Attending Interview Together

[Kinsey 0]

Hi all, I just spent a half hour searching for some information, but had no luck.

I was hoping to find people who attended their visa interview together in London. I will be visiting/staying with my fiance for the next few months, and will most likely be there for the interview. *fingers crossed*

I figured I might as well go with him, because I'm sure he doesn't want to make the 3 hour drive to London by himeslf. Being together will also put us both at ease.

Has anyone done this yet? Could I bother you to ask what it was like? Were you interviewed together/seperate?

I'm not nervous about the interview too much because we know each other inside and out, my only fear is that he is reallllllllllllly bad with dates and remembering them, particularly under pressure! Is it very intensive like that?

Any info anyone can give would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

[rebeccajo 14]

We went together. I'll remember it always.

Wes' brother drove us to Belfast. We missed our flight by 20 minutes and waited 5 hours for the next flight to London. We stayed in a hotel in the Paddington District and had an expensive supper we really couldn't afford in a fancy empty restaurant! The hotel had been recently renovated - there was even a pants press. We were both nervous and annoyed from our long day. We spat some in the hotel that night, then I laid and cried while he held me.

The next morning I made sure his black trousers came crisp out of the press. He wore a sweater I had bought for him during his first visit to me. He looked so nice. I wore a plaid skirt and little black top, black tights and as always my heels. We took a minicab to the embassy - no time for breakfast and too nervous for it anyway.

We joined the line outside the embassy - the ugliest building in London. I took photos of pigeons. We passed through the outdoor security and then into the building. Checked our camera with the man at the security desk, then up the stairs. A woman gave us our number and we went to the back of the lobby near the tea - we needed a bit of something.

No sooner had I gotten our tea then our number was called. Around the corner to the back and up to the window. Sort of like the old bank teller windows I remembered from childhood - Wes said it looked like the social security office to him. Wes stepped to the window and a man asked him for the police certificate, the medical envelope, the birth certificate and the like. He went away and then another man came to the window. A nice man with what I recognized to be a bit of a Minnesota accent. The man acknowledged me by asking if I was the fiancee' - upon my positive response he stated that he didn't need to ask when was the last time we had seen each other. I lingered behind Wes - as I saw it, it was his interview and not mine. The man asked him a few questions - how we had met, if Wes had been to America, met my family. Just a few simple questions. Then the man asked me if I had brought my affidavit of support. I handed him the I134 - that was what he asked for so that is all I gave him. He looked it over and then appeared to look at a chart on the wall. I expected him to ask for paystubs or bank statements - he didn't.

He asked Wes to press his index finger to an electronic pad for the fingerprint, then asked him to sign a paper. He told Wes that everything looked to be in order, and told him where to go next to pay the courier fee for the visa. I chatted the man up a bit - he told me he'd been in the military. Then he reminded me to make sure that when I got Wes to America, to get him a Social Security number and to adjust his status. I assured him I would do that. He then wished us good luck.

It was over in less than 5 minutes. Wes stepped back from the window and looked at me. I was feeling shell-shocked, I'm sure with a deer in the headlights expression on my face. It was done. Wes opened his arms to me, and we stood there, right in the consulate, holding each other. I don't think anyone even noticed.

I went outside for a smoke while he paid the courier fee. When he came out, we went over to the little park and sat down on a bench. It was drizzling - we shared an umbrella. A postman went by - then a mother with a baby. We sat there in the park, in the rain, under one umbrella, in big London - just two people crazy about each other, about to start a new life in America.