lansbury

On the other hand I am willing to bet that the extra interest that someone might have to pay would be a good bit less than the rent they would be paying. Plus they are not tied to a bad rate as a remortgage for a better rate when the credit history improves is an option.

I trust your Polish friend is not a financial consultant.

LouisB

Coincidently I've just heard back from VISA attourney from employer, I will be eligible for e-2 via multinational manager status.

This had come sooner than expected (was told 6-8 weeks), this is 2 weeks in.

My question now is, anyone suggest how long until I can legally fly?

I think steps are: interview at US embassy, no date yet, suppose 1-2 weeks?
Then send off passports, another 1-2 weeks?

Is that it?

Pulaski

When you get your visa. An RFE, or random administrative delay could easily push things back a couple of weeks.

MrGlasgow

Expect at least 4-6 weeks from now to get an appointment at London embassy for e2. Then 1 week after an interview if visa is approved.(that's my recent experience)

LouisB

Great, thank you.

Since posting I got a date, 22nd Feb so pretty soon already.

Since you recently went through it, was it scary or formality? Anything tricky or notable? Any pitfalls?

Seems from what I read a large component of the time at the embassy is waiting in queues, both inside and outside!

MrGlasgow

That's Great.

It all depends upon your paperwork and your job profile. I was asked many questions related to my past travels/my current and future job (in US). Key bit is "confidence".

Regarding waiting, I guess we were very lucky, our appt was @8 am, hardly any queue, security and other embassy folks were friendly .

All completed in less than 2 hours.

The Moose

We had a lot of queueing...even with an early Visa appointment!

You queue outside to get into the screening hut. The e2 visa people are on a different list to everyone else and when I got there, they didn't have the list yet. Tell the girl you're e2 as they tried to search for me 3 or 4 times before realising that it was a different list.

When you get inside the process is fairly straight forward - sit and wait for your number to be called, then go to the window they tell you to go to. At this window they do a few bits but it's not the 'interview'.

Back to the waiting area for your number to be called again.

This time it was for the actual interview.

To be honest, the interview was pretty straight forward - about 6 or 8 simple questions such as what you doing, where, why, how are you funding etc. He asked me one question that was wrong (You're funding all this through mortgaging your property, right?) which was incorrect. I don't know if he was intentionally trying to trick me or had me confused with another e2 applicant.

He dispatched me to another window to pay the reciprocal visa fee (per person) - have US Dollars if possible - so much easier.

Back to the interview window and he told me I was getting 5 years e2 and kept my documents.

You then have to go back outside, walk around the embassy to another entrance and pay for your passports to be returned with the visa included. Paid in £ on a card. I don't think they took cash, but can't quite remember.

Our passports were with us 3 days after the issuance date (which was the day after the interview).

Then we were on our way.

Top tip - get to London early and head to The Dorchester for 7am. Have breakfast there. Nice walk from there to the embassy. Have the Dorchester Bacon Buttie - absolutely awesome and filling

LouisB

Thanks. Our interview is at 8am also (an early start!) and I hope it goes similarly

What are the total fees, looks like each it is $105 plus some other fee in £

LouisB

Great advice, that really helps us know what to expect.

Doesn't sound too bad, in theory. Hope it goes as smoothly as you describe.

Dorchester Bacon Buttie sounds immense, I like that idea.

What time do you recommend arriving at the embassy if our appointment is 8am also, about 7:40am?

chawkins99

I believe ALL appointments are for 8am.

Last time we went (albeit several years ago), we asked for a later appointment and was told there was none.

The Moose

We got there at 7:59am and there was a bit of a queue but it didn't take that long in reality - we were out in plenty of time to do a bit of shopping and get some lunch etc.

I must say, it was something that we went to worried about how intense it'd be, to find it was so much easier and more simple.

I got the impression that by the time you get to go to the interview, they've already made the decision and if you don't get it you've really snatched defeat from the jaws of victory!

Good luck and take magazine/news paper. Oh, and there's basically no food or drink once you get in there.

yellowroom

It may depend on what you're there for - I got a variety of options for my appointments (L-1). Although it's not really an "appointment", it's a tool to stagger people so they arrive throughout the morning instead of all at once. If you're travelling from out of London like I did, just get to the embassy as soon as you can and get in the queue, regardless of your appointment time. Some people are early, some are late - it all evens out in the end!

Pulaski

All the empirical evidence I have ever seen and heard would suggest that it is almost always true.

LouisB

Here's hoping we don't manage to snatch defeat then! Thanks for the luck.

MrGlasgow

$105 + (card foreign usage charges. Well, When you are in embassy, in theory you are in America.).