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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on June 18, 2007: |
kins
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
I arrived at the embassy around 10am for a 10.30am appointment. Queued for half an hour to get in, showed my passport and interview letter to anyone who asked, handed over my mobile/ipod/carkeys at security, showed my interview letter again, took a number, then waited inside. There were hundreds of people there but it was pretty well organised. They sell drinks and food there by the way. The tea was nearly drinkable...
When I was finally called to a window the first stage was to hand over the various documents to a lady with a quite dificult-to-understand accent. Friendly though. Anyway I gave her:
DS-230 part 2
my birth certificate and a copy
one photo
police certificate thingy and copy
I-864
copy of husband's latest tax return - they didn't want transcripts and they didn't want W-2s as he'd only worked in the UK
information on using our house as an asset - I had...
letter from estate agent confirming offer, and copy
statement from mortgage company showing outstanding balance, and copy
entry on land registry to prove it's really our house (just in case), and copy
I'd taken along loads of extra stuff just in case, but none of it was needed... blank I-864, children's birth certificates, husband's birth certifiicate, husband's job offer letter, old tax returns.
The woman behind the window had my file there, plus she could see that in the past I had applied for a K-1 visa and that I'd previously held a green card, so she asked why I was going through all of this again, and was happy with my explanation. She asked about my kids briefly. She scanned my fingerprints and thumbprints.
Then she told me my paperwork all looked fine, so to go and pay the visa fee at the cashier's desk and bring the receipt back to her. And she handed me a big brown envelope with my chest X-ray in it - hmm that was fun to carry all around London...
I got called again eventually to a different window for my interview, where I had my fingerprints scanned again, then I had to hold up my right hand and swear that everything I was saying was the truth. Then she didn't really ask me any questions, just said everything was fine and gave me back my original documents. She told me that the visa will be with me in 3-5 working days, that I had to pay for the courier on the way out, and that I will also receive a brown envelope which I shouldn't open. I asked her what to do with the X-rays and she checked through my file then said I could just pack them in my suitcase.
So we are approved! And I am flying out to the US with my three children on 30th June! And now I have SO much to do before then aaaarrrrrgggghhhh! The other good news is my husband has found us a house to live in when we get there, which is a nice bonus ;-)
By the way the whole thing including queueing took two hours, I think I was lucky... 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1719