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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on June 20, 2007: |
elmcitymaven
Rating:  | Review Topic: Direct Consular Filing
The interview was at 8.30am on 19 June. We got to the Embassy at around 7.20am, and there were about 15 people in front of us. A queue quickly formed behind us so I was glad we arrived so early. We were absolutely fascinated by the group of about 6 "businessmen" in extremely dodgy suits that were last in style around 1979 (and I'm being generous that they were EVER in style) and truly horrific shoes. They provided us with the opportunity for a lot of speculation as to how six men of various ages could all have similarly bad taste, and this made the time pass quickly! I peeked at other people's paperwork they were clutching and it looked like most of the people were there for work and student visas.
The marshal arrived at 7.30 and started shepherding us into queues for the security hut. We were pretty much at the hut by 7.50, but were held up by one of the Bad Taste Brigade who it took 8 minutes to inspect -- according to a security guard I overheard, he had a laptop, Ipod, mobile, Blackberry, a belt he hadn't taken off and steel toed boots! Anyway, we were in at 8am, with ticket number 003. We watched the non-immigrant numbers go by for at least 15 minutes until they called the first immigrant applicants. Ticket 001 looked and sounded like British parents joining kids, and 002 was a mom, dad and son. We amused ourselves people-watching and trying to avoid the sight of a young and plump woman who was wearing a multi-stranded thong VERY high, and kept bending over, thus exposing all these...straps and flesh. Yum.
We were called to -- you guessed it! -- window 13 at 8.30 exactly. The CO was very business-like and efficient, but caused a brief moment of panic when she asked for Bruce's police certificate for Russia! I said, "I thought you didn't need one if you'd lived there less than a year..." She noted Bruce's time in Russia was far less than 12 months and admitted an oversight. Phew! She asked about if I'd re-established domicile and looked at my various proofs (US bank accounts, stuff about a job I'm being headhunted for in NYC, etc) and that was fine. It was a tad more searching than I expected given previous reports on VJ, so I'm glad I threw everything in! My I-864 and my mom's last-minute-amended I-864 as joint sponsor were fine too. Bruce gave fingerprints for both fingers and thumbs on both hands. We paid the fee, got the HUGEASS x-ray envelope and went to sit down again with a magazine in the waiting room. We were told it wouldn't be very long until we were called, but my reaction was pretty much, "yeah right!"
About 10 minutes later, we were called back for the interview -- we were so absorbed in the mag we very nearly missed it! We were both allowed to go to the window for the interview -- I wasn't sure if this would be okay but the CO didn't stop me. Bruce gave his fingerprints (fingers of right hand only) again, and then he was asked to swear the oath that his statements were true. The CO (young American guy this time, very nice) asked him, "So you want to move to the US?" just to break the ice. Then the real questions -- where did you meet your wife -- in the US or UK, when did you first meet, what do you want to do in America for a living, and where would we be living. Bruce answered, and apparently it was good enough becuase the CO started telling him about paying the courier fee and that the passport would be returned in about a week. He also explained very carefully the Mysterious Brown Envelope which must not be opened -- or else we'd have to have it resealed. If we lost it, we'd have to start over again. His Social Security and green cards would be with him within a couple of weeks of arriving. Off we went to pay the courier (extra £20 for before 8am -- we paid it, we need it!) and they told us 3-5 working days. Out we went down the stairs, with me shrieking, "WE DID IT!" and skipping to the exit with the x-ray clutched in my sweaty palm. I'm such a tool. We were out by 9.05am. After all the agonising, it's finally over. We both thought the experience was quite smooth and almost refreshingly banal! 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1723