Hi all, as promised, I’ve written up my experience of my visit to the embassy. If it helps one person in a similar position going through the process in future then I think it’s worthwhile. If you don’t want to read all the way through my notes but want to know the result: my wife and I both have our visas approved and they’ll be ready in 3 to 5 days.

Both of our appointments were scheduled for 9:00. We got off the tube at Vauxhall 8:10 and walked over to the embassy from there. The walk took about 10 minutes and was straight forward enough. Upon arrival at the embassy perimeter you can see clearly marked signs directing people towards visa services. You keep walking a bit and reach a queue leading to a gazebo. The signage here wasn’t so clear but the queue moved fairly smoothly with us waiting no longer than five minutes to have our confirmation papers and passports checked.

After this you enter a porch area where they carry out airport style security. We had a kindle, a book, an umbrella, various documents, plus our usual paraphernalia like keys, phone, wallet and everything was allowed through. After leaving the porch area you walk a bit further to the main embassy building. We queued here for about 10 minutes before being checked in and moved to the first floor waiting area. On check-in we were both given different numbers, meaning that even though we had arrived together for the same time of appointment, we were effectively going for separate interviews. At the time of booking the interviews we didn't realise it was possible to book joint appointments, but I was told this is very easy to do.

The waiting area on the first floor is very pleasant. There are several large monitors scattered about to call numbers to booths, the presentation on the screens is very easy to understand. Even if you miss your number being called, you can still see a list of the numbers down one side and the respective booth number. Even so, there were occasional calls over the intercom to ask someone to get to their booth. As long as you're paying attention to what is going on, I don't see how people can miss their call.

After about 10 minutes of waiting, my wife was called to a booth, and me to another booth shortly afterwards. At this booth you present your passport and confirmation document to the officer and have your finger prints taken. Questions asked at this booth:
1. What is the purpose of your trip? Holiday to California
2. Why aren't you using the ESTA? Visited the Sudan
3. That'll explain why you're here (smiling). Please take a seat and wait to be called again.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, my wife was called to a booth, with me being called shortly afterwards to another booth. The guy in front of me was getting a fairly good questioning, he was there while my wife was in the queue two booths away, and he was still there being questioned when my wife emerged with a smile on her face and reported the good news. People have said online that there isn't much privacy at the booths, this is correct and it's easy to overhear quite a lot of stuff while stood in the queue. The guy on the next booth was talking about a crime he'd committed, I purposely tried to zone out of everything though as it's not my business.

The officer who greeted me at the booth was very friendly and after handing her my documents, she started to ask questions. It is worth pointing out that I was expecting my interview to go on for ages, but it didn't. Conversation went a bit like this:
1. What are you going to be doing in the USA? Me reeling off my itinerary of places to visit until she stopped me half way through.
2. Why was your ESTA denied? A reason isn't given, but I'm pretty sure it's the Sudan travel.
3. Why did you go to the Sudan? To visit father in law who was working out there
4. What did he work as? Answered.
5. Who did he work for? Answered
6. What do the company make? Answered. At this point I started to get out a copy of his employment contract, and she told me she had everything she needed.
7. What was your father in law's role? Answered
8. Where did you stay? Answered
9. What do you do for a living? Answered
10. Doesn't your wife need a visa for the holiday if she was with you in the Sudan? Yes, she's here
11. Why isn't she at my booth? I explained that we didn't realise we could have made a joint booking
12. You should have applied together, it makes it easier (big smile on her face)
13. Do you have any children? No, not yet anyway
* Some typing *
13. Your visa is approved, it will be ready in 3 to 5 days.

From start to finish, it took us an hour and 20 minutes. We decided to celebrate afterwards with some tea and pastry in a cafe a few tube stations away. On reflection, I think that in my case the officer conducting the interview was just asking simple questions to ensure there weren't holes in my story. In reality, I think she already knew everything she needed to know beforehand, and even though the interview was short, it's just a necessary part of the application process to ensure the online/paper version of you matches the real version of you. I forgot to ask how long my visa will last for, but I'm hoping that after dropping about £700 on two visas, train tickets, hotel, restaurants and some shopping, that they last 10 years.

If you ever find yourself in my position, where your ESTA is denied for travel to a country on the banned list, the only advice I can give is be honest from start to finish and don't worry.