ForumTitleContentMemberSexCountryDate/Time
United KingdomI had my interview today in London 2nd Nov
Congratulations, paulinespens! Don't be egregious! tongue.gif

(League of Gentlemen reference)
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-11-02 19:47:00
United KingdomCheap Flight to US
One downside to the throw-away-the-return deal is that the airline can punish you by (OH NOOEZ!!!) stripping you of your frequent flier miles.

The way to avoid this is to not alert them to your frequent flier status when you book or board.

It's really absurd -- to fly one-way in January from LHR to SFO, Mr. Psho-to-be would have to pay $1400 one way (coach!!). We're tossing the return ticket.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-11-09 20:41:00
United KingdomRoll Call!
Still here, mostly lurking -- Mr. Psho-to-be had to give 90 days (!!!) notice, so his last day of work is December 21. I fly over on Christmas Eve, and then we fly back (together! yay!) on January 8.

Then I want robots to plan the wedding.

Once we start filing AOS/EAD/AP, I'll probably be poking my head in more frequently.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-11-03 19:09:00
United KingdomGot the visa........yaaaaay!!
Great news!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-11-27 19:39:00
United KingdomPubs Near to the Embassy
http://www.beerinthe...l?l=westminster

I'd poke around there.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-08 19:48:00
United KingdomChristmas in the UK or US
QUOTE (JandC @ Dec 14 2007, 08:43 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Psho...If you are going to Kent.....say hello to it for me!



Yes, Bearsted (and a weekend in London just after Christmas).

And I'll definitely give Kent your regards! smile.gif
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-14 21:39:00
United KingdomChristmas in the UK or US
I'm flying to the UK on Christmas Eve, and then flying back with my guy (YAY) on January 8th. smile.gif
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-14 01:52:00
United KingdomI finally made it to the states
Phew! Glad you made it!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Edited by psho, 14 December 2007 - 09:43 PM.

pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-12-14 21:42:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

I've just been sorting out my paper work from my interview....and have just realised that i still have DS-230 part II. The lady didn't ask me for it or anything.....do I need to contact them about this?


Thanks :)



They didn't take it from my guy either, when he had his interview. He's keeping it, just in case.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-08-16 14:53:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
I'm all packed, have all my stuff, and just waiting to leave for the airport in a few hours....

Dan&Tiffany -- see you in line!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-27 12:31:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Thanks! It's so exciting! I stayed after work yesterday, triple and quadruple checking the I-134 and assorted docs.

:dance:
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-26 14:20:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

:lol: psho.

I found it depressing!!



Tell me about it! The plane ticket I bought on Friday now costs $2050!!! Holy cow!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-17 14:48:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

Well, trying to find flights....I'm getting 1400, a little expensive. I could drive down to San Fran and get a much better deal, but I'm guessing we will be having a few cocktails on the journey home, so thats not a good option. Anyone have a good website to recommend? My step dad had said that he would use his frequent flier miles to get me a flight, but I am just trying to cover all ground if he can't get me one.



All I can say is good luck. We scoured around for a while - rates barely ever changed much at all. Once we accepted the fact that we'd be hard pressed to find anything much below than $1200, we then had trouble finding open seats on his connecting flight (go figure) for the date he originally wanted, so we had to push it back a few days.

Rates don't really start to tumble until after Labor Day. :(



Yeah -- I tried to do miles + money for Virgin, but summer is blacked out for that type of deal.

To get anything under $1000 (from California), I'd have to break up my flight, and travel a lot longer than I wanted to.

I use www.kayak.com to check out rates -- they have some groovy new matrix tab now, which is either fun or depressing, depending on your outlook.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-17 14:24:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
here's my email experience, and it can be quite different from others:

I sent this email on June 19 (with name of beneficiary and case number in the subject line):

Hello --

This is regarding the fiance K-1 Visa application of [my guy] (LND2007xxxxxx). He returned the checklist and forms of Packet 3 to the London Consulate on May 24, 2007.

Today I called the Department of State in Washington DC, and was told that according to the computer, the London Consulate was still waiting for the checklist.

Was it not delivered? Do we need to resend? Please advise ASAP.

Thank you.

Psho
US Citizen Fiance of [my guy]


Within an hour I received the stock automated message, telling me the email was deleted without being read.

On June 26, I sent this email (again, with beneficiary's name and case number in the subject line):

Hello --

This is regarding case LND2007xxxxxx - [my guy]. We sent in the Packet 3 Forms in late May, which your computer does indicate (according to my phone calls to the Department of State in DC). He did neglect to send in the checklist with that original package, so he mailed the checklist to the embassy on June 20.

Have you received the checklist? I'm anxious because our K-1 petition approval expires on August 11, and I understand that you are currently scheduling interviews for September.

Thank you.

Psho (US Citizen and Petitioner)


Once again, within the hour, I got the canned email response.

On July 5, the embassy replied to my June 20 email:

Dear Miss Psho,

Embassy records show that the Immigrant Visa Unit has not received the DS-2001 document checklist. Your fiancé will need to complete a new form, which can be downloaded from the U.S. Embassy website: http://london.usemba.../DS2001list.pdf

The form should then be either mailed to the Embassy to the attention of the Immigrant Visa Unit, or alternatively may be faxed in on 0207 495 5012.

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence.

Consular Information Unit
U.S. Embassy, London
CONS/CIU/MLPM


And on July 10, they responded to my June 26 email (and this was after they were faxed the checklist):

We regret the delay in responding to your inquiry. An appointment has been scheduled for July 31 at 8.00 a.m. Written confirmation of the date and time of the appointment has been sent to [my guy].

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence.

Consular Information Unit
U.S. Embassy, London
CONS/CIU/SF


I never had the "secret code" for the email.

So my take-away is if you are emailing with specific issues/questions, they will (eventually) respond.

Edited by psho, 12 July 2007 - 01:27 PM.

pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-12 13:27:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

Well, he'll fill out the courier slip himself and that's where they'll deliver the visa. So it shouldn't matter at all from this point on. :thumbs:


That's what I'm hoping!


Does the passport holder have to sign for it, or will anyone do?
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-11 19:48:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Also -- the lad texted me today -- Packet 4 was sent to his parents' address in Kent (again!), even though he specified that it be sent to his residence in London!

:hairpull:

Well, at least it's in safe hands! As long as the cats don't get to it!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-11 17:09:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

. though the line WAS working by around 12:30 today because I called and talked to Tiffany's Good Luck guy.


Heh!

I wonder if these folks know that they're getting famous!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-11 17:02:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
I have a memory of the DoS being shut for a few hours (??) every Wednesday. I think it was part of the loooooong opening menu message, that we learn to skip over to speak to humans.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-11 15:57:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

YAY congrats to psho on your LONG awaited interview date!!! :D :D :dance:



Thank you (and thanks to all of you)!

My guy was chilling at home with his brother (who had good news of his own: his band has just been signed to play at the Reading/Leeds Festivals), and I called him to tell him the great news.

He later told me that he was embarrassed because he cried in front of his brother: crying with happiness and stress relief, he was just so emotionally overwhelmed.

The best part is that I'll be flying over to visit and accompany him on the interview! I so can't wait!!!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-10 20:50:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

Congrats, psho!! It looks like they're finally getting their butts in gear!

Just a question, what email do you use for the Embassy? is it LondonConsular@state.gov? Do you just have to keep emailing them until they don't automatically delete your email without reading it like they've done mine?

I am wondering because I wanted to email them about our medical date. Neal didn't get through to set one up before he sent off the P3, so he simply wrote "pending" for medical date on the checklist. He called the next business day and set up an appointment for a week later, July 3. I wanted to inform the Embassy that he had, in fact, already gone to his medical. I am worried they will wait to give us an interview date if they have not received the forms from the doctors (Neal had to go into his GP July 4 to give them a form requesting they send a letter regarding his past depression and I'm not sure how quickly the doc sent the letter back to Knightsbridge).

We put September 1st as our travel date, so I'm hopeful they will take that into account.


I used the LondonConsular@state.gov address, and I did get the "Nyah nyah we deleted without reading it! How dare you use this email?" but they did respond, eventually. And the email the sent telling me our interview date was completely unsolicited, so I was quite surprised.

Just make sure you reference the case in the subject line and the body of the email. I emailed them twice over the course of two weeks.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-10 16:55:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
No more plaintive phone calls to the DoS! Although I was getting recognize them!

The "good luck!" dude
The cranky lady (although she was my favorite)
The woman with the musical voice....
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-10 15:15:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
I thought I'd check my gmail account an hour ago, just to see, and I got the following message:

We regret the delay in responding to your inquiry. An appointment has been scheduled for July 31 at 8.00 a.m. Written confirmation of the date and time of the appointment has been sent to [Mr. Psho-to-be].

Thank you for your e-mail correspondence.


YEEEEEEEEEE FREAKING HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! AT LAST!!!

I've not seen the lad since January 3!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-10 14:59:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Congratulations to Dan & Tiffany! :)
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-10 12:39:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
CONGRATULATIONS, TIMSDAISY!!

That is FANTASTIC news!!! I'm so pleased for you!!! You must be a limp noodle now!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-06 11:38:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

#######, is that a link to an alternative, available for speeding things up, checklist like form? Haven't seen that before - good link!

On the checklist that came with the package, there were spaces for "wedding date" and "travel date." (Check the checklist scans in either the main VJ gallery in my photos). If there's no space for that on that linked form, find somewhere and add it on!!!!



Good plan!

When I sent my guy the link, he said "that's not the same form" which made me wonder what on earth he sent to the embassy!!!

The date on the form says "November 2002" so it can't possibly be new, can it? Color me confused (yet grateful that we seem to be making progress again -- and his physical is tomorrow, which should also help prompt things on the embassy's end).


It's mainly the same content as what gets sent to them, but it looks completely different. I've never seen that linked one before, but then again, never had occassion to look. Check out the gallery section for what the checklist most people receive looks like. The dates on the bottom have changed, but not much else (other than, I think, the semi-recent amendment that says "download the forms yourself" rather than, "here are the forms, fill them out").


Yeah -- he orginally received the August 2006 checklist, which the gods have chosen to chew up and spit out, and the email from the embassy contained that link to the November 2002 checklist. Sigh.

We're going to send in the November 2002 checklist with our travels dates scribbled in.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 14:02:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

#######, is that a link to an alternative, available for speeding things up, checklist like form? Haven't seen that before - good link!

On the checklist that came with the package, there were spaces for "wedding date" and "travel date." (Check the checklist scans in either the main VJ gallery in my photos). If there's no space for that on that linked form, find somewhere and add it on!!!!



Good plan!

When I sent my guy the link, he said "that's not the same form" which made me wonder what on earth he sent to the embassy!!!

The date on the form says "November 2002" so it can't possibly be new, can it? Color me confused (yet grateful that we seem to be making progress again -- and his physical is tomorrow, which should also help prompt things on the embassy's end).
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 12:55:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

July 4th isn't a UK holiday, but the US Embassy in London have the UK and the US ones off :)

Dawn.



yes, but the letter would have arrived in June, not July.



Arrgh! Why can't I edit my own post???

Dawn -- my reply was harsher than I meant it to sound. It's just a very frustrating experience.

:hug:

UPDATE!!!

The Embassy responded to one of my emails -- they just didn't get the checklist, so they send a link to it and told us to print it, sign it, and either mail it or fax it. We're going to fax it tomorrow!


Awesome! That should help kickstart the process again! Did you put down specific dates on the checklist before? If not, now's the time! Good luck!



This is the link:

http://london.usemba.../DS2001list.pdf

I can't see any place for dates! :crying:
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 12:11:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
UPDATE!!!

The Embassy responded to one of my emails -- they just didn't get the checklist, so they send a link to it and told us to print it, sign it, and either mail it or fax it. We're going to fax it tomorrow!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 12:05:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

July 4th isn't a UK holiday, but the US Embassy in London have the UK and the US ones off :)

Dawn.



yes, but the letter would have arrived in June, not July.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 12:02:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Called DoS again today -- after being on hold twice, still no notation that they received the checklist that we sent on June 20. Got the usual song and dance about not updating the computer, with the added fillip of "it was a holiday, maybe the mail didn't get delivered" -- eh? We sent the damn checklist two weeks ago, and July 4th isn't a UK holiday!

Grrrrrr. We call the extortion line tomorrow.

:cry:

Edited by psho, 05 July 2007 - 11:47 AM.

pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-05 11:46:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Well, I'm glad I have some company in this leaky boat! I hope we're all on dry land soon!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-02 18:17:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
I called the DoS number just now -- the latest notation on the computer is the receipt of Packet 3 forms from my guy on June 4 -- no notation of receipt of checklist or anything since then.

The DoS operator said "Maybe they just haven't updated their computers yet" but it's been 12 days since they got the checklist.

If it hasn't changed by Thursday night, we're calling the extortion line.

Edited by psho, 02 July 2007 - 12:16 PM.

pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-07-02 12:15:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

(Also, we never got a reply email to either email attempt, one with, and one without the code.)



ARRRGH!!!

this is a test, I know it! A test of our devotion to each other!

Well, I won't seriously nag until the end of next week (although the July 4th holiday in the middle of the week may slow things down further).

I can live without email responses, but not without an interview date!
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-29 14:28:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007

Silly question, but what number is everyone using to call and find out if our file has reached the London embassy? I tried the embassy number and it wouldn't let me through because I am in the US. The only other number I could find said it was a $16 charge. I looked on the DOS site, and still not sure.


1-202-663-1225, press 1 and 0 to talk to a person.

It's the visa information office in Washington DC - open between 8:30 and 5pm Eastern. You need your LND number and beneficiary name, and they are generally a friendly, helpful lot. They can see what's on the computer - they can't necessarily tell you WHY something is happening or WHEN something will happen. But they can tell you the status, same as the toll line in the UK. The only difference is that, should you want to email the embassy and need the "code," the UKC needs to call the toll line and ante up.



Thank you for clearing up a major mystery for me -- to wit, how people got the official nod to email the embassy.

I'll see if I can talk my guy into giving them a call (although I think I'll give him a cheat-sheet of questions to ask).
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-29 12:45:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Called DoS again this morning -- still no record of having received the checklist.

:crying:
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-29 12:08:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
I think we had (have?) several strikes against us getting a speedy date:

:: not sending in the checklist (D'OH!)

:: changing the medical to a later date

:: not being specific re: travel plans/wedding plans

But I'll keep chugging along.

Edited by psho, 28 June 2007 - 07:32 PM.

pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-28 19:31:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Ah ha -- thanks!

Called the DoS line again -- no interview date yet. Bah.
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-27 11:52:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
what's an msp?
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-27 11:45:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
Good news about finally getting a date, TimsDaisy! I'm still a bit anxious about ours (well, lack of date).
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-25 17:44:00
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Interview Thread 2007
We put in "ASAP", which in retrospect seems to have been a tactical error, although not sending in the checklist with the forms in Packet 3 seems to have been the bigger blunder.

:hairpull:
pshoFemaleUnited Kingdom2007-06-25 14:08:00