Ladie of the Bees's US Immigration Timeline
Immigration Checklist for John & Rhiannon:
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USCIS I-129F Petition:
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Dept of State K1 Visa:
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USCIS I-485 Petition:
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USCIS I-765 Petition:
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USCIS I-131 Petition:
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USCIS I-751 Petition:
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USCIS N-400 Petition:
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K1 Visa
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| Event |
Date |
| Service Center : |
Vermont Service Center |
| Transferred? |
Texas Service Center on 2013-08-06 |
| Consulate : |
London, United Kingdom |
| I-129F Sent : |
2013-07-06 |
| I-129F NOA1 : |
2013-07-15 |
| I-129F RFE(s) : |
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| RFE Reply(s) : |
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| I-129F NOA2 : |
2013-08-26 |
| NVC Received : |
2013-09-05 |
| Date Case #, IIN, and BIN assigned : |
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| NVC Left : |
2013-09-10 |
| Consulate Received : |
2013-09-16 |
| Packet 3 Received : |
2013-09-18 |
| Packet 3 Sent : |
2013-09-30 |
| Packet 4 Received : |
2013-11-07 |
| Interview Date : |
2013-11-14 |
| Interview Result : |
Approved
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Second Interview
(If Required): |
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| Second Interview Result: |
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| Visa Received : |
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| US Entry : |
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| Marriage : |
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| Comments : |
Packet 3 Rec'd by Consulate 10/02/2013
Medical Exam 10/07/2013
Medical Exam Results Rec'd by Consulate 10/10/2013
E-mail from Consulate confirming I should have interview date within 4 weeks of October 2nd: 10/23/2013
11/04/2013: Email from Info Unit at the Consulate that I have an interview next week and Packet 4 letter posted today! |
Processing
Estimates/Stats : |
Your I-129f was approved in 42 days from your NOA1 date.
Your interview took 122 days from your I-129F NOA1 date. |
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Member Reviews:
Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
November 15, 2013 |
| Embassy Review : |
There are some really great reviews on here so I'm sure I'm just repeating what others have said, but I read about a million of these leading up to my own interview and found them so, so massively helpful. When I got there I knew exactly what to expect which really stood me in good stead for the day. I was much calmer and even found myself able to reassure others! So here goes:
The Outside:
-Pitched up at the consulate at 6:57AM. When people advise you to get there early, they aren't kidding - get there as early as possible! When I arrived there were about 10-15 people in line. I was just entering the actual consulate at 8AM! The staff outside were all very helpful and nice, joking with and chatting with people waiting. Don't worry too much about not knowing where to stand, when they want you somewhere they will let you know 
-As others have noted, they are very strict about the no electronics thing. Just save yourself the hassle and don't carry anything remotely offensive. Plenty of people got turned away and were surprised/disgruntled about it.
-As a note, if anyone comes with you who can't go into the consulate (my Dad very kindly came with me for the trip to keep me company) there are about four or five coffee shops on the street leading away from the Consulate (the street on which Gould's pharmacy is on) one of which is a Starbucks, so there are plenty of places where you can pre-arrange to meet.
- After you've gone through the security checks you go around the building. Don't worry, there are lots of signs to show you the way! When you first go in there is a reception desk. They will take your letter and give you a sticker with a number on it. You then go inside.
Inside:
-The inside really is one big waiting room. The staff behind their teller windows all seemed pretty relaxed and were joking around as they got set up for the day. A lot of people have commented on this, but for the first ten or so minutes they rely on a PA system before the numbers start flashing up on the main screen. The voices sound like they're coming from underwater and its hard to make them out - but they WILL repeat it several times so don't worry.
Window #1:
-I was number I-903. I got called up to the first window (as it turned out, window #1) about 8:20AM. A young man took my documents and checked them all, mostly chatting to the two women he was obviously training. He didn't seem to notice me there very much but I didn't mind this, as he showed no signs that my documents were anything less than perfectly ordinary. For those like me who love lists they can tick off, this is what I was asked for:
- Passport
- Courier Receipt (pretty sure they just need this to stick on the outside of the packaging envelope they seal your envelope in)
- Birth Cert + Copy
- Police Cert + Copy
- Affidavit of Support
- Sponsor's Employer Letter
I had all sorts of other things but they weren't at all interesting. After giving me a CD with my xrays on them he asked me to take a seat.
So I sat. And sat. And sat some more... and waited....
Window #2:
Expect to wait through the next bit. Even if you get there super early, and although masses of numbers (mostly N) flash up on the screen every ten seconds, you will wait. And wait. You may nod off (do not advise this) and wait some more. Luckily I made friends with a girl while waiting in line who was there for a work visa, and we sat and chatted till about half past nine went she finally disappeared (if you ever read this and were sitting next to a mad English woman with red hair for two and a half hours, I hope all went well!). I was number I-903. About 9:50AM I watched I-901 and I-902 get called up for a second time. About 10:05AM my number flashed up on screen instructing me to go to Window #15 which was, as I discovered, around the corner from the first bank of twelve teller windows that are in the main hall.
Upon getting to window #15 it was empty, but I hovered and a minute later a pleasant young American man with dark hair and a beard popped in and apologized for disappearing. The first thing he said to me after that was "take a deep breath, this is going to be fine". Then very kindly so as not to startle me "so I'm going to ask you to swear an oath in a minute, is that okay?".
Being duly sworn in and somehow still standing (despite the shaking in my knees) the interview began. First off he got me to sign the fiancee visa application. He asked me to fill in my fiance's name and then sign at the bottom. I suspect this is some sort of initial test - if you don't get your fiance's name right then odds are you probably aren't legit.
Then questions. He started off with "so eleven and a half years huh?" (which is how long my fiancee and I have known each other, most of which time we have been together). He asked a couple of questions in a very casual and relaxed manner, which to the best of my memory were:
- "So how did you meet?" (in high school back in 2002)
- "What kind of visa were you on at the time?" (leading on from the how we met conversation - as a dependent on my Dad's H visa, then went back for a few years on an F-1 student visa, but left 5 years ago when I finished my degree).
- "So you've been long distance for five years then? Why did you decide to get married now?" (life kept happening, we decided now or never and to go for it because long distance was becoming unbearable)
He seemed to agree with this and as I started going into detail about the family dramas on both John's side and mine (and probably to curtail what he sensed would be a very lengthy narrative covering family politics for the last five years) he cut in and said "absolutely, you've got to just go for it sometimes" and then said "so you're approved, congratulations"
After this as he was doing something with paperwork we chatted a bit about wedding plans. I explained that we'd tried to make plans but our visa got processed so fast - four months!!!! - that we had to shelve the big wedding plans for now. He was very sweet and told me not to worry about any kind of ceremony or formal wedding - he said we could go down to the town hall in jeans and t-shirts and sign the paperwork if we wanted to, as long as we made it legal, then we could worry about the wedding stuff later on. He actually just seemed genuinely interested and supportive.
What was also nice was that he took the time to take out our photographs from the original petition (which I didn't have the heart to tell him we had seven million copies of) and also John's original birth certificate and gave them back to me, then told me to take my time getting myself together. I was told my visa would be with me in ten days, and then he wished me well and congratulating me on my upcoming marriage.
Perhaps we were a more straightforward case than I thought (I thought my previous visas in the US and the fact that we've been long distance for sooooo looong might red flag us) I genuinely don't think he was out to trip me up or suspicious at all.
The After:
At 10:25AM I met my dad in the cafe down the road. I can't remember which one it was, but it had a red awning, the staff were all eastern European and the breakfast was very nice according to my Dad. They also do a decent and very reviving cup of tea! Once I felt my legs were dependable enough, I staggered outside to call my fiance (woke the poor thing up) and then breathed one massive sigh of relief.
So there you go folks, that's my embassy experience. Sorry for the length, but I hope some of the details here have in some way helped. Good luck everyone!!!!! |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
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Timeline Comments: None yet, be the first!
*Notice about estimates: The estimates are based off averages of other members recent experiences
(documented in their timelines) for the same benefit/petition/application at the same filing location.
Individual results may vary as every case is not always 'average'. Past performance does not necessarily
predict future results. The 'as early as date' may change over time based on current reported processing
times from members. There have historically been cases where a benefit/petition/application processing
briefly slows down or stops and this can not be predicted. Use these dates as reference only and do not
rely on them for planning. As always you should check the
USCIS processing times to see if your application
is past due.
** Not all cases are transfered
ver 5.0
