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| London, United Kingdom |  Review on January 25, 2010: |
Andrew + Bethany
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
My interview was for 08:30 so I had to start the day pretty early to get the train. I have to admit, my nerves were pretty frayed the whole journey there. If anyone is wondering which underground station is best to walk from, I got off at Marble Arch and it was a simple matter of exiting out of the Park Lane exit and turning left. Took maybe 7 or 8 minutes to walk to the embassy from there.
Upon arrival at the embassy I joined a queue of maybe 12-15 people who were waiting to go through security. A friendly woman outside checked my visa appointment letter. Then a second woman checked it, and then I was into the security building which is very simple - just like airport security. Then it's a simple matter of following the signs and entering the embassy. At the front desk, another guy checked my visa appointment letter (make sure you have it handy!) and then gave me a number in 4 printed out sticky labels. He stuck them onto a plastic folder, make sure that you actually take out your letter and give it to him so he sticks it on the letter. When checking my documents later on, the embassy worker whinged at me about it 
Anyway, it was a simple process of sitting down waiting for my number to be called for about an hour and a half. Once it was called I went up to window 1 where a kind of friendly asian woman checked over my documents in this order: passport and interview letter with labels on the letter, 2 passport photos, birth certificate and copy, police certificate and copy, affidavit of support with tax return, and finally co-sponsor affidavit of support with tax return and wage slip. She then took my fingerprints, gave me my x-ray and sent me off to pay for the visa. When I got back there were people at the window but thankfully she waved me forward and took the slip that the cashier told me to give to her. It took overall maybe 10-15 minutes.
After that I sat back down to await my interview. It was a much shorter wait - about 20 minutes this time before I was called to window 15 which is down a very short corridor. I had a very friendly american woman serve me there. It was a simple process again. Took the oath, then took my fingerprints again, and then spent 10 minutes typing whilst asking me questions. These were what I got asked:
When did you meet?
How did you meet?
What happened next?
What were you doing visiting New Hampshire? (where I met Bethany)
How did you know your friend in New Hampshire? (I was visiting him when I met Bethany)
When did you get engaged?
How did you get engaged?
How often do you see each other?
After that she smiled and told me that my visa was approved and went through the whole thing about "don't open the brown envelope!" and we had a chit chat about Joplin Missouri and a few other things. It was totally painless. Even fun.
Then it was a simple matter of paying for the courier, again I had very friendly service and chatted about Missouri again. Then, I was on my way out the embassy and that was that. The only part I didn't enjoy was the first long wait, but that wasn't too bad. My own fault for not taking a book! It was very painless, it really isn't a difficult procedure. Overall it took about 2 hours and 45 minutes from when I joined the queue outside to when I exited the building.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #5598