Interviewed was scheduled for Friday 21st @9am for immigrant visa for my husband and daughter (uk citizens)
We got the train on Thursday and stayed at nearby hotel
I had my name added to the list so that I could attend. (US citizen ) mainly to support my husband and to keep an eye on my hyper - almost 4 yr old
We got there for 8 and yes huge relief my name was on the list , a couple before us drove from Leicester and the wife was turned away as she was not on list

Went through security check and yes mobile phones are allowed in , I didn't want to chance it so left everything behind at the hotel

When we got in the room was full N numbers were moving quickly , I numbers weren't coming up that frequently , we were so nervous not knowing how it was going to go , my husband has " no live trace" on his police certificate we were waiting for subject access report but was told we would have by week of march
6th , so he called and got the info over the phone , he had no road tax it was about 25 years ago , we had it on email so fairly confident if that topic came up we had the proof of the incident

Our number finally came up off we all went , the officer asked for the paperwork first
Interview letter
Courier confirmation
Police certificate
Marriage certificate
Birth certificate
One photo
Affidavit of support

And lastly he asked if my income would carry on once I'm in the states I answered "yes" and provided a letter from my employer so he took that

He told us to make the payment and then come back to him
Made payment and went back to him he presented us with a number and told us to wAit in interview room until our number is called

My daughter was playing up just getting so fidgety I think she was making our nerves worse!!

Interview time our number came up and when we went around the corner we were greeted with a lady with a huge smile on her face , she was so nice , friendly, pleasant , warm we couldn't believe it

She asked us when we met , how long we have known each other, and asked us were in the United States we would be living , my husband said" Laguna or Newport in Orange County" she said "not shabby at all"
She took the print out that we had from ACRO about our subject access report and just glanced over it and said , " I just want to let you know your paperwork is perfect " "your visa is approved "

We were both gobsmacked as we thought we might get a drilling or my husband might be AP'd - but none of that happened

Huge relief and overall so pleased , the con off was wonderful !!! Lucky we got her

My advice would be to have your paperwork spot on


A big thanks to Noorah1 , Ian -mstm, hoffage for your responses
Noorah thanks for responding to all my questions regardless of how many times they might have been asked on the this site, you responded with such kindness

Congratulations!

My fiancée and I will be looking for a hotel nearby in a month or so. May I ask where you stayed, how much was it and would you recommend it?

we stayed at Thistle Marble Arch
standard room was £160 no breakfast

embassy was at the end of the street took about 5 mins to walk there, straight walk down

location wise it was excellent !! everything was walking distance

room was ok , clean and average
we didn't eat in the hotel . as they were a lot of places you can go for breakfast and dinner. Hotel was charging £20 per person for breakfast buffet. Im a light eater so didn't need all that food.

Congratulations! I'm so glad you had a good interview experience.

And you're welcome.

Rene

Laguna Beach! Wow.....that's extremely expensive.
I remember also, that a few years ago a bunch of homes slid off the slope after heavy rains.
But yes Laguna Beach is gorgeous.

You could also have a look at nearby Dana Point and its wonderful harbour area.
I moved away from Dana Point 10 years ago but miss it so much we're intending moving there for a year or two before retiring to the UK.

Obviously I know the area well if you have any questions.

Cheers

YAY! Congrats on a successful outcome

Outstanding! Best of luck to you.

Ian

He was very unlucky if that was on the PNC as it isn't a recordable offence. Someone goofed.

Sounds like the lady who interviewed me.... big smile and very welcoming! She asked where we met and I talked about it for 5 minutes and telling her about the 5 trips I had made and staying for several months at a time and the places we had been together.
She then asked my to fill in my Fiancee's name and sign in a few places and then the words 'Congratulations, your application has been granted'
She wasn't interested in seeing anything else, all she said was 'When I have heard such a lovely story like yours, how could I refuse you?'

My friend has a conviction for the same offence - 20 odd years ago. It, too, is on the PNC I believe. As you say, it shouldn't be given it's not a record-able offfence.

Got our subject access report this morning , and says on there no road tax
My husband went to court for it & he got fined but quite surprised it's logged !!!

As soon as I saw the con off I was fairly confident of the outcome ,

Last year when I applied for citizenship for birth for my daughter I got such a hard time - by this mean , rude , cold lady from the Midwest somewhere and she refused my application !!!


Hotscot- we only looked at Newport or Laguna as friends of ours I've recommended the place - we've been many a times to OC but have not committed to a place yet - so yes recommendations would be appreciated

Ill pm you

You're surprised that something you went to COURT for got logged? I wouldn't be. That it went to court in the first place indicates it was a little more serious than a slap on the wrist.

Indeed, Subject Access Requests are entirely different from an ACRO certificate - one pulls from the PNC the other from local police force database(s).

An ACPO Subject Access gives the details of what's on the PNC. The ACPO visa certificate gives details on what's on the PNC. An individual police service Subject Access gives details of what that police service holds, excluding the PNC.

I took the words 'got our subject access record' to mean that they applied to their local police force with a SAR. I thought this because the ACRO Subject Access instructions clearly state you need to apply to the relevant local police force:

"If you would like to know what information is held about you on the PNC you will need to complete a Subject Access request form. Please click on the link below which relates to your local police force for details about how to apply, or alternatively if you live abroad, the police force area in which you most recently lived."

It appears that the above is for only a PNC check rather than a local records check?

I've just made Subject Access Requests to ACRO for PNC records and to two local constabularies for records on their local systems and can confirm that they went to three separate addresses using three different forms.