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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on May 12, 2009: |
MARM
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My fiance arrived at the embassy for his 8:30 AM appointment at 7 AM sharp. He was the second person for immigrant visas to enter the embassy. At the security point outside, he was asked for appointment letter and passport: he showed his appointment letter and UK Resident Card, he was allowed in. After passing security clearance, he was asked for his passport and appointment letter again by the receptionist and he presented his UK Resident Card & appt letter. The receptionist asked him where his passport was and my dear fiance was ready to bust out his "Evidence of Why No Passport" folder especially for occasions like this, but the receptionist did not give him a chance to do that and gave him the go-ahead after hearing his reason and confirming with some people (IOs I think). Within 45 minutes of taking a seat, he was called to the first window for the initial document screening by an African American lady. My fiance gave her his UK Resident Card when she asked for his passport. She asked him, "What is this?" And he told her the whole story and she said ok hold on and she took the card along with a printout of the email we sent to the embassy regarding his "no passport situation" and said she would be right back. She came back and proceeded to tell my fiance, "Ok, you are fine" and then asked for b.c. and his p.c.s and he gave her each original one with a copy. Then she asked for the Affidavit of Support and my fiance handed her the whole stack (all prepared with little post-it stickies marking co-sponsor/sponsor/original/copies of all documents). She looked through the whole stack, took off the post-it stickies and put them in his file without a word and then told him to go pay at Window #13 (which was the window right next to the window he was at) and bring the receipt to her. Well, turns out the embassy's debit card machines are down so my fiance asked if he could go to the bank/ATM and come right back, he was given the go-ahead and was instructed not to wait once he came back inside but rather to stand at the same window and if someone was there, to wait until he/she finished. So my fiance dashed out of the embassy, came back with the money, was waved in by security after he showed him his ticket and appointment letter (that the lady at the window gave him to show for on his way back inside), went through security clearance again and back to the window. A person was being attended to so he waited 1-2 minutes and then the lady took his receipt, gave him his x-ray and told him to fill out the courier slip she handed him as well and wait for his # to be called again to a different window. And she said to him, "Good luck". So then my fiance sat down, filled out the courier receipt (even though he wasn't going to use it today) and within 10 minutes he was called to another window and faced a young American woman. This IO GRILLED him with at least 30 questions, sometimes asking repetitively in "clever ways" (as my fiance put it). She asked him a number of questions about how we met, why me, what he will do in the US, what he studies, when does he plan to leave, what do I study, when do I graduate, why did I only go to visit him instead of him come to the US, how we keep in touch, how we met (yes, again), confirmed dates with him about various trips, etc, questions about our engagement party, about his passport, the standard questions as well (have you been involved in any crime, etc) and whether he has traveled to any countries besides the UK and Pakistan. She did not ask for any evidence of relationship even though my fiance was ready with about 40 pictures and evidence of trips. Then she handed him a paper with 221g marked for "suspended until receipt of additional documentation" or something like that with "passport" written under it, and she also gave him a paper with the SMS courier information and instructed him to send his passport to the embassy once he receives it back from the UK Home Office. My fiance (who likes straight answers as we all do  ) asked her, "So I can go now? Am I approved? Am I done for the day?" And the IO laughed and said, "yes you are done, just send in the passport via SMS once you get it back from the UK Home Office." So when my fiance called to tell me all of this, he asked me to confirm the results of his interview with DOS. I called DOS right away and was told by a heavily-accented lady that his case is suspended until they get his passport, and I (like my fiance) outright asked her, "So is he denied? Is he under Admin Processing? Or are we only waiting for his passport?". And the lady after a few moments of silence said, "They are waiting for his passport, when he sends in his passport, they will process the visa." So I said thanks and informed my fiance...and we are so thankful to God Almighty and so relieved that his interview has been a great success even though he did not have his passport, and now we just wait for the darn passport and he sends it via SMS to the embassy.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #4360