Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
March 24, 2012 |
| Embassy Review : |
I got up at 3am and got dressed and ready to leave. I decided to wear a pencil skirt with a nice shirt and a jacket along with some heels, but when I got there a lot of people seemed to be in jeans and a t shirt, but I'm happy with my decision! I drove to Oxford with my dad at 4am to catch the bus to London at 5.50am. We arrived in London at 7am at Marble Arch which was about a 5-10 min walk away from the Embassy. I gave my Dad my phone because you are not allowed to take electrical items into the Embassy building.
I got into the first line outside where they asked me to present my interview letter, they didn’t have a list of IV applicants so they couldn’t verify my name but let me though after about a 5 minuet wait. I was given a small clear bag to put my belt in and any change in my purse. In the second line you wait again to have your passport checked before heading into the security building 4 at a time. It was a lot like an airport, they scan your bag and the security guard asked to see my keys after making a comment about me being an Army Wife which he thought “was cool”. They were extremely friendly.
Once you leave security you follow the visa signs to the right and around the corner and head up the stairs into the Embassy building. You hand over your interview letter to the receptionist and she gives you a sticker on your paperwork with your number on it (I was number I902!) and are then told to head up the stairs into the waiting area.
Like a lot of people have already said, it is very similar to an airport or Argos. My appointment was at 9am but I was let in at 7.45am, there were no clocks in there but I'm assuming I was waiting about 15 mins until the first numbers were called up at 8am. There were a lot of N numbers and only a few I numbers.
I waited probably about 15-20 minuets before I was called up to the first window. I was greeted by a stern looking lady who asked me some questions about my paperwork and asked to see my original documents that had not already been submitted... I couldn’t find my marriage license and pure panic set in! She didn’t look very impressed by this but took the paperwork anyway, took my fingerprints and gave me my X rays and told me to go sit back down and fill in the pink delivery slip. About 5 minuets later I was called back up to the same window because there was a problem with my paperwork, she said my husband had filled in his details instead of mine so I corrected the documents and went to sit back down. 5 minuets after that I heard my name called.. again. I went back to the same window. This time she said that I had to pay my visa fees, after I had explained to her that I had already paid before and I had a receipt if she wanted it she filed the new papers, laughed and said “i haven’t had my coffee yet, I'm sorry, you can go sit down now.. lets hope I don’t have to see you again”
I went to sit back down and waited about 30-40 minuets but the time was broken up by a small excitement in the room because Jude Law had just walked in. After what seemed like eternity I finally got called up for my interview. She was a very friendly women and very pleasant to talk to, she told me that her computer was down so she was going to start the interview while it was getting fixed. She asked me how I met my husband, where in the USA did he live, how did I like it there, have I been to New Orleans, have I met his family/has he met mine, what does he do for a living, where is he based at the moment, do we live on or off post, who came to our wedding. It really wasn’t an interview, it was just a formal chat about my husband and I and between the serious answers we made jokes and smiled and it was very pleasant. After she took my fingerprints for the second time she congratulated me on my visa and told me that it was going to be printed on Tuesday and that I should go to the desk and pay and then I was free to leave.
All in all it was a good experience and I was only in there 2 and a half hours. It defiantly wasn’t as bad as I thought and I am so thankful my visa got approved so I can finally be with my husband! |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0