London 2012- K1s from NOA2 to interview thread

[Anna Grant 169]

Cheers for that. It's down the road on the right as you approach the embassy.

Visa has been approved! Interview was really easy just lots of sitting around and waiting :-) I got the icl at first who was really nice although mumbles quite a bit so i could only just make it what she was saying lol

Congratulations! It all seems a bit of an anti-climax, doesn't it? It took us 11 months from NOA1 to interview and you're pushing and pushing to get there and then....... 'Oh. Is that all you wanted to ask me? Don't you want to see all my work? I've really prepared for this, you know!'

[Jo Amelia Finlay 20]

I confess I am so jealous of everyone so close, anticlimax or not!

Congratulations to all who require them today - and good luck to all who need it soon!

[Azsara 110]

Wonder how Queen did!

[Anna Grant 169]

Wonder how Queen did!

I know - I was just thinking the exact same thing myself. When she attended the medical, I don't think she reported back until the evening due to travelling home.

Edited September 3, 2013 by Anna Grant

[QueenOfBlades 224]

Hey all. We had our interview this morning and we are APPROVED! . Was an absolute hassle though, will write more up later. Just have a quick few questions if someone wouldn't mind chipping in -

What is the "envelope" that we're not supposed to open? The quiet Asian lady gave us a disk with our chest x-ray on and we aren't going to touch that, and she also gave us something that looks like two bits of paper stapled together with tape on the back. I think it may be something to do with the medical. Is that it or do they send "the" envelope in the post? Do I need this for POE too? No one mentioned about any envelope at all in the Embassy.

Also, the CO at the end of the interview gave us some advice about AOS and said he recommends we get jobs before AOS. I think this may have been because the Asian lady didn't take a whole lot of financial info from us, but basically his mom is our sole co-sponsor and makes over the threshold plus has $50,000+ in savings. I also have £3000 savings and my fiance has $4000 savings. I didn't think this would be any issue whatsoever as we easily meet the I-864 requirements. What are people's thoughts on this? I didn't think there'd be any issue if the amounts satisfy the requirements of USCIS.

[Vanitas 310]

Hey all. We had our interview this morning and we are APPROVED! . Was an absolute hassle though, will write more up later. Just have a quick few questions if someone wouldn't mind chipping in -

What is the "envelope" that we're not supposed to open? The quiet Asian lady gave us a disk with our chest x-ray on and we aren't going to touch that, and she also gave us something that looks like two bits of paper stapled together with tape on the back. I think it may be something to do with the medical. Is that it or do they send "the" envelope in the post? Do I need this for POE too? No one mentioned about any envelope at all in the Embassy.

Also, the CO at the end of the interview gave us some advice about AOS and said he recommends we get jobs before AOS. I think this may have been because the Asian lady didn't take a whole lot of financial info from us, but basically his mom is our sole co-sponsor and makes over the threshold plus has $50,000+ in savings. I also have £3000 savings and my fiance has $4000 savings. I didn't think this would be any issue whatsoever as we easily meet the I-864 requirements. What are people's thoughts on this? I didn't think there'd be any issue if the amounts satisfy the requirements of USCIS.

The big brown envelope is basically all the forms and stuff up to this point that they'll need to process you at your POE. You will take that plus your chest X-Ray disk in your carry-on luggage. It comes with your passport from the courier when you either have it all delivered or picked up. As for the two bits of paper, I'm not sure. Does it mention any form names (like I-693 as an example) on it?

I think the AOS "advice" is just that. Friendly advice - it does cost over $1k just for the filing fee and biometric fee, after all.

[lost_at_sea 995]

Hey all. We had our interview this morning and we are APPROVED! . Was an absolute hassle though, will write more up later. Just have a quick few questions if someone wouldn't mind chipping in -

What is the "envelope" that we're not supposed to open? The quiet Asian lady gave us a disk with our chest x-ray on and we aren't going to touch that, and she also gave us something that looks like two bits of paper stapled together with tape on the back. I think it may be something to do with the medical. Is that it or do they send "the" envelope in the post? Do I need this for POE too? No one mentioned about any envelope at all in the Embassy.

Also, the CO at the end of the interview gave us some advice about AOS and said he recommends we get jobs before AOS. I think this may have been because the Asian lady didn't take a whole lot of financial info from us, but basically his mom is our sole co-sponsor and makes over the threshold plus has $50,000+ in savings. I also have £3000 savings and my fiance has $4000 savings. I didn't think this would be any issue whatsoever as we easily meet the I-864 requirements. What are people's thoughts on this? I didn't think there'd be any issue if the amounts satisfy the requirements of USCIS.

Woo. Congrats! Looking forward to your full write-up re:hassle. Glad whatever it was wasn't enough to stand in the way of your approval.

The envelope you got today has your xray cd in it (you should be able to feel it) - you can open that if you want (I did, and put my xray on flickr, although that envelope wasn't sealed - it was already cut open when I got it). *The* envelope is the one that comes with your passport (your passport is outside of it and it's all in one bigger envelope/package) and you can't open that one (it'll likely be taped closed with the embassy stamp on it). It has your *whole* file in it - you hand it over at POE. It's got a bit of weight to it - it's much more than 2 sheets.

I think the CO was maybe just being encouraging? Hard to tell. No reason you couldn't use the same sponsor again though, as far as I know.

[QueenOfBlades 224]

Thanks guys, we think it was just advice too. The Asian lady didn't take everything we had, not even half of it. No tax returns, no pay stubs, no social security letter. He might not have known she meets the threshhold, and he did call it "advice".

The main hassle was that they didn't put my fiance on the access list despite sending me an e-mail saying they would. The woman at the end of the queue (blonde haired English sounding woman) was a complete cow and had a bad attitude. "No, he ain't on it, he's not coming in" and told me to ask inside the Embassy, but wasn't very helpful as to where I had to ask. So basically I had to kick up a fuss and go in to reception and insist on him being allowed in, they had to call through to the Consular bit and give them my case # and sit on the phone for 5 minutes, then they said he can come in and they'll send an e-mail down to security; then I asked if anyone was going to fetch him otherwise how would he know, and she looked around confused and said "I could ask my colleague" but still seemed pretty confused, so I said shall I go back out and get him? Then she said yes and if I have problems to come back. I go through to security, they say they don't know and speak to the horrid blonde woman again. "NO, I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL, SPEAK TO SECURITY". I told her they just told me to speak to her, and she pretty much just shrugged it off. I went and spoke to another security guard, the one waiting outside the Embassy, and kicked up a stink saying I'm being passed around from pillar to post and at this rate, I'm going to miss my appointment. So he went inside and was checking around on a computer for 5 minutes and then said my fiance could come in with me.

The older looking quiet Asian lady was actually very funny. She was quite smiley today and she noticed I work for British Gas, and proceeded to talk loads about how rubbish they are, how they never come out and it took them nearly a month to fix her boiler, and they are very expensive. I found it amusing to say the least lol. She seemed quite relaxed and I asked if she needed the other stuff as she didn't take much and just said "nah" and made me do biometrics.

Our interview was with a younger looking, serious American man with a suit and tie on with a beard and short hair. He asked us quite a lot of questions (not in a mean way), but just seemed like he was someone who was very thorough. We were there for what seemed like around 10 minutes, and he asked about 15-20 questions, with about two directed at my fiance. After a while he said "well everything seems in order here, I am willing to approve your visa" and he gave me some pointers like saying I need authorisation to work, must get married/AOS within 90 days and if I don't I'll be deported, then the stuff about the financial requirements. He did ask more than I expected and it did seem more formal than I expected, but it turned out well in the end regardless.

All in all, I thought the medical was a lot easier than the Embassy. But it's over with now.

[Azsara 110]

Thanks guys, we think it was just advice too. The Asian lady didn't take everything we had, not even half of it. No tax returns, no pay stubs, no social security letter. He might not have known she meets the threshhold, and he did call it "advice".

The main hassle was that they didn't put my fiance on the access list despite sending me an e-mail saying they would. The woman at the end of the queue (blonde haired English sounding woman) was a complete cow and had a bad attitude. "No, he ain't on it, he's not coming in" and told me to ask inside the Embassy, but wasn't very helpful as to where I had to ask. So basically I had to kick up a fuss and go in to reception and insist on him being allowed in, they had to call through to the Consular bit and give them my case # and sit on the phone for 5 minutes, then they said he can come in and they'll send an e-mail down to security; then I asked if anyone was going to fetch him otherwise how would he know, and she looked around confused and said "I could ask my colleague" but still seemed pretty confused, so I said shall I go back out and get him? Then she said yes and if I have problems to come back. I go through to security, they say they don't know and speak to the horrid blonde woman again. "NO, I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL, SPEAK TO SECURITY". I told her they just told me to speak to her, and she pretty much just shrugged it off. I went and spoke to another security guard, the one waiting outside the Embassy, and kicked up a stink saying I'm being passed around from pillar to post and at this rate, I'm going to miss my appointment. So he went inside and was checking around on a computer for 5 minutes and then said my fiance could come in with me.

The older looking quiet Asian lady was actually very funny. She was quite smiley today and she noticed I work for British Gas, and proceeded to talk loads about how rubbish they are, how they never come out and it took them nearly a month to fix her boiler, and they are very expensive. I found it amusing to say the least lol. She seemed quite relaxed and I asked if she needed the other stuff as she didn't take much and just said "nah" and made me do biometrics.

Our interview was with a younger looking, serious American man with a suit and tie on with a beard and short hair. He asked us quite a lot of questions (not in a mean way), but just seemed like he was someone who was very thorough. We were there for what seemed like around 10 minutes, and he asked about 15-20 questions, with about two directed at my fiance. After a while he said "well everything seems in order here, I am willing to approve your visa" and he gave me some pointers like saying I need authorisation to work, must get married/AOS within 90 days and if I don't I'll be deported, then the stuff about the financial requirements. He did ask more than I expected and it did seem more formal than I expected, but it turned out well in the end regardless.

All in all, I thought the medical was a lot easier than the Embassy. But it's over with now.

Thanks for sharing! It sounds a little traumatic! What kind of questions did he ask apart from the usual, how did you meet etc.

Oh and congrats!

[Nurseling 34]

Thanks guys, we think it was just advice too. The Asian lady didn't take everything we had, not even half of it. No tax returns, no pay stubs, no social security letter. He might not have known she meets the threshhold, and he did call it "advice".

The main hassle was that they didn't put my fiance on the access list despite sending me an e-mail saying they would. The woman at the end of the queue (blonde haired English sounding woman) was a complete cow and had a bad attitude. "No, he ain't on it, he's not coming in" and told me to ask inside the Embassy, but wasn't very helpful as to where I had to ask. So basically I had to kick up a fuss and go in to reception and insist on him being allowed in, they had to call through to the Consular bit and give them my case # and sit on the phone for 5 minutes, then they said he can come in and they'll send an e-mail down to security; then I asked if anyone was going to fetch him otherwise how would he know, and she looked around confused and said "I could ask my colleague" but still seemed pretty confused, so I said shall I go back out and get him? Then she said yes and if I have problems to come back. I go through to security, they say they don't know and speak to the horrid blonde woman again. "NO, I DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO E-MAIL, SPEAK TO SECURITY". I told her they just told me to speak to her, and she pretty much just shrugged it off. I went and spoke to another security guard, the one waiting outside the Embassy, and kicked up a stink saying I'm being passed around from pillar to post and at this rate, I'm going to miss my appointment. So he went inside and was checking around on a computer for 5 minutes and then said my fiance could come in with me.

The older looking quiet Asian lady was actually very funny. She was quite smiley today and she noticed I work for British Gas, and proceeded to talk loads about how rubbish they are, how they never come out and it took them nearly a month to fix her boiler, and they are very expensive. I found it amusing to say the least lol. She seemed quite relaxed and I asked if she needed the other stuff as she didn't take much and just said "nah" and made me do biometrics.

Our interview was with a younger looking, serious American man with a suit and tie on with a beard and short hair. He asked us quite a lot of questions (not in a mean way), but just seemed like he was someone who was very thorough. We were there for what seemed like around 10 minutes, and he asked about 15-20 questions, with about two directed at my fiance. After a while he said "well everything seems in order here, I am willing to approve your visa" and he gave me some pointers like saying I need authorisation to work, must get married/AOS within 90 days and if I don't I'll be deported, then the stuff about the financial requirements. He did ask more than I expected and it did seem more formal than I expected, but it turned out well in the end regardless.

All in all, I thought the medical was a lot easier than the Embassy. But it's over with now.

Congratulations. Was going to ask exactly what azsara just asked.what questions did you get?

[Azsara 110]

The envelope you got today has your xray cd in it (you should be able to feel it) - you can open that if you want (I did, and put my xray on flickr, although that envelope wasn't sealed - it was already cut open when I got it).

So we are okay to use the CD and have a look at the xray? Im curious to see what mine looks like especially since they said I had scoliosis

[lost_at_sea 995]

So we are okay to use the CD and have a look at the xray? Im curious to see what mine looks like especially since they said I had scoliosis

Yeah. You'll need to download some software that can open the files on it, though. I used "OsiriX" on OSX to export out an image file (I've got a tiny bit of scoliosis caused by my bad hip, and I can see it in the x-ray).

Edited September 3, 2013 by lost_at_sea

[Azsara 110]

Yeah. You'll need to download some software that can open the files on it, though. I used "OsiriX" on OSX to export out an image file.

Okay thanks! Have no idea what that means but im sure ill find out

[Laura. 90]

Yeah. You'll need to download some software that can open the files on it, though. I used "OsiriX" on OSX to export out an image file (I've got a tiny bit of scoliosis caused by my bad hip, and I can see it in the x-ray).

I didn't have to download anything to view it (on Windows). I can't remember exactly what I did though.

Couldn't resist having a look when I got home

Edited September 3, 2013 by Laura.

[CnP 4]

Hey all. We had our interview this morning and we are APPROVED! . Was an absolute hassle though, will write more up later. Just have a quick few questions if someone wouldn't mind chipping in -

What is the "envelope" that we're not supposed to open? The quiet Asian lady gave us a disk with our chest x-ray on and we aren't going to touch that, and she also gave us something that looks like two bits of paper stapled together with tape on the back. I think it may be something to do with the medical. Is that it or do they send "the" envelope in the post? Do I need this for POE too? No one mentioned about any envelope at all in the Embassy.

Also, the CO at the end of the interview gave us some advice about AOS and said he recommends we get jobs before AOS. I think this may have been because the Asian lady didn't take a whole lot of financial info from us, but basically his mom is our sole co-sponsor and makes over the threshold plus has $50,000+ in savings. I also have £3000 savings and my fiance has $4000 savings. I didn't think this would be any issue whatsoever as we easily meet the I-864 requirements. What are people's thoughts on this? I didn't think there'd be any issue if the amounts satisfy the requirements of USCIS.

Congrats

Glad to hear both interviews went well!!