Out of status in UK. Can we still interview there?

[nadia&sameer 12]

The UK has many illegals, but I am going to assume that not many of them will be applying for US Visa's.

I remember a Nigerian a few? years ago, but not something I keep an eye on.

There was something on the Consulate web site about not interviewing visitors to the UK, how much more so those there illegally?

They do not want people to Consulate shop. Plus how can you do checks on people.

He can not get a travel document, are you sure?

He was not Consulate shopping. He was in the UK legally and the only reason he is out of status is bcz the UK government dragged their feet trying to find his visa and then admitted they lost it. We requested to interview in Islamabad. USCIS is the one that said he needed to interview in the UK bcz that is where he was living. We aren't trying to do anything underhanded and have been completely upfront with the US government. Even if he could get a travel document he still couldn't interview in Pakistan without a passport.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

He was not Consulate shopping. He was in the UK legally and the only reason he is out of status is bcz the UK government dragged their feet trying to find his visa and then admitted they lost it. We requested to interview in Islamabad. USCIS is the one that said he needed to interview in the UK bcz that is where he was living. We aren't trying to do anything underhanded and have been completely upfront with the US government. Even if he could get a travel document he still couldn't interview in Pakistan without a passport.

Why don't you use the contact form http://london.usembassy.gov/niv/visa_contact_form.html to ask the embassy again your main question without the extra information about wanting to interview without a passport. Anecdotal stories do not serve your purpose.

I am a citizen of Pakistan living in the UK since ______ on a student visa. My passport was lost by the UK home office so I have a new passport. The delay lasted ____ months so my UK student status has now expired. May I still Interview for a K1 visa in London where my case file is currently located? If not, will you advise me how to complete my K1 process?

I also tend to think the American government shouldn't care what your arrangements are with the UK government if you aren't worried about getting deported from the UK. I don't know if they routinely check your visas unless they are US visas.

You need to consider that most everybody from Pakistan does not get their visa days after the Interview. You are looking at maybe two months before you even interview. Then because of your nationality, will most likely have additional processing for security checks that lasts 4-8 weeks after the Interview or longer. How long do you think you should overstay in the UK?

[nobbie 105]

Nich-Nick has a good point, the US may not care but the UK Govt will. I would think once the new passport is in hand he ought to leave the UK. it may be possible then to ask the US embassy London to send the file to Islamabad and take it from there.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Nich-Nick has a good point, the US may not care but the UK Govt will. I would think once the new passport is in hand he ought to leave the UK. it may be possible then to ask the US embassy London to send the file to Islamabad and take it from there.

It can be transferred, but I always forget the protocol and there is one. It may be Islamabad has to request it from London after the beneficiary returns to Pakistan and notifies Islamabad of his residence. Or it may be London can forward it to Islambad with only the beneficiary's request. I used to know this but forgot. That's why I said ask London the procedure. And I vaguely remember it will retain the LND case number already assigned, but don't bet money on my memory.

[Boiler 45,402]

How long does it take to get a new passport?

He can not get a visa without a passport to put it into, but that is a long way off anyway.

[nadia&sameer 12]

The UK has many illegals, but I am going to assume that not many of them will be applying for US Visa's.

I remember a Nigerian a few? years ago, but not something I keep an eye on.

There was something on the Consulate web site about not interviewing visitors to the UK, how much more so those there illegally?

They do not want people to Consulate shop. Plus how can you do checks on people.

He can not get a travel document, are you sure?

He can get travel documents, but or petition is in the UK not Pakistan and even if they would have approved our transfer request he still doesn't have a passport to interview with.

[nadia&sameer 12]

It can be transferred, but I always forget the protocol and there is one. It may be Islamabad has to request it from London after the beneficiary returns to Pakistan and notifies Islamabad of his residence. Or it may be London can forward it to Islambad with only the beneficiary's request. I used to know this but forgot. That's why I said ask London the procedure. And I vaguely remember it will retain the LND case number already assigned, but don't bet money on my memory.

As soon as we found out our petition went to the UK instead of London we applied for a transfer. Although we have been unsuccessful getting the transfer I do know the process now in case anyone else has to go through this. You have to request the transfer from the country you are transferring to. In this case London could not transfer it unless Islamabad requests it. We sent a request through Islamabad's webpage and got a response 3 days later saying they received it. It has been almost 2 months and we have heard nothing. I emailed once about 3 weeks ago to London and to Islamabad to see if the transfer was being processed or denied. Never heard back from either party. From my understanding you can always request a transfer, but it is up to the country you want to transfer to whether they will take your case or not. At this point we are stuck with our case in the UK, with no passport and now out of status. I think we are just going to take our chances and interview in the UK. I really don't think the US cares about his status anywhere else and it's not like we're trying to hide anything from the government. If they say they won't approve him bcz he is out of status we'll just have to re-apply using a Pakistan address so we make sure the new petition goes right to Islamabad and they can't deny him the interview. If we don't interview in London we'd still have to cancel this petition and start over again to be able to interview in Pakistan.

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'll keep you posted on what happens so we can hopefully help someone else that might find themselves in the same position down the road.

[Boiler 45,402]

He can get travel documents, but or petition is in the UK not Pakistan and even if they would have approved our transfer request he still doesn't have a passport to interview with.

I just looked it up, seems there is an Urgent replacement basis, takes a day?

So what has been going on?

[nadia&sameer 12]

I just looked it up, seems there is an Urgent replacement basis, takes a day?

So what has been going on?

So what I'm about to write is coming from my Pakistani fiance, not my first hand knowledge. He could have gotten an emergency passport, but it would have been a manual passport, not the machine readable kind that is required by USCIS. It would cost a lot more money to get and in the end he'd get to Pakistan and then have to apply for another MRP passport that would take even longer to get. We decided he might as well wait in the UK for the passport he needs and be done with it instead of paying for 2 passports and taking even more time.

Edited February 2, 2014 by nadia&sameer

[Boiler 45,402]

http://phclondon.org/passport/mrpp.asp#2

Read about it, something odd is going on.

[nadia&sameer 12]

http://phclondon.org/passport/mrpp.asp#2

Read about it, something odd is going on.

Yes, we've read this link and what is in here is correct, but in Birmingham you can still get a Manual Passport quickly. The MRP is only available quickly if it is a renewel or new MRP. It is an undefined amount of time to get the passport back if it is an MRP that is replacing a lost passport. The High Commission quoted him a minimum of 6 weeks, but to realistically expect 2-3 months or more to get the passport. The man there said it was not worth paying extra for an urgent visa, bcz it still has to go to Pakistan for investigation which takes forever.

Urgent Processing:

Application Type

Fee* for MRP Valid for 5 Yrs.

Fee* for MRP Valid for 10 Yrs.

Delivery Time

New MRP / Renewal of MRP

£ 52

£ 92

After One (1) Week

Reissuance of (first time) Lost Passport

£ 102

£ 182

After the verification of Lost Passport from the Issuing authority in Pakistan or Abroad

Reissuance of (second time) Lost Passport

£ 202

£ 360

After the verification of Lost Passport from the Issuing authority in Pakistan or Abroad