K1 Interview in London

[efc 1]

An interview date is *sometimes* issued more quickly if applicants can show that they have concrete wedding/travel plans, but not always. If applying through London, plan for a 10-12 week wait in between the Consulate's receipt of packet 3 and the actual interview. E-mail is definitely the best way to contact London if necessary.

I saw the above quote on this website (in the embassy info section)

So, how true is this? How likely is it that if I book a wedding and/or flight that they will expedite my case and give me a quick interview date? I doubt it.

However, if anyone has has their interview issued quickly please let me know how!!! Thanks

[Jewel-8 21]

An interview date is *sometimes* issued more quickly if applicants can show that they have concrete wedding/travel plans, but not always. If applying through London, plan for a 10-12 week wait in between the Consulate's receipt of packet 3 and the actual interview. E-mail is definitely the best way to contact London if necessary.

I saw the above quote on this website (in the embassy info section)

So, how true is this? How likely is it that if I book a wedding and/or flight that they will expedite my case and give me a quick interview date? I doubt it.

However, if anyone has has their interview issued quickly please let me know how!!! Thanks

See my timeline as I added notes to our K1 process about the London delays.

My fiance at the time (now hubby) put down Dec 17 as our wedding date on his paperwork, but we were given an interview date of Jan 4. Some people have called the extortion line to request an earlier date. The problem with London is how long it take them to do ANYTHING. Our paperwork would sit there for weeks before DOS could confirm it was entered into the system.

[Nik+Heather 121]

I think that London is accomodating where possible. I disagree that the experiences I see on this site indicate that there is any rule of thumb which can be divined. In fact, lately, I believe that they assign the interviews for the following month all at once, and if your packet 3 doesn't arrive and get processed before the day they send out packet 4, you're delayed a whole month, even if you're just a day behind someone else.

But, there have been some who have put their travel dates, and still been assigned an interview date too late to get the visa back in time to travel, so it is by no means a guarantee.

It doesn't always work the other direction either. We returned our packet 3 at the end of April, with our honest dates (travel sept 2009, wedding oct 2009) and were given a date in early June. Another user who returned at a similar time had dates much closer (in June), but that only bought them about a week earlier interview than ours. People who have requested later interviews are frequently accomodated, as well as people who have made reasonable requests for a date range. ie, someone who asked for "the second or third week of July" when returning their packet may be assigned a date as requested.

Some have put a note to request a "cancellation" and had their request honored, but they may have had extenuating circumstances.

[Jewel-8 21]

However, if anyone has has their interview issued quickly please let me know how!!! Thanks

He has been unwilling to try to hurry anything up though. I am about to smack him because of it. He could have called and gotten an earlier interview as we knew the interview date a month before. He also could have done his walk in biometrics at our local office for the Adjustment of Status a couple weeks earlier.

One thing that would have REALLY helped was having the P3 forms ready to go and then mailing them to London the minute DOS confirmed that P3 had been mailed to him. He waited an extra week and then we just missed London's interview scheduling and had to wait a month.

Sorry about the b!tching, but things can definitely be done to speed up the process. I hope you get your interview soon!!

[Bernie C 24]

It is highly inadvisable to pour the concrete before the foundation plans have been approved.

[TracyTN 237]

Moving thread from K1 process forum to consular forum.

[Nik+Heather 121]

Jewel is right. The best and most effective way to have your process go smoothly is to have your forms all ready and strive for a 0 day turn around time when it is your turn to give input to the process.

[Audy_Rob 26]

E-mail is definitely the best way to contact London if necessary.

Is there any truth to this statement? I remember reading a posting that suggested email is unanswered and you must call to somehow pay for a PIN or receive any service.

Bernie C is absolutely correct. Most (maybe not London) Embassies/Consulates strongly advise applicants to NOT make any definite plans such as selling property, liquidating assets nor making travel arrangements until after the interview and the Visa is in the passport.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Email is really the ONLY way to get any information out of the famously tight-lipped London consulate. Yes, you should get the weekly code off the extortion line in order to have a decent chance of a reply, but conversations with the extortion line almost invariably lead to an email. You can't change your address, request a new interview date or follow up satisfactorily without an email. Sometimes, very, very, very rarely, VJers have reported success by putting their case number and the word "URGENT" in the subject line of the email, but it shouldn't be relied upon.

Two email addresses work: londonconsular@state.gov and londoniv@state.gov

Edit to add: also rarely, emails without the magic code or case number have received a reply. The autoreply that the emails are not read is bogus; it's only there to put you off the scent and not bombard them with follow-up emails along the lines of "Didya get it? Well, didya?"

Edited May 20, 2010 by elmcitymaven