IR1 Visa Interview COMPLETED - My Experience

[Ben Murphy 11]

Hi All, 

 

I was very grateful to @ohiohopeful for his incredibly helpful account of his experience at his Visa Interview (below). Now that I've completed my Visa Interview, I wanted to share my own experience to hopefully provide anyone else who is in the situation I was prior to doing it (nervous, confused, etc). 

 

 

My Interview took place on 23 March 2022 at 11.30am at the US Embassy in London. I arrived around 10.45am and planned to scope the place out so I knew where to go when the time came. It was very quiet, not many people about. Note - there are 2 entrances to the Embassy. For Visa services you need to use the South Pavilion (not the one opposite the 'Embassy One' building. Keep going round, and you'll find it. 

 

I was beaconed over to a booth, where a guy said he would register me in. He asked to see my appointment confirmation letter or DS-260 page (with barcodes on it), and my passport. He then signed the DS-260 page and said he couldn't let me in until 11.15am, so I waited until then before returning. 

 

Very quick and easy security process. Standard airport style, metal detectors etc. Was through within seconds, again there was no one else there so didn't have to queue. You can't bring large bags in, I had a laptop bag with me and that was all good.

 

I proceeded to the reception (again, no queue - although there were signs along the way that suggested queues are a regular thing here. I guess I got lucky on the day). Straight up to the reception desk where the guy asked for my interview confirmation page. He printed a few things out and stuck them on to it (this had a booth number and my ticket number; the number you've been assigned (like when you used to buy shoes from Clarkes!), and told me to take the lift to the 2nd floor, turn left and left again and wait outside booths 20 and 21. Note - when you walk out of the lift, you'll see lots of other booths and people waiting. Don't make the mistake I nearly did and sit and wait with them - they are there for other visa categories or services. Continue round to the left, there's another little area there where you'll find booths 20-24. 

 

Again, no queue at all. In fact my ticket number was already up on booth 21, so I literally walked straight up to the window where the guy was waiting for me. He asked to see the original documents that I had uploaded to the NVC:

- Passport

- Birth Certificate

- Marriage Certificate

- Police Certificate

 If you've been married before, or had a name change, you'll need the original documents for these too. I've not done either, so didn't need them. Any other documents that you've brought, always best to have them just in case but he already had those on his screen. I had my spouses' financial documents, printed I-864 and also printed my DS-260. He didn't ask for any of them. He used my spouses' financial documents, but he already had those from when we uploaded them on to the NVC website. He also didn't really ask me any questions at this point, except when I was planning on traveling to the US. He gave me some info on my rights as a US citizen, and asked me to take a seat while he reviewed the financials and my medical examination results. 

 

I literally waited for maybe 5 minutes before being called up again. Here the guy asked where I met my spouse, and which State we were planning on living (didn't even ask for an address). I'd watched loads of videos on Youtube and read loads of forums on questions you could get asked at this point - what's your spouses' favorite cuisine, their morning routine, are they well versed in the fandango ..... maybe they do ask these in more complicated cases, but I was not asked anything like this. He then told me that my Visa is approved and that my passport would be ready in 1-2 weeks, and I'd receive a text and email to let me know. Done!

 

My experience was very straight forward indeed, but all cases are different and it's always best to be over prepared. I think by this point it was just a formality as all my documents had already been approved by the NVC. I was in and out of the Embassy within 20 minutes, but I was lucky and it was really quiet. Ohiohopeful's account suggests it was really busy on the day as he did lots of queuing and waiting, so be prepared for that.

 

Hope this helps. Best of luck all!

 

Ben 

[ohiohopeful 53]

Amazing, really happy it went smoothly for you!

 

My passport was delivered 3 days later, hopefully yours comes through early - Good luck with the move!

[Wuozopo 4,293]

45 minutes ago, Ben Murphy said:

I was very grateful to @ohiohopeful for his incredibly helpful account of his experience at his Visa Interview (below). Now that I've completed my Visa Interview, I wanted to share my own experience to hopefully provide anyone else who is in the situation I was prior to doing it (nervous, confused, etc). 

Great review. Be sure it gets posted in the Review section. Open your timeline and you’ll see a ⚠️Submit Review. Click that and paste in what you just wrote. Many people want to know if a London interview requires bringing additional/new  proof of relationship. Will you address that experience specifically? 

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from IR1/CR1 Process & Procedures to IR1/CR1 Progress Reports ***

 

5 hours ago, Ben Murphy said:

Now that I've completed my Visa Interview, I wanted to share my own experience to hopefully provide anyone else who is in the situation I was prior to doing it (nervous, confused, etc).

 

Congratulations on the interview!  Thanks for sharing your experience 👍

 

[Ofc89 8]

I’m there tomorrow at 10 and found this reassuring. Congratulations.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

3 hours ago, Ofc89 said:

I’m there tomorrow at 10 and found this reassuring. Congratulations.

I was hoping you would see this review. 

[Ofc89 8]

13 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

hoping you would see this review.

Yes all went well today, refused awaiting medical as expected, and I have added my own review through my profile as I see first hand the benefit of these.

[Danjoe 11]

On 3/24/2022 at 1:02 PM, ohiohopeful said:

Amazing, really happy it went smoothly for you!

 

My passport was delivered 3 days later, hopefully yours comes through early - Good luck with the move!

Yeah mine was delivered 2 days later. i had my interview on Monday and i got my passport with Visa on Wednesday. Super fast... Great news indeed. Hope she would get it through by Monday.  Congrats everyone!!!

[ohiohopeful 53]

34 minutes ago, Ofc89 said:

Yes all went well today, refused awaiting medical as expected, and I have added my own review through my profile as I see first hand the benefit of these.

You'll have to keep us updated on how long it takes for everything to get approved for your case; seems to be have been a very slow process for some people in the UK forum, although I can't see what the delay would be?