biggish data

Has anyone postponed the interview?

Hi Lina, I postponed my interview once I got the date. They only sent me packet 4 one week before my scheduled interview date and I was going to be out of the country at the time, infact I was visiting my fiance in the states, so I sent them an email and wrote them a letter and they postponed the interview by 12 days so that I could get home. I think I remember it saying on packet 4 that they will only postpone it for emergencies. I guess you could call the embassy call centre number (It's expensive but when I called they told me what to put in the RE: line of the email so it got to the right department faster) It didn't cause any red flags for me as I was approved and received the visa the next day, but I would think carefully about why you need to postpone as they are going to need a reason, I had to send them a copy of my flight plans to prove I was out of the country.
Hope this helps!
Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-09-17 12:42:00

how long did it take you to get your visa?

i got mine the very next day! Good luck with the packaging- that was the hardest part of it all really, seeing your life fit in two suitcases, but believe me it's all worth it!! Have you planned when your wedding will be? Goodluck with everything!!

Katie

PS forgot to say Congrats on getting approved!!

Edited by katie_UK, 16 October 2006 - 02:26 PM.

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-10-16 14:26:00

how long did it take you to get your visa?

I was actually at work when they delivered mine to my house, they gave it to my sister who showed her ID, which is obviously not me but he still handed it over anyway...we did have the same surname so maybe that's why he had her sign for it!

Ninamyers, how did your interview go today?

katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-10-16 13:20:00

how long did it take you to get your visa?

I got my K1 visa back the next day, I have no idea how it came that quickly! Back in 2004 when I aplied for my Q1 visa to work in Walt Disney World it took a grand total of 9 days, so I think i was just lucky to get my K1 back the next day!

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-10-13 12:51:00

Where in the UK are you from?

Englishsammy I always get asked if I'm Australian or from New Zealand too and it drives me crazy! I'm from Lincolnshire but have been living in Illinois for 5 months now, it's just flown by!

Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-11-09 16:17:00

I need friends!!!

I used to live in Orlando and there is a huge group of UK people, all around your age! I worked for Walt Disney World on an 'international program' and they hire loads of Brits- if you've ever been to the Uk pavilion in Epcot you'll know why. They are all aged in their early- mid twenties. When I was there last year we were mainly found in Pleasure Island, in any of the clubs there or in Kitty O'sheas a little pub thing just outside of disney world. You'll be tired of hearing the english accents in Orlando!!

Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-11-10 15:00:00

London Interviews 2006 (NEW)

I was approved yesterday in London, I was only in the embassy for a total of one hour, which was much faster than i had anticipated! If someone could add me to the list of approvals that would be great!!

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-04-20 12:18:00

London Interviews 2006 (NEW)

Forgot to mention that i'm applying for the K1 visa and I sent back my packet 3 on febraury 6th but didn't send the checklist off until march 4. My packet 4 was received on march 28. I'm in Illinois right now with my fiance, POE was good and didn't ask any questions regarding the visa or my fiance so that was good, i was very nervous about travelling so close to my interview date but they never asked me anything about it which was a relief.
If someone could add my info that would be much appreciated, i have absolutely no idea how to do it. I have filled in my timeline, but it won't let people view it, does anyone know what i can do to let others see the timeline so that it might help them? I'm not very good with technology!
Thanks
Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-04-01 21:52:00

London Interviews 2006 (NEW)

hey everyone! This is my first post on the boards- have to say i've find the boards a god send recently! I'm from Lincolnshire and just got my packet 4 today saying my interview is on April 7th, but I can't attend it as i fly to the USA tomorrow to be with my fiance for his birthday (which is also april 7th) so I managed to get my interview date changed to April 19th at 10.30am. I'm so nervous about it already but fingers crossed....
Good luck to everyone who's having their interview soon!!
Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-03-28 11:16:00

Medical ... what exactly do they do?

Fiona,

I had my medical exam in London in february for K1 and you will be fine, they won't ask to see anything!! You do need to change into a dressing gown in just your underwear and they prod and poke your stomach but that's about it, as well as taking a blood test. You'll be fine. My doctor was a south african guy and was extemely nice, oh and you can ask for a female nurse to be present for it all if that is any help to you. The doctor does ask if you've had any problems concerning that area but that is as much as it was. Hope this helps!!

Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-04-01 21:42:00

help re:barclays deposit thing

This happened to me when i had my interview on April 19th. I got the letter while i was on holiday and when i got back my slip was void. I went to the embassy for my interview and just asked the guy at the front who was asking to see your appointment letters and so on, and he just gave me a new slip and told me where the bank was. The bank opens at 8am and is probably a 10-15 minute walk. I even went back to the embassy early and was allowed in at 9.15 (though my appointment time was 10.30) and i was out by 10.15. I worked myself into a panic when i realised about my paying slip being void, i called my fiance in tears- he thought someone had died!! but you'll be fine and good luck!!

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-05-03 18:10:00

Tax transcripts for London Interview

I wouldn't worry too much. I had my interview on April 19th and my fiance is still a student and had only filed taxes for 2005 and i had all the relevant tax documents from his dad who is our joint sponsor. When i was called to the first window to hand in the documents, when i handed in my affidavits, letters of employement etc i handed in the tax forms and the lady handed them straight back to me. She didn't even look at them once, not even a glance! They were literally handed straight back, I think it was because I had the letters of employment and she said I only need the tax forms if they are self-employed. I would write an email to the embassy explaining your situation, stating whether your fiance is employed/self-employed/unemployed and they will advise you what to do.

Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-05-05 17:19:00

Medical question - UK

Maria,
This happened to me also when I went for my medical in London. They will try and get you to have the injection done there but it's quite expensive. I asked them if I could go back to my GP and get it done there if I needed it, but I was sure I had it done at school and they said that was fine as long as I faxed them a letter from my doctor saying I had it done. If you decided to go this route they will only realese your results to the embassy when you have faxed them through the letter. I went home and called the school I attended as they are supposed to keep a list of all immunizations (this is what my doctor told me to do) Well it turned out they had no records of it and I ended up getting it done at my doctors for no charge. You will need to get it done for when you go through AOS, I would get it done in the UK rather than the US as it is so much cheaper back home.
Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-09-24 12:20:00

Medical tomorrow in Knightsbridge, London

I had my medical back in February. They will ask you to get changed into a gown and then you will have a chest x-ray taken. Then I was seen my a nurse who went through my vaccinations and told me what vaccibations I would need to get, then lastly I saw the doctor. He went through a five minute spiel on HIV/AIDS, looked at ears, eyes, weighed me and then took a sample of blood. he then tested my reflexes and prodded and poked my stomach for some reason. That was it really. You can ask for a female nurse to be present if you want. All in all I found it to be a somewhat painfree experience.

I also had my visa pics taken while I was there I just walked in and had no wait time. I went to the one that the embassy gives as an example in packet 3, it was in Oxford Street. It looks a little shady from the outside but I couldn't grumble with the prices, I got 4 for about 11 quid I think which was good when I was quoted 20 quid from the photographer in my town.

Good luck tomorrow, you'll be fine!

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-09-28 13:25:00

Has anyone postponed an interview?

Lina, I'm very sorry to hear of your situation, hopefully things will improve soon and he'll see what he's missing. About the paying in- slip, don't worry if you don't pay it before 30 September, the embassy can either send you a new one if you call them or on the day of your interview you can go up to the guard in charge of letting everyone in and they have a supply of the paying in slips there and he'll just give you a new one. There is a barclays bank about 10 mins walk away- that's what I did.

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-09-21 11:15:00

Messed up DS-156 Ahhh! what do I do?!!!

I also did the same thing and signed the DS-156 but i didn't realise until i had already sent it. I emailed the embassy and they told me that there was no requirement that i send in an unsigned version, so i left it as it was. My forms were processed in 26 days so i don't think it held me up that much. I called the overly expensive line to talk to a person about it, just to be sure and the said the embassy will just get me to cross out the date i put on the form and correct it with the date of my interview. Hope this helps.
Katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-04-02 14:11:00

just getting started...

I can't add a whole lot to what my fellow younguns have above (I do agree with the whole shebang that's been said), but I have to stress that IMHO you really shouldn't avoid telling your parents. My fiance (20) and I (22) put off telling his mom for quite some time as she has never been a supporter of our relationship. We put off telling her for quite some time in fear that she would do something rash, like kick him out of her house, or disown him, or something similar. We were absolutely certain she'd throw a fit and try to talk us out of it.

For quite some time I had been going through major stress because he wouldn't tell her. The stress was so heavy that we kept putting off the actual filing of the K1, and rather just working around it as long as possible. We put off filing the K1 for over a year, because we had such a hard time with telling his mom that this was the way it was going to happen, and that's that.

Eventually we bit the bullet and told her. She'd told us that she suspected this would happen someday and she had already basically prepared herself for it. We were shocked. She was suprisingly, honestly okay with it and it has made this entire journey so much easier. It was no longer weighing on our minds every time the topic came up.

I'd be scared to think where we'd be right now had he not told her.

There's another fellow young poster here who just told her mom and was very nervous about it as well but it sounds like it went a lot better than expected there, too.

Even if they do decide to talk you out of it or whatever, you are legally in charge of your lives now and they can feel however they want about it-- you make the call in the end.

Put simply-- Telling your parents is going to be one of the the easiest parts of this journey. If you can't do that, you're going to have one hell of a time with the entire K1 Journey.

Absolutely agree with this! My husband is 22 and I'm 20. Wow I didn't realise how many of us young'uns there were on VJ- it's good to see!!

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-10-17 20:41:00

just getting started...

Hi domjeamou,

I thought I would post you a response as I was only 19 when I started this whole process. I received my fiance 4 months after we applied (applied December 2005, received visa April 19th 2006) so my process was quite short. The only real way to guestimate is to see how others from Australia have been, but then there is no rhyme or reason to this process, you could go through quickly or go through slowly, no one on this board will be able to tell you an exact amount of time it takes unfortunaltely.

There is NO way i think you should keep this from your parents. This process stressed me out (still does even now I'm in the states) and I needed all the people I could talk to. Even if you are afraid to tell them, just do it, this process could take long enough that they come round to it and will help you. You are both only 18 you'll need all the help you can get.

Things you might need to consider are (and I'm sorry if you've already thought of them and they are repetitive, you don't need to answer these questions on the board either, just things to think about) where will you live? If you're both not telling your parents until it's all finalised chances are they may not be ready to have you move into their place, so will you get your own home? You should start looking around at rent in the area to see what's reasonable and realistic. How will you support one another, the foreign spouse will have some time where they can't work. I just got work authorization today after 4 months, and it's been hard for my husband and I as he is in his fianl year of college. Are you planning on going to college? What will happen then?

As I said you don't need to answer these questions on the board, just something for the two of you to discuss. I was 20 when I got married here in July and my parents have been just so supportive. I know how hard it is to be young and move away from all you know, have no friends and try and survive off or one persons wage when they are also full time in college. It isn't easy but it can be done. Your age shouldn't even be a factor at the consulate stage, you are both old enough to marry.

PM if you have any questions I can help you with and good luck!!

katie

katie_UK

Not Telling

England

2006-10-17 19:59:00