|
|
| London, United Kingdom |  Review on November 26, 2009: |
KJL
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
First you have to get through security! Make sure you don't have any electronic devices with you like mobiles or even car key fobs as you can't take them in. (I left my mobile in a backpack at left luggage at Kings Cross Station) You have to show your appointment letter and passport to a security guard then are sent into a little hut. In the hut, your bag and coat etc are all run through a scanner like at the airport and you walk through a metal detector. As I had a drink of water with me, I had to drink some of it in front of the guard to be able to take it in with me!
You then follow the path around the side of the building and go up some stairs to a reception desk. They will check your letter again and give you a number. You then take the stairs to your left and enter a huge room looking out over Grosvenor Square. Someone there will direct you to sit at the far end of the room, where you wait until your number is called out. I had a minor heart attack at this point as they put me in the queue for non-immigrant visas by mistake and when I was called forward I was told I couldn't get my visa as I didn't have my applications forms with me! The staff were great though and it was quickly sorted out that I'd been put in the wrong place!!
But anyway, your number will be called telling you to go to a particular booth number (it's a bit like a bank, with the embassy staff sitting behind glass screens). Booths 1-12 run alongside the seating area, the remainder are down a corridor that runs off the middle of the room (the toilets are also down this corridor!). Don't worry if you miss your number the first time; they leave it a few minutes and will re-call you.
At this stage you hand over your passport and supporting documents (birth certificate, with photocopy; police certificate with photocopy; affidavit of support with supporting documents). They also asked me for 2 photographs (despite there being 2 attached to my application form - luckily I'm anal and had taken extra with me). They then, most bizarrely, take a photograph of your photograph!! The photos were returned to me. They also take your finger prints. Everything they need is clipped into your file and you're handed a yellow slip which you take to the cashiers desk (desk 13) to pay your fee. Once you've paid your fee, you're given a pink form (non-immigrant visa applicants get blue forms) with the barcode from your number stuck onto it, your x-rays (which you have to take with you to the US) and sent back to the waiting room.
The pink form is your details for the courier company and is given to you now so that you can fill it in while you're waiting.
Finally, you're called again. I was called by name, but other people were being called by their number still, so keep an ear out for both. This time, I was in front of an American woman.
They rescanned my fingerprints to verify them, then I had to swear my application was the truth. As she was looking through the paperwork, she asked me questions about our relationship - when we met, where we met, how we managed a long distance relationship, how long we'd been engaged (which I couldn't work out to begin with!!) etc. She also asked if I'd lived in any other countries, been in trouble with the police, had problems with US immigration in the past, what I did in the UK and what I wanted to do in the US. The whole time she was typing things into the computer, so she was obviously either recording my answers, or filling in a form. She then passed my file through to me and I had to sign the bottom of the DS230 Part II and fill in my fiance's name. I didn't have to fill in anything else on Part II, not even ticking the boxes saying e.g. I was not involved in Nazi Germany.
She then told me that my application had been approved at which point I got very excited and squealed! She was very sweet though and looked pleased to have helped someone and made them so happy! She explained that I now had to go and hand my pink form into the courier people and that my passport would be returned to me in 3-5 working days. She also showed me the envelope that would come with and explained that it contained my forms and that it had to be handed to immigration when you enter the US unopened. Apparently if you open it, they can refuse you entry (cue my paranoia that it will unseal itself!). Make sure you pack it in your handluggage!!
You then go back into the waiting room and queue for the couriers. Their desk is at the end of the room near the door. The basic service is £14.20, but you can pay extra to specify deliver before a certain time. You can ONLY pay for this by card. They give you a receipt with your details on - make sure you check they've copied your address correctly!!
And that's it! You go out the same way you come in and, if you're anything like me, bounce off across Grosvenor Square! I was out at about 11.45 and had arrived slightly late at 9.15, so not too bad! Obviously the earlier you arrive, the lower your number will be and the sooner you should get processed. There's a coffee and snack bar at the far end of the room though, so you can eat and drink while you're waiting if you are delayed for any reason.
| |
|
Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5304