United Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Wow - no interviews this week. Well hopefully we'll at least be able to add in interview dates for those of us still waiting for them~

I know -- last week was a big one for interviews and other stuff in the UK forum (ahem). Next date is the 3rd, when RGNSCOT, robburnsefc and msu17 have their big days at the Embassy!

[Dan&Tiffany 0]

Hehe. Yep. Dan has his medical on the 3rd as well. One more thing to tick off the to do list.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Hehe. Yep. Dan has his medical on the 3rd as well. One more thing to tick off the to do list.

Tell Dan he'll be just fine -- bring a book. We sat around forever to Bruce to be seen. He was grateful that I was in the waiting room to divert him, as the delay was atrocious. Others have clearly been more lucky, but prepare for a wait just in case.

Roll on, July 3rd!

[Dan&Tiffany 0]

Hehe. Yep. Dan has his medical on the 3rd as well. One more thing to tick off the to do list.

Tell Dan he'll be just fine -- bring a book. We sat around forever to Bruce to be seen. He was grateful that I was in the waiting room to divert him, as the delay was atrocious. Others have clearly been more lucky, but prepare for a wait just in case.

Roll on, July 3rd!

Bit of a long day, then. I think his appt is 2:00. Hoping they'll be trying to hurry things along so they can go home at a decent hour! Will pass on the message to be prepared for a long wait though.

Roll on, July 3rd!

Ditto!

[psho 0]

Some UKer announced that they had an 8/30 interview date, but of course I can't remember the thread or the forum! GAH!

[psho 0]

OK -- I called the DoS line again this morning -- they don't yet have the receipt of the checklist recorded in the system yet.

Soon, soon, soon....

[dropinboy 0]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We got an interview date!!!!!!!!

1 August!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Man, it feels good!!

I hope this feeling comes for all the others soon!!!!

[TimsDaisy 0]

Can people reporting new interview dates also mention what information they provided for "travel" and "wedding" dates on the form? Just curious if we can guess (as much as we guess using any other data collected here) what effect that really has on scheduling.

[dropinboy 0]

I'll find out what she put for the dates.

I actually had to call again, my mind started playing tricks on me, like i may have misheard the date. They confirmed i heard correctly *phew*

[psho 0]

We put in "ASAP", which in retrospect seems to have been a tactical error, although not sending in the checklist with the forms in Packet 3 seems to have been the bigger blunder.

:hairpull:

[dropinboy 0]

ok, so the dates are:

travel: 6 August

wedding: 29 September

[msu17 0]

Go July 3rd!! hehe, we put ASAP for travel date and August 30th for the wedding date.

[nora &ryan 0]

You are awesome for starting this great idea

[TimsDaisy 0]

Thanks for the data, dropinboy! I think London does a lot better for people who use dates instead of "ASAP."

Okay, so this may be my last post here, we'll see based on reactions.

Last Friday a call to DOS got me the information that Tim was "now eligible" for an interview date - meaning they had FINALLY entered in his p3 forms/checklist. I figured that today might be the day for big news. It was. We have a date.

August 21.

I believe pretty surely now that the first p3 we sent just didn't get there or got lost on someone's desk. Judging by the p4 turnaround for most other people lately, it seems much more likely that the do-over we mailed on June 14 is the one which prompted the interview to be scheduled.

We also put "ASAP" on the forms and I'm kicking the sh*t out of myself for not telling Tim that, no really, a hard date would be the better way to go.

If you go by the June 14 do-over being the p3 that was processed, August 21 is past the average as well. If you use the date of mailing the FIRST p3, then it's WAY past the norm for London scheduling lately. (I'm not talking historical trends over the last year - I'm looking at the last few months, which is the only relevant time frame for people in this stage of the process right now).

The difference between the overall VJ average for time from filing to interview and our time from filing to interview is just about the length of delay in their processing p3 compared to the last few months worth of filing. Lucky us.

So what do I want to impart to people: I am SO GLAD we re-sent packet 3. Do I have proof that the first was lost? No, I don't. But given our educated-guessing skills around here, I'm going to say that we did the right thing. And, btw, DOS operators did suggest resending it, indicating doing so would place us in no peril, with NO prompting from me, at least twice in the process of me checking on the status of p3.

Second: put in a hard date, not ASAP.

Third, since people here have quality scans on the checklist, if you're sure your case number is in London's computers, why wait to mail back the forms?

People will most assuredly have views and opinions on the process, based on their experiences at their points in time, that differ from mine. So anyone else reading here has to weigh things and accept or decline advice as he or she sees fit.

Big picture wise, next year or even in 6 months, the extra month or so that seems to have been tacked on to our waiting time won't matter because we'll be together. But I reserve the right to be both happy and a surprising amount of sad today because I let fear slow us down at a few points in this process when there was nothing to fear but, wait for it, fear itself.

I do care about an extra 2 weeks or month apart from my fiance and unapologetically so. Am I unconcerned with the wait times faced by people with slower and less understanding Embassies? Absolutely not. Am I panicked or raving mad around my house today? No, of course not. But I'm bummed that the date that I thought would be early August turns out to be closer to late August.

So I'm glad, but I wish I'd been more confident in acting to this point.

Best of luck to the others who are waiting for dates.

[Mags 112]

Congrats on the date, Daisy! It'll all be over soon and you'll both be home free!