Lucybell33

We had our blanket L-1B visa approved yesterday - hurrah!! Thought others might be interested in how the day went...

Our appointment was booked for 9:30am yesterday morning, so we decided to travel up on Sunday to avoid a stressful Monday morning commute, and decided to treat ourselves to afternoon tea and a night in The Connaught, which is literally just round the corner from the embassy. We did a quick walk to the embassy that evening, just to check out exactly where we had to go.

Yesterday morning, feeling too nervous for breakfast, we headed out to Starbucks for a pre-interview coffee around 8:30am, before getting to the embassy around 8:50am.

We joined the back of the queue, quickly checking with the people in front if this was the right one, only to be told we had to first go to the little stand in the middle to present our appointment confirmation, DS-160 forms, passports and to get a bag for phones, belts etc. There was no queue here, so we did all this really quickly and went back to the end of the queue, which wasn't too long - only around eight people ahead of us.

When we reached the front of the queue, the security guy had another look at our appointment confirmation, DS-160s and passports, before sending us to queue at the entrance kiosk. This was only a couple of minutes wait.

In the kiosk, we just had to go through airport-style security, before being ushered into the embassy itself. Note that they want to get you out again quickly - so there's no time for putting belts back on, as my husband was informed, who then had to walk to the embassy holding up his jeans!

It's all clearly sign-posted, so you just take a right out of the kiosk, go round the building to the left and then enter the building up some stairs. We presented our documents at reception (no wait here), and she added some stickers to each of the DS-160s, included the all important ticket number. We were then directed up the stairs on the left into the waiting room. It was just after 9am.

The waiting room was heaving, but we spotted a few spare chairs, so quickly sat down and got our bearings. There's a huge screen with Argos-style calling of ticket numbers/location. Each time a new ticket is called there's a beep, so you don't miss them. When we sat down they were calling N ticket numbers in the low hundreds - we had N205, so realised we had a bit of a wait.

I dispatched my husband off to the little shop at the front of the room, where they were selling tea, coffee, water, juices, fizzy drinks, chocolate and a few other snacks. They only had 1.5l bottles of water at that stage, but I was happy with that - and very thankful, as it turned out.

The numbers were called very frequently, and were steadily progressing in order so we were able to track our progress to initial screening. It probably took around an hour before we were called, so up we hopped and handed over all our documentation, including the full packet from our lawyers. We should probably have taken the packet apart, to save the lady from doing this, and she only extracted two of the three copies they'd given us, saying that's all they need now. We both had our fingerprints taken - left hand, right hand, then two thumbs. She kept our packet, DS-160s and passports and we got sent round the corner to pay the anti-fraud fee, then sat back down (or I did, as it was really busy by then, and I eventually found a single seat). It was now around 10:30am.

This is when the long wait began... The numbers aren't so predictable for the second stage, so we just waited and waited. And waited some more. And finished the water. And looked to see if there was anything worth eating (remember we hadn't had breakfast), but there was only chocolate, and the room was boiling, so hubby had some, but I declined. Waited some more. Phoned the hotel to say the 1pm late check-out we'd asked for was going to be too early, and could we extend. The shop closed. We waited some more. By this stage the room was starting to thin out and we were beginning to get a bit worried, especially as it was by now mostly numbers in the 300s they were calling. However, thank goodness for being allowed to take in iPhones and Kindles, so I read an entire book, kept Facebook updated, texted various people etc etc, and generally kept sane. Was very thankful we hadn't had to take our children, aged 5 and 8, as they'd have been climbing the walls!!

Finally, we were called at around 2:40pm!! We both jumped straight up, and headed for the interview kiosk, only to have to check back at which one we had to go to! We rounded the corner, only to find the previous interviewee still there!! So, we waiting some more, standing this time, but only for around 5 mins. Then we were up!

The interview itself was over so quickly, it was unbelievable! All the question practice we'd done was not really required. Hubby got asked what his job title and responsibilities were, his academic credentials and past experience. Then got told to go back to the cashier to pay some extra fees for me and the children. We were like - so we've got it? And he said, yes - enjoy California!! He was lovely - really friendly and chatty. We couldn't believe it was over in 5 minutes!! They didn't even ask to see any of the supporting documents, not our marriage certificate, children's birth certificate - nothing!

So, we exited the building just before 3pm and, after a very late check-out at the Connaught, finally got some food and a couple of cheeky celebratory Bellinis!!!

It was a very long, exhausting day, but the result was worth it. If I'd had any idea how long we'd be there I would have packed some food/drinks and checked out of the hotel before we left, but it all worked out in the end. Now the manic stage begins!!

Hopefully I've covered everything, but any questions just ask!

SmallShinyAnt

Wow. Sounds like a long day. Thanks for the detailed report and enjoy California!

ian-mstm

Congratulations.


People often report that the interview is somewhat anti-climactic.

Ian

John4688

Congratulations did the mention the current process times given the technical problems?

Chapmandan

Great news! Congratulations.

Lucybell33

Thanks all - very relieved and excited now!!

Yes, we did talk about this - the consulate said it might add on a day or two to their usual 3-5 days processing, so not too bad.

John4688

Oh ok is that all visa categories?

Lucybell33

I don't know - we only talked about ours, the L-1B

Dharun

I attended the interview today and had the same experience. I was expecting stamped copy of I-279S but did not get yet. Also, they did not take the photograph

Could you please confirm whether you have given a photo and signed I-279S?

I also checked the application status and it shows administrative processing but the officer told it was approved.

Lucybell33

They didn't ask for any photos (we had uploaded them, but took along some copies, just in case). They took two of our three I-279S forms, but didn't stamp the one we kept. They said they used to take three, but that's changed now. Don't worry!!

Dharun

Thanks. Please let us know when the visa status changed from Admin Processing to issued. Curious to know the timeframe

Lucybell33

Will do!

Lucybell33

Visa status has changed to issued today - hurrah!!!

SmallShinyAnt

Huzzah!

Dharun

WOW! That's very fast! Congrats!. It seems they fixed the backlog issue. by the way, It is a very well summary of your experience in the consulate which will be very useful for many!

and I assume your interview date is 28 and the passport can be collected tommorrow?