Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom Review Topic: EB-1 Visa
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Event |
Description |
Review Date : |
January 19, 2022 |
Embassy Review : |
Interview time 10.00am, advised by my lawyer to arrive 9.45am at the South Pavilion. Arrived in the area around 9am and went to the District Cafe across the street from the Embassy to wait until 9.45 - this is a great spot for coffee and food, lots of tables, toilet, kid friendly (as much as it needed to be)
Two lines at the South Pavilion (the entry point). One for US citizens which had a big line, and one for Visas (on the right) which had no line. First off go to the window on the far right hand side, with appointment and passports. Then security. There was no line for either of these. Then through and out the other side of security, into the embassy grounds. At this point look back and to the left - there's a crazy sky pool between two buildings! Anyway, reception desk who checked the paper and send us to the first floor with a sticker and number on our paperwork - again no line here, super fast. Out of the lift someone pointed us to booths 20/21 which were left and left again.
On arriving at the waiting area they had our number on the screen so went right to document check. A super nice guy asked for documents one by one whilst the family sat down, did my fingerprints, then called the family for their fingerprints. This process took around 5 minutes. He said they had not yet got our medicals, but not to worry, they'll turn around the visa same day or next day when it arrives with them. At the end he said to take a seat and wait for our number, and we would be seen at one of the next booths - 22 or 23.
Sat down for a nervous long wait, however about 30 seconds later our number came up for the window. The full family went up, both adults had to hold up right hands and swear they were going to tell the truth, fingerprints again for the adults, then the family sat down. The interviewer was super nice. Three very brief questions for me, which she wanted brief conversational answers, what was my extraordinary ability, what will I do in the USA and where will I live in the USA. The whole thing was a couple of minutes. No trick questions. Just looking to coorborate a couple of datapoints in the file. The file was massive, maybe 15 inches thick!!
Got a 212g refusal blue form stating they were waiting on the medical, otherwise done. The interviewer said I should have passports back within a week.
There was no-one else in the Immigrant Visa section. The NIV section was very quiet with 5/6 people there.
Total elapsed time from entering security to walking back out onto the street was less than 20 minutes.
Notes:
- there's free wifi, not that we even had time to sit down
- there's a small cafe with coffee, snacks, pastries etc in the main waiting area - despite saying there is not on the website
- you cannot get lost, someone is always there to point you onwards
- there are toilets, a family bathroom, and a water fountain |
Rating : |
Very Good |
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