New London Embassy - review of my K1 appointment

[LucyG289 158]

I arrived at the embassy on Nine Elms Lane at 9.37am in the morning by taxi. My appointment wasn’t until 10.30 so just got familiar with where the security checkpoint was and then set about trying to calm my mind so I took a short walk to Waitrose which is literally on the corner, so a good place to grab a tea if you are mega early like me!

 

It was a very cold day so I decided to hope for the best that the security folk would take pity on my shivers/windswept look and let me in! They did literally one min before 10am and I was most grateful! (the information which is emailed ahead of time recommends you get to the embassy 15-30mins before your appointment to go through airport style security).

 

So the building itself, know there has been a lot said in the press, but it’s big, modern and expansive – you can’t miss it! The area where it’s located is going through a lot of development so lot’s going on but I’m sure will be awesome when it’s done.

 

When you receive an email from the embassy, it explains to head for the South Pavillion Consular Services. Essentially there are 2 sections, one for US Citizens visiting the embassy and the other is for Immigration.

 

This is the security section and it’s basically like airport security. I was asked to show the email confirming appointment date, my passport and the DS-160 confirmation page. I then got a number sticker attached to my appointment email which is your unique number that stays with you for the entire time you are on site.

 

Once I had cleared security I walked through a courtyard area to the main reception. Just to mention, outside these doors there are designated waiting lines, one for US Citizens and the other for Immigration, but there were no lines so I went straight in through the doors J

 

I was greeted by the lovely reception folk who checked my appointment sheet which security had stuck the number on. They told me to take the lift to the floor for immigration processing – I am sorry for the life of me I can’t remember which one it was, but you can’t really go wrong. One floor is for US citizens and the other is purely for Immigration visas.

 

Once here, it was busier with lots of applicants. The floors itself is open plan, clean, modern with many TV monitors displaying numbers (the one you get issued when you first go in). I was greeted again by a very friendly lady who directed me to the far left of the floor at the very end.

 

So the immigration floor itself from what I saw handles all types of visas, visitor, tourist, work and fiancée etc. The set up is very open plan with various sections with booths, chairs for waiting and lots and lots of TV monitors showing numbers and the corresponding booth to go to.

 

I am not sure whether the fiancée visa is just in one section, but would imagine the whole floor is pretty fluid so dependent on capacity and number of appointments that day they may switch this up – but nothing to worry about as you are one floor and everything is displayed constantly on the TV screens J

 

So back to day – no sooner as I had sat down my number flashed up! I went to the booth and by this point my nerves were back! However the lady was so friendly she put me at ease in moments – I had my finger prints taken and we went through all the paperwork you have to bring along (Passport, appointment confirming payment of visa, postage showing return of passport, police report, affidavit, passport photo, birth certificate). Then she checked my medical had come back from Knightsbridge which it had and gave me a disc which I need to keep and hand to immigration on POE. So I have a CD of my lungs which is lovely.

 

It was clear that they are all getting used to their new embassy home, it was day two, so new for everyone but everyone was super keen to help and make sure appointments were happening smoothly.

 

Once all this was done I was told to take a seat and wait for my number to flash up again on screen in the same section.

 

In fairness I only waited about 30 mins but it felt like forever!! My number came up again and I went to another booth (same section to the left) where I was greeted by an American Embassy staff. I was asked to raise my hand to take the oath and was asked again for my finger prints.

 

From there it seemed to go by in a flash! My questions were:

-       What does your fiancé do for a living?

-       How did you meet?

-       Has he come to visit you in the UK?

-       What are your wedding plans?

 

So all painless  

 

He then said, “I am going to go ahead and confirm your visa” and I was like – “wow really” like an actual dimbot!!!! After the 9 months of waiting and being apart for so long it was such a relief I literally skipped out of there!!!!! I had taken some additional information just in case it was needed – a whole file of photos, tickets from sports matches, concerts etc we had been to together, but I wasn’t asked to show any, but was happy I had them in case.

 

All in all, like many posts before mine the staff are very friendly and put you completely at ease. After all the waiting it was completely painless and joyous to hand over my passport ready for the K1!!!

 

Hope this is helpful, any queries happy to help answer as best I can.

 

Wishing those still waiting all the very best and hang in there!  

 

[yuna628 9,700]

Thanks for this review! With the new embassy in place, this will be helpful for future UK applications going through the process.

[LucyG289 158]

2 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Thanks for this review! With the new embassy in place, this will be helpful for future UK applications going through the process.

absolutely no probs

[kusabi 0]

Hi Lucy,

 

Thanks so much for the review, it's very helpful, and congratulations on the approval!

 

Can I ask when you got emailed from the embassy? I have my interview booked for the 31st January but the only email I have is the interview confirmation with the old Grosvenor Square address. No information on where to go for the new place..

[kusabi 0]

Hi Lucy,

 

Thanks so much for the review, it's very helpful, and congratulations on the approval!

 

Can I ask when you got emailed from the embassy? I have my interview booked for the 31st January but the only email I have is the interview confirmation with the old Grosvenor Square address. No information on where to go for the new place..

 

Also what is postage showing return of passport? is this something we need to bring?

[tpmd 155]

Thanks so much for the review!

 

I would also love to know when you got the email. I have booked my interview for Feb 14th, but haven't had an email from them yet (other than the ones confirming payment etc).

[LucyG289 158]

11 hours ago, kusabi said:

Hi Lucy,

 

Thanks so much for the review, it's very helpful, and congratulations on the approval!

 

Can I ask when you got emailed from the embassy? I have my interview booked for the 31st January but the only email I have is the interview confirmation with the old Grosvenor Square address. No information on where to go for the new place..

 

Also what is postage showing return of passport? is this something we need to bring?

Thank you!! So the email which shows your appointment confirmation, fee payment and the postage option you picked is the one you should have received when you first scheduled your appointment online. I think I received a couple, all saying the same thing but I was totally paranoid and printed the lot and took with me, but it's essentially all the same information. 

 

Actually just checking this email for me too (I scheduled in December) also shows the old address, however if you click on all the links regarding information you need to take etc it alerts you that they have moved so no worries with getting the old address on your original confirmation. 

 

Re the postage, it's just the confirmation email of the postal option you picked when scheduling and the confirmation of payment of visa  

 

I then received a further email 2 days before my appointment (it was on the Monday so whether they do in batches for people who have appointments that week I'm not sure), but this email just was a reminder that the embassy had moved, address of new location, how to get there, what to do when you reach the embassy - go to South Side Pavilion, what to bring, list of docs again needed and links to the website for more information. (It didn't mention my specific date and time, rather that I had an upcoming appointment, the only email I had this on was the original confirmation).

 

Hope this helps

[LucyG289 158]

11 hours ago, tpmd said:

Thanks so much for the review!

 

I would also love to know when you got the email. I have booked my interview for Feb 14th, but haven't had an email from them yet (other than the ones confirming payment etc).

No worries, just posted a reply so hope this helps, but your original email confirmation is all you need

Not long for you now too!! Yay!!!

[Richard Purves 58]

Thank you very much for this info. I'll be doing something similar on the 30th, except I'll have to walk from Vauxhall station.

[kusabi 0]

On 1/24/2018 at 9:22 AM, LucyG289 said:

Thank you!! So the email which shows your appointment confirmation, fee payment and the postage option you picked is the one you should have received when you first scheduled your appointment online. I think I received a couple, all saying the same thing but I was totally paranoid and printed the lot and took with me, but it's essentially all the same information. 

 

Actually just checking this email for me too (I scheduled in December) also shows the old address, however if you click on all the links regarding information you need to take etc it alerts you that they have moved so no worries with getting the old address on your original confirmation. 

 

Re the postage, it's just the confirmation email of the postal option you picked when scheduling and the confirmation of payment of visa  

 

I then received a further email 2 days before my appointment (it was on the Monday so whether they do in batches for people who have appointments that week I'm not sure), but this email just was a reminder that the embassy had moved, address of new location, how to get there, what to do when you reach the embassy - go to South Side Pavilion, what to bring, list of docs again needed and links to the website for more information. (It didn't mention my specific date and time, rather that I had an upcoming appointment, the only email I had this on was the original confirmation).

 

Hope this helps

Sounds Good! I also got an email from the embassy on Monday (my interview is Wednesday) so I guess they send everyone a reminder on the week of the interview!

[ahmedahmadyar 41]

Congrats on getting the visa and thank you for this review  just a quick question, did they ask you to pay the $265 fee at the embassy or did you pay for that online?

[tpmd 155]

Just now, ahmedahmadyar said:

Congrats on getting the visa and thank you for this review  just a quick question, did they ask you to pay the $265 fee at the embassy or did you pay for that online?

You pay online when you book your interview