Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: IR-1/CR-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
July 7, 2007 |
| Embassy Review : |
This is a long rambling revew and not a particularly favourable one, if you are expecting a review stating how easy the whole interview process was, how pleasant and courteous the embassy staff were and how all the nervous waiting was for nothing, I'm afraid I can't do that.
I am not someone who just likes a good old moan for the sake of it nor am I particularly oversensitive, for the record, the staff at the medical at Bentinck mansions were very nice indeed and made that whole process fairly painless, but as to the interview itself, not so good 
I arrived at approximately 9.55 for a 10.30 am appointment, after a fairly restless nights sleep, an hours train ride at an early hour into London and a nervous taxi ride to the embassy, never a good time to be in London, following a terrorist plot.
My interview was the resut of a whole 12 months of playing the visa game , not being with my husband and not really wanting to risk visiting him and being denied at POE whilst I had a visa application in process, so yes, as I'm sure many would agree the visa interview is about as anxious a time as you'll ever experience, with so much riding on getting it all right.
I dressed smartly, arrived on time and had all my paperwork well organised.
May I also add that we all pay for the visa process, it's not something we expect as a hand out for free, neither is it a crime to apply for a visa to be with the one to whom you are legally married,and love, yes I could not help but get the impression the whole day that we ( the visa applicants) are considered second class citizens.
I waited in line for 40-45 minutes only to get to the very front of my queue and be told to wait whist some American citizens with there own issues proceeded straight to the front of the queue and were directed through the security check ahead of me.
Finally got through security, wouldn't particularly say that any of the security staff were especialy friendly, I suppose they are not meant to be, but anyway then proceeds the walk round to the backdoor of the embassy where visa applicants are directed.
On entering the building I was issued with my cheese counter ticket and given no further instruction.
I opened a large door and entered into a room full of people sitting on cramped up rows of chairs much like in an airport lounge but less comfortable.
There is a desk at the front of the room, which I didn't know was the desk you go to to arrange a courier after your interview, noone tells you that you just take a seat and dont have to go to that desk first, noone tells you anything you just have to work it out for yourself.
An announcement board informs you of your position in some weird queing system which makes logical sense for the first stage of the interview only.
Seeing that I was likely to be in a long wait to be called, I visted the tiny toilet, there is nowhere to put the enivitable file/folder of paperwork that you will be carrying whilst you use the toliet or wash your hands unless you want to place it down on top of the dirty nappies bin or on a tiny shelf covered in a soapy watery slime, or maybe the floor, not like any of the documents are important right?.
Then begins the wait................. nowhere in the buliding is a clock to inform you just how much time has passed so you sit and wait it out, I took a humorous book to relax me but what with the nerves and the stony faces of everyone sat around me, it was hard to relax.
Finally after what seemed like an eternity but was actually about an hour and a half, I was called to window number one, where possibly one of the rudest people I have ever had the displeasure to deal with was situated, she was finishing of some admin from the previous case, but rather than tell me that or say anything welcoming or reassuring she looked at me as if I were inconviniencing her for coming up to the window too soon, she'd pressed the button so I presumed she'd be ready?.
When I say window, that's excatly what it is, a window much like in the bank or post office, I remember when we applied for my husbands unlmited leave to remain in the Uk, at Croydon, we were interviewed at a window similar to this but with a little more privacy and a seat to sit on, it's the little touches!
So standing at a window right next to the sandwich and drinks cashier, and with the dull buzz of 200+ people chatting behind me I strained to hear what the lady was saying, really strained, she had a failry strong accent, which in itself would not have been an issue if it weren't for the stupid pane of glass seperating us, for what purpose I'm not really sure, maybe just to add to the impression of us somehow being in the wrong for appliyng and paying for the priviledge of being granted a visa.
Anyway she snapped out her requests for paperwork, barely giving me time to remove the first from its plastic cover before demanding "copy", which I then fummbled as quickly as I could to produce, I really felt like I was on some sort of timer and if I didn't prodcue the goods in 10 seconds or under a vat of maple syrup would be released on my head and my time up.
Then came the fingerprints, if you can practice this, do, as I somehow angered this woman greatly by not immediately knowing exactly how flat to lay my fingers on the machine, she shouted at me with impatience "you are not doing it right" but offered no help as to how to it right, then to indicate I had finally got it correct she merely flicks up her hand which I presume meant I was free to move it, I just wondered if there was any need for her to be so terse, I was nothing but courteous and polite to her, I wasn't expecting a cuddle and a bunch of roses but a little bit of reassuring chat would have helped the situation a little.
She didn't ask me a single question about my marrigae, depsite me having worked for 2 days solid to put together a full file of every piece of evidence I could think of. No her only concern was a missing tax return and her final words to me were, "Ok go and take a seat, I don't know what the interviewer will have to say about that" so with those words of reassurance echoing in my head I sat down feeling slightly sick, noone incuding this lady tells you that you then must wait to be called for the interview "proper", which by this time I was absolutely dreading.
Now the numbers flashing up on the screen bear no relation to your wait for the second interview, so you can't really go to the toilet or even go get a sandwich at this point as you literally have no idea when you will be called, you hear numbers above and below yours being called so you can't reason with the system.
I would estimate it was about another hour before my number was called again this time to a somewhat quieter window around the corner from the main room where a friendly American lady was looking through my forms, she was the one and only person who I encountered all day who was friendly, however I found it strange that her only questions were concernng finance again, as my husband had supplied payslips and an employers letter along with his I-864.
She asked me what he earned, so I told her and she said "ok, I just wanted to check he was above the poverty level."
Ok but hasn't that already been checked at NVC level else surely we would not have been approved in the first place?
Anyway as it stood we were missing a tax document and I was issued with a 221(g) and told that they would finish processing my visa on reciept of this information.
I was devasted of course not to have been given the ok there and then, but that is not the reason for my low rating of this embassy. It is becasue from start to finish I was made to feel as if I am somehow in the wrong for applying for a visa and the fact that you get a one shot deal at getting everything right or else get put back into a system that has no compassion for the feelings of seperated couples, if there is a hell on earth, this would be it, and I would probably never advise anyone to go through the visa process.
After I left the embassy I thought of a million and one questions I wanted to ask regarding this suspension of our visa, but I felt when I was at the window too confused,nervous and rushed to think to ask then,and the lady seemed anxious for me to go.
I have subsequently tried calling the 09 number to ask someone for advice but noone I ever speak to seems to have the first idea about anything other than appointments for interviews.
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| Rating : |
Poor |
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ver 5.0