the I-134 here

Police Certificates

See here for info on the UK branch of the USCIS's Police Certificate requirements: UK Police Certificates

3. Get your LND case number from the NVC

If you call (603) 334-0700, press 1, then 5 with your EAC or WAC number ready. They can confirm when your file was forwarded to the embassy and give you the case number.

4. Confirm London has logged your file

After your file has left the NVC, the DOS is responsible for your visa application. Call (202)663-1225, press 1, then 0. They can also confirm if packet 3 has been sent, received and tell you your interview date, if you haven't received your packet 4. It is also the contact point if you have any matters arising (such as additional documentation requests or missed visa fee payments!)

Contacting the Embassy

In certain instances, you will need to contact the Embassy directly, for example when you're out of processing times (i.e. >2 weeks waiting for your visa after interview) or to ask questions about unorthodox situations like being in AP or other out of the ordinary situations (like not having paid your visa fee!) etc

Callers in the UK: 09042-45010. Calls to this line are charged at £1.20/min Callers in the US: 1-866-382-3589. Callers are charged a fixed rate of $16:00 for up to 7 minutes

Press 3 to skip the voice preamble and get an operator. Ask them for the weekly code for e-mailing the embassy as they will not generally give you general case updates. This will get you to the attention of someone who has access to the paperwork who can check for you. They may take 2-3 days to respond to send you an e-mail response.

If you want to try and change your interview date, call and inform them, the operator will give you the email code of the week (ask for it if he/she does not). Then email the embassy with the email code in the subject line as well as in the body and also include your case #. Then explain in the body of the email how you want your interview date changed. You will get an automatic acknowledgment email from the embassy within 15 minutes to a few hours stating that they have "received your email, we are averaging 3-4 days to respond, please do not email again". And the embassy usually is very quick with a turnaround response and they will usually accommodate your request.

5. Book Your Medical

You can do this as soon as you have your LND case number.

Here's some more information: The Medical In London

Helpful Hints for Interview Day

Found Here: Interviews at the London Embassy

See Also

You can find other UK specific information in the UK FAQ and the VJ UK Forum.