ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
United KingdomWait time for K1 Interviews at London Embassy?

Approved 13th September!

I had my medical 16th August, and my Interview's scheduled for 13th september.

Good Luck!

 

 


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-15 18:14:00
United KingdomWait time for K1 Interviews at London Embassy?

I had my medical 16th August, and my Interview's scheduled for 13th september.

Good Luck!

Can anyone give me an indication of how long I should expect to wait for my interview in London.  I am getting very impatient!!!

 

NOA2: 5th July

Consulate received: 8th Aug

Packet 3 received: 15th Aug

Packet 3 sent: 14th Aug

Medical: 20th Aug

Interview: ????

 

Last week (Thurs 29th Aug) I called the Embassy [020 3608 6998] and was told that they had everything necessary to schedule the interview and I should hear something within a week.  I called them this morning and the lady I spoke with said she didn't have access to any additional information (just the stuff I can see at https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-GB/users/sign_in; i.e. nothing!)  

 

If anyone can give me some answers to the following questions it would be much appreciated.

 

1. How is the typical wait time between medical appointment and interview?

2. How can you contact the Embassy to check the status? (is there another phone no or email address? the one above seems pretty useless!)

3. I assume the 'Status Updated Date' on the US DoS website gives you an indication of when anything happens on your case?  Mine says 27th Aug, which I assume is when the Medical results were received?

4. How do you receive notification of your interview date?  Email or letter in the post?  If it's an email can someone let me know the address so I can add it to my safe senders list!

 

Any advice gratefully received.  I've been pretty patient throughout this whole process but I am starting to lose it now!

Thanks

 

 

 


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-06 14:42:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMRV/Interview fee

Skippity-doo-dah happy dance!!!!!!!

 

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

 

I walked to the Embassy on thursday to check my timing, 6 minutes from the Marble Arch Thistle Hotel. I pressed the buzzer and asked the nice lady security guard in the right-hand (visa applicants) entry lodge what time she'd recommend getting there for a 9:00 appointment. "8:30's plenty of time", she says.

 

Next morning I make sure my pockets are empty, no cellphones, car-keys, penknives, kindle readers, cameras etc.

Antyhing vital, money, hotel room keycard, bag it in a ziptop bag.

No belt.

I get there for 8:15, and there are two queues, 60 or so people.

I ask, and am told the left hand queue is the one to start in.

You trudge slowly forward. A lady comes and checks your appointment letter,  gives you a plastic bag to put the contents of your pockets in.

(I win star points for already having done that)

Some people who've been queuing a half hour or so are told to go deposit their phones etc at the pharmacy up the road. And then rejoin the END of the queue.

Finally, up to the desk in the tent, appointmen letter checked off against master list.

"Go join the right hand queue".

Shuffle forward again, groups of four are being let into the security screening in the gatehouse, after a smily guy checks papers and passport again.

 

Then around the side of the embassy past the unsmiling armed coppers, and inside. Present those same papers, appt letter and passport at the desk, get issued a strip of barcode stickers and a number.

Mine is I920. I for Immigrant?

I tell the woman I have not paid for the visa and she frowns, but her supervisor says "It's okay, he can pay inside"

Go up the stairs on the left, and into a very big, long room with  rows of chairs. Take a seat. Watch the screen. At the far end there's a mutiscreen display. The main feature's a set of documentary adverts for various universities, and national parks, oh, and there's one on the special olympics.

After two hours, I get called. I'm asked to present each requested document in turn, I'm fingerprinted, sent to the cahier, two booths away, and pay by visa debit in about twenty seconds beforereturning to the man, who asks if I've made travel plans. "No", I say," because I can't travel until I have your decision" "Don't worry, he says," handing me back my x-rays from the medical.

Now go take a seat again and wait for your number.

I do. I'm fretting about missing it, desperate for a pee.

The loos are nearby, so I risk a trip, all is well. Eventually I need to wander, so I go up to the front, buy a tea and a mars bar. I bite off a big lump of gooey chocolate bar  "I920 to position 16",

So I turn up at the window juggling papers, coat, and hot tea, while manfully trying to chew and swallow.

 

This bloke's sterner.

Raise your right hand, do you solemly swear that all in these application forms, and the answers you give verbally are the truth?

"I Do", I say.

He pushes out the papers I sent weeks ago, those that say "Do not sign this... yet"

Sign there, fill in your fiancee's full name there.

How did you meet? When did you decide it was serious,

Nothing difficult to answer.

Then he shows me a grey plastic envelope. "You'll get your passport back in this in six to ten working days, there will be a sealed envelope in there too, present this to immigration officers at your port of entry. congratulations, yout K1 visa is approved"

 

There's a bit more to it than that, but not much,

I sat through all the documentaries twice. Elapsed time was three hours and twenty minutes from joining the queue to exiting the embassy.

You can't really read, because you have to be alert for the few seconds when your number pings up. And it's not linear, in sequence. A number after yours might be called first.

Or yours might be called after  one far-removed. I think the nearest I number before mine was I914.

 

It's not as bad as I expected. The people there are just doing their jobs, they're not your friend, not emotionally involved, no jokes.

 

But I came out with a big smile and a K1Visa!!!!

 

Good Luck with yours.


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-13 16:15:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMRV/Interview fee

Thank you enormously for that. I went through the whole website/phonesite process again, got nowhere, listened to that nasty music, pressed numbers, heard recorded stuff that we all know or we wouldn't be at this stage.

Left a desperate message on the contact form, thatsays 'We attempt to respond within 3-5 working days'.

I'm travelling to London on thursday 12th, so that'll be day 4.

And I doubt anybody'll be responding on Friday morning before 9.

 

So I truly am hoping the 'Pay in the Embassy' option still works.

 

After the "there are no MRV fees outstanding", I couldn't get back to a 'speak to an operator' option, but previously, a few days earlier, I spoke to operator Maria several times, where she informed me that other than the automated pay service, which rejected me, she had no information that could assist me.

 

Thanks again, and good luck.

Sobriquet,

 

I have went through the exact same process as you, however, I may have a little bit of a development. I eventually got put through to an agent after the whole "There are no MRV fees outstanding on this account" situation. He said that there has been a recent change in policy/system and that applicants for K-1 visas are now unable to not only pay it over the phone on the automated telephone line OR on the new website and that we should attend our interview and we will be given details on how/where to pay on the day. I am unsure if that means in the embassy itself or just given instructions to do it outwith the embassy. I asked if everyone was being instructed to do this (he said yes) and if this was an indication that there was a problem with my application (he said no).

 


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-07 14:22:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMRV/Interview fee

I tried that. Didn't work.

Just confused the call centre operator because I ended up with three different account numbers all linked to the same passport number.

I had a lot of problems with that website. The clue is to follow that link step by step, and create a brand new account, dont be tempted to log in with your old one

 


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-03 15:36:00
US Embassy and Consulate DiscussionMRV/Interview fee

I'm almost an hour into the elevator music on the contact number on the website. 45 minutes more, and, if there really is anyone at the call-ansering desk, they'll pack up and go home.

I successfully registered for and paid the courier fee for returning my passport, but there's no option to pay the via fee, so I search for information about paying again, "You can pay on the website or by the phone. " I'm going round in circles, tried re-registering etc...  submitted a help ticket yesterday, got an automated answer directing me to the website which, just as yesterday, has no 'pay here' option.

It's an incredibly unhelpful systyem that, no doubt, someone was paid a vast amount to design.

 

Oh, for heaven's sake!

 

Elevator music went quiet.... call disconnected. Redial. spiel and options all over again....

All the stuff I've heard so many times......

tick-tock-tick-tock...

 Press 6 to re-hear all the old stuff.... How many times have I sat through this. Eventually... to speak to an agent press 1....

Oh! Now instead of elevator music I have a non english/non U.S speaker telling me all operators are busy, please hold....I think she might be swedish,

 

 

So. Eventually I spoke to a person called Maria. But she told me she didn't deal with immigrant visas... nor did anyone there.

 

She did put me through to the automated system.. Which asks for an application number.

Eventually I get the number they're asking for, which is the number you get when you sign up for the website....

Then you get a heap more confusing options. Then it says "There are no MRV fees outstanding on this account"

 

Well, an hour and a half on the phone mostly to nobody, and I've come full circle.

So I've sent an email, got an automated reply.

Maybe someone will eventually help me out.

 

I've been in the K1 process since december 2012, it's september 2013, and I'm still bashing my head against the wall. The medical exam questions ask if you've ever been suicidal. I said no, maybe I spoke too soon.

 

The visa process is outsourced to a company called CSC. They handle visa application services for the U.S, but also for the United Kingdon, and others.

Maybe it's a cunning ploy to stop the world's population from ever travelling anywhere.


Sorry about the typos. I'm a bad typist at the best of times, and this isn't the best of times. I'll spell-check before posting, in future.

I'm almost an hour into the elevator music on the contact number on the website. 45 minutes more, and, if there really is anyone at the call-ansering desk, they'll pack up and go home.

I successfully registered for and paid the courier fee for returning my passport, but there's no option to pay the via fee, so I search for information about paying again, "You can pay on the website or by the phone. " I'm going round in circles, tried re-registering etc...  submitted a help ticket yesterday, got an automated answer directing me to the website which, just as yesterday, has no 'pay here' option.

It's an incredibly unhelpful systyem that, no doubt, someone was paid a vast amount to design.

 

Oh, for heaven's sake!

 

Elevator music went quiet.... call disconnected. Redial. spiel and options all over again....

All the stuff I've heard so many times......

tick-tock-tick-tock...

 Press 6 to re-hear all the old stuff.... How many times have I sat through this. Eventually... to speak to an agent press 1....

Oh! Now instead of elevator music I have a non english/non U.S speaker telling me all operators are busy, please hold....I think she might be swedish,

 

 

So. Eventually I spoke to a person called Maria. But she told me she didn't deal with immigrant visas... nor did anyone there.

 

She did put me through to the automated system.. Which asks for an application number.

Eventually I get the number they're asking for, which is the number you get when you sign up for the website....

Then you get a heap more confusing options. Then it says "There are no MRV fees outstanding on this account"

 

Well, an hour and a half on the phone mostly to nobody, and I've come full circle.

So I've sent an email, got an automated reply.

Maybe someone will eventually help me out.

 

I've been in the K1 process since december 2012, it's september 2013, and I'm still bashing my head against the wall. The medical exam questions ask if you've ever been suicidal. I said no, maybe I spoke too soon.

 

The visa process is outsourced to a company called CSC. They handle visa application services for the U.S, but also for the United Kingdon, and others.

Maybe it's a cunning ploy to stop the world's population from ever travelling anywhere.

 


 


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-09-03 15:33:00
K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Case Filing and Progress Reportsso impressed with the london medical process

Jola,

I had my medical on the 16th august 3013, and I can happily agree with you. I was, of course, pretty stressed and apprehensive, although I'd read a few accounts of medicals, I was worrying about whether I'd got all the right bits of paper, and so on.

 

I stayed in a little hotel not too far away, there are plenty, reasonably priced and clean and adequate. I got there early, and the people in reception were good, efficient, friendly, they took my folder of paperwork, checked it over, gave me a form to fill in, nothing new, I fill forms in my sleep these days.

I handed it back,went back to wait. There were two other guys there.  The x-ray guy came to collect me, and soon the x-ray was done, he told me it was fine, nothing there that shouldn't be, and off I went back to the waiting room, a rather pleasant, light, airy room. I mused on all the famous people who might have been in that room in the  hundred plus years it's existed.

I exchanged notes with my neighbour, a young guy from Venezuela, until the doctor came to collect me.

The medical was thorough, but the doctor was pleasant and friendly, and when it came to the blood-pressure, well, it was a bit high.. she joked "There's no likelihood, is there, that you're feeling a bit stressed today?"

I was told there was nothing to worry about in my results, but if anything came up when the blood and xray were analysed, they'd let contact me.

The I was done. I paid my fee, got my documents back, and left.

 

And I swear I was floating on air!

 

Nothing at all scary, nothing to worry about, thank you Knightsbridge Doctors, you're good people.

 

Oh... And future medical attendees?  just a few minutes away, in Manchester Place, is the Wallace Collection, it opens at ten a.m., and entrance is free. Browse through great art and history, and sit and have a coffee and breakfast in the courtyard. I did.


soubriquetMaleUnited Kingdom2013-08-29 14:14:00