Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: K1 Visa
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| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
May 8, 2019 |
| Embassy Review : |
Good Evening all!
Good news... My K1 has been approved at my interview today!! Â
Here is my experience:
Getting To London
I am pretty lucky and I live on the south coast, so getting to London is pretty straight forward and means that I did not have to spend the night there.
To get to the Embassy, my kind friend offered to drive me, which made things a whole lot easier. My interview was at 10:30AM, and I wanted to get there for around 10:00AM so I had a little bit of time to play with. (It is recommended that you arrive 20 minutes before your interview I believe). As it was the day after a bank holiday, we left early, at 06:50AM to make sure that we are not late due to London traffic, and we ended up arriving at 09:55AM, so perfect timing!
For those of you wondering, the new Embassy is on the very outskirts of the London Congestion Zone, so just make sure you don't drive too far away from the Embassy to avoid this zone. (You can see a map for the congestion zone here)
Directly opposite the Embassy, there is a Waitrose that has 2 hours of free parking, which was enough for us, but it is best to have the driver ready to move the car somewhere else in case you get delayed in the Embassy as if you stay over the 2 hours you get charged £90 with no option to extend the stay.
The Embassy
You want to go to the South Pavilion Consular Services entrance along Ponton Road, it won't be hard to miss, just look for the armed guards . Just before entering, they will ask you for your DS-160 and your passport. They will confirm your appointment and give them back
When you enter, you will go through airport-style security, empty your pockets, go through a metal detector, etc. After this, you walk outside of this building up to the Embassy building itself, and you will be presented with 2 doors. A red door which is marked "Visa Services" and a blue door marked "Citizen Services". Go through the BLUE door (Citizen Services). Once you walk through here, you will arrive at a reception desk, where they asked me for my DS-160 again. They will then put a sticker on the DS-160 with a number. Once they do this, they tell you to proceed to the elevator, go to the 1st floor and then to turn left, walk all the way down, and the left again at the end.Â
I proceeded to the 1st floor. When you exit the elevator, there will be a massive room in front of you with a lot of people, but don't worry, this isn't for you. Turn left, walk all of the way past all of the chairs and windows, and then at the end of the room, turn left again. You will then come into a smaller version of the initial room, where you can take a seat.
Keep an eye on the board which calls the numbers.
Window 1 (10 minutes spent here)
I waited for about 2 minutes, and then I was called up to one of the windows. At the window was a very friendly man, who asked for my passport, State of Department size pictures, birth certificate, police certificate, Affidavit of Support and supporting evidence.
In regards to the Affidavit of Support (I-134), my fiance is currently in the final part of her University course and does not have a fulltime job. As she does not currently meet the poverty line, I had her mother fill out an Affidavit of Support, and had all of the supporting evidence from her. I also had my fiance fill out a copy of the Affidavit of Support as well.
He asked for both my fiances and her mother's Affidavit of support, so if you are in the same situation, I would recommend having both of them fill out their own copy. The only evidence he wanted in regards to her mother's Affidavit of Support was the letter from her employer, but I did overhear that someone else was asked for Tax Transcripts, so bring them just in case.
As my fiance is at University, he also asked me for evidence of this, which I had in the form of her course transcripts that outlines all of her classes, dates, etc. She has also recently had a Letter of Intent for a job, so I provided him with this as well.Â
He then went to grab my medical results, and he gave me a DVD to keep which contained my X-Ray.
The only two questions he asked me was:
"Are you going to be staying with her mother when you arrive?"
"Have you got everything organised for the wedding?"
"If everything goes to plan, when do you intend on entering the US?"
He then took my fingerprints and asked me to take a seat, and to wait for my number to be called again, where I will be interviewed by an officer at a different window"
Window 2 (10 minutes spent here)
After about a 20 minute wait, I was then called up to the next window. This time, it was a lady. She started off by taking my name, my fiance's name, fingerprints and had me raise my right hand and take an oath (Basically saying that you swear to say the truth).Â
After taking my fingerprints again, she asked me the following questions:
"How did you two meet?"
"When did you start dating?"
"How often do you see each other"
"Has she ever come to England" (To which the answer was no)
"Why has she never come to England" (It has always been more convenient for me to go their due to her studies)
"Do you have any questions about the domestic abuse leaflet?"
She then started typing on her computer, and about two minutes later she said "I am pleased to say that today we are able to approve your Visa, you should receive an email within the next 7-10 days once the Visa has been dispatched"
My face just lit up when I heard this, it is one thing imagining those words being said, and another thing to actually hear them.
She then gave me back my birth certificate and my police certificate, and that was the end of it. I then just left the embassy!
Overall, a great and easy experience!
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| Rating : |
Very Good |
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ver 5.0