My Embassy Interview ......

[ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN]

So the day finally arrived. Me and dear husband travelled to London for 3 hours during the wee hours of the morning. Our appointment was at 9:30am but we arrived at 6:00! I know it's ridiculous but we want to be there early to get to know the place better. It felt good to have plenty of time in our hands .... we familiarized ourselves with the place, went for a stroll at the park and had a sumptuous breakfast.

Anyway, here's what happened .....

I. Outside we were allowed to queue an hour early from the appointed time then handed a medium-sized clear plastic bag for our loose belongings (i.e. coins, mobile phones,jewelry,keys etc)

II. One guy asked for the appointment letter and asked for the passports and verified our names on his list

III. Security checked our bags and we have to pass through that metal detector door, we left the plastic bag with them ,gave us a claim number and told to follow the sign that says Visas

IV. Inside the building, the receptionist had again asked for our appointment letter and gave us a priority number (we were number 14)

V. We entered a large room, chairs lined up like watching a movie :smilecoffeecup: , there were monitors in front and an automated voice calling out a number (e.g. "Customer number 10 please proceed to Window 3 ...." ) And that's all you get to hear the whole day! The windows were numbered 1-25.

VI. We were finally called at 10:10am, Window 1. The teller asked for the documents, I handed it out to him then he filed them according to each applicant. In the DS-230 part II you had to fill in an address where you want your green cards sent to, so it would help if you have a pen and address ready . Our medical results were already in,he took the papers and gave us back the X-ray films. Scanned our fingers, asked us to pay the Visa fee in Window 12 , told us to come back. After paying, he handed me a pink paper to fill in - it was for the courier, handed me back my priority number and asked us to wait until our name is called again. NO QUESTIONS ASKED .... and I thought it was that easy.

That was only part I.....

Part II the ACTUAL INTERVIEW

We were finally called at 1:10pm, the lady scanned our fingers again to verify our identity, asked a few questions, she thought I didn't have a job offer but it was there. After checking all the documents, she asked us to sign DS-230 part II and finally said the words I wanted to hear "Congratulations! your application has been approved .... then I lost the rest of the words she was saying ....

She asked us to raise both our right hands to take an oath ... then instructed us to pay at the courier.

Regular fee would be £13.50 for a single applicant, they do Mon-Fri and expect delivery within 3-5 days. There are other options too, like choosing a convenient time but you have to pay extra. They accept cash or card. I paid for 2-5 applicants which was a quid extra I think, I'm taking my family with me :kiss

We left the building at 1:20 pm ... so our length of stay in the embassy was ..... drum roll ....4 hours and 50 minutes! It was well worth the wait anyway. :balloons:

By the way, they sell food in there and there are toilets available too.

Hope this helps ..... and goodluck for the rest of you guys in waiting.

[ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN]

Hello you guys, I should have first posted it here. It was only later that I realized I put it in the wrong thread .... it happened today and here's my story ......

https://allnurses.com/forums/f75/my-embassy-interview-238654.html

[fruity]

Congratulations!!!!!:balloons::balloons::balloons::balloons:

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

I moved it to the UK forum where you wanted it and i merged the two threads hope that is ok

[pinoynarz]

Congratulations!!!

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Nice and informative post

Bet youcan't wait to move Congrats

[ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN]

I moved it to the UK forum where you wanted it and i merged the two threads hope that is ok

It sure is! Thanks madwife.

[ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN]

Nice and informative post

Bet youcan't wait to move Congrats

Thanks, there's a lot of things to do. I'm leaving in October.

[k-an24]

Congratulations!!! :cheers:

In total do you mind if I ask, how long in total did you wait from the PD date till the interview?

[ICU_JOSIE, MSN, RN]

Congratulations!!! :cheers:

In total do you mind if I ask, how long in total did you wait from the PD date till the interview?

No, I don't mind at all. Mine was actually long overdue. I applied in 2001 and my priority date was Nov. 2002. I just had a change of heart and finally decided to have a go last year. I already had 2 missed interviews one in 2004 and another one in 2006.

I'm from the Philippines by the way and has worked here in UK since 2002.

When I decided to continue, I was sent packet 3 in August '06 and that was from US Embassy Manila. I submitted the documents back and was granted an interview in December. I missed that one, I couldnt leave UK. With Suzanne's great advice, I immediately requested for a case transfer. So here's the timeline ......

Aug '06 - sent packet 3 to US Embassy Manila

Dec. '06 - granted interview (missed)

- requested case transfer

Jan '07 - heard from US Embassy London accepting my case

April '07 - given packet 3

- resubmitted DS-230 and DS2001(notification of readiness)

June '07 - received packet 4

Jul '07 - went for interview

- application approved

I was slowly gathering all the relevant documents within that timeframe, and thank goodness, everything went well during the interview.

[english_nurse]

thanks, there's a lot of things to do. i'm leaving in october.

congratulations !!!!!

[arys1075]

CONGRATULATIONS... :welcome:

You have relieved from your tensions now... :balloons: