Walker-X
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Cookie88 reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Hi all, Just wanted to describe my experience, it might help someone. I had my interview on Jan 21st. I was put into administrative processing because I overstayed my tourist visa in the past. They returned my passport to me and said they'd let me know when tht AP is completed, but I shouldn't worry, it's a normal thing. On March 4th I received an email from the embassy to submit my passport, which I did throught the DX courier service. On March 19th I received an email to schedule my fingerprint scanning. I scheduled it for 2 days after. The process during the fingerprint scanning was the same as during the interview - you go to the window to check in, go through security, go throught he reception and get a number. Then I waited for the (same) immigration officer who asked me some additional questions and scanned my fingerprints. Then he told me he "intends to approve my visa" and sent me home. I was checking every day and the status of my visa wasn't changing, then suddenly it changed to "issued". On March 24th I received an email that my passport has been released, and it included a "tracking number". I tried to use this tracking number with DX, with MBE and with the Royal Post but it didn't work. It had a really weird format. I waited for 3 days before it started to be worrysome. I even tried to contact DX and MBE and nobody was able to help. So I googled it and it seems that there's no additional email which would tell you that your document is ready to be picked up. I just headed to the Charing Cross (Holborn) MBE location and the passport had been just sitting there for days. So the whole process, from interview (with AP) to picking up my passport with my green card in it took about 2.5 months. One thing to add. I didn't get any envelope along with my passport. It says that if you submitted all your documents electronically (which we did) you only get your passport and the immigration officer will see it in their computer when you arrive. Also, the (initial/temporary) visa in the passport is only valid for 3 months, in which you have to immigrate! Luckily I was always planning to relocate as soon as I get it. The whole process is full of waiting, questioon marks, incomplete information and guesswork. I'm really thankful for VisaJourney and all the people in this thread to help me with my journey. It would be great if the US goverment was more transparent and upfront with the process, what's expected and when.
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Is it possible that you created the account in the past, or someone did for you? Have you done your medical? You need to do your medical before the interview and you need your invitation letter for that. The invitation letter can come as far as several months after your DQ, so April might be a bit optimistic.
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Yeah I don't know. I was told by my lawyer to only get the police certificate last minute so I did It's possible that they in fact don't care.
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I think it's not that the certificate itself expires, but that USCIS might want a recent certificate not older than 6 months. https://unlock.org.uk/advice/travelling-america-usa/#:~:text=Applicants applying for visas at,months of the visa interview.
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Just to add to what @appleblossom said. The petition process is the longest one. It takes 9+ months MINIMUM to complete. In the meantime what you can do is: - Prepare all your documents - originals of birth certificates, any tax documents, marriage certificates, evidence of relationship, etc - Catch up on your vaccination. Before the interview you have to go to medical check and you have to have certain (many) vaccines, otherwise they'll charge you for them on the spot. You might want to either get immunization evidence from your GP, get an antibody test or get them administered from your GP (possibly) cheaper/free. - Get police certificates from all the countries you've lived in for 6+ months. Don't do this too early, because for some countries they're only valid for 6 months or so. - You can tentatively go through the visa application form and gather all the information you'll need for it. Once your petition gets approved you don't want to waste any time and you want to submit your documents and visa application asap. After they go through the documents (and they're happy - DQ) they'll send you an interview letter - IL, where they give you an interview date (you don't get to choose). This date is several (four in my case) months in the future, so you have enough time to get your medical etc. But you don't want to prolong this after waiting for ages already. Hope that helps.
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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I registered on the website provided in the email from NVC after my visa appointment was scheduled. After registering I got a confirmation email which I printed out and brought to the medical. I didn't get any physical letter in the post, only that confirmation email. Hope that makes sense.
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Just had my medical today at Visa Medical and it was quite smooth. Everyone was super efficient, but really nice. - 10 minutes check in, they took and scanned all the documents and took a (horrendous) photo with their own digital camera. They didn't need any of the 4 passport photos I brought. - 20 minutes with a doctor. Checked general medical history, then vision, heart, hearing, breathing, weight, height, blood pressure etc. Took one vial of blood - test for STDs. - 5 minutes with radiologist for chest X-Ray - test for TBC. - 5 minutes with a nurse for vaccinations. I didn't have to get any additional vaccines. I don't have any certificate from childhood, but I've had MMR (NHS GP), Td/IPV (NHS GP), Covid (private), flu (private) vaccines in the past few months, had Hep A/B (3 course) vaccine 10 years ago and they were fine with that. Also had a varicella (chickenpox) antibody test done recently. - 5 minutes check out Total time, with all the waiting in between: 88 minutes. Total price: £385
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Wow that's amazing! Congratulations!
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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I have DQ'ed 27/09 and no letter yet. Hoping to get it soon 🙏
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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As I understand it, the medical doesn't HAVE TO be completed before the interview. Because there were cases when someone couldn't get the medical done in time and they asked what they should do about the interview. And they were told to go to the interview anyway, instead of rescheduling it. You just won't get your visa until the medical is completed. And it takes them approx. 5 days to send the medical results to the consulate, that's why they say it should be completed at least 5 days before, to not delay your visa. But happy to be corrected.
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Annie2501 reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Walker-X reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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UK_Dreamer reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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Yeah that's true, but the overview doesn't show DQ or IL, which are the important factors here. And as you're saying, it only shows timelines data. So I went through messages and collected the info by hand 😅 It would be nice if you could select the columns you're interested in in the overview.
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cbell2 reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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James1998 reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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tunaqueen25 reacted to a post in a topic:
London CR1 / IR1 Appointment Updates
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I bet there's probably some function on the site that could do this, but I created my own little comparison spreadsheet extract from this thread. It seems that waiting times have doubled compared to last year 😭
