The 2009 United Kingdom Interview Thread!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

:::exhale:::

Great news from the ladies today. Congratulations Moira and MARM.

[KnightAndMagpie 7]

Maaaaaaaaaarm! WHEW! I'm just beaming for your news...gawd, what a relief! I was so scared he would be put into AP but I'm over the moon that it worked out for you guys. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

HUGS!

Magpie.

[Big Papa Zone 93]

Oh, the receptionist who I spoke to when I booked the medical, well she was very abrupt.........almost acted like she wanted me off the phoneline

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186151

[Big Papa Zone 93]

:::exhale:::

Great news from the ladies today. Congratulations Moira and MARM.

Just shooting off topic here, but it's been driving me nuts thinking of who your voice reminds me of, but now I remember:

Edited May 12, 2009 by Damian P

[JimandChristy 1,689]

Oh, the receptionist who I spoke to when I booked the medical, well she was very abrupt.........almost acted like she wanted me off the phoneline

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=186151

hahaha unbelievable! Sounds like a right miserable c0w and there I was after hanging up thinking "Did I say something wrong?"

[Bob and Patricia 0]

Congrats Moira!!!

Drum roll please...

My fiance is APPROVED PENDING PASSPORT!!!

Congrats Marm and Moira!

Bob and Pat (always doing the happy dance with good news out of London) :dance:

[~*Maria*~ 1]

Congrats to MARM and Moira

Booked my medical today, put it on the same day as the interview. MARM you will need to add us to the list of interviewees, ours is due June 1st, thanks!

Congrats on getting yer interview date. Thats my birthday that day, best of luck!!

[MARM 7]

Thanks everyone for joining in on our relief and happiness! You all brought a huge smile to our faces with your congrats posts! :dance:

Congrats JimandChristy on getting an interview date! I will post your entry in the interview list now...

Yeah, Talyss, we are really looking forward to taking a trip to Pakistan before my fiance's POE. The wedding celebrations of my future sis-in-law and bro-in-law are scheduled for the last 2/3 days of June til the first week of July (those familiar with desi weddings...you know how looooooong they drag, it is a matter of days). But even if we do not make it to the weddings, we will take a trip to visit everyone before my fiance's POE. Just because he won't be making trips anywhere at least for the first 2-3 years and we aren't planning on any trips after POE for ourselves either for a long while. We look forward to getting the passport back ASAP and are concentrating our energies on AOS preparation (that we have very well researched thanks to you all on VJ ) and on planning our trip to Pakistan.

Magpie: We were both expecting for him to be put on AP/AR FOR SURE. Ironically what we were not expecting at all (the passport issue) happened, and what we were expecting for sure (AP/AR) did not happen...but I guess these are what you call life's "little surprises" that in the long run really do not matter--you can take 'em like a sour lemon or a box of chocolates, depends on your point of view. I was so relieved when you were out of AP within about 4 weeks. I knew it was not going to be long for you, based on VJ statistics of recent people out of London on AP/AR and also of course the fact that you are a citizen of the UK. Both of us also have a practical time-frame in mind to expect the passport in (I mean it can't take another month, he is already approved...) and therefore are planning everything accordingly, so if it turns up earlier, it will be a lovely and welcomed surprise and if not, we are prepared!

Edited May 12, 2009 by MARM

[MARM 7]

January 2009 Graduates of the US Embassy, London
Jason&Sarah, Hannah+Vito, Mrssmith, ShannonNick, adrianandlinsay, Marmite Lovers!

February 2009 Graduates of the US Embassy, London
Rob&Dawn, Zoe and Hal, Terri and Seb, Talyss, TeeKol

March 2009 Graduates of the US Embassy, London
Stinky Monkey, skparker, Laurence+Lauren, pothergavel, paumanda, texpat cymru, obbynox, jhonscotland, Caminic, Furious Biscuit, ahlpo, jojo_gee

April 2009 Graduates of the US Embassy, London
DairyFarmer, skeez&titanic, SwanTiger, miss g, LondonLad, niniel71, mr and mrs, Stinkerpotsam, Marty J, prima and jay, Helen&Dougie, KAT&Allie, KnightAndMagpie, paul., Kirsten UK, Colinjess

May 2009 Interviews
1st May 2009.....Graziumphry..................K-1
1st May 2009.....emma77........................K-1
5th May 2009.....Monkey Juice.................K-1
5th May 2009.....Gemmie........................K-1
12th May 2009....MARM...........................K-1- APPROVED PENDING PASSPORT
12th May 2009....mrs_sdp.......................K-1- APPROVED PENDING MEDICAL
15th May 2009....H&V..............................K-1
19th May 2009....laura819........................K-1
22nd May 2009...PB&JAM.........................K-1
29th May 2009...Bob and Patricia..............K-1

June 2009 Interviews
1st June 2009......JimandChristy...............K-1
12th June 2009....Ellie-and-David.............K-1


Still waiting for approval
stevi1123..........16th October 2008 - Approved pending additional documentation
Marie620..........12th January 2009 - Denied
Dave and Jess..10th March 2009 ?
The Dip Sticks..25th March 2009 ?
Alixhilary..........27th April 2009- Approved pending additional documentation

= APPROVED

Updates/New entries/changes highlighted in blue - will go to normal color in the next update.

Please let us know if you have an Interview Date to add to the list, updated information or corrections.

[MonkeyJuice 3]

Woo hoo!!! yay!! Congratulations Marm! a big happy dance for you

So pleased things worked out for you after all the unbelievable stress!

Congratulations Moira! Hope the medical goes well!

Such good news for May interviews, lets hope it continues!

[Gemmie 142]

CONGRATULATIONS MARM AND MOIRA!!

Wow, I bet you're both so happy.. I'm so glad to hear you weren't put in AP MARM and that they didn't give you a hard time because of the passport situation. Let's hope they send that passport to you quickly so you can get the nice visa put inside ASAP.

Let us know how the medical goes Moira!

Edited May 12, 2009 by Gemmie

[Stinkerpotsam 6]

Congrats Moira!!!

Drum roll please...

My fiance is APPROVED PENDING PASSPORT!!!

My fiance completely was so engrossed in his thoughts that he forgot to take notice of your book...I asked him and he said I even forgot the title of book you said she would have!

But we are SO RELIEVED...thank you so much to each and everyone of you all here on VJ who supported us with simple words of encouragement or answered our million questions (you know who you are!). So I will be posting our review in the "reviews" section as well, but here goes for all of you (who are dying to know, I know )

My fiance arrived at the embassy for his 8:30 AM appointment at 7 AM sharp. He was the second person for immigrant visas to enter the embassy. At the security point outside, he was asked for appointment letter and passport: he showed his appointment letter and UK Resident Card, he was allowed in. After passing security clearance, he was asked for his passport and appointment letter again by the receptionist and he presented his UK Resident Card & appt letter. The receptionist asked him where his passport was and my dear fiance was ready to bust out his "Evidence of Why No Passport" folder especially for occasions like this, but the receptionist did not give him a chance to do that and gave him the go-ahead after hearing his reason and confirming with some people (IOs I think). Within 45 minutes of taking a seat, he was called to the first window for the initial document screening by an African American lady. My fiance gave her his UK Resident Card when she asked for his passport. She asked him, "What is this?" And he told her the whole story and she said ok hold on and she took the card along with a printout of the email we sent to the embassy regarding his "no passport situation" and said she would be right back. She came back and proceeded to tell my fiance, "Ok, you are fine" and then asked for b.c. and his p.c.s and he gave her each original one with a copy. Then she asked for the Affidavit of Support and my fiance handed her the whole stack (all prepared with little post-it stickies marking co-sponsor/sponsor/original/copies of all documents). She looked through the whole stack, took off the post-it stickies and put them in his file without a word and then told him to go pay at Window #13 (which was the window right next to the window he was at) and bring the receipt to her. Well, turns out the embassy's debit card machines are down so my fiance asked if he could go to the bank/ATM and come right back, he was given the go-ahead and was instructed not to wait once he came back inside but rather to stand at the same window and if someone was there, to wait until he/she finished. So my fiance dashed out of the embassy, came back with the money, was waved in by security after he showed him his ticket and appointment letter (that the lady at the window gave him to show for on his way back inside), went through security clearance again and back to the window. A person was being attended to so he waited 1-2 minutes and then the lady took his receipt, gave him his x-ray and told him to fill out the courier slip she handed him as well and wait for his # to be called again to a different window. And she said to him, "Good luck". So then my fiance sat down, filled out the courier receipt (even though he wasn't going to use it today) and within 10 minutes he was called to another window and faced a young American woman. This IO GRILLED him with at least 30 questions, sometimes asking repetitively in "clever ways" (as my fiance put it). She asked him a number of questions about how we met, why me, what he will do in the US, what he studies, when does he plan to leave, what do I study, when do I graduate, why did I only go to visit him instead of him come to the US, how we keep in touch, how we met (yes, again), confirmed dates with him about various trips, etc, questions about our engagement party, about his passport, the standard questions as well (have you been involved in any crime, etc) and whether he has traveled to any countries besides the UK and Pakistan. She did not ask for any evidence of relationship even though my fiance was ready with about 40 pictures and evidence of trips. Then she handed him a paper with 221g marked for "suspended until receipt of additional documentation" or something like that with "passport" written under it, and she also gave him a paper with the SMS courier information and instructed him to send his passport to the embassy once he receives it back from the UK Home Office. My fiance (who likes straight answers as we all do ) asked her, "So I can go now? Am I approved? Am I done for the day?" And the IO laughed and said, "yes you are done, just send in the passport via SMS once you get it back from the UK Home Office." So when my fiance called to tell me all of this, he asked me to confirm the results of his interview with DOS. I called DOS right away and was told by a heavily-accented lady that his case is suspended until they get his passport, and I (like my fiance) outright asked her, "So is he denied? Is he under Admin Processing? Or are we only waiting for his passport?". And the lady after a few moments of silence said, "They are waiting for his passport, when he sends in his passport, they will process the visa." So I said thanks and informed my fiance...and we are so thankful to God Almighty and so relieved that his interview has been a great success even though he did not have his passport, and now we just wait for the darn passport and he sends it via SMS to the embassy.

I would also like to add, I know the US immigration system can be frustrating and knock you out (wait times, etc) but in our experience, we are very happy with them. We have the UK system to compare it to, and never in a million years would we EVER deal with the UK Home Office for anything, we would rather move to a totally new country if it came to that. So...thanks from the bottom of our hearts to the US immigration system for understanding our circumstances and always honoring our requests and giving the correct information every time and never giving us a reason to lose our faith in them.

Where did Marm go? I saw her here and posting. Now nothing. I can't hold my breath any longer. :::gasp:::

And I'm 10 min. late leaving my house for somewhere I need to go.

Sorry Nich I was busy writing down the whole story...with the happy ending

WOOO HOOOOO

[Kirsten UK 2]

What fantastic news, I'm so happy for you Marm, it must be such a relief!!!!!!

Congrats Moira too

[paul. 0]

Congrats on all recent interview approvals, awesome news!

I'm still waiting on my visa, 2 weeks and 2 days so far...I only had to send in my mother-in-law's proof of nationality and that went in on April 29th, they had it on May 1st, so 12 days ago now. The lady at the interview said they were processing in 4 working days, so I'm quite concerned. I phoned the extortion line yesterday and spent 4.80 pounds finding out they didn't know anything about any cases that were "post-interview", so I should only call them once a month has passed, which really sucks as I was due to start my new job last week. I found the email on the wiki and emailed them like 30 minutes ago (can't sleep!) and got a reply stating they'd deleted my email without reading it...I also sent the same email to SCSLondon AT state.gov. I didn't get a deleted response from that, but I don't think it's the correct department....so fingers crossed there is a good samaritan that will just let me know what's going on.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

Congrats on all recent interview approvals, awesome news!

I'm still waiting on my visa, 2 weeks and 2 days so far...I only had to send in my mother-in-law's proof of nationality and that went in on April 29th, they had it on May 1st, so 12 days ago now. The lady at the interview said they were processing in 4 working days, so I'm quite concerned. I phoned the extortion line yesterday and spent 4.80 pounds finding out they didn't know anything about any cases that were "post-interview", so I should only call them once a month has passed, which really sucks as I was due to start my new job last week. I found the email on the wiki and emailed them like 30 minutes ago (can't sleep!) and got a reply stating they'd deleted my email without reading it...I also sent the same email to SCSLondon AT state.gov. I didn't get a deleted response from that, but I don't think it's the correct department....so fingers crossed there is a good samaritan that will just let me know what's going on.

Hi Paul,

I didn't realise you were from Taunton too....

It might be worth calling DOS instead of the extortion line. Their number is 202-663-1225.They will be able to look at the current status when you call (IE: Confirm they have recieved additional information and it is being processed) When you email London you have to input a code or your emails will get deleted without being read. You can call the extortion line to find out the current code.

Also bear in mind there was a public holiday just after you sent the information back, so essentially it's been 7 working days. There are a few people here experiencing delay's with regard to getting their passports back too.

I hope you can find something out soon.