The Whole Story

[gwenneh 7]

..now that I've gotten some sleep!

Russ and I woke up way too early and left the house while it was still dark to head into The City. The journey isn't too involved, or long, or overly complex - bus to train to tube and then walk a few blocks. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, sunny, bright, and not too cold.

I had to walk by something like three LUSHes without stopping. Life is SO unfair!

We stopped at Starbucks for breakfast (are they doing the 'skinny' blueberry muffin back in the US? If they are, TRY IT!) and then headed over to the queue at the Embassy. They only allow you to queue from half an hour before your appointment time, so we showed up at pretty much nine on the spot. Since we had not brought anything electronic with us, we passed through the tighter-than-airport-security hut and made our way in. Got our number (5008) and sat down and waited.

When our number was first called the waiting room - which is huge - was very busy. Our paperwork was taken by a soft-spoken but nice Oriental woman who noted Russ's rap sheet of expensive private schools and struck up a conversation with him about A-levels and grades, telling us that her daughter had cried because she'd done four subjects and gotten a 'B' in one of them. It was hard to understand her because the room was so loud, but she was very sweet and once she took our DS-230, my I-864, and my dad's I-864 we sat down to wait for our number to be called again...which would be The Interview.

So we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more.

It was apparent that only one interviewer was processing immigrant visas and that we were the last appointment of the day because they take a long time to go through (compared to a tourist visa, at any rate). Finally, somewhere around noon, we were called and we began the walk up to the window of interview-ness. The gent there may have been the one that did our interview two years ago, i don't know, but he was certainly nice enough to be. He made us both swear we were telling the truth (I've never had to take the 'truth, whole truth, etc.' oath before!) and then asked Russ how we met (the story of the bass guitar was met with 'awww'), when we got married, where we planned on living, had I gone back already, and why did we have a K-1 visa? The whole thing was about four minutes long, but they are four of the most nerve wracking minutes you could possibly have. He had a lady behind him taking notes, I'm not sure if she was training but I think this was the case due to the way she was writing and he was explaining.

Then he told us our visa was approved, congrats, best of luck, and he'd try to get the visa out as fast as possible (as it takes a few days to paste them into your passport for whatever reason). We smiled, thanked him, paid the courier, and left, feeling worlds lighter.

Once our stomachs had un-knotted, we went to the Slug and Lettuce for a pub lunch. I highly recommend it! Awesome grilled steak salad and fantastic ciabatta.

I then came home, called my mom, and fell asleep. Russ is still sacked out. It's been a highly emotional day. Now we can move forward with our US lives! we got the text from the courier saying the visa would be here before noon tomorrow, so the bloke at the Embassy was as good as his word.

And that is the story of how Russ got his visa.

Edited January 16, 2008 by Gwen666

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Congrats! You going to turn around and go back again this time B)

I have been to that Slug and Lettuce too - goat's cheese quesadilla for me

[mustang-sally 8]

Gwen

That sounds very much like the 2 people that processed my visa.

I was a nervous wreck and they helped to put me at ease so much. I must have had a quiet day, they let me join the 9am queue even though my interview was at 09:30. From stepping foot in the embassy building to stepping out was just 70 mins for me. Very quick when I look at some of the reviews of people that have waited for hours.

I recommend Starbucks, there seemed a lot of people in there with visa packages when I went, a good place for coffee, breakfast and the loo!!!

Well done Gwen, congratulations

[gwenneh 7]

Congrats! You going to turn around and go back again this time B)

I have been to that Slug and Lettuce too - goat's cheese quesadilla for me

I think we are going to shake it up a bit and move cross-country, but staying in the US this time!

I'm so tired of shipping things it hurts.

[Jeraly 4]

I had to walk by something like three LUSHes without stopping. Life is SO unfair!

:lol: I am a LUSH! freak as well So much so that when I found out my nearest one will be LA I e-mailed them and suggested that a branch in Palm Springs would be a *REALLY* good idea Who knows if they'll take it on board but I did get an e-mail back saying they had taken note!!

Onto more important things though - GRATZIES!! Again!!! Don't forget to send me your Q&As!! I'm building up quite a list!!

[bakofoil 27]

Congratulations and thanks for posting such a detailed description of goings on at the London embassy. Reading this has made me feel much more relaxed about going when it comes around to my turn. Thanks and best of luck to you both for the future!

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Pasadena Lush might be closer to you (I recall you in San Bernardino?)

If you come to Santa Monica Lush it is not far from the King's Head British shop, however

[Mags 112]

Congrats, Gwen!

LUSH is online in the States too, so you can always get your fix that way!

[Jeraly 4]

I know - but the shipping is so expensive because it all weighs so much!! Will defo be worth a treat though Maybe when I get a job

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Congratulations! And thank you for the write up - they're really interesting and useful to read.

[Lansbury 19]

Congratulations - see that they paid as much attention to your co-sponsor as was predicted

[j4k 0]

loving these detailed first-hand accounts of your interviews! thanks!

[gwenneh 7]

Just to wrap things up, the courier has just been and delivered one passport with a shiny I-551 stamp (and the requisite Mysterious Brown Envelope)! We are now LEGAL, folks!

POE experience to come next Wednesday, when Russ attempts entry into the US with a visa...again...

[rebeccajo 14]

Congrats and welcome to America - again!

[gwenneh 7]

Thanks - we might even stick around this time!

...what a life-changing little bit of paper. This thing is no different than the K-1 - looks exactly the same with a few different words - but yet gives us a lot more options. This feels...bigger...somehow.

Very excited, now Russ can get back into the job market and stop making me support him!

Edited January 17, 2008 by Gwen666