K1 London Embassy question

[Yoms 0]

Good morning everyone, it's been a long journey but finally, the London embassy has mailed packet 3 to my fiancée, i was told they mailed it on the 17th of march but it still has not arrived yet, but still waiting. My question is that now we know the next step is to fill out the documents requested, mail them back in, go for the physical and wait for packet 4. My question is, is packet 4 the appointment(interview) date and time information? and also how long will it take from packet 3 being sent back before appointment(interview) date is set assuming it is all replied in a timely manner, like mailed back within 2 days of receiving packets. and will she be reached by phone only? or by mail also?

Thank you,

[Nero 17]

I would not wait for the packet 3 letter to come. If you have all the required documents ready she should just send them in. You'll get your interview date faster. Your interview date will arrive in 1 - 2 weeks and will be within 1 - 4 weeks of the date on your packet 4 letter. Keep an eye out for it though because sometimes things from the London Embassy have been getting caught up in the mail and important letters are not received. Some VJers have found out their interview is 3-5 days from the day the received their packet 4 letter. Also note: You'll need to pay the visa fee up front. I believe this is a reletivly new thing, but the $350 has to be paid in advance. You will be emailed a receipt that must be printed, signed, and brought to the interview. I hope that helps. Nick-Nich has an AWSOME document I strongly suggest you read if you havn't yet. Good Luck!

[Nero 17]

Sorry that's Nich-Nick

[YNWA 0]

I would not wait for the packet 3 letter to come. If you have all the required documents ready she should just send them in. You'll get your interview date faster. Your interview date will arrive in 1 - 2 weeks and will be within 1 - 4 weeks of the date on your packet 4 letter. Keep an eye out for it though because sometimes things from the London Embassy have been getting caught up in the mail and important letters are not received. Some VJers have found out their interview is 3-5 days from the day the received their packet 4 letter. Also note: You'll need to pay the visa fee up front. I believe this is a reletivly new thing, but the $350 has to be paid in advance. You will be emailed a receipt that must be printed, signed, and brought to the interview. I hope that helps. Nick-Nich has an AWSOME document I strongly suggest you read if you havn't yet. Good Luck!

I phoned the embassy today and they have logged my case but not sent packet 3 and they received my case on 15th March 11. When i spoke to the male i asked him if i could send in my forms prior to receiving my packet 3 and he said this is not advisable as i should wait till i receive my packet 3 because they work case by case. Any ideas?

[* Kristin * 49]

As soon as they have logged your case, you can send it in.

I phoned the embassy today and they have logged my case but not sent packet 3 and they received my case on 15th March 11. When i spoke to the male i asked him if i could send in my forms prior to receiving my packet 3 and he said this is not advisable as i should wait till i receive my packet 3 because they work case by case. Any ideas?

[YNWA 0]

As soon as they have logged your case, you can send it in.

you think this would speed it up slightly? so even though the guy said to wait fo rpacket 3 u think i should still send it in ?

[Yoms 0]

Thank you very much for your reply. I will have the documents sent in. I was wondering why it was taking longer to deliver, since they sent it on the 17th and she has not received it on the 22nd....so she will send the documents in, go for her physical, and wait for packet 4 then appointment date! excited, it's almost here! anything to be worried about during the interview? i also found the document by Nich that you were talking about, i am going to go over it shortly.

thanks a bunch.

[* Kristin * 49]

My advice... have your fiance in the US call the DOS just to follow up. We never received our packet 4 in the post, so could have missed the interview, had we not followed up.

My fiance said the interview was so nerve-wracking... but for nothing, because it was the easiest thing he ever did in his life :-) I'm going to type up his review (he gave me a verbal download of everything at 3:30 this morning ;-) )

Thank you very much for your reply. I will have the documents sent in. I was wondering why it was taking longer to deliver, since they sent it on the 17th and she has not received it on the 22nd....so she will send the documents in, go for her physical, and wait for packet 4 then appointment date! excited, it's almost here! anything to be worried about during the interview? i also found the document by Nich that you were talking about, i am going to go over it shortly.

thanks a bunch.

[Yoms 0]

Hi guys, something just popped in my head after reading Nich-Nicks document on the K1 visa process at the London Embassy. When i filed for my Fiance she was on her student visa in London, we were hoping it will take the 4-6 months that was advertised but it did not. My concern is that when i filed for her to take it at the London embassy she was on the student visa, the student visa has expired now but she got a visiting visa last month so she can go for the interview, will that be a problem? will the embassy ask what visa she still has? Also if they ask and we tell them that she had a student visa at the time and we were hoping it would be done before it expired 6 months after filing started but since it did not we had to get a visiting visa to come for the interview, the address she is staying in London is still the same, a family members place. I am worried they might put her on the administrative hold process, any ideas?

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

I don't think they will care about the visa as long as she is legally there. I don't even know if they ask. If her visa will allow her to remain in the UK long enough to get the US visa in hand all will be fine I think. If her visa expires and the embassy has her passport (possible AP??) then you'll have to figure out how she could leave the UK without her passport or what would happen if she didn't leave. Her permission to be in the UK is a UK issue, and not the American Embassy's concern. So how much time does she have left in the UK?

I think when she goes to her interview, she should outright ask if she will be put through additional processing and extra security databases because she's not a UK citizen and explain that the lengthly USCIS part of the process has put her between a rock and a hard place. (That's if her UK visa is about to expire) Anything she can think of should be asked while she's face to face with the interview guy (not the document person). Trying to get information after you leave will be pretty impossible. Don't be afraid to ask frank concerns when you have a pressing matter that is out of the ordinary. I don't think they can speak for her status to remain in the UK, but he can surely tell her if she will go through additional security databases and how long those are averaging these days. They won't bite or deny her visa for asking questions. They are nice.

And to YNWA: You really need to read my document. It will answer many questions.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Nich-Nick

[Yoms 0]

Thank you for your response, i greatly appreciate your help. I think it might be better to transfer to the Lagos Embassy (which i don't want to do) because the agent i spoke with said since she is not a resident of the UK anymore, she might be denied when she sends back the packet 3 information. I am scared that if she is denied then, it will be a longer process to move it to another embassy at that point and it might have to be appealed and so on. To be on the safe side i might just ask for it to be transfered to the embassy in Lagos. I am now worried about how long that will take to complete and if it will be automatic or will i have to call the embassy in Lagos and ask them if they can take the case and so on......i was so excited this morning, now i am more confused than i could imagine. If it is certain that her current UK residency won't be brought up then i can say we should risk it.

If transfer goes the way i think it will go, it should be transfered to Lagos automatically within 2 weeks, and we will be fine...

So far this is the case:

We filed for the k1, she was a valid student in the UK from Nigeria on a student visa, we got the approval in February, her Student visa expired in January, the Uk embassy got her documents in March and mailed the packet 3 information. Since her student visa expired, she applied for a Visiting visa and got it, now we plan on her attending the interview with the visiting visa...or maybe just going to transfer to Lagos embassy.....so confused, please help!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

How long can she stay in the UK??

[payxibka 10,045]

moving thread to:

US Embassy and Consulate Discussion

This is the place to post your experiences or questions related to this last step before moving to the US. Topics relating to I-134's, packets sent from consulate and medical & police certificates should be posted here.

[Yoms 0]

Her visiting visa is for a year, so she can stay for a year in the UK

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Her visiting visa is for a year, so she can stay for a year in the UK

So she has an address there (relatives)? And she lived in the UK for a period of time and lived there when she applied for a K1? I don't know why she can't list that address as her's if she still is living with the relatives and she is not illegally in the UK. Who did you speak to about this? Are you sure they understood she wasn't just trying to use another consulate randomly as a tourist? Like if my fiance had randomly decided he would just go to France for an interview when he had never been a resident. She was/is living in the UK. Go for it. That is stricly my opinion of your unique case. I could be totally wrong, but I wouldn't switch horses now. Answer questions truthfully---

Are you a student? I have been since _______. I just finished my course but am staying here waiting for my fiance visa case to finish processing.

At that point she is face to face talking with the guy who has the power to approve. If he says he wants Lagos to decide, then she finds out exactly how it should be handled and asks him how he will transfer it . No guessing. No bad information from some helpline worker. No following advice from a Nich-Nick stranger on a forum who could be stupid. She can explain her sincerity that she thought she was supposed to finish in London. She can start crying and try for sympathy. That guy will have the answers and I don't see how he could possibly deny. All he can do is say he's sorry, but he doesn't have jurisdiction to handle her case and tell her what to do.