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|  Review on April 12, 2007: |
homesick_american
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My husband's interview was on 11 September 2006...the fifth anniversary of 9/11. We stayed at a hotel near the Paddington tube station which is supposed to be a dodgy area of town but we didn't find it to be so. The night before the interview we took a long walk to find a restaurant that wasn't a fast food chain or a Garfunkel's. We found one about a 10-min walk from the hotel called The Queen of Sheba and I'd never had such good or such inexpensive Middle Eastern food. If you're in the area, check it out. The two of us ate until we were ready to explode and left about half our dinner on the plates and it cost less than 20 pounds.
The next morning we called a taxi to take us to the embassy; it was just on the other side of the park from us but never having been there and not knowing London very well, we figured it was best to take a taxi. Our interview was scheduled for 10am but seeing the queue outside the place we knew it would be a while. A woman with a clipboard moved up and down the queue checking peoples' paperwork, verifying that we were supposed to be there, and giving us baggies for our liquids. A guy at a podium had an appointment book showing all the people who were supposed to be there that day; he took our passports, found us on the list, and waved us through. We then had to go through a security hut where we had to leave our liquids and any other forbidden items (like cameras). Then we had to walk to the other side of the building where we entered, showed our credentials to a guy at a desk, and walked up a set of stairs to the waiting area.
Once in the waiting area we had to sign up to the list and we took a number. There was a massive seating area and the place was boiling hot. There was a refreshment stand at one end of the seating area with grossly overpriced drinks and snacks. A few people had brought newspapers and left them behind when they went for their interviews. The place was heaving...people everywhere. I got up occasionally to go to the bathroom or to have a smoke (there's a bench outside for that). We were called after an hour or two of waiting, where we handed over our evidence and payment and answered a few questions. We then had to sit down again for about 45 minutes before we were called again for the interview proper. I was so nervous that I can't remember really what they asked my husband; all I can say is they went over every piece of the application, took his fingerprints, and gave him a conditional 'yes' answer pending his medical results. (His medical was scheduled for later that day.) We took our bits to the front counter and signed up for courier service, then left.
Recommendations:
Don't bring:
* Electronic items
* Food or drink
* Children (there's nothing for them to do)
* Anything that's unnecessary for the interview
Do bring:
* Cash (in case you want to buy a drink/snack while waiting)
* Smokes and matches (smoke 'em if you got 'em!)
* Books/magazines/newspapers
* All required paperwork for your visa
* Photo ID
All in all the staff were polite and helpful; the place felt like a war zone with cops every few feet with machine guns and bomb-sniffing dogs and blast shields and concrete barriers, but that's just the sad reality of visiting the US embassy on 9/11. Security was undoubtedly tighter than usual but I would imagine that most of that security is in place all the time. It's just like going to the airport; no jokes about bombs or Osama or 9/11 or anything like that. Security personnel aren't paid to have a sense of humor! 
All told I would not say it was a PLEASANT experience, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn't terrible, but it's not something I'd care to do again. Hope this helps someone!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1489