|
|
| London, United Kingdom |  Review on April 26, 2023: |
hopeful0811
Rating:  | Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
My interview at the US Embassy, London was on 16th March 2023 at 9am. Overall, it was a good experience.
I travelled into London the day before and stayed at the Vauxhall Travelodge, only a 15 min walk from the Embassy. The 15th and 16th of March were rail and tube strike days, but this did not impact my interview in any way. There is no dress code - I wore a black jumper, black jeans and black ankle boots. I had my handbag (big enough to fit an A4 notepad) and coat with me. I was allowed to take everything in with me.
I arrived at the South Pavilion entrance to the Embassy at approx 8:30am, and there were already large queues of people. Thanks to reading people's experiences here, I located a member of staff and informed her I was here for a green card interview. She said I did not need to queue, and directed me to go to the man at the desk at the front of the queue. This felt very wrong as I felt like I was queue jumping. I got to him and told him I was here for a green card interview and that I was told not to queue. He took my DS-260 and my passport and I guess "checked me in"? I'm not sure what exactly he did, but he gave them back to me and directed me to the door to the small glass building to go through security.
I had to open up any app on my phone to prove it was a real phone, and then put my bag and all electronics in the tray and walk through a scanner. I had to take a sip of my water too. Then I walked from the security area on an outdoor path to the main embassy building. I handed my passport and DS-260 to the lady at the desk, and she gave me a ticket number and directed me to the lift, up to the next floor and then make 2 lefts. When you come out of the lift, the room is like a huge waiting room with lots of people in it. I think this is the non-immigrant visa area. Make a left out of the lift and then left again where you'll come to a smaller room with a few chairs and booths. This is the immigrant area.
I took a seat, and within a few minutes my ticket number was called to the booth. The man asked for my passport, birth certificate, marriage certificate and police certificate. As I had changed my surname to my married name, I brought my old passport with my old name and my new one with my new name. He only wanted the new one as this was valid, and said my visa would be issued in that name. I also asked him to change the address my green card would be mailed to. This was very easy to do. He then asked me to sit back down.
A few minutes later, I was called up again to the same man, as he'd forgotten to take my fingerprints. He did those and I sat down again and waited for about 70 minutes. Thankfully, the time passed quickly as I could use my phone so I scrolled my anxiety away looking at funny cat videos on Instagram to calm my nerves. Then I was called up again to a different booth for my actual interview with the officer.
I had to raise my right hand and swear I'm being truthful. He then asked me a few simple questions - how I met my husband, what he does for a living, how I know our joint sponsor. I think that was all of them. He was also from Utah so we chatted a bit about the area I'll be living in there. It was super relaxed, not interrogation-y at all like I thought.
This is the part where hindsight is a powerful thing. My interview was 16th March, and I'd been married 23 months, so I was there for a CR1 visa. As my 2nd anniversary was on 17th April, only 1 month away, the officer said I had a choice about what to do. He said he could either issue the CR1 there and then, or refuse me there and then and approve me as an IR1 on my second anniversary. I had originally been wanting to enter the US after my anniversary anyway. The man at the first booth I spoke to had actually mentioned how upon entry to the US they can adjust my visa to IR1. The officer doing my interview said he hadn't heard of this before, and that he couldn't officially recommend either option to me, but he was suggesting the delayed option without saying it, if that makes sense. Because he said he hadn't heard of them adjusting it upon entry, I chose the delayed option. I figured the officer would know about the other option if it was a thing.
So I walked out with a refused slip, but no further instructions as I had nothing more to do. All documents were accepted, I didn't have to bring anything except my own personal identity documents. And so I waited a month, and my visa was issued on 20th April as IR1, and I got my passport back on the 24th. I was not contacted to inform me that my visa had been issued - I just checked my case status online from the 17th onwards. However, I have since learned that this delay was totally unnecessary, as USCIS issue the final visa category based on the date you enter the US. As I would have been entering after my 2nd anniversary anyway, they would have issued my green card as IR1. My month long delay was unnecessary and caused more stress than needed, but ultimately I got my visa in the end.
Once the interview was over, I went out exactly the same way I went in. I was there from about 8:30am-11am. Overall, it was a great, smooth experience and much less daunting than I thought. The staff are very friendly, smiley, casual, and happy to make unrelated chatty small talk amongst the official business too.
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #32032