Consulate Review: London, United Kingdom
Review Topic: K1 Visa
|
| Event |
Description |
| Review Date : |
January 20, 2010 |
| Embassy Review : |
I’ll begin my review, first off, by stating that some of the details I mention might not apply to other interviewees due to the fact that I am disabled and therefore, certain procedures were slightly different from the routine interview process.
Anyways though, my interview was scheduled for 9am on the 15th January 2010. We didn’t much fancy trying to get a train down to London (especially not with a wheelchair) so we opted to drive down. We left the house at 3:40am, and were parked up in the car park near Hyde Park by about 7. This is really good time, considering it took us over an hour more to get to the medical back in November last year.
The car park under Hyde Park is absolutely massive, and when we arrived there at 7am, there was loads of space available. We headed over to the disabled parking bays, which are conveniently located near the pay machine, customer services desk, disabled toilets, and exit. Pricing is not too bad at all – works out about £4 an hour, though I think there was a minimum charge (it was either £12 or £16, I’m afraid I’m not certain since I didn’t pay, my step-father did.)
Since we were early, we sat in the car park for an hour and had something to eat, then headed off to the embassy (which is about 10 minute walk away-keeping in mind my step-father was slowed down by having to push a wheelchair). On the way, we stopped off at Ghould’s pharmacy and had them store the car keys, then we headed over to the security staff outside the embassy.
I handed over my appointment letter, and was then asked who my step-father was. They assumed he must be my sponsor, but I explained he was here as my carer, and that his name should be on the list because I had written to the embassy about him coming with me. I was then asked for my passport, and then my step-father had to show his.
After that, we were told to wait nearby until an escort came to escort us into the embassy. (All other applicants simply follow a different route, but because I was in the wheelchair, we needed to be escorted into the embassy through the back route, because there are stairs – and no ramp – via the normal route.) I was worried we would be waiting ages for someone to show up, but in actuality it was only maybe 5 or 10 minutes at most before the escort arrived. Again, I was asked to show my passport (and my step-father showed his) and also my appointment letter. Then our escort lead us through to the security checkpoint.
They told my step-father to push me straight through the security checkpoint in the wheelchair-no problems there, whilst our belongings were scanned. Because I’d brought a bottled drink with me, I was asked to drink some of it (to prove it’s not acid, I guess)-and then we were through and on our way. I thought the security officer was a bit curt, and I had a really hard time understanding him because he had a very strong foreign accent. But overall, that part was pretty simple and stress-free. The security official was probably the most unpleasant out of all the embassy staff I dealt with during my interview-and he wasn’t all that bad, really.
We certainly took the long way round into the embassy! We went through what looked like some sort of delivery-storage area, and then along some corridors and into an elevator. Then we were taken though this really fancy looking room (maybe for visiting dignitaries, or something?) and at last, came out into the waiting area. (If you use a wheelchair, then allow a good 5-10 minutes for the escort to arrive, and an additional 5-10 minutes for actually getting into the embassy, as it’s not exactly a short route.)
We were told to wait, whilst our escort went to log us into the system. He came back a few minutes later and handed me my appointment letter and my ticket number. The time printed on the ticket said it was 8:57, so we’d made it with 3 minutes to spare!
One thing that had particularly worried me about the interview was that the embassy was going to be crowded, noisy and chaotic. In truth, though it was busy, everything seemed fairly calm and very orderly. At this point, I think I got a little priority treatment, because rather than waiting for my ticket number to come up on the system, we were called over by a member of staff. We’d probably been waiting for about 45 minutes by this point.
Just a quick note that you don’t need to worry if you miss your number being called: they’ll call it a few times, and then give a “final call” announcement if you still haven’t answered.
Trying to have an interview with someone whilst sat in a wheelchair was not exactly an easy task. The windows are meant for people to stand at, not sit. Sat in my chair, I could my chin barely reached the top of the counter, and I couldn’t hear the interviewer well at all, or reach the fingerprints machine. Luckily for me, I can actually stand up (as long as it’s not for long) so I did that in the end, since it made things a whole lot easier.
Another thing I’d stressed about a great deal was having everything organized in readiness for the interview. I’d had visions of me frantically leafing through stacks of paper, unable to find what was asked for, whilst the interviewer stood by scowling impatiently. Because I can’t read the information on any of the documents due to my sight impairment, I was particularly concerned about making sure to hand over the right things. To be honest though, the whole process was very relaxed and I felt like I had as much time as I needed to find what I was asked for. Seriously, I’ve felt more stressed out and rushed trying to pay for my shopping at Tesco!
First off, I had to have my fingerprints taken: right hand, left hand, and then both thumbs. It took a couple of tries to get my left hand, but the guy was patient and I tried not to panic about having to redo it a few times before I got it right.
When that was taken care of, I was asked for two US sized passport photos. I’d had mine done for about £4 at www.passpics.co.uk a couple of weeks prior to the interview, which cut the stress of worrying about getting them done on the day.
After handing over my photos, I explained that I had amended some of my DS forms, and asked if I could sumbit the updated versions. He said that was fine (phew! Another thing I’d been worrying about) so I handed them over.
Whilst the guy was processing my forms, he sent my step-father off to pay for the visa. I was a bit cross about that, because it meant my step-father had to pay with his card. (He wasn’t allowed to pay with me card because I wasn’t there to sign for the transaction.) But, oh well.
Meanwhile, I handed over all my forms. And thank goodness I had been organized about how I had arranged everything, because my step-father was not there to help me whilst he was off paying for the visa! Anyways, next I was asked for my birth certificate (I’d taken both the long and short form, “just in case”, though of course the long form was the only one required) and police certificate. He took the copies and gave me back the originals.
Then he asked for my fiance’s I-134. I handed that over (plus one copy) and he looked over it very briefly and asked if I had tax returns. I’d got my fiance’s 1040 tax return forms, plus a tax transcript, so I handed both of those over, since I didn’t know which he’d prefer to see.
After he glanced over them, he told me that was all he needed. I was surprised, because I’d been expecting to be asked for my co-sponsors forms. I asked if he wanted them, but he said he didn’t. I didn’t know whether to take that as a good sign or not, so we sat back down and waited to be called for the actual interview.
More waiting followed (felt like longer than last time, and this time there was no queue jumping) and then my number was called.
Again, I stood up out of the wheelchair for the interview, which I think came as a bit of a relief to the interviewer.
Next, I had to swear that all the information I’d submitted was true, and then sign the form. This was another aspect of the interview that I’d stressed about, because I can’t see the forms to sign them. I explained to the interviewer that I was able to sign my name, but that my step father would need to indicate where I needed to sign. The interviewer said that was fine, dated the form and told my step-father what I needed to do. I signed my name no problems, but struggled with writing my fiance’s full name because my writing is huge and the space was not very large. In the end, I just kinda wrote it on two lines (looked very messy) but the interviewer said it was fine.
I don’t remember when during the interview each question was asked, so I will cover that now.
I was asked how long my fiancé and I had been engaged. I couldn’t remember the actual amount of time, (stress makes my brain freeze!) but I answered by saying that we had been engaged since September 08, whilst visiting my fiancé in the U.S. This answer seemed fine.
Also, “how did you meet?”, which I answered by saying we’d met at an online messageboard community. My answer (I gave dates when we met) led him to ask “So you’ve known each other for about 5 years?” I couldn’t remember the actual timescale, and I didn’t want to agree to information if the interviewer was incorrect, so I just answered by once again stating the date we’d first met online.
Then, “where about in the U.S. does he live?” to which I answered by giving my fiance’s state and town. And managed to say “Kansas, Manhattan”, instead of “Manhattan, Kansas”, due to my nerves! - Not that it was a problem.
Then “What address is he staying at?” I elaborated a little on my answer here, and explained my fiancé was staying with his mum. I felt the interviewer was concerned about our living arrangements, on account of my fiancés finances (which are low) so I explained that my future mother-in-law has just had her basement converted into separate apartment, so that we can stay there for a few years until our finances are more secure.
Finally, I was asked when we planned on getting married. I explained that because visa approval is not guaranteed, we had set no date but that I intended to marry within 90 days of my arrival into the U.S.
And that was all for the questions.
Back to the rest of the interview though, once I had answered a few initial questions, the interviewer explained that he was concerned because my fiancé didn’t seem to have a very high income. I’d pretty much been expecting this, but was pretty anxious about dealing with the issue. I tried to keep calm though, explain that we’d expected this response and offered my co sponsors forms.
The interviewer was pleased and said that was good-apparently, he had been expecting them to have been taken by the first guy, so because they were not there, he had thought that I simply didn’t have a co sponsor. I explained that my fiancé’s parents (who file their income tax jointly) had both wanted to be our sponsors. I had separate I-134 forms for each of them, because they live at separate addresses. The interviewer took my fiancé’s mum’s form, looked over it, and then asked me for my fiancé’s dad’s form. He looked through that, said “perfect!” and asked me if I’d been given a pink courier form. I handed him that and he started explaining to me about paying for the visa delivery.
I suppose it was a bit obvious at that point that we were approved, but I had to ask anyways. And of course, he was happy to tell me that we were! He told me about the sealed envelope (which you must not open!) and said “welcome to the U.S.” and that was it. We headed over to pay for the courier, which my step-father had to pay for because he couldn’t get the wheelchair up close enough to the counter for me to do so myself.
Getting out of the embassy promised to be similar to getting in, but neither I nor my step father fancied having to wait, so he carried the wheelchair down the steps and then came back to help me walk. Then we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up the car key, and headed back to the car park. It was 11:30 by the time we got back to the car.
All in all, though a very, very emotional and stressful day, there wasn’t actually anything about it to be all that stressed about. Although they must process hundreds, if not thousands of applicants each day, the embassy has a very organized system which is fairly easy to follow. Wheelchair facilities were not great, but the staff were helpful, professional and as accommodating as could be. |
| Rating : |
Very Good |
|
ver 5.0