Sweetness

My friend (a UKC) was approved for a P-1S visa by USCIS in the US, he sent his paperwork to the US embassy in London three weeks ago and hasn't gotten a date for an interview.

The visa was approved for a year from November 15th of this year to next year November. Does anyone know how long it takes to get an interview date?

Thanks in advance.

crazyangel

It took me 3 months when i had an interview there,but i have read that to get an appointment at Belfast is much quicker ??

lisa67

I "think" I read somehwere (sorry you'll have to do a search) but that Belfast was only doing interviews for people who lived in NI. I could be completely wrong...but worth checking.
My OH went to Frankfurt not so long ago and had a great experience, but his was a renewal so it may be different..worth looking around Europe though.

MsElui

brussels is another option but remember your stuck there til they return the passport.

Sweetness

Thanks guys for the quick replies.

Crazyangel: 3 months is a tad long for the interview, the USCIS in the US got back to him in two weeks, from when the form was submitted to when they apporved the visa.

Lisa67, his passport is not with them yet, he just sent in his paperwork.

Another friend of mine who went to London to renew a US school visa got an interview and her in less than 3 weeks.

Do they have different processing times for the kind of visas people want?

crazyangel

When i phoned for my interview i was offered either London or Belfast and i live in the NorthEast of England,yeah i agree my appointment did take a long time and i took the first available date.

rew1000

Don't you have to phone to arrange an interview date? I wasn't aware that it was possible to apply by mail if an interview was required...

Sweetness

It's not me, it's a friend of mine. He actually went through a lawyer and I'm pretty sure he didn't mention anything about a getting a date by phone or online. What he said was his papers were sent to the US embassy.

If it takes 3 months to get an interview then he has only 9 months on his visa once it's approved. One would think that once it's been approved in the US then getting the actual visa in the US embassy in UK would be a 2 week deal.

rew1000

Well the usual process is that the applicant calls the inquiry line, gives them some details, and the inquiry line books an appointment date and emails a checklist of required paperwork. The applicant brings the completed paperwork to the embassy for the interview. No paperwork is sent to the embassy.

I can't see anything on the US embassy website to suggest that it is possible to arrange an interview by post.

[The waiting time to get an appointment varies according to the time of year, but is typically around a month. Actual processing of the passport takes around 5 days]

Sweetness

Thanks Rew1000. He definitely gave the lawyer carte blanche in regards to the procurement of his visa. I felt it was better to do it by himself because he was already approved but he felt a lawyer would "speed" it up or something.

I really appreciate all you guys' help, thanks a mil.

JAJ

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/wa...itors_wait.php

Do you mean the petition was approved, rather than the visa? USCIS can't grant visas. Only the State Department can do that.

Sweetness

That's exactly what I meant JAJ.

Chrissywissy100

I have been led to beleive that if you phone every day you may be able to get a cancellation if you are finding the dates they are giving you doesn't really work for you. That said, our Lawyer handled all the paperwork and application process so may also have pulled a few strings.. it still took him a couple of weeks though, to get a London appointment... but better than the 3 month wait you may normally experience.