RapidVisa.com initial thoughts

[superjim 10]

*Avoid at all costs*- Their incompetence is matched only by their dishonesty.

Please, if you are reading this, avoid this company at all costs, use freely available resources like VisaJourney and seek advice from genuine people who have gone through the visa process themselves. Do not use the services of "Rapid" visa- it could waste months of your life and cost you thousands for absolutely nothing.

We made the mistake of paying rapidvisa to assist us with my visa application to the USA. I am a UK citizen and my wife is a US citizen. During the application process a number of items in the forms required entry of our current US address (Which I didn't have as we lived in the UK)- when I asked the staff at RapidVisa (Their staff seems to be mainly e-chat operators based in the Phillipines who often struggled to appreciate what I was asking), I was told that I had to put a US address in even though I didn't have one. This seemed strange but they told me it was required. When I asked them (and this is important) about whether or not the application should be filed as DCF (Direct Consular Filing to the embassy in London), I was told, quite firmly, no - that their method was the correct way and DCF was not appropriate for us. We had paid at this point so I had no choice but to take their word for it.

When I read on VisaJourney (An extremely valuable resource that I wish I had found before giving a penny to these charlatans), that many UK citizens were getting their US visas within a matter of 3-4 months (as opposed to the estimated 11-14 months through rapidvisa) I contacted the US embassy in London to ask whether I should have filed through DCF- they told me that I absolutely should have filed through DCF and that rapidvisa had incorrectly advised me. They advised that I re-submit my application myself via DCF which I did.

Long story short, I am writing this review from the USA, in possession of my green card and having been working and living here for 3 months now. Today I got an email saying my petition that rapidvisa had filed had finally been approved- so if I had taken them at their word I would still be in the UK, living separately from my wife for months (even up to a year longer than necessary). I'm sure someone from Rapidvisa will be along shortly to tell me that I'm still wrong! 

Initially, when I realised that RapidVisa had filed my application incorrectly (or at least, in a manner likely to extend the process by many many months), I was happy to accept it was just an error on their behalf and would have accepted a refund or partial refund of my fees and would have called it a day. However I was met with denials, outright lies, and bizarre accusations about accusing the US government of lying. 

I paid RapidVisa nearly $2000 and received absolutely nothing in return except more costs when I had to do myself what I'd paid them to do. I was fortunate that I realized we'd made a mistake not too long into the process, others might lose months waiting unnecessarily. I was also fortunate that we were able to pay for a second, correctly filed application, which isnt cheap, others might not have that luxury. 

Once again, seriously, do not use this company- do your research and ask people who've done it and they will guide you far better.