Originally Posted by anyone4tea

Congratuations Ellie! Another success!

When do you leave the UK?

1 week 6 days and counting......

Kath

Originally Posted by half-pint

My interview was yesterday. I'll be writing an account of it later today. My husband and I had a very smooth running day, and we are both exhausted and elated at the same time.

We'd like to thank people who take part on this group as we found valuable information and support. Woo hoo and all that stuff!

Ellie

Originally Posted by antjen

Congratulations!!! - so whats the difference between the CR1 and IR1 (i have the IR1) - im so jealous you get to fly so soon, ive another 59 days to go

Ant

Originally Posted by half-pint

Interview Walkthrough!

This is our experience...
My surname starts with a W so I had my interview first, then the medical.

I say our because my husband attended the interview with me. We drove down from Newcastle upon Tyne the day before and stayed with an ex-colleague in Brentwood Essex. We left her house at 6:55am the following morning and arrived at Bond Street tube station around 7:45. We got to the embassy, there were approx. 100 people in a line for non-immigrant visas, as stated in our letter we walked to the front of the line and went into a portacabin and showed a security guard our letter, he told us that we should wait outside until 8am. Just after 8 two security guards came out and asked people who had appointments for immigrant visas to make a line - then chaos ensued - people from the non-immigrant line thought we were pushing in, some came to our line and pushed me around a little and others went straight to the front of our little line. One by one the security guard checked letters and turned people away telling them to go back to their line. I got inside the building around 8:10.

Once in the building we went to a desk and a man asked if we had a camera no etc. He then directed us up the stairs, we got a ticket from the machine to the left of the doors and then paid for the courier service £10 in cash. We took a seat and waited approx. 20 minutes to be called to a booth. A man with an English accent asked for our paperwork item by item, as listed on packet 4. He asked for 2 passport photos, I got mine taken in a booth in Boots - he did not measure them. He then told us to go to the cashier desk and handed me a yellow slip of paper with my name and visa class CR1. (We missed IR1 by one and a half months). I went around the corner and paid my 335 USD in cash. We then returned to the seating area.

At around 9:40 my ticket number came up on the screen again, I went to the booth and a blonde haired American lady greeted me and asked myself and my husband questions, they were as follows;

To me - When did you get married?
To hubby - Have you lived in the UK since you were married?
To me - Why are you moving to the US?
To hubby - Will you have a job to go to in the US?
To me - What is your occupation?
To me - Do you have US teaching credentials?
To me - Who is your joint sponsor?

She hardly looked at the paperwork, that would have been done prior to calling us to the window. It took no longer than five minutes and then she said "Well I am going to issue this visa", I thanked her and she told me to make my way to the medical.

As a note my husband Enoch did not provide three years of tax returns with his I-864. He wrote a statement which stated he had earned below the level required in order to have to file a tax return, and provided them with copies of old W2s and his social security statement. He also signed his I-864 and had it notarised at the interview. His mum is my joint sponsor and all her paperwork was in order, all the tax returns, W2s, salary slips and a copy of her Citizenship certificate.

We were hungry and on our way to the medical decided to stop at Selfridges food hall to grab some breakfast. mmmhmmm. I had a delightful fruit salad, an almond croissant and a small mocha :wink:

We arrived at Dr Phelan's office at around 10:45, excellent timing as only a few people were still having medicals. I was handed a pink folder at the reception and told to go and read it in the waiting room which is nice and comfy. I read that I would be having an HIV and syphilis test and also read about what documents I needed to put into the folder, they were a copy of my passport photo page (make sure to take a copy with you as your passport will be left at the embassy if your interview is first). I put in the photocopy, my immunisation record booklet, the medical questionnaire and one photo. I then handed it back to reception and was told to go and sit back down. My name was called again 5 minutes later. I went to back to the reception, and paid £125.00 cash, I had to sign two documents, mainly to do with the blood test and any problems that could arise in the event of a positive test. I also had to sign over my photo and onto the document she had stapled it to with a 'special' pen. I was then handed a green folder and told to go down the stairs to the waiting room. Only applicants are allowed in this room, so my husband had to wait upstairs.

There was one other person waiting downstairs, I put my green folder in the rack on the wall which was empty. I then went to check out the small toilet and managed to bump my head. I came back sat down and 30 seconds later a lovely nurse called me and invited me to sit in her 'mastermind' chair whilst she took my blood. Easy - no bruises or marks. I had to check the name on the blood sample and then we had a little chat. I then went back out and before I could sit down the radiographer came to get me. I went into a booth stripped to my waist and he gave me a white gown thing to wear. I sat for one minute and then he called me and I had a chest x-ray and returned to the booth.

Dr Phelan came out of his office five minutes later and he went through my questionnaire which was fine, I had to read from a chart, have my blood pressure taken, he checked my eyes, ears, mouth, heart and lungs. He asked me to lie on the bed and got a female nurse and he asked me to unzip the top of my skirt, he checked around my ovaries and did a breast examination. He told me everything was fine and that I would need my MMR. I told him I was going to get it when I went back upstairs. He then told me I could get changed. He went out to check my chest x-ray and he knew I was listening in; he started to hum and then said I suppose we will let this one go and winked. I had a little chat with him about the toilet and the radiographer told me he had been in a smaller toilet and that he should set up a small toilet website!

I also had my MMR upstairs in Dr Phelan’s office for £35.00. The nurse this time was more android and very formal and not very friendly. She told me not to even think about coming back before 1:30pm as I wouldn’t get any results until then. So off we went, I took Enoch to Harrods since he has never been and he got gifts for his Mom and Step-Dad. We then returned to Dr Phelan’s at 1:35pm and I got my negative test results – I did a big woo and thumbs up to the nurse and she was laughing and then as we got to the door to leave I let out my big sigh and nearly lost it, I think I shed one tear. We got outside and gave each other a big hug and kiss – I won’t go into the Mills and Boon version.

To celebrate we went back to Selfridges food hall for some late lunch...is that dunch? Any who I recommend this to all people going for their interview. My husband Enoch had a variety of sushi (£8) and I had jerk chicken and sweet potato pie, mash, mushy peas and gravy (£6.50), we sat on the stools in the food hall and ate away….delicious….oh yeah and of course I had DG Ginger Beer as my in-disguise champagne.

It’s just past noon as I am writing this and I am sitting waiting for the courier as we want to book our flights ASAP. We’re already packed! Hopefully we will make it out for Labor Day as I missed the fireworks in Cincinnati last year.

Originally Posted by half-pint

Interview Walkthrough!

This is our experience...
My surname starts with a W so I had my interview first, then the medical.

I say our because my husband attended the interview with me. We drove down from Newcastle upon Tyne the day before and stayed with an ex-colleague in Brentwood Essex. We left her house at 6:55am the following morning and arrived at Bond Street tube station around 7:45. We got to the embassy, there were approx. 100 people in a line for non-immigrant visas, as stated in our letter we walked to the front of the line and went into a portacabin and showed a security guard our letter, he told us that we should wait outside until 8am. Just after 8 two security guards came out and asked people who had appointments for immigrant visas to make a line - then chaos ensued - people from the non-immigrant line thought we were pushing in, some came to our line and pushed me around a little and others went straight to the front of our little line. One by one the security guard checked letters and turned people away telling them to go back to their line. I got inside the building around 8:10.

Once in the building we went to a desk and a man asked if we had a camera no etc. He then directed us up the stairs, we got a ticket from the machine to the left of the doors and then paid for the courier service £10 in cash. We took a seat and waited approx. 20 minutes to be called to a booth. A man with an English accent asked for our paperwork item by item, as listed on packet 4. He asked for 2 passport photos, I got mine taken in a booth in Boots - he did not measure them. He then told us to go to the cashier desk and handed me a yellow slip of paper with my name and visa class CR1. (We missed IR1 by one and a half months). I went around the corner and paid my 335 USD in cash. We then returned to the seating area.

At around 9:40 my ticket number came up on the screen again, I went to the booth and a blonde haired American lady greeted me and asked myself and my husband questions, they were as follows;

To me - When did you get married?
To hubby - Have you lived in the UK since you were married?
To me - Why are you moving to the US?
To hubby - Will you have a job to go to in the US?
To me - How long has DCMark been asking if he can pay you to have your husband bang his gay asshole?
To me - Do you have US teaching credentials?
To me - Who is your joint sponsor?

She hardly looked at the paperwork, that would have been done prior to calling us to the window. It took no longer than five minutes and then she said "Well I am going to issue this visa", I thanked her and she told me to make my way to the medical.

As a note my husband Enoch did not provide three years of tax returns with his I-864. He wrote a statement which stated he had earned below the level required in order to have to file a tax return, and provided them with copies of old W2s and his social security statement. He also signed his I-864 and had it notarised at the interview. His mum is my joint sponsor and all her paperwork was in order, all the tax returns, W2s, salary slips and a copy of her Citizenship certificate.

We were hungry and on our way to the medical decided to stop at Selfridges food hall to grab some breakfast. mmmhmmm. I had a delightful fruit salad, an almond croissant and a small mocha :wink:

We arrived at Dr Phelan's office at around 10:45, excellent timing as only a few people were still having medicals. I was handed a pink folder at the reception and told to go and read it in the waiting room which is nice and comfy. I read that I would be having an HIV and syphilis test and also read about what documents I needed to put into the folder, they were a copy of my passport photo page (make sure to take a copy with you as your passport will be left at the embassy if your interview is first). I put in the photocopy, my immunisation record booklet, the medical questionnaire and one photo. I then handed it back to reception and was told to go and sit back down. My name was called again 5 minutes later. I went to back to the reception, and paid £125.00 cash, I had to sign two documents, mainly to do with the blood test and any problems that could arise in the event of a positive test. I also had to sign over my photo and onto the document she had stapled it to with a 'special' pen. I was then handed a green folder and told to go down the stairs to the waiting room. Only applicants are allowed in this room, so my husband had to wait upstairs.

There was one other person waiting downstairs, I put my green folder in the rack on the wall which was empty. I then went to check out the small toilet and managed to bump my head. I came back sat down and 30 seconds later a lovely nurse called me and invited me to sit in her 'mastermind' chair whilst she took my blood. Easy - no bruises or marks. I had to check the name on the blood sample and then we had a little chat. I then went back out and before I could sit down the radiographer came to get me. I went into a booth stripped to my waist and he gave me a white gown thing to wear. I sat for one minute and then he called me and I had a chest x-ray and returned to the booth.

Dr Phelan came out of his office five minutes later and he went through my questionnaire which was fine, I had to read from a chart, have my blood pressure taken, he checked my eyes, ears, mouth, heart and lungs. He asked me to lie on the bed and got a female nurse and he asked me to unzip the top of my skirt, he checked around my ovaries and did a breast examination. He told me everything was fine and that I would need my MMR. I told him I was going to get it when I went back upstairs. He then told me I could get changed. He went out to check my chest x-ray and he knew I was listening in; he started to hum and then said I suppose we will let this one go and winked. I had a little chat with him about the toilet and the radiographer told me he had been in a smaller toilet and that he should set up a small toilet website!

I also had my MMR upstairs in Dr Phelan’s office for £35.00. The nurse this time was more android and very formal and not very friendly. She told me not to even think about coming back before 1:30pm as I wouldn’t get any results until then. So off we went, I took Enoch to Harrods since he has never been and he got gifts for his Mom and Step-Dad. We then returned to Dr Phelan’s at 1:35pm and I got my negative test results – I did a big woo and thumbs up to the nurse and she was laughing and then as we got to the door to leave I let out my big sigh and nearly lost it, I think I shed one tear. We got outside and gave each other a big hug and kiss – I won’t go into the Mills and Boon version.

To celebrate we went back to Selfridges food hall for some late lunch...is that dunch? Any who I recommend this to all people going for their interview. My husband Enoch had a variety of sushi (£8) and I had jerk chicken and sweet potato pie, mash, mushy peas and gravy (£6.50), we sat on the stools in the food hall and ate away….delicious….oh yeah and of course I had DG Ginger Beer as my in-disguise champagne.

It’s just past noon as I am writing this and I am sitting waiting for the courier as we want to book our flights ASAP. We’re already packed! Hopefully we will make it out for Labor Day as I missed the fireworks in Cincinnati last year.

Originally Posted by half-pint

Ack I wish I had IR1! You have to be married for two or more years to get IR1, we married on 17th Oct 2002 so just fall short. It means my greencard will be conditional and we will have to apply to remove the conditions 90 days before two year anniversary of arrival in the US. 59 days...will go quickly.

Ellie

Originally Posted by half-pint

My interview was yesterday. I'll be writing an account of it later today. My husband and I had a very smooth running day, and we are both exhausted and elated at the same time.

We'd like to thank people who take part on this group as we found valuable information and support. Woo hoo and all that stuff!

Ellie

Originally Posted by Dan725

I've got the same CR-1 Visa, got it when we'd been married a year. I was under the impression that you applied to get the conditions removed 90 days before your 2nd wedding anniversary, not after 2 years of living in the US....someone correct me if Im wrong???