biggish data

QUOTE (weedebz @ Sep 26 2007, 07:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Cheers for the tip...appriciated!!!

np any help we can be we will.
we did the whole Scottish wedding in the states, thats the most complicated thing we have ever done!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 13:24:00

QUOTE (John & Annie @ Sep 26 2007, 03:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Annie took the overnight bus from Glasgow. It was a short taxi ride to the embassy.

That is the cheapest way, as far as airfare, yup, you are going to pay more in taxes than the fare.

did you try opodo.com?

couldnt get it to work in browser, thanx anyway

QUOTE (MargotDarko @ Sep 26 2007, 04:02 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It there a Virgin cross country train from Glasgow to London? Or is it cheap to get to Edinburgh? There's definitely a Virgin cross country train from Edinburgh to London, and if you book in advance and can go at specific times on the direct train, it's pretty cheap.

halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh so 6 and 2 3's

QUOTE (MargotDarko @ Sep 26 2007, 04:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just checked on Nationalrail.co.uk. You can get a return from Glasgow to London Euston (no stops either direction) in advance for 36 GBP. Not sure how far London Euston is from Knightsbridge or what it would cost to get there, but 36 GBP isn't too bad!

Thanx Margot

QUOTE (Lansbury @ Sep 26 2007, 05:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Unless you can avoid booking at the last minute you are very unlikely to get a cheap airfare unless you are lucky.

thetrainline.com often shows a selection of train fares and routes and may be useful.

Tell us about it, it was almost as cheap to hire a car for a few days.

We have now done some semi cheap flights to standstead thru expedia and taking the Easybus from Stanstead (only £7 so not as bad as I would have thought) gonna do a 3 day trip for the interview. Chelsea has never seen London ( This is William typing btw)

Thanx 4 all you help, you guys are a Godsend

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 13:12:00

QUOTE (weedebz @ Sep 26 2007, 05:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm a long way from all the embassy stuff yet but it will be the overnight bus from glasgow for me! Will take MP3 player and get some kip on the way down.

debz
they normally work out between £5 - £10 on megabus (providing you book at least 7 days in advance)

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 13:08:00

QUOTE (rebeccajo @ Sep 26 2007, 01:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I remember reading of a Scot who took a bus and it was really cheap..............

(This is William rather than Chelsea)

We spotted that (Megabus) £20 return for us both, Chelsea couldnt handle the 8.5 hours bus journey

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 07:52:00

QUOTE (Lil-Lost-Girl @ Sep 26 2007, 10:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Have you tried Easyjet ?

We did yes. It looks like EasyJet with all the tax is more than Expedia is offering just now. Prices for flights are really going up! hehe Thanks though!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 07:15:00

Anyone know of cheap flights (or even a train) from Glasgow to London? Going twice is going to be terribly expensive! hehe

Cheers y'all!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-26 03:08:00

Passport Pics - yikes

That's too funny about the instructions being wrong! hehe When I called the doctors to book the medical, she advised me that the fee was no longer the £170 that had been on the letter I just received that day, but it was now £200! Why don't they update their letters before sending them out? It's kinda like the weather here....we gotta be prepared for anything!

Well, we got four pics now so I suppose we'll be okay. I'll just cut them myself then and do the best I can. hehe

Off to London tomorrow and the medical on Wednesday! Good times! Will have a free afternoon in London and I've never been before so anything I should try to see?

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-10-01 14:38:00

Passport Pics - yikes

Hiya everyone!

Well, we went and got passport pics done for william yesterday. We asked the guy to make sure the were American standard size passport pics. They cost 2 for £9.99! Yikes! But we paid it as was necessary. Now, the guy who did the pics left them on the same sheet together and didn't cut them up. We got four done, so two seperate sheets. I asked him if they needed to be cut and he said because they were the American size, which is slightly bigger, that they usually prefer us to hand them in like that rather than try to cut them ourselves.

When you handed in your passport pics for the medical and/or the interview, were there cut already or on one sheet together?

Also, I know it's 2 pics for the medical. Is it 2 or 3 pics they need for the embassy interview?

Cheers y'all!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-10-01 05:32:00

Approved

Congrats about the approval but so sorry about the complication there. Here's hoping that the police certificate comes quicker than ever for ya!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-10-01 14:40:00

Both I-130s Approved!

QUOTE (Stand_By_Me_Babe @ Sep 29 2007, 02:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, we finally got the letters today stating my hubby and sons petitions are approved

Now I guess it's a wait for packet 3? Have mostly everything ready but need to double check a few things.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the medical and interview the same day or a day or so apart? We'll be travelling from Scotland with a 2 year old who's ability to sit on his butt is significantly challenged!

Would much rather get everything over and done with in a oner if at all possible!

Also, is there anyone else doing DCF in London that are around the same timeline as us? I haven't really noticed anyone, maybe one or two but I can't remember who. Would be great to hear if anyone is so we don't feel so alone

Hey William here also from Scotland.

Travelling wise you have a few options

1) megabus (only £20 but its anywhere between 8 hours and 9.5 hours)
2) Air Berlin do cheapie flights last minute from Glasgow to London Stanstead - Easybus do a bog standard cheapy bus service into London Baker Street (£63.50 flights - both of us. and £7.00 each way on the busses for me and wife)
3) Train wee bit less time than the bus and see lots more but kids might no like it.

Can offer you advice on a cheap hotel also, not the ritz, really basic but really cut price and really small toilet also just round the corner from a Scottish pub called the "Rob Roy"

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-10-04 06:31:00

Both I-130s Approved!

Congratulations!

Usually you do the medical at least 4 or 5 working days before the interview as it takes that long for the results to get to the embassy. However, if you scheduled the medical for like the day before the interview, then the embassy may give you an "approval pending medical results" and will finish processing once medical results come in and all is alright. It just might make for a longer waiting period for the actual visa.

Good luck on the rest of your journey!

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-09-29 08:26:00

Immigration Medical today

Hey guys,

William here with the pictures and the answers (hopefully to the questions)

QUOTE (Lansbury @ Oct 3 2007, 11:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This was the Easybus was it not, I take it it has a connection with Easyjet both by the name and standard of service offered. ie it gets you from a to b and nothing more.

Still sounds as if all went well and that part is over and done with.

Easybus is just like all other forms of the easy group, rock bottom prices for rock bottom service. (Pics of the bus are here) The bus looks like a converted Ford Transit.

QUOTE (MariaDane @ Oct 4 2007, 12:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Kinda sounds like the hotel i stayed in when i went for my interview, it was tiny as well....i swear you could shower, have a pee, and wash your hands at the same time...lol if you closed the door you felt trapped.....it was smaller than the old coal sheds we used to have out the back.

That Dr sounds like a miserable #######, i'm sure you had to bite your tongue to refrain from givin him a good ole scottish piece of your mind.

I bet ye were stuck in traffic for ages, hmm i wonder if celtic kicked azz today then hehe *celtic daft* lol

At least your medical is over, your interview is just around the corner.

Good Luck

I have included pics of the hotel for your laughter. It was literally the size of a shower room.

Doctor was the most pompus arrogant guy I have come across (and I have worked in finance since 1998!) seemed genuinly narked off he had to see one of the general public. (let alone a fat scotsman)

Celtic kick azz in more ways than one last night, one of the fans was arrested for attacking the Italian keeper.

QUOTE (andy2006 @ Oct 4 2007, 08:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad your medical went well, and that your both back home. We'll at least you got to see the the new zealand doctor we were talking about.

One more step to go now then, and if it was anthing like mine yesterday it was a breeze, just be prepared for waitng outside for about 30 mins just standing waiting to get into the embassy, when I got in there it took just over a hour.

Congrats, not long now!!!

Andreas

I hope mines is as sweet! I have also included pics of what the building on Bentick Street looks like.

willchels

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-10-04 05:53:00

Bank Account Question

I have to second that difference in service quality between RBS and Bank of Scotland. When I ordered a foreign draft through my Bank of Scotland account I had a week of calling them to chase it up (since no money had been debited from my account) only to finally be told that they never placed the order in the first place. When we used my wife's RBS account, we got the draft in a couple of days.

Edited by vamos, 19 March 2007 - 02:49 PM.

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-03-19 14:45:00

How long should we expect?

So because you sent it so quickly after the interview somebody was probably awaiting it. Was getting the knock on the door from the couriers the way you found out about the approval?

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-06-01 11:22:00

How long should we expect?

That'd be an ideal outcome but somehow I can't see it happening to us. Did you do anything to get the processing speeded up?

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-06-01 09:53:00

How long should we expect?

My visa was suspended at the interview pending a sponsor who meets the minimum guidelines being found. We sent of the new I-134 on monday. Has anyone been in the same situation as us and know how long it normally takes to be given the final decision? I called the embassy and all the info I got was "if you don't get word in 15 working days then we can look into it for you." My wife and I want to move back in and July so we need to give notice to our works and sort everything out before then. I feel like we're going to be cutting it fine.

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-05-31 18:17:00

We bought flags today

It's true that people here are quite ignorant about Texas. With such a rich mixture of different cultures I'd say that Texas is a far more tolerant place than the vast areas of the U.K where the majority is overwhelmingly white.

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-06-13 06:58:00

Transferring funds to the U.S

My wife and I will be flying out at the end of the month so we've been going through the process of getting our everything together for leaving. Everytime we speak to our banks about the best way to transfer funds we get a different answer. The last one we got was "close your account and we'll give you a cheque which you can then give to your new bank in the U.S". I may be wrong but I think that would put us at the mercy of the fees charged and rates offered by the U.S bank without any flexibility. Does anyone know of the best way to transfer funds to the U.S?

vamos

Male

Scotland

2007-07-05 16:13:00

Fav. all time food and drink in the UK

We're leaving the UK on Friday am. and I imagine I will miss the following things:

Muller yogurt (fruit corners)
Mini babybell cheese
Weetabix (although we'll be living 15 mins from Canada and there are supposedly shops there which sell weetabix, so we'll be sorted)
Indian take-aways and all the spices from the supermarket for home cooked Indian.

Fatty

Not Telling

United Kingdom

2007-01-15 20:20:00

police cert expiry?

I just applied for my police certificate in Scotland. I filled it in at my local police station paid the fee.

I called the processing unit today and said that I needed my certificate by Feb 28th. They were really helpful and said they would prioritise it.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-01 12:38:00

London Embassy CR-1: So how long we lookin' at?

I just sat it out and waited especially as it was over Christmas.

They send out a letter with your appointment date and information about what to bring etc. They also refer you to Knightsbridge Doctors for your medical.

It's all very clearly laid out in the pack they send you.

I'd wait at least a month before contacting them, it's tough but they seem pretty with it.

You might want to get your Police Cert if you haven't already.

Good luck!

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-20 12:36:00

London Embassy CR-1: So how long we lookin' at?

The NVC sent my paperwork mid November to the Embassy. I got a letter from the Embassy dated Jan 17th stating that my interview will be held on Feb 28th.

Hope this helps.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-20 11:23:00

London Interview/Medical Exam in Scotland or London?

I just travelled down from Scotland two weeks ago for my medical and I'm going down again next week for my interview.

You can certainly have both on the same day but as already stated you wont get the visa until they get the medical results. It takes 4-5 to send over the results plus however long it then takes to process them at the Embassy. You schedule your own medical so it's really up to you.

I chose to go down a couple of weeks before so that I can get my visa on the day. It does get expensive though, two sets of flights, accomodation etc.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-22 05:19:00

Advice Needed - Wednesday Interview

Thanks. I think we'll be settling in New York as I'll be working in Manhattan. The California climate is VERY appealing though!

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-27 09:30:00

Advice Needed - Wednesday Interview

Thanks for that, a drink or two may indeed be the answer!

It's just that it's almost two years since I first tried to file DCF so I'm nervous as hell!!!

Valium anyone?

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-24 14:13:00

Advice Needed - Wednesday Interview

I'm slightly (very!) worried about my interview next Wednesday. All my paperwork is in order and my medical results were fine but I don't have much supporting evidence.

My USC wife had been living with me in Scotland since we married two years ago while we applied for my US Visa. I own my home and all the utilities etc are in my name, nothing had Katie's name on it.

I have a few birthday cards etc and phone bills to the US for the last two months since Katie moved back but not much else. I have couple of letters from my bank addressed to Katie at our Scottish address and a letter from our Doctor (who is also a presonal friend) stating that he was at out wedding and that we have a valid marriage.

Are they likely to ask for anything else? Any tricky questions they might ask?

It would be great to hear from someone with recent experience of a London interview.

Thanks!!!

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-24 08:26:00

UK Police Certificate

That looks like the right form although I filled it in at my local police station. I would send away for it as soon as possible but remember that they are only vaild for one year.

Good luck!

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-17 16:15:00

UK Police Certificate

The main reason I posted this is because I actually applied for a Police Cert in 2005 and it took over ten weeks to get the certificate. They 'couldn't locate' the paperwork and it was only after about 10 phone calls that I actually started to get anywhere.

I would follow up with the Met as a matter of course if you are at all time pressured. They have been great this time around but mistakes do happen and it would be terrible to miss out on your visa for the sake of one piece of paper.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-11 06:14:00

UK Police Certificate

I had a bit of a panic last week when I realised that I hadn't sent away for a Police Cert.

I manged to get a direct dial number for the department at Scotland Yard that issues them. They said that they don't usually take calls from the public but I told them I needed my certificate by the end of the month.

They were REALLY helpful and put my application to the top of the pile and it arrived through my letter box this morning TEN days after I applied!

The number is 0207 230 2966. Turn on the charm and you shouldn't have to wait 40 days.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-10 08:20:00

London Embassy Interview - APPROVED!!!

I finally had my interview in London yesterday and thankfully my visa was approved. I was so happy I almost had a little cry on the way out of the Embassy!

My appointment was at 10.30am and I arrived at 10am to find a long queue of people waiting. I stood outside until 11am before they let me inside. On entering the Embassy building I was given a ticket and told to listen for my number.

After about 30 minutes I was called to a window. The lady behind the glass looked me up and down and said that I looked too young and too carefree to be married! She was really lovely and wouldn't shut up about her kids. She took all my original documents and then took my fingerprints too. All my paperwork was in order so she gave me back my x-ray and told me to take a seat and wait for my number to be called again.

I was only waiting for 5 minutes before I was called back to another window. The man behind the glass asked me to confirm my name and he scanned my fingerprints again. I was asked to raise my right hand and swear that I would tell the truth.

He then asked the following questions:

How did you meet your wife?
Where is she now?
What does she do?
Where will you live?
When were you last in the US?
Who is your co-sponsor?

He asked all of these in a really casual manner as he was flicking through all the papers. He was very light hearted and non-threatening.

He then said all my paperwork was in order and that I should receive the visa along with my passport in 3-5 days.

After that I paid for the courier service and left the Embassy by 1pm.

Thank you to everyone who has answered my questions and to everyone that posts on this site. It has been a great resource for me and a fantastic support system for what is undoubtedly a stressful and often frustrating process.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-03-01 10:57:00

Hot Plane Deals

www.sidestep.com

Never let me down yet.

BA also has a great sale on right now.

approveus

Not Telling

Scotland

2007-02-01 12:42:00

It is just a peek , not intrusive at all!

Yes it is done with a female, just be aware that after you strip and are given a rather thin gown the waiting room you sit in is for both males and females.

Edited by Nicoxcx, 23 October 2008 - 12:03 PM.

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-10-23 12:02:00

I'm not sure about your question regarding Depression, but I am sure it will come up is there anyone else at your local GP office that could write the letter for you? .

Dont worry about the Petition Photographs, I have heard people send off the wrong size before and it has been fine I believe US size is just Preferred however at the Embassy they will only accept the US Size but in the worse case scenario an RFE would set you back a week or two, I doubt that will happen.

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-10-23 06:31:00

Take it, when I went in I was asked for my "passport, photo and vaccination records" they will certainly ask for them.

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-09-23 10:30:00

The 180 covers everything you do need for your Visa acceptance. Not AOS, but they should inform patients that they will have to get a skin test also, Knightsbridge dont seem very well informed.

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-09-19 12:38:00

I don't think Knightsbridge offer the TB test, They no doubt use the Chest X-Ray to check for TB as that is a common way to diagnose it.

but all in all I agree, if the US require the skin test, Knightsbridge should offer it.

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-08-14 11:12:00

QUOTE (pandora @ Aug 6 2008, 09:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

QUOTE (Nicoxcx @ Aug 1 2008, 06:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was just wondering, is booking the Medical for the day before the interview okay timing? , I figured instead of making 2 seperate trips up to London from Scotland I could travel there for the medical, stay at a hotel and go to the interview the next day.

should be fine - but visa would be subject to medical and they would issue it 3-5 days after receiving the medical results.

Hope this helps.

Thankyou Pandora, I dont mind waiting the extra few days to save the cash

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-08-06 08:37:00

Nicoxcx

Female

Scotland

2008-08-01 12:29:00

Court records destroyed

What was the conviction for.

How old was he.

What was the sentence.

you asking me?

yes, Boiler is asking you Our waiver was filed for offences that my hubby committed when he was 17 -24, nothing serious but they then count as multiple convictions and there was nothing we could do even though he is now nearly 53 and has never offended for over 28 years

If you were a minor and it was only one offence and from what you say I think it was and it was only a minor conviction then you will probably be OK - but do not hold me to that as I am not a lawyer. You really need to do some research and the USCIS site has plenty about excludability and waivers

Thanks munchkin, I wasn't a minor but the offence was, I do want to be prepared just in case.
I hope everything goes well and fast for you and your hubby.
Maggie

mmb

Female

Scotland

2006-11-02 18:27:00