Targaff

For background, I've been through the whole visa process once before. Here is my original K-1 visa interview and here is my subsequent AOS post.

The timeline this time around is as follows:

Jan 9, 2008 - I-130 acknowledged as received by the US Embassy (submitted on Jan 4, 2008).
Apr 9, 2008 - I-171 received. I sent off the DS-2001 and DS-230-I to the IVU on Apr 14, 2008 before hearing from them directly, but their letter came through that same day anyway (albeit with the wrong contents - good job there's somewhere on the net with all the information you need...)
May 6, 2008 - Interview date received.

That original interview date was scheduled for 13 June 2008. However, we called the Embassy to ask whether there was any chance of moving it forward because having it prior to June makes things easier for us since it meant we could tie in our leaving with a visit by a relative. They told us to send an e-mail to the usual address with the subject line CIU478 and explain the circumstances, which we did, not really expecting much, but a couple of days later they came back to us offering a date a month earlier instead. This weekend's been a bit of a scramble as a result... They did say just to handwrite the date over the interview letter and that no notice would be received of the change, but on Saturday we did in fact get a replacement IV letter.

I called Knightsbridge Docs, and they were able to give me an appointment on 12 May - it strikes me that they're not really all that busy with these things, at least currently, as when I called initially they wouldn't even make an appointment in June. After that it was megabus.com for coach tickets - £18 for a return from Manchester (although they were a quid each way until not so long ago!). The 6.30am coach down to London and a bit of a haul with the luggage later, and I had a couple of hours to kill before the medical, so I started writing this.

My appointment was at 2.50 at Bentick Mansions, which is a short walk away from Bond Street underground. This is a different doctors to my previous time around (when I mentioned this in passing to the consular officer they said "yes, there was a little ... issue"), they're pretty good and also have nicer offices - none of this down in a basement malarkey. I got there a bit early and filled out their forms - one disclaimer regarding AIDS, and another of those endless lists that seemed a bit redundant given the fact I'd brought the medical questionnaire. Around 3 I was called through by an Irish bloke, who was fairly friendly. Most of the questions are just going over the questionnaire you fill out, then they measure weight, height and blood pressure (134/80, can't have been all that stressed), and do a quick physical before drawing blood for whatever test they need it for. After that you go to a separate waiting room and are shortly called through for the chest x-ray - cue chicken position with th'arms (if you don't know what I mean, you will). Once they're satisfied they've got everything they'll ask you to go to the front desk and pay.

I bummed around the city for the rest of the afternoon, then waited until after rush hour to take the train out to Uxbridge where I was staying with friends, so as not to raise the ire of the suits with my overly large bag.

Up at 6.00am this morning and out shortly afterwards. I'd just chosen comfy clothes, since most of my day is going to be spent sat in an office or on another bus, but when I looked in the mirror my first thought was "Hmmm, serial killer." Probably not the best of looks to go with... anyway, I walked back to the station and went over to Victoria to hit up left luggage again. I also left my phone there because I'd actually paid attention to the "do not bring xyz" list, which was stupid because I knew from last time I was there that we'd been able to deposit electronic items. If you have electronic items you'll be asked to put them in a clear plastic bag and leave them with security.

Talking of things I should've known, I also managed to get turned around on the way to the Embassy, my over-confidence in having been there twice before and thinking "I'll just do what I did last time" leading me to get off at Green Park and proceed in what was possibly completely the wrong direction. In the end I went back and took the Jubilee to Bond Street, which is probably an easier way to come from anyway. The moral of this story is to always know where your map is.

Camp America is in full recruitment mode in Grosvenor Square at the moment, and the reasonably sized queue was mostly young people getting NIVs for that or similar stuff. Security has once again moved, this time back to the Bond Street end of the park, and they appear to be building processing centres along the side of the Embassy. Also, whereas on previous occasions everyone entered through the door at the other end of the building, that now seems to be reserved to US Citizen Services, with visas being handled at the opposite end, although both ends of the building actually look absolutely identical. Up to the front desk to tell them why you're there and get your number, and then it's up through the doors on the left to play the waiting game.

The waiting room seems larger at this side. Near the door are SMS courier services, whom you pay to send back your documents, then there's a load of seats, in the middle of which are banks of monitors showing various bits of info such as where they're up to (and also one truly hideous picture of the Statue of Liberty, which appears to be in desperate need of a clean unless I'm a fool and it's a replica somewhere). At the far end is a shop, which I didn't check out, and along the right hand side are some 10 or 11 desks, all of which are for non-immigrant stuff. They were mostly manned and all quite busy. Down a corridor is where the immigrant visas, E-visas and DHS stuff is dealt with.

There were 4 or 5 people in front of me and it took perhaps an hour before I was called through to desk 13. You're then asked to pay at desk 12 (<insert rant about fees here>) before they do the fingerprints and check through your various documents. They do only need the one photo, but no harm in taking more - the doctors need one anyhow. My matter required a bit of explanation because of the previous residency, and the bloke who saw me seemed fairly unimpressed with what had happened in my case, going so far as to say that they "didn't have a good relationship" with PoE officers/Homeland Security. After everything had been verified you get a pink slip - don't worry, it's only for the courier - and it's back through to the waiting room, this time for about 15-20 minutes.

When your number gets called a second time you'll go to see the consular officer. First up is the swear, and then I was asked to sign the DS-230-II. After that we had quite a long conversation about the background to my application, which required some explanation, but I imagine for most people this would just be a chat about how you came to know the petitioner and your relationship since. Further questions were what our intentions were upon returning in terms of work, etc. and what my in-laws do for a living. We next talked about proof of intention to return, as my wife's been living in the UK for some years now. I provided two documents, a job application and also an acceptance letter from UW, and the officer ultimately only took the latter as proof. She indicated that it was particularly necessary to have some proof in my matter because the I-407 meant that there'd likely be a hit with Homeland Security. The officer also wanted to know whether there had ever been any other issues, and I said no.

It wasn't specifically brought up, but I asked about the inclusion of foreign earned income in the I-864. The officer indicated that despite what it says in the instructions it should be included, for two reasons: firstly because of the obligation to file taxes, which it allows them to check; and secondly, because even though it does not in and of itself count as supporting income within the application (hence the need for a joint sponsor) it does support the case that you're not likely to become a burden.

Finally I was asked to take the pink slip to the courier desk and pay for document return there. I don't actually know whether it was approved or not because we're still awaiting the medical results back, but apart from that everything was fine.

meauxna

Welcome BACK to America, G!!!

Thanks for the great and detailed report.. we've needed a freshie around here!

Especial thanks for the info on the I-864; while that's been my general thought, it's much nicer to have in in writing from someone else, especially when they're channeling the CO.

2 Qs:
"I-171 received. I sent off the DS-2001 and DS-230-I to the IVU on Apr 14, 2008 before hearing from them directly, but their letter came through that same day anyway (albeit with the wrong contents"
Please expand on what the I-171 is (IVU = Immigrant Visa Unit)--is that the checklist? Maybe a blurb on what to do with it (there have been some FAQs lately)?
And, for those unfamiliar with your backstory, a mention of the I-407 so that others can read about what it is for and how it would affect your case.

Thanks, star. That can be your homework for tonight.

Congrats! You must be the most veteran of all now; you've done just about every visa process available!

cuckoofrommars

Did you put a preferred departure date on you DS-2001? I'm hoping to get an earlier interview so that I can leave with my wife, but we're getting down to the wire. With the spread you had between sending off your "Packet 3" stuff and your first interview date I won't make it.

Targaff

meauxna: thanks As for the queries, I've gone into a fair bit of detail below but I've underlined the most pertinent bits.

The I-171 is a sealed acknowledgement form is an intermediate form you get from the Embassy after the petition has been approved, and starts with a paragraph stating as much. It does seem to be fairly generic - there are 7 supplemental points on there that relate to various different situations, not all of which are exclusive to these sorts of visas (point 4, for example, is where the beneficiary is in the US already and is to apply for lawful permanent residency). The only one that is likely to be of relevance to this sort of app is number 1, which starts "Your petition to classify the beneficiary as an immediate relative of a United States citizen has been forward to the United States Consulate at [blank]" (the blank being filled in with London UK on my form). Lastly, it comes with the receipts for the I-130.

There's no need to reply to it as the IVU will contact the beneficiary shortly thereafter with the relevant packet (in theory - I got the wrong one).

Regarding the I-407, the purpose of the form is that it is a voluntary abandonment of residency status. There may be circumstances in which you no longer wish to keep your residency - if a marriage fails, for example, and you have no purpose in pursuing it - in which case you will need to fill one out. I think it may need to be witnessed by someone in an official capacity, but I'm not entirely sure; I believe there are guidelines on the USCIS site.

What should be borne in mind is that abandoning your residency obviously has potential repercussions further down the line - you're likely to get a grilling if you try to visit the US on a visa waiver, for example, or you will probably be questioned fairly closely about the circumstances of both the abandonment and your reasons for applying for immigrant status if, as in this instance, you find yourself in the (admittedly unusual) situation of having to do so a second time.

Another point of interest is the ambit of the PoE: in our case I'd been out of the US for quite some time and had held a re-entry permit to cover most of that period, but for reasons I won't go into when I went through PHL last year I didn't have one, and the immigration officer chose to consider my residency as abandoned on the basis of time spent outside the US despite the fact that technically I'd not actually been out for more than a year at any time and despite my making it clear that one of the reasons I was going to. Lesson one here - and I can't emphasise this enough - is that the PoE officers are the ones with the discretion to let you in; and lesson two is that they don't necessarily use common sense when applying it - as I think I noted in an earlier post, it would've been easier for all concerned if he'd just let me do what I was there to do.

Targaff

Whereabouts are you at in terms of time at the moment?

I didn't provide them with a date until the point at which we contacted them asking for an earlier interview, though when I was there today the person who carried out the initial part of the interview (his name was Keith Major, incidentally, he's a nice bloke. For the record the CO was nice, too, but I couldn't see her name tag) wrote the departure date I gave him on his form.

As long as it's not written somewhere you shouldn't be writing then I suppose there's no harm in trying; I get the distinct impression that they'll try to help where they can, but obviously that's no guarantee. You could also try to request a date move like we did if your IV comes in too late, but YMMV in terms of how amenable they are in terms of bringing a date forward if there's not additional circumstances.

On a related note, I just remembered something: the e-mail they asked the date change request to be sent to was [email protected], which I think is different from the usual one given here.

BritishGuy36

Great thread Targaff.

The info on the I-864 is probably the best bit of info I've ever picked up on BE. It's filled in a "hole" that even the experienced members here couldn't help with.

Nice.

meauxna

FYI, London has been good about trying to help people meet those departure dates, cuckoo.. it is def. worth a try.

Targaff

This isn't really anything to do with the visa interview, but I thought I'd add it just to put things in perspective. As I was going out of the Embassy grounds I ran into a lady who was coming from the Citizen Services side pushing a baby. It turned out that she'd been in to register the baby as a US citizen and had been trying to do so for ages but was unable to - every time she contacted them they kept saying "3-4 months", until she'd had to request an emergency appointment because of imminent travel plans.

We went to the Embassy for the same reason a year or so ago, and the treatment my wife got as a US citizen was terrible (I was there too, but even as a resident - which I was then - they wouldn't continue to discuss the matter at the counter while I was there and told me to move away), to the extent that we asked for information about making a complaint (and again, only US citizens are entitled to make a complaint...); my impression from the lady I spoke to was that she was also singularly unimpressed. By contrast, while none of my experiences with the Embassy as an immigrant have been for the impatient, all of my dealings in person have been nothing but professional and for the most part very pleasant.

Just something to bear in mind when you're getting frustrated

cuckoofrommars

We received the NOA and are waiting for the application packet. We're ready to send everything in the day we receive it and have all of our documents together. My wife and baby are heading over on June 28th - just under 7 weeks. Not so sure we'll make it.

Apparently, the DS-2001 on the embassy website is out of date. The new one asks for your case number, date of your medical and proposed date of departure. That's why we haven't just sent everything off yet. Here is a scan of all the "Packet 3" documents for DCF from someone on the DiveIntoAmerica site: http://www.diveintoamerica.com/dia_d...ge/packet3.pdf

Targaff

If you've got an I-797 then can I assume you're not doing a DCF? It sounds like it with your wife coming to visit. If that's the case I'm not really the one to ask for timelines because the two will differ (I got my packet 3 within 5 days of my approval document, for example); if not, I'm confused.

I brought up the subject of submitting the packet 3 docs ahead of hearing from the Embassy a couple of months ago, recalling that I did it when I did a K-1. While ian-mstm rightly pointed out at the time that there's always a chance those docs won't get matched with your file, I ultimately sent mine in without a reference number and it was married up without a problem. If you want to risk it rather than waiting for them to contact you first then it might expedite matters some, but there's no doubt that a risk is precisely what it is, so caveat beneficiarius.

Other than that, what meauxna said.

cuckoofrommars

Not sure what an I-797 is. My NOA is an I-171 and I'm definitely doing DCF. Like you, I had a green card previously - any chance they use your A-number as your case number for the new application?

Targaff

Ah, okay. I-797 is the "proper" notice that's issued for the other residency visas (such as your previous one, presumably), and comes on nice decorated paper rather than the plain paper of the I-171. There's a pic of one here, which if you look closely you'll see has similar contents to the I-171. I suppose now you mention it that the I-171 is an NOA, I just didn't think of it like that because it didn't look much the same.

I put my existing A number on all my forms where they asked for one (same with SSN), and the guy who saw me for the initial interview did write it down as part of his notes. I would assume that they would use the same number, but until I actually get the docs back I couldn't say for sure. I'll try to remember to post again once I've got it back.

When did you receive the I-171? Like I said, turnaround for us between that and the packet was a matter of days, so if it's been too long it may be worth asking after.

I used the DS-2001 off the webpage and they were happy with that.

In relation to my joint sponsor, they only took the last year's tax document, they didn't need all 3. I asked about it and the CO said the wording had changed so that was all they needed, but it's probably best to take the "better safe than sorry" route; that way the worst that can happen is you get spare copies of your tax returns.

Pandajuice

Hi Targiff, I had a question. Were you able to schedule your medical and interview on the same day?

Targaff

Unfortunately no - the doctors indicated that they wouldn't be able to give me an appointment that would allow me to make the 9.30am Embassy appointment. I know the previous practitioner used to be able to do this, and I imagine it could theoretically be done for an afternoon appointment (do they even do these?), but its just not feasible with the morning appointment time.

One other thing is the delay in getting the results back: formerly the results came back extremely quickly, so much so that you could have your medical early doors and the results would be with the Embassy later that morning, but for my Tuesday appointment this time around they said the results would be back "maybe on Thursday" if I was lucky with the post that afternoon.

Noorah101

I have read posts where people managed to get their medical and interview on the same day in London. However, since it takes a few days to get the results from the medical, the embassy could not approve the visa that day. They had to wait for the medical results, then approve the visa and send it out.

If you don't mind waiting a while longer after the interview, you can try for the medical on the same day as the interview.

Rene