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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on August 23, 2023: |
Julia & Aaron
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My interview was at 10:00 on the 22nd of August, a little over 2 weeks after my medical. My friend came with me for the day for support!
We arrived at Vauxhall just after 9am. It didn't take long to see the embassy via the riverside walk. You can also see Battersea power station and the super cool swimming pool suspended between two buildings. We did have issue figuring out how to get to the South Pavillion Consular entrance, we circled the building via Ponton Rd and then saw the queue. There are also armed guards, is there anything more American?
When we arrived there was a small queue of around 10 people leading up to a podium outside the building. I joined the queue, which skirted the wall. Every bit of advice you see that says 'ignore this and join the queue on the left' is correct. A lady asked me if I had checked in, and sent me straight up to the podium's left hand side (there was no queue). The lady at the podium asked for my passport and DS-160, which was signed with 'K-1 10:00'. I was sent straight up to the security building's door and said goodbye to my bestie over the barrier.
A guard asked me to open an app on my phone and asked if I had anything sharp etc and sent me through for airport style screening. Belt, phone, wallet, paperwork and walk through the scanner. Nothing major.
Once you're through, you will see a long queue up to the main building. The lady at the podium told me I needed to ignore this queue and head straight to the main reception via the US Citizens line (even though I'm not). There was one family ahead of me and then I was called forward and gave over my passport, DS-160. She popped some stickers on there with a number (I-XXX) and told me to take the lift to the 1st floor, go left and left again.
It's very obvious once you're out of the lift where you need to go. You bypass the room full of people and go to a quieter area. There was a small amount of chairs and about 10 windows. Your DS-160 has a sticker which says what windows to sit by. They have screens above the windows and screens opposite each row of seats. They do also read the numbers aloud if you miss it (but the microphone is painfully quiet).
Once my number came up, a friendly American guy asked me how I was. Naturally, I said nervous and he reassured me not to be. He asked if I was engaged, I said yes. He then went to get my file so I started to take out the documents listed online. He took my passport, DS-160, confirmation email, birth certificate, deed poll (changed my name many years ago), one US size photograph and our I-134 form.
(For context, I bought my gender recongition certificate, my original name birth certificate and a renewed letter of intent form Julia which were not taken)
My partner had compiled the I-134 form along with a huge bundle of evidence. From this he only took the form itself, a tax return and the letter from her employer. I let him know I also had my financial evidence (we put my savings on the form) a joint sponsor, if needed (he politely refused). We did this as Julia only earnt about $50 more than the 100% poverty guideline in the last tax year. It doesn't hurt to take more than necessary but it did help to have an index page and have it paperclipped into smaller bundles for the officer to sift through.
He took my fingerprints, asked when I intended to travel and then gave me a sheet regarding domestic violence and my rights as an immigrant in the US to read.
This was the longest I had to wait during the visit, about 20 minutes to be called to the next window. The next officer was an even friendlier American guy, who I described to Julia as the human embodiment of a cat. They must put their nicest staff on these windows. He asked me how I was, had me raise my right hand and swear that the information I have given was the truth and took the fingerprints on my right hand. He asked me some basic questions like when did we get engaged, how did we meet/what year, why does Julia live in her current city, how come we didn't do this process sooner (as we've been together a decade this year) and if I understood the document given to me at the other window.
After that, he said I was approved and to expect my passport back in 1-2 weeks and I was good to go!
It's a lovely place and everyone was friendly and easy going. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. Just come prepared, read the information about what documents to bring. It's better to overprepare than underprepare. Just make sure it's easy to get to what you need so you're not fumbling around for things. From queuing outside to leaving, it was about an hour 
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #32438