Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: EB-1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
July 6, 2017 |
| Embassy Review : |
I am a German living in Britain. There is some info for Germans further down.
================= General Info about London Embassy ====================
The London Embassy is essentially a big waiting room with security glass counters on the side and a big screen on the wall at the back. Everything is done standing 'through' the security glass. The clerks are well to understand.
They have a water fountain but I couldn't see any vending machines. They have two photo booths for 6 GBP for each shot (cash required, I suppose). Phones are allowed as surfing and texting devices, though strictly no calling and no photos. Phones must be turned off at the counters. I guess it is sensible to switch the phone in quiet mode.
People are queued into at least 5 different queues, D, E, N, I and V and get a number from one of the queues. The N-queue seemed particularly long. During my wait, they served probably 40 N-cases. The I-queue (for immigration, I suppose) was not even a tenth of the N-queue and the other queues seemed even shorter.
Different counters serve different queues, but not just one queue, so it is impossible to estimate the wait time. At which counter to queue is announced on the screen at the back of the wall. However, it is only shown for about 10sec and then displayed in the counter table. However the counter table is longer than there is space on the screen, so they show alternating pages of the counter table. If one misses the announcement, because one is surfing on the mobile phone, it may take up to 30sec, before one can see one's number on the page. And they want applicants to appear promptly at the counter and be prepped and ready: Passport out of any covers, embassy instruction sheet (aka appointment letter) and DS-260 confirmation at the ready.
======================= Info for Germans ===============================
As military record, I used my Dienstzeugnis which was issued at the end of my military service. In comparison to the Wehrdienstzeitbescheinigung it contains deployment and conduct information. I was able to order my police record from my home town in Germany and not via the embassy, although I am not living in Germany. They phoned up in Berlin and had to make a handwritten remark on the application that this was agreed on by telephone. I ordered an international birth certificate from the Standesamt of my birth town. It needs no translation.
I got all my translations done remotely by a German sworn-in translator, Adam Galamaga: In comparison to British certified translations, a German sworn-in translator also certifies that the copy of the document is a copy of the original (the translator needs the original for that) and that the translation is really the translation of this copy. One still needs to present the originals, but I think this is the proper way to do things, compared to the loose sheets without stamp or seal that the British translators issue.
======================= The Embassy Process ===========================
My appointment was at 11:30. The instructions advised turn up at 11:00. They asked me to come back at 11:10. They checked passport and instruction letter (which contained date and place of my interview appointment). Then I went through security. I had only a cloth bag with my file in, a mobile, my wallet and my keys. I could keep all of it and was let into the precinct, from where I had to walk around to the main entrance. The path was clearly marked. At the reception the same again: Appointment letter and passport. There I got my queue number and a couple of labels stuck onto my appointment letter.
In comparison to the German embassy where some parents thought that the photo booth would be a good play ground for their shrieking kids, the embassy was relatively quiet. There were no kids, no commotion. There was a couple who had parked in the street nearby and had to negotiate to be let out and in again, in order to prolong their parking allowance. I waited my turn. In the meanwhile helpful info on the big screen was displayed. 12:00h passed and counters closed up for lunch, though around 4 stayed open.
Then I was called to the first counter. Again, passport, appointment letter and DS-260 confirmation at the ready. The first question was: 'When do you intend to enter the US'. My answer 'ASAP' was noted on the form. All the original documents furnished with the DS-260 were taken in, together with my passport and two photos. She was a bit confused about the German international birth certificate as it contains everything in German, English and French and not solely English, but then accepted it. The clerk went systematically through the DS-260 document list... and asked me for financial documents, in particular bank statements, which are NOT required. I was confused and she asked me how I would intend to maintain myself. I said, that I had no bank statements but that I had my work contract with me. That was satisfactory. The clerk then admitted that she was processing EB-1 for the first time, and I believe that if I would have had nothing to show, that she would have asked a colleague instead of pressing the matter. So I was off the hook, but one need to be vigilant. Then the finger prints were taken, all 4 fingers of the left, then all 4 of the right then the two thumbs. The latter had to be repeated. Then she handed me my chest X-rays in a shabby folded A4 envelope in which I could feel a disk. She impressed on me that the envelope was NOT to be opened and had to be transported in the hand luggage on entry.
I was then asked to sit down again. After probably 15 minutes I was asked to another counter in a corridor around the corner where people were queueing for something. I made my way through the crowd in a friendly manner and then had my interview.
The interviewer first asked me who I was, then I had to take an oath then he scanned the fingers of my left hand then he asked me: ‘What is your special ability?’ I replied that I was a specialist for Semantic Technologies. He looked questioning and I asked him whether I should elaborate on this. He certainly pondered for moment but then politely declined. ‘What are you currently doing?’ I explained that I had resigned my position with Oxford and that I am currently free lancing as the immigration process had taken longer than expected. He then asked ‘What will you be doing in the United States?’ I answered that I had a work contract with a company that wanted to introduce Semantic Technologies into Healthcare IT, and that this application was exactly what I had build my EB-1 application on. He glanced over the first lines of my work contract which contained job title and salary. He nodded and told me that the visa application was completed, that they would keep the originals of the police records and would send my passport with the police records back to me within ‘1 or 2 weeks’. He handed back the originals of my military record (for the Germans: I used my Dienstzeugnis der Bundeswehr) including translation, my work contract and my birth certificate.
I bid adieu, took everything, went back into the waiting hall, put everything back into my file and then remembered that I was meant to ask, whether I could enter the US via land: Flights to Vancouver in Canada are half as expensive as Seattle and a bus ride from Vancouver to Seattle takes 3 hours. The lady at the reception was willing to help and phoned someone behind the scenes who explained to her that I had to enter the US via a port (airport/seaport) and would NOT be able to enter the US via land.
I left the embassy exactly on the way I had come in. |
| Rating : |
Good |
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