Diversity Visa Interview in London

[IronCaro 1]

Hello, I've been checking out this forum for quite some time whilst preparing for our interview on Wednesday. My husband and I are very excited about being selected in the DV lottery and having a shot of moving to the US. I'm Australian and he is Dutch, but we have lived in London for some time hence the reason we are being processed in London.

We had our medical a week ago and my report was stopped when the Dr wanted more info about a hospital stay ten years ago for viral meningitis. I wasn't expecting that to be a problem and getting the required information out of my GP was not easy, especially as I was with a different Dr at the time and the hardcopy file had to be dug out. There is a 40 working day (ie 2 months!) time frame on getting your medical records which obviously wasn't going to work. Two Dr appointments and a sit in at the surgery eventually got me a letter from my GP with the information by 7pm Friday night. I took the letter over to Knightsbridge Doctors this morning and spoke to them this afternoon where my report has been approved by the Dr, but has gone to a panel of physicians to decide if it will be sent onto the Embassy. Fingers crossed that they approve it!

Next hiccup is that we don't have police certificates yet from The Netherlands and Sweden where my husband has lived. Both submitted several weeks ago. I also don't have my Australian one after they made a mistake on the certificate and it had to be sent back in order for a new one to be issued! I'm trying not to get stressed out by all the blips, but there is a lot riding on us getting a visa. I contacted the US Embassy and they said to come anyway. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like their life is on hold until they know if the visa has been approved or not!

I would love to hear from anyone else who has been through the diversity visa interview in London and if you have any advice.

Carolyn

[2ndMessiah 184]

How did you manage to get into the DV lottery?

My understanding was the people from the UK were exempt (except for Northern Ireland).

Or is the Netherlands or Sweden still in the DV list of countries.

Good luck. Hope things go smoother soon.

[TBoneTX 45,382]

*** Thread moved from Introducing Our Members forum to the Diversity Lottery Visas forum. ***

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Hello, I've been checking out this forum for quite some time whilst preparing for our interview on Wednesday. My husband and I are very excited about being selected in the DV lottery and having a shot of moving to the US. I'm Australian and he is Dutch, but we have lived in London for some time hence the reason we are being processed in London.

We had our medical a week ago and my report was stopped when the Dr wanted more info about a hospital stay ten years ago for viral meningitis. I wasn't expecting that to be a problem and getting the required information out of my GP was not easy, especially as I was with a different Dr at the time and the hardcopy file had to be dug out. There is a 40 working day (ie 2 months!) time frame on getting your medical records which obviously wasn't going to work. Two Dr appointments and a sit in at the surgery eventually got me a letter from my GP with the information by 7pm Friday night. I took the letter over to Knightsbridge Doctors this morning and spoke to them this afternoon where my report has been approved by the Dr, but has gone to a panel of physicians to decide if it will be sent onto the Embassy. Fingers crossed that they approve it!

Next hiccup is that we don't have police certificates yet from The Netherlands and Sweden where my husband has lived. Both submitted several weeks ago. I also don't have my Australian one after they made a mistake on the certificate and it had to be sent back in order for a new one to be issued! I'm trying not to get stressed out by all the blips, but there is a lot riding on us getting a visa. I contacted the US Embassy and they said to come anyway. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels like their life is on hold until they know if the visa has been approved or not!

I would love to hear from anyone else who has been through the diversity visa interview in London and if you have any advice.

Carolyn

Didn't do London but - the procedure if everything looks ok but you are missing documents (like police certificate or medical) is that you will be placed on "administrative processing" pending submission of documents. Once the docs ate submitted they will go ahead and issue the visas. Good luck!

How did you manage to get into the DV lottery?

My understanding was the people from the UK were exempt (except for Northern Ireland).

Or is the Netherlands or Sweden still in the DV list of countries.

Good luck. Hope things go smoother soon.

They are Australian and Dutch. Makes no difference that they live in the UK - eligibility is based on country of birth and you can cross-charge to a spouse even if your birth country is not eligible.

[IronCaro 1]

Didn't do London but - the procedure if everything looks ok but you are missing documents (like police certificate or medical) is that you will be placed on "administrative processing" pending submission of documents. Once the docs ate submitted they will go ahead and issue the visas. Good luck!

They are Australian and Dutch. Makes no difference that they live in the UK - eligibility is based on country of birth and you can cross-charge to a spouse even if your birth country is not eligible.

Thank you! Interview was great, all that lost sleep over nothing!

So we were told we have the visa and it will be finalised as soon as we send in the missing police checks. Very exciting! Now to plan our move...

[Leo7777 243]

The USA, its foreign policy, its people and its culture is under attack and ridiculed from people in most developed countries of the world, including Australia and Netherlands.

So why your excitement about being able to come here?

[jan22 3,056]

The USA, its foreign policy, its people and its culture is under attack and ridiculed from people in most developed countries of the world, including Australia and Netherlands.

So why your excitement about being able to come here?

RUDE and UNCALLED FOR. Why try to throw cold water on someone's excitement about a major life event that they are eager to do??

Obviously, you or someone in your life is interested in it, or you wouldn't be on this forum.

To the OPs -- hope your certificates come through quickly so we can welcome you to the US!

[usanumber1 0]

planning the move ahhhhhhhh

congrats to u and the new adventure

[Leo7777 243]

RUDE and UNCALLED FOR. Why try to throw cold water on someone's excitement about a major life event that they are eager to do??

Obviously, you or someone in your life is interested in it, or you wouldn't be on this forum.

To the OPs -- hope your certificates come through quickly so we can welcome you to the US!

My question was not at all rude. It was an honest question which is backed up by common knowledge about how the majority of the people in western developed countries feel about the USA and the citizens of USA.

If you don't know how these people feel about the USA, then you certainly have not encountered these people, have not listened to any news shows, have not read newspapers, nor participated in general discussion sites.

Now, I am not implying at all that these two feel this way. But they are coming from countries where that is the overall feeling, so it must have been hard for them to live with that general attitude about the USA, and yet still want to come.

So my question was very valid and not at all rude. Would be interesting to hear their answer.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Leo7777

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

How travelled are you exactly that you say this is "common knowledge"? Of course you will find vocal people who say things like that, to believe it is the opinion of everyone is just dumb. Moreover if you know anything about the nanny state mentality in some of these countries, about the difficulties of doing business and getting ahead, about finding places that have a diverse approach to culture, etc, it's not difficult to see why people would want to move and in fact if you did spend much time on the forums you would see a lot of excitement from a lot of people from western developed nations to move to the US. Despite what you focus on, where people do express reservations it is about (1) health care costs and (2) gun ownership rates.

And I agree with the previous your poster that your question did in fact sound rude and designed to pour cold water on someone's excitement.

[Darth Vader Ku 16]

How travelled are you exactly that you say this is "common knowledge"? Of course you will find vocal people who say things like that, to believe it is the opinion of everyone is just dumb. Moreover if you know anything about the nanny state mentality in some of these countries, about the difficulties of doing business and getting ahead, about finding places that have a diverse approach to culture, etc, it's not difficult to see why people would want to move and in fact if you did spend much time on the forums you would see a lot of excitement from a lot of people from western developed nations to move to the US. Despite what you focus on, where people do express reservations it is about (1) health care costs and (2) gun ownership rates.

And I agree with the previous your poster that your question did in fact sound rude and designed to pour cold water on someone's excitement.

Not so fast, Susie QQQ.

I actually agree with Leo7777's remark that lots of people in the First World outside of the United States are disdainful of US culture. I consider myself well-travelled and would argue that this is not far from the truth. Using your logic, you're being just as rude by challenging how worldly he claims to be or that he cannot distinguish between a vocal minority and common perception.

The only point I could potentially agree with you on is that perhaps indeed his response did lack a certain tact. However, in written remarks where the communicator does not have the benefit of body language and facial expressions to make a point, we are going to have to take him at his word when he says that he was curious, and that no harm is done on his part in seeking to satisfy his curiosity.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

There is a big difference about being "disdainful" of culture and saying that a culture is "under attack". You will obviously know that a number of European countries are "disdainful" of each other's cultures - heck, even within countries people are disdainful of cultures in different parts of the country. Doesn't stop people moving around when they get better lifestyle opportunities.

I would also take a different position to you on the "no body language"; this is obvious, so posters ought to be careful in advance rather than taking shelter behind a "I didn't mean it that way" afterwards. My opinion, ymmv.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

Oh and, I see a different logic between someone being rude by coming out of left field with something unrelated to the topic title or conversation to challenge the poster's excitement, and supposedly being "rude" by then challenging that person's knowledge of what they say. Again, ymmv.

[egbonbode 0]

Thank you! Interview was great, all that lost sleep over nothing!

So we were told we have the visa and it will be finalised as soon as we send in the missing police checks. Very exciting! Now to plan our move...

Please Ironcaro or any other dv candidate that has attended visa interview in London, I have 2 questions

1. How do I know the time to go for medical. Will the embassy tell me when to go. Can I go for medical 3 months before my visa interview.

2. Were you asked for affidavit of support. Is there any alternative if I can not get affidavit of support.

3. How long after interview before passport is returned

[IronCaro 1]

Please Ironcaro or any other dv candidate that has attended visa interview in London, I have 2 questions

1. How do I know the time to go for medical. Will the embassy tell me when to go. Can I go for medical 3 months before my visa interview.

2. Were you asked for affidavit of support. Is there any alternative if I can not get affidavit of support.

3. How long after interview before passport is returned

You can book the medical for when it suits you but be aware it can take some time for the results to be forwarded to the Embassy. If I had to do it again, I would have the medical two - three full weeks before the interview. We had our medical 7 working days before our appointment and the results hadn't arrived at the Embassy. If everything is fine with your medical then it will be sent there in 2-3 days. I had to provide some additional information from my GP for a hospital visit 10 years previously and that took some time. (FYI there is a 40 working day turnaround on getting your medical records from a NHS GP, so I had to resort to begging and pleading!) If you answer 'yes' to any of the questions on the medical questionnaire be ready, as they may want additional details.

Also be aware that you have to be in the US six months from the date of your medical. I asked in our interview if there was a time limit on when we had to physically be living in the US expecting it to be based on the date the Greencard is issued, however it is based on the medical due to immunisation. You will get an immunisation record at your medical that you need to hand over when you enter the US as well as when applying for schools, jobs etc.

We were not asked for an affidavit but instead had copies of various bank statements to show that we can support ourselves. I'm not sure what is an acceptable level of funds, however I have read on this forum that £10k plus is what you need.

Can't help you with question three, I am still waiting on one more document to arrive before I can send in our passports. Unfortunately there was a mistake on my Australian police certificate which was only realised once it had been sent to me so it had to be turned around and sent back to Australia. Hopefully the replacement will be here this week. The impression I got from the officer at the interview was that it is pretty quick - 1-2 weeks.

The over riding thing that I found with the interview was that the two officers who interviewed us were really lovely. Having been through various visa renewals and indefinite leave in the UK, going to the Croyden UK Home Office is soul destroying. We were expecting a grilling at the US Embassy and instead were greeted with smiles and chatty, lovely officers.

I hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions!

Carolyn