Pallyn

I am going to assume that the poster is valid, because there is a hint of our experience in this. My husband's packet three never arrived in the mail, and he had a really hard time getting that through to the embassy. They kept telling him he had to send the checklist back, then wait, but he had never gotten anything from them to send back. This was Kingston and they are much more challenging than London sounds. By the time they acknowledged that the post failed, the approval notice had expired. I sent a revised letter of intent, included the consular bit about how they could extend the approval notice, and he was issued the visa in the end. Now, we didn't let it go on so long. His trip to request the forms shortly after the approval had expired was his third and he was told at that point that he had to have me refile. The letter of intent did the trick on his next trip, and they finally gave him the forms. By that time, they were used to his face and his story. The approval was in Sept 00 and the visa wound up being issued Feb 01. This all went on without a lawyer, but one would have been handy had we had the money.
I don't know if they will still extend, given the length of time passed. I would definitely try, and going there with him would support a revised letter of intent.
I would suggest resarching everything you might possibly need and taking it with you when you go. He should also be looking about his police clearance and vaccination records by now, as well. If you are going to take the flight, be prepared before you go. If you are not going to hire a lawyer, you do need to be your own advocates.
Good luck!