July 3rd Interview, Visa finally approved today

[Rebster 0]

Well guys, we had our interview in London on the 3rd of July. However, I didn't want to post until we had some definitive answers. So here is our saga:

Monday 3rd July, we had a 9am appointment so we took the morning train in with all the commuters. Took a taxi to the Embassy & got in line (we were just behind 1 person) at about 8:30. Around 9am they started letting us in & by then the line had grown quite a bit behind us. We went through the security hut & made our way to the back of the Embassy & into the Visa unit. We were given a number by the man and took a seat to watch the board. It's a very cool TV-like board that shows what number is being serviced at what counter and also what numbers are waiting for which type of service (Immigrant Visa, non-immigrant Visa, interview) Anyway, after about 20 minutes we were called to window #1. The guy took our letter and asked for our forms. (I highly suggest having all your copies tabbed in a folder so you can quickly give them as they are asked for) He took the originals and the copies of all the birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decrees, etc) He then asked if my husband had his medical yet. We said yes & told him he had it on May 30th. He disappeared for a minute and then came back with a pink courier slip for us to fill out. He told us to have a seat & wait to be called again.

As I sat there I realized that we had a problem. The other people waiting for Immigrant Visas had their x-rays that they had been given. We weren't given anything. Sure enough, after about 40 minutes we were called to window #13. The guy gave us back the originals we had given them and then asked my husband to raise his hand and swear that he was telling the truth. He took his fingerprints and asked us a couple of minor questions (What did my husband do for a living? Did I have a job lined up in the US? What was the source of my income on the I-134 since I was living in the UK and not working?) It seemed routine and he seemed satisfied with our answers. I offered the copies of the last 3 years worth of tax returns to him but he wasn't interested. He then asked when my husband had his medical. We told him again & showed him the copy of the vaccination certificate my husband was given. He disappeared for a few minutes and then came back to say they hadn't received his medical report. He said everything was fine except for that. He said they would keep my husband's passport and call the MD's office. If there was a problem they would call us & let us know. We left the window and paid the courier.

We then caught a cab and went to the Basil Street MD's office to find out what was going on. I should mention here that at the time of his appointment, the MD told my husband that because he had suffered a heart attack in April there was a chance that his Visa would be denied. My husband had been hospitalized and had stents placed to relieve the blockage. Since then he has had a clean bill of health from his cardiologist who said he just needs to continue on medication and his new healthy lifestyle. No further treatment is needed. Anyway, we told the MD at Basil st. that and he said he needed copies of the records. I had faxed two sets of records to him to back up our statement the week after the medical. Apparently, he had not seen the fax I sent and my husband's chart was sitting on a desk with a note that they were waiting for records from us. Anyway, when we went to the office the secretary said the MD had just looked at the chart and said he had everything he needed and everything was okay.

The next day was July 4th so the Embassy was closed. I figured they would probably look at the records on Wednesday the 5th and issue the Visa that day. Thursday came and went with no sign of the courier. Friday was the same. After a stressful weekend, Monday morning I emailed the Embassy. I got the standard automated response that they would answer in 3-4 days. Tuesday I had no response. I called the Embassy and explained that we had purchased nonrefundable tickets for the 18th and we needed my husband's passport. I was told to email again and use a reference # in the subject line. I did and had no response. Wednesday, I called again and was told to email with the reference # and to use the red exclamation mark to show it was urgent. Nothing. So, I called again and somebody gave me a fax# to try. I faxed, I called, I faxed again! Eventually I got through to someone who said our file was sitting there with a note on it saying they were waiting for the medical. I called the MD's office and they said they sent the report on July 4th.

Today we got an email from the Embassy that said they had received the medical, but due to my husband's pre-existing condition they would require proof of medical insurance before they would issue the Visa! They gave me a contact person to call which I did. He asked if I could put my husband on my insurance and I had to explain to him that since we both live in the UK neither one of us has US health insurance! I plan on getting him put on mine when I start working after we get back to the States. He said he'd have to check with someone else to see if that was okay. I told him we have travel insurance in the meantime. He called back later and said he had spoken to the head Consular agent and that they had decided to approve the Visa with the understanding that we get health insurance for my husband upon arrival in the US.

He said they were going to issue the Visa today but it takes 24 hours for them to get them back (from where??) Since we have such a short time before we travel, he said to call them tomorrow and if we want to pick up the passport on Monday instead of relying on the courier service he would make us an appointment to come to the Embassy and get it. So, we're going to London on Monday! I'm scared to celebrate too much until we actually have it in hand, but I think we may actually have a Visa!!!

[Joey559 1]

We were wondering how it'd gone for you! Congrats...finally! Good luck and all the best!

Joey

[gym 0]

Been waiting to hear how you got on.......Congratulations

[pnd629 0]

Congratulations!!!

[yabasta 0]

Congratulations. Sounds like you had a real worry for a while there. Glad you got it sorted out.

[Tim and Bethanie 1]

Congrats, glad to hear it all ended up okay.

[Anyta Holland 1]

Gosh! What a story!!!! I hope everything is ok now...

I know how you are feeling about not wanting to celebrate as you haven't got the visa in your hand!!! That's exactly what I did!!

[Linababe 0]

wow congratulations!! this worries me as my american half doesnt have health insurance at the moment and we were planning on buying health insurance after we got married, I hope they dont request it before in my case. I have history of anurisms in my head but the last anurism was over 20 years ago but 4 years ago i had the treatment done again as a preventative method and am still undergoing scans - my naxt scan is due in 2008 which I will have to come back to the UK to get done (I am told this is ok for me to do by the hospital docs) I am in 2 minds whether I should tell them about this last treatment - I was in hospital for 1 day to get the treatment done and then since then every year I have had a scan but not stayed overnight. should I put the day I went for this treatment down on the medical?? All in all the docs did tell me it was my choice to have the treatment done again - they said i had a 2% possibility that I may have anurism again but as it was 20 years ago since my last one they said it was very unlikely and this treatment was only as a preventative method - peace of mind etc but didnt know how successful it would be. Oh I am so confused I dont know what I should do:(

[Rebster 0]

wow congratulations!! this worries me as my american half doesnt have health insurance at the moment and we were planning on buying health insurance after we got married, I hope they dont request it before in my case. I have history of anurisms in my head but the last anurism was over 20 years ago but 4 years ago i had the treatment done again as a preventative method and am still undergoing scans - my naxt scan is due in 2008 which I will have to come back to the UK to get done (I am told this is ok for me to do by the hospital docs) I am in 2 minds whether I should tell them about this last treatment - I was in hospital for 1 day to get the treatment done and then since then every year I have had a scan but not stayed overnight. should I put the day I went for this treatment down on the medical?? All in all the docs did tell me it was my choice to have the treatment done again - they said i had a 2% possibility that I may have anurism again but as it was 20 years ago since my last one they said it was very unlikely and this treatment was only as a preventative method - peace of mind etc but didnt know how successful it would be. Oh I am so confused I dont know what I should do:(

I totally understand! The thing is, the MD that saw my husband had checked his blood pressure and listened to his heart and had no problem until he read the medical questionnaire listing his heart attack. The MD even told him that if he hadn't seen that on the form he would've just approved him & sent him on his way since he appeared healthy. I don't like to advocate lying, but if he hadn't marked that on the form none of this would have happened. It's not like they check your NHS records. Besides, now that he's had the stents placed his arteries are probably healthier than most peoples.

Your situation is different, since you're undergoing a voluntary preventative treatment. And since your last anurism was 20 years ago, I can't see why that would be a problem. But I understand your hesitancy to list your last treatment. Again, since it's preventative treatment you're probably okay to list it - in fact it might be seen as something to reassure them that you won't need expensive care once you're in the US. This same MD we saw was the one that told us they had a patient that had just been denied a Visa because she was on the NHS waiting list for a hip replacement. It's all about money I'm afraid! They just want to try to prevent issuing a Visa to somebody that's going to end up on Medicaid.

A big thank you to everyone here who has helped us get this far! This is a great forum and we have been really fortunate to have it as a resource. You guys are great!

[Jaylen Brit 0]

If you're worried about NOT mentioning it, and as you take the medical form WITH you to the medical, maybe don't list it but SPEAK to the doc about it? You can then explain the situation - do you have anything frm the speicialist (or can you get it fast) saying that this is WHOLEY a preventative and VOLUNTARY procedure and has not been requested by them for you?

I DID list a bout of pleurisy I had when I was 9 years old as I saw and was treated by a GP, however I did NOT list a possible recurrence when I was 21 (as it was never investigated by a UK GP but I was pretty sure it was that and not just bronchitis and it happened when I worked in Spain) but I DID tell the examining doctor at the medical about it and he said 'I'll leave it off the form, your lungs are fine'

[globetrotter 0]

wow! I can imagine you were stressed for a while but hurray!! it all worked out on the end .. have a wonderful life together :-)

[becca 0]

Well guys, we had our interview in London on the 3rd of July. However, I didn't want to post until we had some definitive answers. So here is our saga:

Monday 3rd July, we had a 9am appointment so we took the morning train in with all the commuters. Took a taxi to the Embassy & got in line (we were just behind 1 person) at about 8:30. Around 9am they started letting us in & by then the line had grown quite a bit behind us. We went through the security hut & made our way to the back of the Embassy & into the Visa unit. We were given a number by the man and took a seat to watch the board. It's a very cool TV-like board that shows what number is being serviced at what counter and also what numbers are waiting for which type of service (Immigrant Visa, non-immigrant Visa, interview) Anyway, after about 20 minutes we were called to window #1. The guy took our letter and asked for our forms. (I highly suggest having all your copies tabbed in a folder so you can quickly give them as they are asked for) He took the originals and the copies of all the birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decrees, etc) He then asked if my husband had his medical yet. We said yes & told him he had it on May 30th. He disappeared for a minute and then came back with a pink courier slip for us to fill out. He told us to have a seat & wait to be called again.

As I sat there I realized that we had a problem. The other people waiting for Immigrant Visas had their x-rays that they had been given. We weren't given anything. Sure enough, after about 40 minutes we were called to window #13. The guy gave us back the originals we had given them and then asked my husband to raise his hand and swear that he was telling the truth. He took his fingerprints and asked us a couple of minor questions (What did my husband do for a living? Did I have a job lined up in the US? What was the source of my income on the I-134 since I was living in the UK and not working?) It seemed routine and he seemed satisfied with our answers. I offered the copies of the last 3 years worth of tax returns to him but he wasn't interested. He then asked when my husband had his medical. We told him again & showed him the copy of the vaccination certificate my husband was given. He disappeared for a few minutes and then came back to say they hadn't received his medical report. He said everything was fine except for that. He said they would keep my husband's passport and call the MD's office. If there was a problem they would call us & let us know. We left the window and paid the courier.

We then caught a cab and went to the Basil Street MD's office to find out what was going on. I should mention here that at the time of his appointment, the MD told my husband that because he had suffered a heart attack in April there was a chance that his Visa would be denied. My husband had been hospitalized and had stents placed to relieve the blockage. Since then he has had a clean bill of health from his cardiologist who said he just needs to continue on medication and his new healthy lifestyle. No further treatment is needed. Anyway, we told the MD at Basil st. that and he said he needed copies of the records. I had faxed two sets of records to him to back up our statement the week after the medical. Apparently, he had not seen the fax I sent and my husband's chart was sitting on a desk with a note that they were waiting for records from us. Anyway, when we went to the office the secretary said the MD had just looked at the chart and said he had everything he needed and everything was okay.

The next day was July 4th so the Embassy was closed. I figured they would probably look at the records on Wednesday the 5th and issue the Visa that day. Thursday came and went with no sign of the courier. Friday was the same. After a stressful weekend, Monday morning I emailed the Embassy. I got the standard automated response that they would answer in 3-4 days. Tuesday I had no response. I called the Embassy and explained that we had purchased nonrefundable tickets for the 18th and we needed my husband's passport. I was told to email again and use a reference # in the subject line. I did and had no response. Wednesday, I called again and was told to email with the reference # and to use the red exclamation mark to show it was urgent. Nothing. So, I called again and somebody gave me a fax# to try. I faxed, I called, I faxed again! Eventually I got through to someone who said our file was sitting there with a note on it saying they were waiting for the medical. I called the MD's office and they said they sent the report on July 4th.

Today we got an email from the Embassy that said they had received the medical, but due to my husband's pre-existing condition they would require proof of medical insurance before they would issue the Visa! They gave me a contact person to call which I did. He asked if I could put my husband on my insurance and I had to explain to him that since we both live in the UK neither one of us has US health insurance! I plan on getting him put on mine when I start working after we get back to the States. He said he'd have to check with someone else to see if that was okay. I told him we have travel insurance in the meantime. He called back later and said he had spoken to the head Consular agent and that they had decided to approve the Visa with the understanding that we get health insurance for my husband upon arrival in the US.

He said they were going to issue the Visa today but it takes 24 hours for them to get them back (from where??) Since we have such a short time before we travel, he said to call them tomorrow and if we want to pick up the passport on Monday instead of relying on the courier service he would make us an appointment to come to the Embassy and get it. So, we're going to London on Monday! I'm scared to celebrate too much until we actually have it in hand, but I think we may actually have a Visa!!!

Wow what an ordeal! Glad to hear you are getting the Visa though! Good luck & Congrats

[Cygnet 0]

Congratulations!